| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- The May Orion Trivia Contest Winner is...
- Learn About Osteoporosis in This Video
- New NASA@work Challenge: Make Your Vote Count - Organizations/Social
- Beginners Ballroom Dance: Early Reg. Ends May 16 - Jobs and Training
- Sign Up for HHP Acoustics Lab Tour Friday
- ISS EDMS User Forum
- RLLS Portal Training for May - Via WebEx
- Particle Count Training ViTS: June 13, AM
- Cleanroom Protocol & Cont. Ctrl ViTS: June 13, PM - Community
- Something for Everyone!
- Midtown/Montrose Carpool to JSC
- Family Space Day at George Observatory - May 17 |  |
| Headlines - The May Orion Trivia Contest Winner is...
The winner of the May Orion Trivia Contest drawing is: Gregg Singer! May Trivia Question: Name the three main elements that make up Orion. * The correct answer: The three main elements of the Orion spacecraft are the Launch Abort System, Crew Module and Service Module. Congratulations to Gregg and thanks to all contest participants. The next trivia contest question will post on the second Tuesday in June. Join the fun. You could be the next winner of the Orion Monthly Trivia Contest! - Learn About Osteoporosis in This Video
Watch this video to learn more about the effects of spaceflight on astronauts' bones, and how research on the International Space Station may help us to combat osteoporosis on Earth. - New NASA@work Challenge: Make Your Vote Count
Are you new to NASA@work? NASA@work is an agencywide, collaborative problem-solving platform that connects the collective knowledge of experts (like YOU) from all centers across NASA. Challenge owners post problems, and members of the NASA@work community participate by responding with their solutions to posted problems. We are over 11,500 strong and growing every day. Visit our website to learn more! Organizations/Social - Beginners Ballroom Dance: Early Reg. Ends May 16
Do you feel like you have two left feet? Well, Starport has the perfect spring program for you: Beginners Ballroom Dance! This eight-week class introduces you to the various types of ballroom dance. Students will learn the secrets of a good lead and following, as well as the ability to identify the beat of the music. This class is easy, and we have fun as we learn. JSC friends and family are welcome. Discounted registration: - $90 per couple (ends May 16)
Regular registration: - $110 per couple (May 17 to May 27)
Two class sessions available: - Tuesdays from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.
- starting May 27 - Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- starting May 29 All classes are taught in the Gilruth Center's dance studio (Group Ex studio). Jobs and Training - Sign Up for HHP Acoustics Lab Tour Friday
Join the Human Systems Academy tour of the HHP Acoustics Lab on Friday, May 16. There will be two tours. The first tour begins at 2 p.m., and the second begins at 3 p.m. Space is limited; please register in SATERN. - ISS EDMS User Forum
The International Space Station (ISS) Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) team will hold the monthly General User Training Forum tomorrow, May 15, at 9:30 a.m. in Building 4S, Conference Room 5315. Lync meeting and telecom will be provided. If you use EDMS to locate station documents, join us to learn about basic navigation and searching. Bring your questions, concerns and suggestions, and meet the EDMS Customer Service team. The agenda is located here. - RLLS Portal Training for May - Via WebEx
The May Monthly RLLS Portal Education Series - Via WebEx Sessions: - May 21 at 2 p.m. CDT, Translation Support Training
- May 22 at 2 p.m. CDT, Physical Logical Access Training
- May 28 at 2 p.m. CDT, Cell Phone Request Training
- May 29 at 2 p.m. CDT, International Space Station Russia Travel Module Training
These 30-minute training sessions are computer-based WebEx sessions, offering individuals the convenience to join from their own workstation. The training will cover the following: - System login
- Locating support modules
- Locating downloadable instructions
- Creating support requests
- Submittal requirements
- Submitting on behalf of another
- Adding attachments
- Selecting special requirements
- Submitting a request
- Status of a request
Ending each session will be opportunities for Q&A. Please remember that TTI will no longer accept requests for U.S.-performed services unless they are submitted through the RLLS Portal. Email or call 281-335-8565 to sign up. - Particle Count Training ViTS: June 13, AM
This course will provide the technician/engineer with the basic skills and knowledge for performing a particle count for determination of particle cleanliness level. A written/practical examination will also be offered. Course content includes: - Review of approved method for manually counting particles using an optical microscope
- Microscope operation and calibration
- Non-microscopic visual identification of particles by shape, size, color and other physical characteristics
- Sampling techniques for particles in gases and liquids
- Filtering techniques for fluids using Millipore apparatus
- Compatibility of filter membranes and their specific uses
- Handling filter membranes, Millipore assembly, performing background determinations and pre-reading of filters prior to sampling
- Use of high-pressure filter assemblies
- Particle counting and data recording
- Statistical analysis
- Use of automatic particle-counting techniques and their limitations.
