| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- Automated External Defibrillator Program Changes
- Is YOUR Information Correct in NASA's Directory?
- Weekly Safety Message - Organizations/Social
- Join the NASA-wide Fitness Challenge: NASA MOVES!
- Tomorrow! AAPI Heritage Month First Event
- Next JSC NMA Luncheon is May 14
- Tomorrow: Network After Work with Emerge
- Mental Health Disorders: Anxiety and Depression
- Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today at Noon
- Environmental Brown Bag: JSC's Wildlife
- JSC Lunarfins SCUBA Club Meeting
- Discount Astros Tickets Through Starport
- Starport Adult Sports Leagues
- Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class May 24
- Starport Summer Camp - Register Now - Jobs and Training
- SPACE Live Labs for Civil Servant Supervisors
- System Safety Fundamentals: June 9, Building 20 |  |
| Headlines - Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Please join the JSC Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (OEOD) as we recognize Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. The 2014 theme is "I am Beyond." The phrase captures the aspirations of the American spirit and how Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander descent have always sought to excel beyond the challenges that have limited equal opportunity in America. The White House Initiative reported that 16.6 million AAPIs reside in the United States, comprising 5.4 percent of the U.S. population. By 2050, AAPIs will make up 9.7 percent of the total U.S. population—more than 40 million people. AAPIs represent over 30 countries and ethnic groups that speak more than 100 different languages. To view 2014 AAPI Heritage Month events, click here. To read the presidential proclamation, go here. - Automated External Defibrillator Program Changes
Join the Occupational Health Branch on May 21 at 1 p.m. in the Building 30A Auditorium as we outline and explain upcoming changes to JSC's AED Program. We will discuss the history of JSC'S AED program, the difference between a heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest, when AEDs should be used and JSC's Emergency Medical System. Also learn how everyone can help in the "chain of survival" by knowing the steps in the chain and how to sign up for free CPR and AED training. Event Date: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 Event Start Time:1:00 PM Event End Time:2:00 PM
Event Location: Building 30A Auditorium
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Bob Martel x38581
[top] - Is YOUR Information Correct in NASA's Directory?
The NASA Enterprise Directory (NED is now id.nasa.gov) includes office location and phone information for all NASA team members (contractor and civil servants). If you have not recently checked your information in NED, click here to see your current listing. For additional information, contact the IRD Customer Support Center: x46367, option 3, or via email. - Weekly Safety Message
This week's topic: Read the Center Operations director's take on "Why you should quit complaining and thank your lucky stars you work for NASA." Organizations/Social - Join the NASA-wide Fitness Challenge: NASA MOVES!
The NASA Office of the Chief Health and Medical Officer at NASA Headquarters is sponsoring a two-week agencywide fitness competition called NASA MOVES! from Sunday, May 18, through Saturday, May 31. All NASA employees (civil service, contract, temporary and part-time) are encouraged to join the JSC team. To participate, you must sign up online and enter your activity steps. A wide range of physical activities can be converted into steps -- not just walking -- so everyone can participate. This initiative is designed to get people moving, but it is also a competition between centers, and we want to win! The winning center will be calculated by taking their recorded steps divided by workforce population. That means we need everyone to sign up. Only at JSC: You will be entered to win one of 10 Fitbits when you sign up! Visit the link below to sign up and find out more information about how to count your steps. - Tomorrow! AAPI Heritage Month First Event
The ASIA Employee Resource Group (ERG) would like to invite you to our first big event for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, happening tomorrow, May 14! Donna Fujimoto Cole, president and CEO of Cole Chemical, will be our keynote speaker for "Diversity and Leadership" on May 14 at 11:15 a.m. in the Building 30 Auditorium, accompanied by an exciting martial arts showcase from Bushi Ban. The second event, "A Glimpse of Asia," will take place on May 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Teague Auditorium lobby. The JSC community will be able to try delicacies from all over Asia while viewing photos and cultural exhibits, with a second showcase from Bushi Ban. The Hispanic ERG will also be contributing food, and the cultural exhibit will be a joint effort with Boeing's AAPA. If you would like to help organize these events or have questions, please contact Jennifer Turner. Event Date: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 Event Start Time:11:15 AM Event End Time:12:45 PM
Event Location: Building 30 Auditorium
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Jennifer Turner x48162
[top] - Next JSC NMA Luncheon is May 14
The JSC National Management Association (NMA) invites you to a luncheon featuring Richard Allen, president of Space Center Houston, who will speak on the "Independence Shuttle SCA Exhibit" tomorrow, May 14, at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilruth Alamo Ballroom. Date: May 14 Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. (lunch) Location: Alamo Ballroom at the Gilruth Speaker: Richard Allen, president of Space Center Houston Topic: Independence Shuttle SCA Exhibit Cost for members: FREE Cost for non-members: $20 Menu selections: - Chicken picatta
- Almond-crusted salmon
- Cheese-stuffed pasta shells with artichoke
Desserts: Cake - Tomorrow: Network After Work with Emerge
Make professional connections while spending an afternoon enjoying this amazing spring weather. People gravitate to do business with people they know, like and trust. We'd love to get to know you and what you do. Emerge is a group comprised of JSC's next generation, fostering cross-center collaboration. No reservation is required, and the event is open to the JSC community. - Mental Health Disorders: Anxiety and Depression
In observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, please join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S, CEAP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program (EAP), for a presentation on Anxiety Disorders and Clinical Depression as part of the psycho-educational series "Mental Health Disorders, Causes and Treatment." He will be discussing causes, prevalence, symptoms and impact in everyday life, as well as the latest treatments being implemented. Additionally, the EAP has set up three dates and times to provide free, five-minute short screenings for anxiety and depression. The screenings will be held in the EAP offices located in Building 45, Room 110, at the following dates/times: - Today, May 13, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, May 14, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Thursday, May 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today at Noon
"Progress, not perfection" reminds Al-Anon members to look to the positive side of incremental improvements and 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 meet today, May 13, in Building 32, Room 135, from 12 noon to 12:45 p.m. Visitors are welcome. - Environmental Brown Bag: JSC's Wildlife
Meet JSC's resident wildlife expert, Matt Strausser, and hear him talk about some of the fascinating aspects of his job at JSC. He'll discuss the varied wildlife at JSC, how they interact with employees and what to do when we'd rather not have such interaction (skunks!). Would you like to find out about JSC's efforts to prevent deadly bird strikes at Building 4? He'll also give advice on how to handle wildlife at your home. There will be vibrant pictures and captivating stories. Bring your questions, but leave your raccoons at home. The brown bag will be in Building 45, Room 751, today, May 13, from noon to 1 p.m. - JSC Lunarfins SCUBA Club Meeting
This month, Lunarfins President Randy Widaman will talk about cave diving. If you've ever been interested in diving caves or caverns, there are numerous locations throughout the United States and Mexico that cater to cave divers. Come listen to Widaman talk about various locations, specialized equipment required to dive in caves and the beautiful formations one can observe! - Discount Astros Tickets Through Starport
NASA employees and their friends and families are invited to participate in NASA Nights at Minute Maid Park this season. Discounted ticket are offered throughout the ballpark. There are six games to choose from this summer, so get your discount tickets and come watch some baseball! Tickets must be ordered online. Additional information can be found here. - Starport Adult Sports Leagues
Come join the Starport Athletics adult sports leagues. We offer a plethora of leagues that range from men's and co-ed softball to even dodgeball. Come check us out! Right now our summer season registration is starting to open for most sports. Hurry and take advantage of the great leagues we offer here at Starport! - Starport Youth Karate Classes - Free Class May 24
Let Starport introduce your child to the exciting art of Youth Karate. Youth Karate will teach your child the skills of self-defense, self-discipline and self-confidence. The class will also focus on leadership, healthy competition and sportsmanship. TRY A FREE CLASS ON MAY 24! Please call the Gilruth Center front desk to sign your child up for the free class (only 25 available spots). Five-week session: May 31 to June 28 Saturdays: 10 to 10:45 a.m. Ages: 6 to 12 Cost: $75 | $20 drop-in rate Register online or at the Gilruth Center. - Starport Summer Camp - Register 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 - SPACE Live Labs for Civil Servant Supervisors
Civil servant supervisors are encouraged to attend one of our upcoming SPACE Live Labs. During the live labs, supervisors will be able to work on employee appraisals, and Human Resources support will be available to answer any system-related questions. No registration is required. The live lab dates/times are below. SPACE Supervisor Live Labs (all in Building 12, Room 144): - May 15 - 9 to 10 a.m.