A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration: - Cleanroom Protocol & Cont. Ctrl ViTS: June 13, PM
This course addresses the operation and use of cleanrooms and the associated cleanroom protocols to minimize contamination. The student will learn how to prevent contamination from spreading to the product or test article in and upon removal from the clean environment. The class will include a discussion of contamination control and cleanroom requirements documents, including SN-C-0005 and ISO 14644. The course discusses the nature and sources of contaminants; monitoring particle and film contamination; cleanroom protocols to prevent the spread of contamination; and contamination-removal methods. Also included are: NASA requirements for cleanliness levels; identification and monitoring of contamination; description and classifications of cleanrooms; personnel and garment protocols in cleanrooms and clean work areas; other do's and don'ts in cleanrooms and clean work areas; and removal methods. A comprehensive test will be offered at the end of the class. Use this direct link for registration. Community - Something for Everyone!
V-CORPs really does have something for everyone—which means YOU! The following Career Days still need someone to come and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, astronauts and Chief Financial Officers: May 28 - Dunn Elementary Career Day June 4 - Northwoods Catholic School Career Day Were you a Cub Scout or Boy Scout? Flaming Arrow Cub Scout Camp is looking for a former scout to talk to campers about your experiences as an engineer. The camp runs from June 24 to 26, and they are willing to take you on any day. (Sign up for June 24 on the V-CORPs calendar.) Do you like reading? Public libraries offer speakers series year round, and they love to hear about SPACE! Check out these two options: June 25 - Out of This World Reading Program at the George & Cynthia Woods Mitchell Public Library July 2 - Pasadena Public Library Talks speaker series: Space Exploration Take a look at all the opportunities coming up in the next few weeks. Go to the V-CORPs homepage and click on the "Current Outreach Opportunities" tile to see a list. Questions? Contact your friendly, neighborhood V-CORPs administrator. - Midtown/Montrose Carpool to JSC
Live near downtown? Interested in carpooling to work at JSC? Come make new friends, save some money and help the environment! Hours are flexible, and immediate carpooling is available. - Family Space Day at George Observatory - May 17
The Expedition Center at the George Observatory Observatory is holding a Family Space Day on Saturday, May 17th, from about 3 to 8 p.m. For purchase are tickets to complete a 45-minute Expedition Center mission to the moon! Expedition Center mission tickets may be purchased for $10 a person online. After enjoying a trip to space, stay for the evening and look at the night sky through our telescopes. Telescope tickets can be purchased at the Observatory gift shop. 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 – May 14, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Rogozin threatens Atlas 5 engine restrictions, ISS lifetime extension
William Harwood - CBS News
Russian-built RD-180 engines that power the first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, used to launch U.S. spy satellites, NASA planetary probes and other high-priority payloads, will no longer be sold for use in U.S. military missions, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister for space and defense, said Tuesday.
NASA downplays Russian's talk on space cooperation
The Associated Press
NASA is downplaying a Russian official's statements about an earlier end to cooperation on the International Space Station because of U.S. sanctions on Moscow.
Soyuz capsule lands as Russian cranks up tension with U.S. over future of International Space Station
The Associated Press
A Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts from the International Space Station landed Wednesday in the steppes of Kazakhstan, several hours after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said his country doesn't intend to use the International Space Station past the year 2020 and that this would effectively exclude the United States from using the orbiting laboratory.
The tug of war between NASA and Russia continues
Katie Zezima – The Washington Post
The tug of war between Russia and the United States over their space programs continues.
We're Not Impressed With Your Space Tantrum, Mr. Putin
Jeffrey Kluger – TIME
An open letter to the Russian leader as his deputy prime minister threatens to ground American astronauts and military satellites
3 astronauts return to Earth
Dmitry Lovetsky – Associated Press
A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts who had spent a half-year aboard the International Space Station landed Wednesday in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Japan's first space station commander and crewmates head home
Irene Klotz – Reuters
The first Japanese to command a space mission and crewmates from the United States and Russia wrapped up a 188-day stay aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday and headed back to Earth.
KSC's future hinges on Space Launch System
James Dean – Florida Today
Kennedy Space Center's future hinges on a rocket and spacecraft NASA is developing to send astronauts beyond Earth's orbit, the center's director said Tuesday.
SLS Structural Test Stands Construction Begins This Month, RS-25 Engine Testing Preps Continue
This month, a year-long construction project to build the structural test stands for NASA's Space Launch System's gigantic core stage will begin at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The stands, one of which will be built on the foundation of the stand where the Saturn-V F-1 engine was tested, will be used to test the largest cryogenic fuel tanks ever used on a rocket to ensure that the huge structures can withstand the incredible stresses the skyscraper-size vehicle will experience during launch.
Community leaders excited by development forecast for the Bay Area
Matt Walker - Houston Chronicle
The Bay Area region will see an increase in industrial expansion, construction, maritime equipment manufacturing and population growth, local economic leaders say.
Fundraisers Expect Green Light from NASA To Recover '70s-Vintage Spacecraft
Dan Leone – Space News
A pair of space geeks quarterbacking an effort to bring a derelict NASA spacecraft back into orbit around Earth expect NASA on May 13 to legally bless their privately funded project to recover and restart the 36 year-old International Sun/Earth Explorer-3.
Russia plans to leave International Space Station by 2020, official says
Suzanne Presto – CNN
Russia said it does not plan to use the International Space Station beyond 2020, casting a shadow on U.S. plans to continue cooperation with the country and extend the life of the orbiting laboratory until at least 2024.
NASA aims to land on, capture asteroids within next 15 years
Russia Today
NASA researchers are at work developing a plan that not only hopes to physically place astronauts on an asteroid for the first time, but also to wrangle a space object and place it in the orbit of the Earth's moon.
COMPLETE STORIES
Rogozin threatens Atlas 5 engine restrictions, ISS lifetime extension
William Harwood - CBS News
Russian-built RD-180 engines that power the first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, used to launch U.S. spy satellites, NASA planetary probes and other high-priority payloads, will no longer be sold for use in U.S. military missions, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister for space and defense, said Tuesday.
In an apparent response to U.S. and European sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea, Rogozin, who is on the U.S. sanctions list, also said Russia has not yet agreed with the Obama administration's decision to operate the International Space Station through at least 2024.
He said any decision to operate the station beyond the previously agreed-on target of 2020 would depend on a cost-benefit analysis, implying extended operations might not be approved. The space station requires both major partners for normal operations and if Russia decided to pull out in 2020, NASA would have little choice but to follow suit.
"We currently project that we'll require the ISS until 2020," he said in comments published by the Interfax news agency. "We need to understand how much profit we're making by using the station, calculate all the expenses and depending on the results decide what to do next."
Turning his attention to other programs, Rogozin said Russia will consider halting operations at 11 ground stations in Russia that are used by U.S. Global Positioning System navigation satellites by Sept. 1 if the United States does not allow similar Russian ground stations on American soil.
In a brief statement, NASA noted a long history of joint U.S.-Russian space endeavors and said "ongoing operations on the ISS continue on a normal basis" with the planned landing of three station fliers Tuesday night aboard a Russian Soyuz ferry craft and launch of three fresh crew members aboard a Russian rocket later this month.
"We have not received any official notification from the Government of Russia on any changes in our space cooperation at this point," the U.S. space agency said.
United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, sells Atlas 5 and Delta 4 rockets to the Air Force and NASA for a wide variety of payloads ranging from high-priority national security satellites to NASA planetary probes.
The Delta 4, designed by Boeing, uses engines built in the United States while Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 relies on the RD-180 for first stage propulsion. The engines are built by NPO Energomash and sold to ULA by AD AMROSS, a partnership between Energomash and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.
ULA's use of the RD-180 in a rocket used to launch critical national security payloads has come under fire in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea and the crisis in Ukraine.
The Air Force has implemented a study to determine the impact on downstream flights if the supply chain is interrupted and SpaceX, which hopes to compete with ULA for lucrative launch contracts, has filed a complaint in federal court challenging a sole-source Air Force contract with ULA and alleging payments to Russia for the RD-180 violate U.S. sanctions.
A temporary injunction barring future purchases of RD-180 hardware was lifted last week after the departments of Treasury, Justice and State submitted letters saying ULA's purchase of the Russian engines was not in violation. But the SpaceX complaint and Rogozin's comments Tuesday have raised fresh questions about the engine's use in the Atlas 5.
ULA currently has 16 RD-180 engines in the United States, a company spokeswoman said, enough for Atlas 5 flights over the next two years or so.
"We proceed from the fact that without guarantees that our engines are used for non-military spacecraft launches only, we won't be able to supply them to the U.S.," Rogozin said in the Interfax report.
As for ULA's inventory of 16 engines already in the United States, Rogozin suggested Russian technicians would not be allowed to service already delivered hardware if military payloads are involved.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, ULA said the company was not aware of any formal restrictions.
"However, if recent news reports are accurate, it affirms that SpaceX's irresponsible actions have created unnecessary distractions, threatened U.S. military satellite operations and undermined our future relationship with the International Space Station," the company said.
"We are hopeful that our two nations will engage in productive conversations over the coming months that will resolve the matter quickly."
The statement said in a worst-case scenario, ULA could move payloads originally manifested on the Atlas 5 to Delta rockets.
"ULA and our Department of Defense customers have always prepared contingency plans in the event of a supply disruption," the company said. "ULA has two launch vehicles that can support all of customers' needs. We also maintain a two-year inventory of engines to enable a smooth transition to our other rocket, Delta, which has all U.S.-produced rocket engines."
Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is a board member on the RD-180 Availability Risk Mitigation Study ordered by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Speaking at a conference last week, Griffin would not discuss the findings of the panel, but he said based on the track record of earlier programs building an alternative to the RD-180 would take five or six years "best case."
If the RD-180 is taken off the table, he said, "there will then be, clearly and obviously, multi-year, multi-billion-dollar delays, and the average payload will be delayed several years."
"It will not be good, and it will not be cheap," he said.
NASA downplays Russian's talk on space cooperation
The Associated Press
NASA is downplaying a Russian official's statements about an earlier end to cooperation on the International Space Station because of U.S. sanctions on Moscow.
Russia deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said Tuesday in tweets and a news conference that American sanctions imposed because of action in Ukraine would boomerang. He tweeted that Russia wouldn't continue cooperating with the United States on the 15-nation International Space Station past 2020, as NASA had hoped. The United States relies on Russian Soyuz capsules to fly to and from the station.
Rogozin also tweeted that crucial Russian rocket engines would only be shipped to the U.S. for non-military purposes.
NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said cooperation in space has been a hallmark of U.S.-Russian relations and the agency has not been notified of any changes.
Soyuz capsule lands as Russian cranks up tension with U.S. over future of International Space Station
The Associated Press
A Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts from the International Space Station landed Wednesday in the steppes of Kazakhstan, several hours after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said his country doesn't intend to use the International Space Station past the year 2020 and that this would effectively exclude the United States from using the orbiting laboratory.
The statement came amid high tensions between Washington and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis and the sanctions imposed by the United States. Rogozin did not draw a direct connection between those tensions and the space station, but said "it is really alarming to us to continue developing major high-technology projects with such an unreliable partner as the U.S., which is politicizing everything," the Interfax news agency reported.
The landing occurred on schedule near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, with the capsule descending under a white parachute. It had undocked from the orbiting laboratory about 420 kilometres above the Earth about three hours earlier.
Aboard the capsule were Russian Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of Japan. They had spent 188 days on the space station.
The astronauts were to be extracted from the capsule and given a brief medical assessment while sitting outdoors in the barren steppe.
Rogozin said that after 2020, Russia would like to redirect the resources now used for manned space flight to other space projects. Those projects were not specified in the reports, but he said the national space agency would be presenting a plan this summer.
Rogozin said the Russian segment of the space station "can exist independently of the American one, but the American segment cannot exist on its own without the Russian one." However, he promised that Russia "will act completely pragmatically and will not place any impediments for work on the ISS."
Since the end of the U.S. space shuttle program, Russian Soyuz spacecraft have been the only way to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.
The deputy premier also said Russia intends to sell rocket engines to the United States only upon guarantees that they will not be used for military purposes.
United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, uses Russian RD-180 engines as the first stage in its Atlas V launch vehicle, which is used for military and intelligence satellites. A ULA statement sent to The Associated Press said the company was unaware of any restrictions.
The tug of war between NASA and Russia continues
Katie Zezima – The Washington Post
The tug of war between Russia and the United States over their space programs continues.
Russia announced Tuesday that it will no longer allow the United States to use Russian-made rocket engines to launch military satellites, and does not want to extend Russian use of the International Space Station beyond 2020.
""We are ready to deliver these engines but on one condition, that they will not be used to launch military satellites," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said, according to Reuters.
The announcement comes a bit more than a month after the United States ordered federal agencies to stop doing business with Russia as part of sanctions against the country for annexing Crimea. For NASA, that means things like meetings and Boreal Forest research will be halted. But the sanctions also underscore just how reliant the U.S. is on Russia for large parts of the space program.
The U.S. relies on Russia to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. It extended its contract with Russia to do so last month at a cost of $457.9 million. It also purchases rockets that help launch satellites and spacecraft from Russia, which has perfected an alloy mix for the engines. Rogozin said at a news conference that Russia's announcement affects the use of MK-33 and RD-180 engines.
A NASA spokesperson said Russia has not informed the agency of its plans. An American astronaut is expected to land in Kazakhstan at 9:58 Eastern Tuesday.
NASA said in a statement, "Space cooperation has been a hallmark of US-Russia relations, including during the height of the Cold War, and most notably, in the past 13 consecutive years of continuous human presence on board the International Space Station. Ongoing operations on the ISS continue on a normal basis with a planned return of crew tomorrow and expected launch of a new crew in the next few weeks. We have not received any official notification from the Government of Russia on any changes in our space cooperation at this point."
We're Not Impressed With Your Space Tantrum, Mr. Putin
Jeffrey Kluger – TIME
An open letter to the Russian leader as his deputy prime minister threatens to ground American astronauts and military satellites
Dear Vladimir,
So you're not having enough problems digesting Crimea, that half-bankrupt hairball you swallowed because it was there and looked tasty but now it won't go down and everyone in the world is mad at you? Now you want to pick a fight in space too?
That's how it seems, at least, after your Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced a number of tit-for-tat sanctions against the U.S. today—specifically among them, targeting our countries' once-cozy collaboration on the International Space Station. According to Rogy, you'll quit selling us seats on your Soyuz booster—which, since the grounding of the shuttle, is American astronauts' only way into space—and use the station on your own, despite the fact that it was largely a NASA construction project. What's more, you'll no longer sell us the NK-33 and RD-180 engines we currently buy from you for our Atlas V boosters, at least for any launches of military satellites.
Ooh, smack! Now put down your lightsaber young Skywalker. Here's why we're not impressed:
First of all, you've conveniently scheduled the shutdown of your Soyuz taxi service for 2020, or four years before we plan to abandon the ISS and drop it in the drink anyway. Why wait until then? Could it be the cool $76 million we pay you per seat—cash that an oil-drunk economy like yours needs when fossil fuel prices are falling? But, as you surely know, at least two American companies—Orbital Sciences and Elon Musk's SpaceX—will all but certainly have their own for-lease spacecraft flying well before then, and even NASA, which has been inexcusably slow in getting a next generation manned vehicle built, may be back in the game by 2020. In other words, you're going to quit selling us a service we weren't planning to use anymore anyway. (According to an e-mail from NASA to TIME, by the way, you've not even officially been in touch about your new plans, though you did take the time to let the media know—a little like breaking up over Twitter.)