- May 22 - Noon to 1 p.m.
- May 28 - Noon to 1 p.m.
- June 5 - 9 to 10 a.m.
- System Safety Fundamentals: June 9, Building 20
This course instructs the student in the fundamentals of system safety management and hazard analysis of hardware, software and operations. Types and techniques of hazard analysis are addressed in enough detail to give the student a working knowledge of their uses and how they are accomplished. Skills in analytical techniques are developed through the use of in-class practical exercises. This course establishes a foundation for the student to pursue more advanced studies of system safety and hazard analysis techniques while allowing students to effectively apply their skills to straightforward analytical assignments. Note: This course is a combination of SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0008 (System Safety Workshop) and SMA-SAFE-NSTC-0015 (System Safety Special Subjects). Students who have taken either of these classes should discuss taking this class with the NASA Safety Learning Center management staff. Event Date: Monday, June 9, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:4:00 PM
Event Location: Bldg. 20 Room 205/206
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Shirley Robinson x41284
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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
Tuesday – May 13, 2014
International Space Station:
- 2 p.m. CT - ISS Expedition 39 Farewells and Hatch Closure Coverage (hatch closure scheduled at 2:15 p.m. CT) - JSC (All Channels)
- 5:15 p.m. CT - ISS Expedition 39/Soyuz TMA-11M Undocking Coverage (undocking scheduled at 5:36 p.m. CT) - JSC (All Channels)
- 7:45 p.m. CT - ISS Expedition 39/Soyuz TMA-11M Deorbit Burn and Landing Coverage (Deorbit burn scheduled at 8:04 p.m. CT; landing near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan scheduled at 8:58 p.m. CT) - JSC via Kazakhstan (All Channels)
ORION: Last Friday May 9, astronauts Stan Love and Steve Bowen tested tools and techniques underwater at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for exploring an asteroid. JSC PAO spoke to Love and Bowen for their first-ever underwater interview for Space Station Live. The story was also featured on www.nasa.gov and CNN.com.
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Scientists Warn of Rising Oceans From Polar Melt
Justin Gillis and Kenneth Chang – The New York Times
A large section of the mighty West Antarctica ice sheet has begun falling apart and its continued melting now appears to be unstoppable, two groups of scientists reported on Monday. If the findings hold up, they suggest that the melting could destabilize neighboring parts of the ice sheet and a rise in sea level of 10 feet or more may be unavoidable in coming centuries.
Collapse of Antarctic ice sheet is underway and unstoppable but will take centuries
Darryl Fears – The Washington Post
The collapse of the giant West Antarctica ice sheet is underway, two groups of scientists said Monday. They described the melting as an unstoppable event that will cause global sea levels to rise higher than projected earlier.
NASA spots worrisome Antarctic ice sheet melt
The Associated Press
The huge West Antarctic ice sheet is starting a glacially slow collapse in an unstoppable way, two new studies show. Alarmed scientists say that means even more sea level rise than they figured.
Mission Status Center
Stephen Clark – Spaceflight Now
An international team of astronauts will strap into a Russian Soyuz descent capsule Tuesday and fly back to Earth to conclude a 188-day expedition on the International Space Station.
EaglePicher batteries chalk up 2 billion cell hours in space
Wally Kennedy – The Joplin (MO) Globe
The clock has been ticking since 1958 when the United States entered the "Space Race'' by launching the Explorer 1 satellite. That's when the first EaglePicher Technologies batteries went into space.
Russian Space Station Module Delivery Delayed Again
Matthew Bodner – The Moscow Times
A significant contribution to the International Space Station, Russia's Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module, will not be delivered to the orbital outpost before 2017, nearly 10 years past its intended launch date.
Commercial Crew Needs Competition
Paul Werbos, Dale Skran – Space News
The SpaceNews editorial "A Feckless Blame Game on ISS Crew Access" [April 14, page 18] defends NASA's Commercial Crew Program against disingenuous attacks by its congressional opponents. We support many of the points made in the editorial, especially the assertion that the failure of Congress to fully fund Commercial Crew as requested by the White House is the major reason for delays in the date Americans can start flying on American rockets to the international space station. However, we take issue with the suggestion that a down-select to a single Commercial Crew provider is desirable.
Building a bridge to space solar power for terrestrial use
David Dunlop and Al Anzaldua – The Space Review
Geoffrey Landis is quoted as saying that "electrical power [produced and utilized] in space has an effective price tag that is 10,000 times the price of power on the ground."1 If we were to beam such power to ground-based rectennas connected to an electrical grid, the price would climb further. In a 2004 paper, Arthur Smith cites NASA contract figures as the basis of a $20,000,000 per kilowatt capital cost on the International Space Station.2 The $600 per kilowatt-hour electrical consumption cost on the ISS is compared with $0.036 for coal fired plants and $0.05 for natural gas.3 He also lays out comparative cost data for a range of power production technologies and factors that must be addressed in reducing the great disparity between space solar power today and other terrestrial supply options. Commercial baseload price around the world may vary from single digit cents per kilowatt-hour to several tens of cents per hour on spot markets during times of peak demand. Paul Werbos, in a 2013 IEEE Space Solar Power Workshop presentation, has projected that a cost of $0.09 per kilowatt-hour would be needed for space solar power to supplant other technologies for commercial baseload electrical supplies.
How NASA Scientists Created an International Space Orchestra
What do you get when you combine brilliant space scientists with musical instruments? Why, an International Space Opera, of course.
Profile | John Thornton, Chief Executive, Astrobotic Technology
Irene Klotz – Space News
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, a spinoff from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, is one of the leading contenders in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, which pledges $20 million to the first team that lands a privately funded spacecraft on the surface of the Moon by Dec. 31, 2015. The winning entry also must traverse at least 500 meters of lunar landscape and transmit high-definition video back to Earth. Additional funds will be awarded for bonus achievements, including taking pictures of historic artifacts and driving 5 kilometers.
NASA's bold plan: Landing people on asteroids
Jethro Mullen - CNN
This isn't a real-life recreation of "Armageddon." There's no clear and present threat to Earth.
Russia Endorses Deal on Space Cooperation with Cuba
RIA Novosti
A commission on legislative drafting has approved the ratification of an agreement with Cuba on cooperation in research and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, the Russian government website said on Tuesday.
Moscow to ban US from using Russian rocket engines for military launches
Russia Today
Moscow is banning Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines, which the US has used to deliver its military satellites into orbit, said Russia's Deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries.