As for the engines: yes, it's true that the NK-33 and D-180 are nice bits of hardware and the Atlas does rely on them. But the Atlas pre-dates you, Vlad. Remember John Glenn? He flew on one of them, as did the ICBMs we were building in those days and pointing your way—and you guys weren't exactly selling us the hardware we needed to take you out. You don't want the revenue that comes from globalized trade? OK, so we'll in-source our engines again and keep the cash at home.
Look, Czar Descamisodo, history will decide if your Ukrainian adventure was a winning hand. But the Space Race is over and America won. Even decades after the glory days of the moon landings, it's still NASA that's got spacecraft approaching, orbiting or on the surface of Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and multiple asteroids. Russia? Not so much. The world will have to reckon with you for as long as you choose to misbehave in Europe and anywhere else your eye may wander. But in space? We're fine without you. Tranquility Base, out.
3 astronauts return to Earth
Dmitry Lovetsky – Associated Press
A Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying three astronauts who had spent a half-year aboard the International Space Station landed Wednesday in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
The landing occurred on schedule with the capsule descending under a white parachute. It had undocked from the orbiting laboratory some 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Earth about three hours earlier.
Russian Mikhail Tyurin, American Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata of Japan had spent 188 days in space.
They were pulled from the hatch at the top of the capsule and maneuvered down a slide into lounge chairs set up nearby and given brief medical assessments as they readjusted to gravity after six months of weightlessness. All appeared to be in good condition and Tyurin was heard joking that he'd like some red wine.
Russians Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev and American Steve Swanson remain aboard the station. Three more astronauts are to launch for the station on May 28.
The landing came less than a day after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia wouldn't continue cooperating with the United States on the 15-nation ISS past 2020, as NASA had hoped. The United States has relied on Russian Soyuz capsules to fly to and from the space station since NASA retired its space shuttle fleet. NASA hopes that private companies such as Space X will be able to develop rockets and capsules to fly astronauts to the space station within a few years.
Japan's first space station commander and crewmates head home
Irene Klotz – Reuters
The first Japanese to command a space mission and crewmates from the United States and Russia wrapped up a 188-day stay aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday and headed back to Earth.
Returning space station commander Koichi Wakata, NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin climbed inside their Russian Soyuz capsule and departed the orbital outpost at 6:36 p.m. EDT/2236 GMT as it flew 260 miles (418 km) over Mongolia.
Touchdown near the town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan was expected at 9:58 pm EDT/0158 GMT Wednesday.
"What an exciting time we shared in this increment," Wakata said during change-of-command ceremony that was broadcast on NASA Television. NASA astronaut Steven Swanson takes control of the station.
Swanson and cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev will manage the station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, on their own until new crewmates arrive on May 28.
Until Tuesday, the station partnership, headed by the United States and Russia, had been relatively untouched by the rhetoric and the economic sanctions stemming from Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula. But the program's protected status shifted after Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's deputy prime minister for space and defense, told news agencies on Tuesday that he would not support a U.S. and European proposal to extend the space station beyond 2020.
Rogozin, who is among 11 Russian officials sanctioned by the United States, also said he would ban the sale of Russian-made rocket engines, which are used to launch U.S. military satellites. United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, use the Russian-made RD-180 engines to power the first stage of its Atlas 5 rockets.
Apparently exempt from Rogozin's ban are Soyuz flight services, currently the only means of transporting crew to the space station following the retirement of the U.S. space shuttles in 2011. NASA pays Russia more than $60 million per person to fly its astronauts on Soyuz capsules and is expected to continue to do so until at least 2017.
NASA is reviewing proposals from at least three U.S. companies to develop a commercial space taxi, with the aim of breaking the Russian monopoly on crew flight services by 2017. The U.S. space agency had no immediate comment in response to Rogozin's announcement.
KSC's future hinges on Space Launch System
James Dean – Florida Today
Kennedy Space Center's future hinges on a rocket and spacecraft NASA is developing to send astronauts beyond Earth's orbit, the center's director said Tuesday.
"This is our only reason to exist," Bob Cabana told the National Space Club Florida Committee in Cape Canaveral. "If we do not have this capability to fly beyond our planet to explore on a government rocket —something that is way too expensive for a commercial company to do — we don't need KSC anymore."
In a presentation titled "Pushing the Boundaries," Cabana praised KSC's post-shuttle transformation into a multi-user center supporting both government and commercial missions.
But as KSC diversifies after the shuttle program, Cabana made clear one mission dwarfs NASA's others in importance: the agency's 321-foot Space Launch System rocket and Orion capsule, which are targeting a first test launch from KSC in late 2017.
"This is the whole purpose for the Kennedy Space Center," he said of their planned deep space missions.
That emphasis reflects what Congress has tasked NASA with doing in human spaceflight, backed by about $3 billion a year, in addition to flying crews commercially to the International Space Station through at least 2024.
The dependence on SLS and Orion, which replaced the canceled Constellation program, carries risks for KSC given uncertainty about their costs and missions.
ANASA advisory panel recently questioned the program's sustainability and chances of sending crews to Mars in the 2030s as planned, given NASA's projected flat budgets and an expected low flight rate of one mission every other year.