COMPLETE STORIES
Scientists Warn of Rising Oceans From Polar Melt
Justin Gillis and Kenneth Chang – The New York Times
A large section of the mighty West Antarctica ice sheet has begun falling apart and its continued melting now appears to be unstoppable, two groups of scientists reported on Monday. If the findings hold up, they suggest that the melting could destabilize neighboring parts of the ice sheet and a rise in sea level of 10 feet or more may be unavoidable in coming centuries.
Global warming caused by the human-driven release of greenhouse gases has helped to destabilize the ice sheet, though other factors may also be involved, the scientists said.
The rise of the sea is likely to continue to be relatively slow for the rest of the 21st century, the scientists added, but in the more distant future it may accelerate markedly, potentially throwing society into crisis.
"This is really happening," Thomas P. Wagner, who runs NASA's programs on polar ice and helped oversee some of the research, said in an interview. "There's nothing to stop it now. But you are still limited by the physics of how fast the ice can flow."
Two scientific papers released on Monday by the journals Science and Geophysical Research Letters came to similar conclusions by different means. Both groups of scientists found that West Antarctic glaciers had retreated far enough to set off an inherent instability in the ice sheet, one that experts have feared for decades. NASA called a telephone news conference Monday to highlight the urgency of the findings.
The West Antarctic ice sheet sits in a bowl-shaped depression in the earth, with the base of the ice below sea level. Warm ocean water is causing the ice sitting along the rim of the bowl to thin and retreat. As the front edge of the ice pulls away from the rim and enters deeper water, it can retreat much faster than before.
In one of the new papers, a team led by Eric Rignot, a glaciologist at the University of California, Irvine, used satellite and air measurements to document an accelerating retreat over the past several decades of six glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea region. And with updated mapping of the terrain beneath the ice sheet, the team was able to rule out the presence of any mountains or hills significant enough to slow the retreat.
"Today we present observational evidence that a large sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet has gone into irreversible retreat," Dr. Rignot said in the NASA news conference. "It has passed the point of no return."
Those six glaciers alone could cause the ocean to rise four feet as they disappear, Dr. Rignot said, possibly within a couple of centuries. He added that their disappearance will most likely destabilize other sectors of the ice sheet, so the ultimate rise could be triple that.
A separate team led by Ian Joughin of the University of Washington studied one of the most important glaciers, Thwaites, using sophisticated computer modeling, coupled with recent measurements of the ice flow. That team also found that a slow-motion collapse had become inevitable. Even if the warm water now eating away at the ice were to dissipate, it would be "too little, too late to stabilize the ice sheet," Dr. Joughin said. "There's no stabilization mechanism."
The two teams worked independently, preparing papers that were to be published within days of each other. After it was learned that their results were similar, the teams and their journals agreed to release the findings on the same day.
The new finding appears to be the fulfillment of a prediction made in 1978 by an eminent glaciologist, John H. Mercer of the Ohio State University. He outlined the vulnerable nature of the West Antarctic ice sheet and warned that the rapid human-driven release of greenhouse gases posed "a threat of disaster." He was assailed at the time, but in recent years, scientists have been watching with growing concern as events have unfolded in much the way Dr. Mercer predicted. (He died in 1987.)
Scientists said the ice sheet was not melting because of warmer air temperatures, but rather because relatively warm water that occurs naturally in the depths of the ocean was being pulled to the surface by an intensification, over the past several decades, of the powerful winds that encircle Antarctica.
And while the cause of the stronger winds is somewhat unclear, many researchers consider human-induced global warming to be a significant factor. The winds help to isolate Antarctica and keep it cold at the surface, but as global warming proceeds, that means a sharper temperature difference between the Antarctic and the rest of the globe. That temperature difference provides further energy for the winds, which in turn stir up the ocean waters.
Some scientists believe the ozone hole over Antarctica — caused not by global warming but by an entirely different environmental problem, the human-caused release of ozone-destroying gases — may also be adding energy to the winds. And natural variability may be contributing as well, though scientists do not believe it is the primary factor.
The global sea level has been rising since the 19th century, but Antarctica so far has been only a small factor. The biggest factor to date is that seawater expands as it warms.
But the melting from both Greenland and Antarctica is expected to be far more important in the future. A United Nations scientific committee, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has warned that the global sea level could rise as much as three feet by the end of this century if stronger efforts are not made to control greenhouse gases. The new findings suggest the situation is likely to get far worse in subsequent centuries.
The effects will depend in part on how much money future governments spend to protect shorelines from a rising sea. Research published in 2012 found that a rise of less than four feet would inundate land on which some 3.7 million Americans live today. Miami, New Orleans, New York and Boston are all highly vulnerable.
Richard B. Alley, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University who was not involved in the new research but has studied the polar ice sheets for decades, said he found the new papers compelling. Though he had long feared the possibility of ice-sheet collapse, when he learned of the new findings, "it shook me a little bit," Dr. Alley said.
He added that while a large rise of the sea may now be inevitable from West Antarctica, continued release of greenhouse gases will almost certainly make the situation worse. The heat-trapping gases could destabilize other parts of Antarctica as well as the Greenland ice sheet, potentially causing enough sea-level rise that many of the world's coastal cities would eventually have to be abandoned.
"If we have indeed lit the fuse on West Antarctica, it's very hard to imagine putting the fuse out," Dr. Alley said. "But there's a bunch more fuses, and there's a bunch more matches, and we have a decision now: Do we light those?"
Collapse of Antarctic ice sheet is underway and unstoppable but will take centuries
Darryl Fears – The Washington Post
The collapse of the giant West Antarctica ice sheet is underway, two groups of scientists said Monday. They described the melting as an unstoppable event that will cause global sea levels to rise higher than projected earlier.
Scientists said the rise in sea level, up to 12 feet, will take centuries to reach its peak and cannot be reversed. But they said a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions could slow the melt, while an increase could speed it slightly.
Warm, naturally occurring ocean water flowing under the glaciers is causing the melt.
"We feel it is at the point that it is . . . a chain reaction that's unstoppable," regardless of any future cooling or warming of the global climate, said Eric Rignot, a professor of Earth science at the University of California at Irvine. He was the lead author of a NASA-funded study that was one of the two studies released Monday.
The only thing that might have stopped the ice from escaping into the ocean and filling it with more water "is a large hill or mountains," Rignot said. But "there are no such hills that can slow down this retreat," he added.
The peer-reviewed NASA study has been accepted by the journal Geophysical Research Letters and is expected to be published within days.
The NASA announcement coincided with the release of a University of Washington study that contained similar findings. It will be published Friday in the journal Science.
Both studies observed ice retreating from four massive glaciers in West Antarctica — Pine Island, Thwaites, Smith and Kohler.
The Thwaites glacier alone holds enough water to increase sea level by two feet, the University of Washington study said. Together, the glaciers hold enough water to raise it by several feet.
Sea levels will not rise suddenly, in spite of what the word "collapse" implies, said a statement by the university announcing its report. "The fastest scenario is 200 years, and the longest is more than 1,000 years."
The statement said university scientists used detailed maps and computer models to reach their conclusion "that a collapse appears to have already begun."
"Scientists have been warning of its collapse, based on theories, but with few firm predictions or timelines," the statement said.
The new projections of sea-level rise by both studies are higher and potentially more devastating than earlier projections by international scientists who authored an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report last year and U.S. scientists who wrote the federal government's National Climate Assessment, which was issued this month.
The findings probably will force the IPCC to increase its current estimate of up to three feet of sea-level rise by 2100, said Sridhar Anandakrishnan, a professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University.