Last week, government watchdogs criticized NASA's preliminary cost estimate of $19 billion to $22 billion to develop the initial exploration vehicles and ground systems at KSC.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said NASA's accounting "does not provide the transparency necessary to assess long-term affordability and will hamper oversight by those tasked with assessing whether the agency is progressing in a cost-effective and affordable manner."
Budget concerns continue nearly five years after a White House panel determined Constellation, which aimed to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, was years behind schedule and would need billions more annually to achieve its goals.
In preparation for the first SLS launch, KSC is renovating the Vehicle Assembly Building, launch pad 39B, a mobile launch tower, a crawler-transporter and numerous other facilities.
A test version of Orion is approaching a December launch into orbit from Cape Canaveral on a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The first crewed Orion flight is planned in 2021, with plans to fly to an asteroid by 2025.
The dependence on SLS and Orion, which replaced the canceled Constellation program, carries risks for KSC given uncertainty about their costs and missions.
ANASA advisory panel recently questioned the program's sustainability and chances of sending crews to Mars in the 2030s as planned, given NASA's projected flat budgets and an expected low flight rate of one mission every other year.
Last week, government watchdogs criticized NASA's preliminary cost estimate of $19 billion to $22 billion to develop the initial exploration vehicles and ground systems at KSC.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office said NASA's accounting "does not provide the transparency necessary to assess long-term affordability and will hamper oversight by those tasked with assessing whether the agency is progressing in a cost-effective and affordable manner."
Budget concerns continue nearly five years after a White House panel determined Constellation, which aimed to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, was years behind schedule and would need billions more annually to achieve its goals.
In preparation for the first SLS launch, KSC is renovating the Vehicle Assembly Building, launch pad 39B, a mobile launch tower, a crawler-transporter and numerous other facilities.
A test version of Orion is approaching a December launch into orbit from Cape Canaveral on a Delta IV Heavy rocket. The first crewed Orion flight is planned in 2021, with plans to fly to an asteroid by 2025.
SLS Structural Test Stands Construction Begins This Month, RS-25 Engine Testing Preps Continue
This month, a year-long construction project to build the structural test stands for NASA's Space Launch System's gigantic core stage will begin at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The stands, one of which will be built on the foundation of the stand where the Saturn-V F-1 engine was tested, will be used to test the largest cryogenic fuel tanks ever used on a rocket to ensure that the huge structures can withstand the incredible stresses the skyscraper-size vehicle will experience during launch.
"These stands are necessary to accommodate the sheer size of the core stage components, and the extreme loads we are putting on them — some up to 9 million pounds," said Tim Gautney, element discipline lead engineer for SLS core stage testing. "We will use hydraulic cylinders to push, pull, twist and bend these pieces to make sure they can withstand the loads and environments they may experience on the launch pad and upon ascent. The tests also will verify the models already in place that predict the amount of loads the core stage can endure."
Construction of the stands is being contracted by NASA through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has awarded a $45 million contract to Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the nation's largest construction firms. The stands were designed by a joint venture team of the architecture and engineering firms Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, of Montgomery, Ala., and Merrick & Company of Greenwood Village, Colo.
"These test stands will play a vital role in strengthening America's space exploration capabilities," Brasfield & Gorrie Vice President and Division Manager Alan Anthony said Tuesday. "We are proud to continue our strong working relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and our work at Redstone Arsenal while supporting NASA's Space Launch System."
The mammoth 27-foot-diameter SLS core stage, the largest of its kind ever built, will tower more than 200 feet high and will store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the vehicle's four Aerojet Rocketdyne-designed RS-25 engines—the same engines used to power the space shuttle with 100 percent success over 135 missions. The core stage will also house critical hardware such as the vehicle's avionics and flight computer and is made up of the engine section, liquid hydrogen tank, intertank, liquid oxygen tank, and forward skirt—all of which will be shipped by barge from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Marshall for testing.
Some 2,150 tons of steel will be required to build the largest of the two structures, Test Stand 4693, which is designed as a twin-tower configuration for structural testing of the 185-foot-tall liquid hydrogen tank. When ready next year, the tank will be placed in the stand vertically and be loaded with liquid nitrogen for stress testing.
The second structure, Test Stand 4697, will tower 85 feet above the ground and will require over 690 tons of steel to build. It will be used to test the liquid oxygen tank and forward skirt in Marshall's West Test Area.
"Within the foundation of this stand, we have 1.75 miles of embedded anchor rods — that gives you an idea of the type of stability we need to test these parts with such high-level force," said Byron Williams, project manager for the liquid oxygen tank and forward skirt test stand.
Preparing to test the engines that will send humans deeper into space than ever before
Work at Stennis Space Center continues to ready the historic A-1 test stand for SLS RS-25 engine testing this summer, and on May 1 engineers completed a cold-shock test of the new structural piping system needed for the RS-25 engine—a major milestone which now sets the stage for engine installation in the coming weeks and hot-fire engine testing this summer.