The IPCC bases its results on reviews of earlier studies, and the recent observations on polar ice "are only now starting to come together," said Anandakrishnan, who was not involved in the NASA study.
Tom Wagner, cryosphere program scientist at NASA's Earth Science Division in Washington, said this is not the first time scientists have said West Antarctica ice will collapse.
"That idea that this is unstoppable has been around since the 1970s," Wagner said.
"We've finally hit this point where we have enough observation to put this together" and say it is happening.
Earlier projections of a collapse are one reason scientists criticized some IPCC projections as overly conservative.
In the National Climate Assessment, released last week, scientists already predicted a harsh scenario for the Chesapeake Bay. "As sea levels rise," they said, "the Chesapeake Bay region is expected to experience an increase in coastal flooding and drowning of . . . wetlands" that protect against storm surge.
Sea-level rise would be made worse because the land is sinking in the lower bay region because of ancient geological forces.
NASA spots worrisome Antarctic ice sheet melt
The Associated Press
The huge West Antarctic ice sheet is starting a glacially slow collapse in an unstoppable way, two new studies show. Alarmed scientists say that means even more sea level rise than they figured.
The worrisome outcomes won't be seen soon. Scientists are talking hundreds of years, but over that time the melt that has started could eventually add 4 to 12 feet to current sea levels.
A NASA study looking at 40 years of ground, airplane and satellite data of what researchers call "the weak underbelly of West Antarctica" shows the melt is happening faster than scientists had predicted, crossing a critical threshold that has begun a domino-like process.
"It does seem to be happening quickly," said University of Washington glaciologist Ian Joughin, lead author of one study. "We really are witnessing the beginning stages."
It's likely because of man-made global warming and the ozone hole which have changed the Antarctic winds and warmed the water that eats away at the feet of the ice, researchers said at a NASA news conference Monday.
"The system is in sort of a chain reaction that is unstoppable," said NASA glaciologist Eric Rignot, chief author of the NASA study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. "Every process in this reaction is feeding the next one."
Curbing emissions from fossil fuels to slow climate change will probably not halt the melting but it could slow the speed of the problem, Rignot said.
Rignot, who also is a scientist at the University of California Irvine, and other scientists said the "grounding line" which could be considered a dam that stops glacier retreat has essentially been breached. The only thing that could stop the retreat in this low-altitude region is a mountain or hill and there is none. Another way to think of it is like wine flowing from a horizontal uncorked bottle, he said.
Rignot looked at six glaciers in the region with special concentration on the Thwaites glacier, about the size of New Mexico and Arizona combined. Thwaites is so connected to the other glaciers that it helps trigger loss elsewhere, said Joughin, whose study was released Monday by the journal Science.
Joughin's study uses computer simulations and concludes "the early-stage collapse has begun." Rignot, who used data that showed a speed up of melt since the 1990s, said the word "collapse" may imply too fast a loss, it would be more the start of a slow-motion collapse and "we can't stop it."
Several outside experts in Antarctica praised the work and said they too were worried.
"It's bad news. It's a game changer," said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, who wasn't part of either study. "We thought we had a while to wait and see. We've started down a process that we always said was the biggest worry and biggest risk from West Antarctica."
The Rignot study sees eventually 4 feet (1.2 meters) of sea level rise from the melt. But it could trigger neighboring ice sheet loss that could mean a total of 10 to 12 feet of sea level rise, the study in Science said, and Rignot agreed.
The recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change don't include melt from West Antarctic or Greenland in their projections and this would mean far more sea level rise, said Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University. That means sea level rise by the year 2100 is likely to be about three feet, he said.
Even while the West Antarctic ice sheet is melting, the much larger East Antarctic ice sheet seems stable because it is cooler, Scambos said.
Climate change studies show Antarctica is a complicated continent in how it reacts. For example, just last month Antarctic sea ice levels — not the ice on the continent — reached a record in how far they extended. That has little or no relation to the larger more crucial ice sheet, Scambos and other scientists say.
Mission Status Center
Stephen Clark – Spaceflight Now
An international team of astronauts will strap into a Russian Soyuz descent capsule Tuesday and fly back to Earth to conclude a 188-day expedition on the International Space Station.
With veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin at the controls, the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft will shepherd the three-man crew through the perils of a scorching re-entry through the atmosphere before descending under parachute to touchdown in Kazakhstan.
Tyurin will be joined by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, the outgoing commander of the Expedition 39 mission on the space station, and NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio.
Wakata handed over command of the 450-ton orbiting research laboratory to NASA astronaut Steve Swanson on Monday.
"What an exciting time we shared in this increment, and congratulations to the entire team on their remarkable achievement," Wakata said Monday during a change-of-command ceremony.
"I had the honor of serving as commander, which was an incredible opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and experience in managing this complex outpost of humans in space, and I couldn't have done this job without the superb performance of my fellow crew mates and their great teamwork."
Wakata was the first Japanese astronaut to command a human space mission.
The Expedition 40 crew formally takes over the space station with the undocking of Wakata's crew Tuesday. Led by Swanson, Expedition 40 includes Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev.
Once the departing crew floats into the Soyuz spacecraft, hatches between the capsule and the space station are scheduled to be closed at 1915 GMT (3:15 p.m. EDT) Tuesday.
The crew will buckle into their custom-molded consoles -- with Tyurin manning the center seat as commander, Mastracchio in the left seat as board engineer, and Wakata in the right seat.
Undocking is set for 2236 GMT Tuesday (6:36 p.m. EDT), followed by a burn of the Soyuz rocket thrusters at 0104 GMT (9:04 p.m. EDT) to slow the craft's velocity enough to fall back into the atmosphere.
The spacecraft's propulsion and orbital habitation modules will jettison from the landing section, where the three-man crew will be positioned for the computer-controlled re-entry, at 0132 GMT (9:32 p.m. EDT).
Touchdown southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan is scheduled for 0158 GMT (9:58 p.m. EDT), or 7:58 a.m. Wednesday at the landing site.
Swanson, Skvortsov and Artemyev will be joined by three fresh crew mates May 28, when Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman and European Space Agency flight engineer Alexander Gerst launch to the space station
EaglePicher batteries chalk up 2 billion cell hours in space
Wally Kennedy – The Joplin (MO) Globe
The clock has been ticking since 1958 when the United States entered the "Space Race'' by launching the Explorer 1 satellite. That's when the first EaglePicher Technologies batteries went into space.
EaglePicher has since then monitored all of its batteries that have gone into space.
At 11:32 p.m. Sunday, EaglePicher logged 2 billion cell hours in space without a mission failure.
"Since the beginning of the space program, we have maintained a running list of programs that have involved our batteries," said Ron Nowlin, vice president and general manager of EaglePicher's aerospace systems. "It used to be done manually before we converted to computers.
"It is an extraordinary achievement — 2 billion cell hours. There's not anyone who can get close to that. We have about 450 active satellites, the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station.
"Because of that, the gap between 1 billion cell hours and 2 billion cells hours was a lot easier to close than the first billion,'' he said. "We've been able to do that because we have never had a mission prematurely aborted for a battery failure.''
Nowlin said EaglePicher's batteries often outlast the life of the mission itself. In some instances, batteries that were designed for missions that lasted five to seven years have actually lasted 15 to 18 years.One of EaglePicher's most notable space moments occurred in 1970 when fuel cells onboard the Apollo 13 spacecraft failed. The company's silver-zinc batteries provided power for the life support and guidance control systems that returned the astronauts safely to Earth.
EaglePicher is experiencing a shift in the market to one in which there has been an significant increase in commercial satellites and a smaller increase in defense and government contracts.
The technology is changing, too. Early satellites relied on nickel-hydrogen batteries. The new frontier is lithium-ion technologies.
"From this point going forward, it will be lithium-ion. It's a significant shift,'' Nowlin said. "We have several different battery chemistries that could be in our future, but the focus will be on improvement of lithium-ion technology. It takes a long time for the adoption of a new technology in the space market.''
EaglePicher will celebrate the 2 billion cell hours achievement on May 30 at the 30th annual National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
EaglePicher Technologies, based in Joplin, is a leading supplier of specialty batteries and energy-storage solutions for the defense, aerospace, medical, commercial and grid energy storage markets.
Russian Space Station Module Delivery Delayed Again
Matthew Bodner – The Moscow Times
A significant contribution to the International Space Station, Russia's Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module, will not be delivered to the orbital outpost before 2017, nearly 10 years past its intended launch date.
Engineers at RSC Energia — the Russian state-owned company responsible for building Russia's manned space vehicles — were working on the module when they discovered debris in the engines, Interfax reported on Monday, citing a source in the Russian space industry. The model was scheduled for flight this year.
The Council of Chief Designers, a senior body of Russian engineers responsible for the Russian segment of ISS, has concluded that the extensive nature of the repair and recertification process all but rule out the delivery of the module to the space station prior to 2017.
Federal Space Agency chief Oleg Ostapenko said that a meeting will be held at the end of May to finalize the repair plans for the module, but added that it is "too early to talk about timing," Interfax reported.
The delay marks the latest development in the ongoing saga of the module, designated Nauka — the Russian word for science. Although the current design for the module was finalized in 2004 and slated for launch in 2007, a series of setbacks over the years had pushed the module's flight back to 2014.
The module includes a propulsion system to help control the of the station, provide additional storage space and fuel tanks and would add extra parking space for the Soyuz and Progress spacecraft that routinely ferry crews and cargo to the orbiting outpost.
The ongoing difficulties faced by Nauka also present questions regarding the fate of a long awaiting European contribution to ISS — the European Robotic Arm — which was designed to be fitted on the exterior of the module.
The arm has been completed and awaiting launch since 2005, pending the delivery of Nauka to the space station.
Commercial Crew Needs Competition
Paul Werbos, Dale Skran – Space News
The SpaceNews editorial "A Feckless Blame Game on ISS Crew Access" [April 14, page 18] defends NASA's Commercial Crew Program against disingenuous attacks by its congressional opponents. We support many of the points made in the editorial, especially the assertion that the failure of Congress to fully fund Commercial Crew as requested by the White House is the major reason for delays in the date Americans can start flying on American rockets to the international space station. However, we take issue with the suggestion that a down-select to a single Commercial Crew provider is desirable.
We strongly recommend that the following considerations guide the Commercial Crew Program:
- A minimum of two complete, technologically independent commercial crew systems should be brought to operational status. Commercial Crew can only be fully successful with real competition between multiple U.S.-based service providers.
- The value of Commercial Crew lies not just in providing the means of transporting astronauts to the ISS without relying on Russian spacecraft, but also in significantly strengthening the U.S. commercial orbital access industry.
There has long been a strain of criticism in Congress that calls for an immediate down-select in Commercial Crew to a single contractor in the name of saving money and moving forward more rapidly. Traditionally, NASA has run "competitive" procurement processes in which a number of proposals are considered, and then one is chosen to be developed into a flight article. This approach, although a reasonable one for experimental or some operational vehicles, is not the best approach for building a new industry.
The traditional NASA approach has the effect of the system or service ultimately being supplied by a single "monopoly" vehicle from a single vendor, and provides no competition that would work to lower costs over time. Commercial Crew, like the Commercial Resupply Services program, is intended to create a situation in which NASA has multiple, independent methods of transportation to and from the ISS. Two fully independent U.S.-based providers combined with occasional use of the Russian Soyuz would be the minimum system to put real competitive pressures on all vendors.
A highly desirable characteristic of a fully successful Commercial Crew Program is the operational availability of two technologically and financially independent solutions. For example, selecting the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser/Atlas 5 and the Boeing CST-100/Atlas 5 introduces a single point of failure, the Atlas 5. It would be equally risky to select as the two solutions the Dream Chaser/Falcon 9 and the SpaceX Dragon/Falcon 9 for the same reason.
In the approved 2014 budget, language exists holding back $171 million of the allocated Commercial Crew funding until the NASA administrator certifies an independent cost-benefit analysis of the program. It should be noted that this level of scrutiny — an independent cost-benefit analysis — is not being applied to other NASA programs such as the Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule.
It is possible to alter the outcome of a cost-benefit analysis via careful selection of underlying assumptions. In the case of a cost-benefit analysis of Commercial Crew, key areas to consider are the operational lifetime of the ISS, the probability that the ISS will be followed by a similar base in low Earth orbit, and the crew size of the ISS.
The Obama administration is proposing an ISS extension for an additional four years, meaning that the anticipated Commercial Crew operations would be extended to 2024. It is very likely, and indeed highly desirable, that the life of the ISS will be extended well beyond this date. NASA has certified that an extension to 2028, an additional four years beyond that just proposed, is possible without major efforts.
The Chinese have announced that their large China Space Station will become operational in the 2020-2024 time frame, and they are currently seeking international partners. It is difficult to imagine that the United States will at just that moment deorbit the ISS, abandoning space research in low Earth orbit to the Chinese.
Thus all analysis of Commercial Crew value should be based on the realistic assumption that: the ISS lifetime is significantly extended beyond 2020; the ISS is replaced with a follow-on U.S./international/commercial station; and/or Commercial Crew vehicles will continue to be used to transport crew to low Earth orbit in support of other future NASA projects, such as assembly of a Mars ship from multiple launches. In all of these scenarios, low-cost, specialized and reliable transport of crew to low Earth orbit will be of continuing value to NASA.
The current size of the ISS crew is limited to six, since only two Soyuz "lifeboats" can dock to the ISS at the same time, and each Soyuz can carry only three astronauts. The introduction of Commercial Crew vehicles that can carry up to seven astronauts allows for expansion of the ISS capabilities to support a crew of up to 14.
Even the use of a single Commercial Crew vehicle would allow for an expansion from six to seven, something that would significantly increase the scientific return from the ISS. The ISS can accommodate one additional long-term crew member with minimal effort.
The ISS also can accommodate multiweek "surges" of additional crew members, as was demonstrated during the shuttle program. Thus, Commercial Crew vehicles could expand the output of the ISS by periodically allowing teams of, for example, five scientists accompanied by two crew members, to live on the ISS for weeks at a time. It is expected that expansion to a permanent crew of 14 might require additional facilities to be added to the ISS. Finally, it should be noted that the number of astronauts on the Commercial Crew vehicles significantly affects the cost per seat. Arbitrary limits of, for example, four astronauts per vehicle artificially increase the cost per seat by a large factor.
The Commercial Crew Program offers the potential to build the foundation for a true private crewed orbital access industry. In the past, the U.S. government has supported the development of new industries in various ways, ranging from federal airmail contracts supporting early aviation to current nanotechnology research centers. The crewed orbital access industry involves not just space tourism but also satellite repair and refueling, industrial research and private commercial space stations. Commercial Crew is a key enabler of this new industry, and can significantly contribute to strengthening the larger U.S. space access industry, which has vast potential for the creation of large numbers of well-paying American jobs.