The piping system installed at the A-1 Test Stand is not your bathroom plumbing; these pipes need to flex without fail as they expand and contract due to the extreme temperature changes caused by the propellant flows (temperature changes during a hot-fire test can be as much as 500 degrees). The piping system needs to handle both liquid oxygen (which flows at almost -300 degrees Fahrenheit) and liquid hydrogen (which is colder than -400 degrees Fahrenheit). The RS-25 engines, which are upgraded from their former space shuttle days for more power, will burn a mixture of the two to generate an incredible 512,000 pounds vacuum thrust each.
To ensure the piping system design allows the necessary movement, engineers at Stennis flowed liquid nitrogen through it at -320 degrees Fahrenheit and monitored the effects.
"A test like this may sound benign since no flammable propellant is used, but it is very significant to make sure we have the proper piping design and setup for engine testing," said Jeff Henderson, the A-1 Test Stand director.
Engineers also performed checks of the liquid oxygen tank and vent system and conducted a calibration run of the new thrust measurement system (TMS)—important because engineers need the TMS to obtain accurate measurements of engine thrust during tests. Additional TMS components will be installed at the A-1 Test Stand soon, and various sequence and equipment checks will be performed in preparation for the hot-fire tests this summer. NASA has not announced a specific date for delivery of the engine that will be used in the first round of tests, but engine No. 0525 will be delivered to Stennis and installed at the Test Stand very soon, and NASA is still on schedule for engine testing beginning in July.
Of particular importance is the performance of the RS-25's new engine controller, which regulates valves that control the flow of propellant to the engine and determines the amount of thrust generated during a hot-fire.
"In flight, propellant flow and engine thrust determine the speed and trajectory of a spacecraft, allowing it to follow the proper flight and orbit path," according to NASA. "The controller also regulates the engine startup sequence, including valve positioning and timing. Likewise, the controller determines the engine shutdown sequence, ensuring it will occur properly in both normal and emergency conditions."
Preliminary tests will be run on the engine to collect data on the performance of its new controller to ensure its engine startup and shutdown sequences occur as expected.
To put the power of the Aerojet Rocketdyne-built RS-25 engines into perspective, consider this:
- The fuel turbine on the RS-25's high-pressure fuel turbopump is so powerful that if it were spinning an electrical generator instead of a pump, it could power 11 locomotives; 1,315 Toyota Prius cars; 1,231,519 iPads; lighting for 430 Major League baseball stadiums; or 9,844 miles of residential street lights—all the street lights in Chicago, Los Angeles, or New York City.
- Pressure within the RS-25 is equivalent to the pressure a submarine experiences three miles beneath the ocean.
- The four RS-25 engines on the SLS launch vehicle gobble propellant at the rate of 1,500 gallons per second. That's enough to drain an average family-sized swimming pool in 60 seconds.
"This is a very exciting time at NASA," said Gary Benton, RS-25 rocket engine test project manager. "We are moving closer and closer to making unprecedented space exploration missions a reality. By mid-summer, we will be testing the engines that will carry humans deeper into space than ever before."
Community leaders excited by development forecast for the Bay Area
Matt Walker - Houston Chronicle
The Bay Area region will see an increase in industrial expansion, construction, maritime equipment manufacturing and population growth, local economic leaders say.
"We've got a lot of growth and activity that's going on right now," said Bob Mitchell, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership. "The sales-tax dollars for each one of our 13 cities is in double digits, a positive variance over the last two years."
And there's more to come.
Baybrook Mall will add 555,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space to its property by 2015. The design will feature eight new buildings and an outdoor-related lifestyle area similar to those common to pedestrian-friendly centers and becoming popular at traditional enclosed malls.
The announcement of this new development, according to Mitchell, is "tremendous news" for this region.
"It's an absolutely unbelievable opportunity," said Mitchell. "It creates a community the length of a football field. They don't do this kind of expansion, this kind of growth, in a short period of time without a significant economic impact of this region."
Space industry settling
Even with the end of the space shuttle program, Johnson Space Center and the space industry continue to be a driver of Bay Area Houston's economy.
Space Center Houston is slated to begin phase I of a 3-phase, 10-year plan which CEO Richard Allen described as "the most exciting expansion to our museum" since it opened for business 22 years ago.
"The expansion will be totally supported by gate receipts and fundraising," said Allen. "Phase I of the expansion will be geared toward the shuttle."
Allen said Space Center Houston has received the double carrier aircraft that flew the majority of the shuttle training missions.
This month, the aircraft was dismantled and moved to the center where it will be reassembled with the shuttle added at the top.
"After that, we can figure out where the actual openings are for the plane and the shuttle and ensure the measurements are right, then we'll build the tower, which will house two elevators that will take people up to the flight deck of the shuttle and the 747."
Completion of the first phase will be in 2015.
The aerospace industry, which defined the area for decades, is settling into a new position after the shuttle program ended.
"Two and a half years ago," said Mitchell, "when the shuttle retired, it did have a negative effect on this region, but we've recovered from that impact. We have over 3,000 civil servants and well over a thousand contractors that continue to work on a daily basis in support of the international space station, the design and development of the Orion crew exploration vehicle and the space launch system."
"I would say that there is somewhat of a misunderstanding that NASA was not working toward the future," said Allen. "They've never stopped. Now, they've got their appropriation this year, which gets them to a funding level where they can continue to go forward with Orion and with the space launch system and continue to look forward to go to Mars and beyond."