Strong industries must have competition. A major advantage of the nature of the Commercial Crew Program is that the competitive environment keeps costs low and forces each competitor to seek other markets for its solution. But the development of alternative markets is also related to the timely success of the Commercial Crew Program. Companies such as Bigelow Aerospace have flown multiple orbital test vehicles to demonstrate some of the technologies that they are planning to deploy to create inflatable private space stations. At one point, delays in the readiness of Commercial Crew vehicles led Bigelow to lay off a substantial portion of its workforce to conserve capital. Although Bigelow has since won a contract to attach an inflatable module to the ISS, its commercial space station plans remain in a holding pattern until the Commercial Crew Program moves to operational status.
We strongly endorse the $848 million 2015 NASA budget request for Commercial Crew, along with the $250 million supplemental request. At a time when the availability of the Russian-supplied Soyuz is being increasingly questioned, we need to move Commercial Crew to the top of NASA's priority list.
Building a bridge to space solar power for terrestrial use
David Dunlop and Al Anzaldua – The Space Review
Geoffrey Landis is quoted as saying that "electrical power [produced and utilized] in space has an effective price tag that is 10,000 times the price of power on the ground."1 If we were to beam such power to ground-based rectennas connected to an electrical grid, the price would climb further. In a 2004 paper, Arthur Smith cites NASA contract figures as the basis of a $20,000,000 per kilowatt capital cost on the International Space Station.2 The $600 per kilowatt-hour electrical consumption cost on the ISS is compared with $0.036 for coal fired plants and $0.05 for natural gas.3 He also lays out comparative cost data for a range of power production technologies and factors that must be addressed in reducing the great disparity between space solar power today and other terrestrial supply options. Commercial baseload price around the world may vary from single digit cents per kilowatt-hour to several tens of cents per hour on spot markets during times of peak demand. Paul Werbos, in a 2013 IEEE Space Solar Power Workshop presentation, has projected that a cost of $0.09 per kilowatt-hour would be needed for space solar power to supplant other technologies for commercial baseload electrical supplies.
Bridging the enormous gap between the current cost of ground-based power (GBP) and space-based solar power (SBSP) for either space or terrestrial use is a big challenge for advocates of space solar power. On one hand, harnessing the power of the Sun to provide a virtually limitless source of usable energy for civilization is the "Pot-o-Gold at the End of the Rainbow" for this community. On the other hand, one can hardly blame skeptics for questioning the potential of trying to sell something presently ten thousand times more expensive in space than on Earth. One can see why advocating for space solar power has been right up there with catching leprechauns, and why it has been difficult to convince Congress to support research and development for SBSP.
Competitive technology and the need for a bridge
Another potential source for clean power is from commercial fusion, and Arthur Smith describes the ITER (formerly International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) research program at a projected capital cost of $40,000 per kilowatt and a consumption cost of $4.70 per kilowatt-hour. The ITER program capital cost is some 26 times the cost per kilowatt of a coal-powered plant, while the cost per kilowatt-hour is over 130 times that for coal. But even with this comparative disparity between the commercial market and the projected ITER plant's consumption cost, there has been long-term international support for nuclear fusion power research. Can we make a convincing case for developing SBSP for terrestrial use? Smith says, "But three to four orders of magnitude [improvement in cost efficiency] is a very large extrapolation, and it will only be believable if we can build a number of intermediate demonstrations to prove these reductions are achievable."
Human civilization's continued existence is not sustainable on a small crowded planet whose environment is being degraded by fossil fuel power generation and the demands of a growing population with rising expectations and finite resources. The mid- to long-term perspective for sustaining civilization calls for what many would see as "miracles" of technology. There are also many prophets of doom. Yet abundant power for all is the practical goal for space solar power advocates. So against this immense gulf between SBSP for terrestrial use and GBP, the prospects are grim—if we don't solve the problem of relative costs between the two types of systems. On the other hand, the rewards are uncountable if we do.
Getting the costs of power in space down by several orders of magnitude is a tall order. Indeed, studies of the feasibility of space solar power as was first proposed by Dr. Peter Glaser have shown SBSP to be economically unfeasible.6,7 More recently, some hope has been provided by the First International Assessment of Space Solar Power, which suggested that the development of this power technology to supply baseload electrical power might be done within the span of two to three decades.
A bridge of affordable development options is needed to get from what it would cost to produce terrestrial power from space today to producing power at commercial baseload prices on Earth. To begin, we can do some things that are modest and affordable on the ground, which could also lay groundwork for SBSP. We can also do some things that are less modest but still affordable in space to the same effect.
SBSP as a "green" solution?
The promise of "clean" power from solar power satellites makes this a "green solution" to the energy supply problems. But is it? Environmental skeptics of large technological projects have often acted to obstruct such efforts and to demand evidence that the purported solutions to energy production are, in fact, benign to the environment. More specifically, wireless power beaming skeptics are likely to advocate for environmental demonstrations based on long-term studies of the impact of power rectennas over agricultural and natural environment test areas.
Long-duration microwave trials should address environmental questions about the environmental impact of rectenna systems in a variety of environmental settings. Diverse locations come to mind: the Mt. Erebus overlook of the McMurdo base in Antarctica, the China Lake Naval Research Station in the Mojave Desert in California, or even the Thule Air Force Base in Greenland, where a mountain radar installation overlooks the base. These suggested settings are remote and therefore not susceptible to the not-in-my-back-yard (NIMBY) reactions in more populated areas, and they are on restricted, federally-operated facilities. These demonstrations need, however, to be open, transparent, and peer-reviewed environmental studies so that results are credible and well publicized.
Humanitarian opportunities to develop and refine beamed power
The cost of power connected to disaster-relief supply chains for refugees in remote areas may range from $2 to $3 per kilowatt-hour, some 40 to 60 times commercial baseload power prices.9 Nature and war provide a "conveyor belt" of natural disasters affecting tens of millions of people each year, with transitional power needs lasting several months to years. Associated disaster-relief supply chains may provide early demonstration targets for SBSP microwave beaming that would also be widely supported by the international community.
Another opportunity connected to disaster relief might involve using beamed power transmitted from an offshore ship (as one example) to an aerostat, with retransmission far inland where no power is available. This over-the-horizon wireless power beaming (OTHWPB) could be a way to utilize and mature power-beaming technology that bypasses insecure and expensive GBP. The devastating hurricane in the Philippines in November of 2013 was an example of where this type of beamed power generation could have served humanitarian needs. OTHWPB would not only demonstrate technology for delivering electrical power at a high cost per kilowatt-hour in time-critical situations for disaster and refugee relief, it would also address safe-use concerns and build on the international support that the UN Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (SPIDER) program has garnered by obtaining space-based imagery of post disaster conditions from Earth observations satellites.10 OTHWBP technology developed on Earth could later be used for point-to-point microwave or laser power supply on the Moon, where high altitude peaks in constant sunlight might provide transmission points to lower elevations in permanently shadowed regions where frozen volatiles could be mined and recovered.
Even a small space solar power demonstrator satellite linked to a terrestrial antenna would be an expensive proposition. However, one evolutionary step could be to build a multipurpose geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) demonstrator platform that could function as a large transponder farm for radio and TV broadcasts, a site for large reception dishes to receive and relay cell phone signals for millions of paying users, a site for refurbishing dead satellites and utilizing space debris as on-orbit construction material for the site itself, and a site to provide and engage with an array of standardized energy collection and transmission modules as suggested in the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) 2012 study.
This last function would involve setting up the manufacturing and supply chain for SBSP modules. It would also provide a testbed to optimize efficiencies and reduce costs to levels more in keeping with GBP. Even so, the economic rationale for an energy collection and transmission platform would be more acceptable if it, in its early phases, targeted its power-beaming demonstrations at the very high cost ground niche markets for disaster relief and refugee support, rather than at commercial baseload ground markets.
John C. Mankins' hyper-modular, scalable SPS-ALPHA concept
In 2012, John C. Mankins produced a final report for the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program that detailed a scalable, hyper-modular solar power satellite (SPS) concept, which could possibly lead to SBSP for terrestrial use at a cost close to the cost of commercial GPB. Mankins calls his concept SPS-ALPHA, for "Solar Power Satellite by means of Arbitrarily Large Phased Array."12 To deliver energy to Earth, SPS-ALPHA would typically be based in GEO, where it would intercept sunlight using a collection of individually pointed thin-film mirrors, convert that sunlight across a large radio frequency (RF) aperture into a coherent microwave beam, and transmit the power to rectennas on Earth and in space. (See illustrations and tables below.) The aim and phasing of the coherent microwave beam would be induced by a pilot or guide beam from the microwave receiver or rectenna.
SPS-ALPHA incorporates a number of critical new and emerging technologies, including wireless power transmission using retro-directive RF-phased array with high-efficiency solid-state amplifiers; high-efficiency multi-bandgap photo voltaic (PV) solar cells, employed in a concentrator PV architecture with integrated thermal management; lightweight structural components, applied in various systems and subsystems;13 autonomous robotics in a highly structured environment; and a high-degree of autonomy among individual modules.
Table 7-16 from the report, reproduced below, shows a hypothetical cost for electricity on the ground at approximately $0.09 per kilowatt-hour with a system delivering 2,000 megawatts, enough for approximately 600 homes in the United States. Mankins anticipates that system costs would be driven down by the standardization and increasingly effective mass production of only eight lightweight modules and parts. Decreasing launch costs by "NewSpace" companies, such as SpaceX, would further drive down costs. As presented in this NIAC report, the system could be scaled up and replicated to provide 100 gigawatts, enough for 30 million homes. In many other countries of the world, 100 gigawatts would provide electricity for a much higher number of homes. Although the full capacity of SPS-ALPHA to provide terrestrial power is not given in the report, it appears that the system's ability to scale up incrementally and be replicated is formidable and will likely only be limited by production schedules and the number of GEO positions ultimately available to solar power satellites.
How NASA Scientists Created an International Space Orchestra
What do you get when you combine brilliant space scientists with musical instruments? Why, an International Space Opera, of course.
The International Space Orchestra (ISO) is the brainchild of French director Nelly Ben Hayoun, who has the colorful title "designer of experiences" at the SETI Institute (short for Search for Extraterrestrial Life) in Mountain View, Calif.
"If you want to engage the public with [space science], you can't really do that with a poster," Ben Hayoun told an audience at the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas in March.
In the summer of 2012, Ben Hayoun assembled the orchestra using scientists from the NASA Ames Research Center, SETI Institute, Singularity University and the International Space University joined forces. They performed "Ground Control: An Opera in Space," a 27-minuted musical extravaganza that reenacted the drama of NASA's mission control during the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
Ben Hayoun directed and produced the space opera, which features NASA Flight Director for the LCROSS and LADEE moon missions Rusty Hunt playing baritone saxophone, NASA Ames Deputy Director Lewis Braxton on the gong and NASA astronaut Yvonne Cagle on percussion.
The ISO had their first performance in front of the world's largest wind tunnel at NASA Ames on Sept. 6, 2012. Their second performance took place in San Jose during the ZERO1 Biennial, a showcase of work at the nexus of art and technology.
The scientists were joined by musical talent Damon Albarn, frontman for the bands Blur and Gorillaz, singer-songwriter Bobby Womack and the famous Japanese art group Maywa Denki, with original music by the band Penguin Café's Arthur Jeffes and lyrics by science fiction author Bruce Sterling and writer Jasmina Tesanovic.
Later, Ben Hayoun made a feature film about the orchestra, because otherwise, "nobody would believe that it happened," she said. She filmed the space opera at George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch, where "Star Wars" was developed.
In January 2013, the film premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and launched a world tour.
"They're never going to be the philharmonic, but that's not the point," one person interviewed in the film observed.
The orchestra performed with the singer Beck at San Francisco's Davies Symphony Hall in May 2013, in front of 2,700 people. An mp3 recording of the orchestra was launched to the International Space Station on two satellites in August 2013, which were later released into orbit.
Prominent NASA and SETI scientists have given public talks about the missions that inspired the space opera, among them NASA Ames chief scientist Jacob Cohen, Kepler mission manager Roger Hunter and Director of SETI Research Gerry Harp.
At South by Southwest, Tesanovic praised Ben Hayoun for having the courage to pursue the space orchestra.
"She's doing dangerous stuff," Tesanovic said. "She's just a young girl, and she's telling 80-year-olds what to do."
Ben Hayoun's enthusiasm for space didn't end with the International Space Orchestra. She is currently pursuing informal astronaut training, and her next project is a film called "Disaster Playground" about potential space catastrophes, such as an asteroid impact, and the emergency procedures for handling them.
Profile | John Thornton, Chief Executive, Astrobotic Technology
Irene Klotz – Space News
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology, a spinoff from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, is one of the leading contenders in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, which pledges $20 million to the first team that lands a privately funded spacecraft on the surface of the Moon by Dec. 31, 2015. The winning entry also must traverse at least 500 meters of lunar landscape and transmit high-definition video back to Earth. Additional funds will be awarded for bonus achievements, including taking pictures of historic artifacts and driving 5 kilometers.
But winning is beside the point, says Astrobotic Chief Executive John Thornton. The company's X Prize flight, slated for October 2015 aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9 rocket, is the first of three planned missions to the lunar surface to provide commercial services for a variety of business, research, government, educational and marketing customers.
"Our business model does not depend on winning the prize," Thornton said.
Astrobotic is one of two contenders recently selected as finalists in a trio of supplemental Google Lunar X Prize competitions, with prizes totaling $6 million. The additional awards, dubbed Milestone Prizes, are intended to help teams demonstrate particular technical achievements prior to launching to the Moon. Three other teams were selected to compete in one or two of the supplemental competitions.
Thornton spoke recently with SpaceNews correspondent Irene Klotz about progress Astrobotic is making toward its flight next year and its plans into the future.
You recently completed a test flight of your lander's guidance system on a Masten Space Systems Xombie vehicle. When is the next test?
All I can say is it's going to happen within the next two months. We're contractually obligated to not give specific dates on that. The way the system works is that we're flying Masten's lander — we are essentially like the astronaut-in-a-box that is controlling their lander. We have the guidance system onboard, we have the cameras and the lasers that are looking down at the terrain and looking for hazards, and we're telling the spacecraft where a safe landing is and how to get there.
Where do you plan to land on the Moon?
Lacus Mortis, which is the "Lake of Death." There's a pit there and it's the only one known that has a collapsed wall ramp that you can potentially drive down and potentially get inside of the cave.
Why visit a cave?
We see that there's a huge potential at these caves and pits for future human use. The only way we're going to go and do that is if we go up-close and discover it and explore it and see what it's about, see if you can get inside. I think robots are going to do that first, and it just makes sense to go there first.
There are some payloads that have interest in the caves, and potentially going in and exploring, but I'll let those groups talk about that when we make those deals public.
I'm assuming that's not near any of the lunar historic sites, so you're bypassing that part of the X Prize offering?
That is correct.
What do you intend to do for your mobility requirement?
We land on the surface and then we deploy a rover. The rover drives 500 meters, and ultimately drives 5 kilometers to win the X Prize distance prize, the bonus prize.
You've already announced several commercial customers that will be flying on your first mission. Are you also planning to fly other X Prize contenders?
We have agreements with other teams where we will land on the surface, deploy all the rovers and then at one point we'll raise the green flag and everyone will drive 500 meters as fast as they can. Whoever wins, wins the glory of the prize.
There is a second prize to the X Prize, and there are also some prizes that you can't win if you only have just two teams. There are milestone prizes, for example, that you can add to the pot, so flying more teams actually enables all the teams to be successful together.
So it's possible that you wouldn't win first prize even though you got everybody there.
Our goal is to fly payloads to the surface of the Moon, regularly and continuously into the future. The first mission is just a sample of that. Our business model does not depend on winning the prize. Bringing other teams with us is a big part of what we're doing. I actually think it's going to be exponentially more exciting every time we add another team, especially if it's from another nation because then you've got nations from around the world that are watching live, real-time from the Moon as the excitement is unfolding.
Can you give me a rough idea of the number of X Prize contenders you think might be flying with you?
We can't talk about that publicly, not yet at least. It's very likely that we'll fly with four X Prize teams, including ours.
Whom do you consider your closest competitor for the Google Lunar X Prize?
Well, you'd probably have to pick Moon Express, because they were the only other team that got picked in all three categories for the $6 million in preflight Milestone Prizes added to the competition late last year.
How do you differentiate yourself from Moon Express? I understand they have some similar objectives as far as a business plan.
Yeah, they are very similar. We have a much lower price point for payloads. We have a much higher capacity. Moon Express flies as a secondary payload on a launch vehicle, and we fly as a primary, so that means we control the schedule, we control the technical requirements to fly, and we can provide a lot more flexibility to customers to fly with us.
You've procured a Falcon 9 rocket launch for your first lunar mission. Do you have a launch date?
We're planning on October 2015.
Why not any sooner?
Well, it takes time to develop the capability, develop the technology and build the spacecraft. There's a lot more stuff to be done between now and then. Our rover will be about 25 kilograms, and a full payload would be about 270 kilograms of mass. We certainly don't have to fill that to fly the first mission.
Did you look at any other launchers or is the pricing on the Falcon 9 the only one that was in the ballpark of this initial mission?
The Falcon 9 does have a great pricing structure and they were also offering a discount to X Prize teams — a 10 percent discount. Their price and performance are right for our mission and we're very happy with SpaceX. The Falcon 9 upper stage kicks us into translunar injection. From there, our spacecraft takes over.
What are you using for a propulsion system?
We're in final discussions with partners now. We haven't yet made that public.
Where will you be controlling the spacecraft from?
We'll have a mission control center in Florida — the mission will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station — and then we'll hand off to Pittsburgh and will do missions operations from there.
How does this endeavor compare with what Astrobotic has done previously?
This is by far the most ambitious mission we've done. Before this, we've had 15 NASA contracts of various technology developments, but nothing to this scale and obviously nothing to the Moon. This is certainly a big, exciting step for us.
How many employees do you have now?
We're at 14 and hiring five more.
What other missions are you planning?
The first one goes in 2015. The second is in 2018, and it lands at the pole of the Moon and drills for water. We're in hot competition for NASA payload that wants to fly and land there, the Resource Prospector [formerly RESOLVE]. A third mission would go in 2020.
Why did you embark on lunar flight and support services as a business venture?
We recognize that there's a large, unserved market for small payloads that want to fly. These are payloads that can't afford their own launch vehicles, they can't afford to build their own lander or spacecraft, but they still want to do meaningful things in space and on the Moon. There are many, many, many people around the world who have the means and have the desires to do these things, but they don't have a platform. We want to make the Moon as close as the next continent.
NASA's bold plan: Landing people on asteroids
Jethro Mullen - CNN
This isn't a real-life recreation of "Armageddon." There's no clear and present threat to Earth.
But NASA says it's working on plans to send astronauts into space to land on an asteroid.
The NASA mission isn't planned to take place until the 2020s. That isn't stopping astronauts from simulating an asteroid landing in a 40-foot-deep swimming pool at a Space Center in Houston.
"We're working on the techniques and tools we might use someday to explore a small asteroid that was captured from an orbit around the sun and brought back by a robotic spacecraft to orbit around the moon," said Stan Love, one of the astronauts participating in the tests.
Testing tools
"When it's there, we can send people there to take samples and take a look at it up close," he said. "That's our main task; we're looking at tools we'd use for that, how we'd take those samples."
Love and his colleague Steve Bowen, who between them have clocked up more than 62 hours on real spacewalks, took a dip in the swimming pool at NASA's Johnson Space Center last week to practice climbing out of a mockup of the Orion spacecraft onto a fake asteroid.
Being underwater creates the lack of gravity that allows astronauts to practice walking in space.
The two men were working with engineers to try out tools that might be used, like a pneumatic hammer, as well as the type of spacesuit that might be worn on the asteroid.
Searching for targets
NASA says it's already trying to pick out an asteroid that a robotic mission could reach, capture and bring into an orbit around the moon. Astronauts would then travel on the Orion spacecraft to explore the asteroid and collect samples.
Material from the asteroid's core could contain information about the age and formation of the solar system.
The agency says the approach "makes good use of capabilities NASA already has, while also advancing a number of technologies needed for longer-term plans: sending humans to Mars in the 2030s."
Russia Endorses Deal on Space Cooperation with Cuba
RIA Novosti
A commission on legislative drafting has approved the ratification of an agreement with Cuba on cooperation in research and cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, the Russian government website said on Tuesday.
"This is a framework agreement, defining necessary principles, norms and conditions for developing bilateral relations in the sphere of space activity, including in protection of intellectual property rights, information exchange and data protection," the government said in a statement.
The commission says the agreement is in the best interests of Russia, including the installation of Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) on the territory of the Republic of Cuba. The document will be considered at government session.
The Global Navigation Satellite System, which began operation in 1993, is a Russian equivalent of the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The GLONASS network provides real-time positioning and speed data for surface, sea and airborne objects. Its accuracy is expected to be boosted to one meter (three feet) when used within Russia by the end of the year.
By 2020, Glonass should reach a global positioning accuracy of 60 cm.
The Cabinet of Ministers said the agreement with Cuba needs to be ratified as it contains "other rules" than those defined by the country's legislation.
The first overseas GLONASS ground station for differential correction and monitoring was launched in Brazil in February 2013.
Russia plans to build 50 GLONASS stations in several dozen countries across the world.
Last week, the Russian government approved bills to ratify space cooperation agreements with Nicaragua and Vietnam, which, among other things envisage the construction of ground stations for GLONASS.
Moscow to ban US from using Russian rocket engines for military launches
Russia Today
Moscow is banning Washington from using Russian-made rocket engines, which the US has used to deliver its military satellites into orbit, said Russia's Deputy PM, Dmitry Rogozin, who is in charge of space and defense industries.
According to Rogozin, Russia is also halting the operation of all American GPS stations on its territory from June 1.
Russia currently hosts 11 ground-based GPS stations, the Deputy PM said.
The move comes after the US refused to place a signal correction station for Russia's own space-based satellite navigation system, GLONASS, on American territory, he explained.
END
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