Also slated is possibly upgrading Ellington Airport to a space port.
Sierra Nevada Corp. Vice President of Space Systems Mark Sirangelo signed a deal with the Houston Airport System to study what it would take to land space craft at Ellington.
Sierra Nevada is building a small, winged shuttle called the Dream Chaser that it hopes will replace Russia's Soyuz as NASA's transport to the international space station. It would launch on top of a rocket, but land like a glider.
Ellington could serve as an occasional landing site for the next generation of shuttles.
The spaceport's success hinges on the Dream Chaser being recruited for missions by 2024.
Health-care expands
There are also planned expansions for health care in the region for 2014-15.
In an effort to expand and enhance patient services, the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic is combining its two existing Clear Lake clinics while adding a menu of specialty options and other services under one roof.
Construction is under way of a 57,000-square-foot, three-story medical building, at 1010 South Ponds Drive, that will replace the clinics at 830 Gemini and 17448 Texas 3 by August.
Earlier this year, Houston Methodist acquired Christus St. John, which had served Nassau Bay and Clear Lake for 25 years, to expand medical care and services in outlying areas.
Ship Channel impact
Also slated for expansion is the Houston Ship Channel.
Robert W. Gilmer, director of the University of Houston's Institute for Regional Forecasting at the Bauer College of Business, said that dozens of new petrochemical and associated chlorine and plastics plants have been announced for the Gulf Coast and Houston area. Gilmer explained further:
"This is an east Houston, industrial expansion," he said. "It is in contrast to the Westside growth in the Energy Corridor and Beltway 8, led by all the expansion upstream. It will be expansion in the east, downstream and new construction."
Barbara Cutsinger, marketing manager for the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, foresees similar expansion.
"New construction is planned for the industries that support the petro and specialty chemical industries, manufacturing and all things maritime," said Cutsinger.
"A lot of people are coming to Houston," Gilmer said.
"Easily over a dozen new projects for 2014 means about $50 billion worth of construction, each one taking about three years.
"That means a lot of workers coming from across the country, brought in by The Associated General Contractors of America.
"The main problem is where the craft workers will come from, and how to house them."
What's next
"Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership represents about 750,000 people in our region," said Mitchell.
"We will continue forward with some redevelopment of all areas, continued growth, and development of new areas."
"For example, we're seeing lots of new leases in our area for safety and training, instrumentation and logistics," said Cutsinger, "and we're seeing companies that sell gaskets, valves, turbines, ship supplies, marine paints, lubricants the list goes on and on.
"Of course, business is just booming for the engineering companies that are designing these new facilities."
Cities feel the impact
Bay Area Houston's 13 cities, which include Clear Lake Shores, Dickinson, El Lago, Friendswood, Houston, Kemah, La Porte, League City, Nassau Bay, Pasadena, Seabrook, Taylor Lake Village and Webster, will see a benefit to this growth.
William Staples, president of the University of Houston – Clear Lake, said the sales tax in the Bay Area Houston region has recovered significantly since NASA's space shuttle program retired in 2011.
"At the state level, the major reductions in sales-tax collections in 2009 and the first part of 2010 made for a very difficult legislative session in 2011," said Staples. "But since the middle of 2010, and especially during 2011 and 2012, state sales tax collections have had significant increases and increases have continued in 2012, 2013 and early 2014."
Chris Reed, Nassau Bay's city manager, agreed with Staple's assessment.
"The traffic counts have helped us with redevelopment," said Reed, referring to the NASA Road bypass, an exit ramp that arches eastward from Interstate 45 to Nassau Bay's stretch of NASA Road 1, "but we are constantly in search of ways to increase our sales tax in Nassau Bay, because we are limited on growth."
"Our focus is on those things that pay the sales tax," said Reed. "That may be a house or an office building. They may have a product that sells somewhere else. We have an abundance of some nice, 'A-class' office space that's available, so we really go out and try to recruit those."
Webster's Economic Development Director Betsy Giusto is equally adamant about the importance of the region's sales tax as a driver of Bay Area Houston's economy.
"Our sales tax is projected to escalate by 4 percent this year," said Giusto in reference to Webster, "and our property tax rate, which is one of the lowest in the region at 26 cents per $100 valuation, is slated to decrease."
'It's not a boom'
One local economist cautions against thinking of this as a boom time for Bay Area Houston.
"It's not a boom," said Steven G. Craig, professor of economics at the University of Houston. "We're doing better than most of the country, but you've got to be careful when you use the word 'boom.' Our unemployment rate is 6 percent. There are jobs, so that seems okay, but it's not 3 percent unemployment like North Dakota, which is booming."
Craig said Bay Area Houston is experiencing good times not because of diversification, but because of the energy industry. The fear is whether the good times will end with a thud, "like it did in the 1980s."
Mitchell sees nothing but an upside in the near term, however.
"It is growing," he said, "and will continue to grow."
Fundraisers Expect Green Light from NASA To Recover '70s-Vintage Spacecraft
Dan Leone – Space News
A pair of space geeks quarterbacking an effort to bring a derelict NASA spacecraft back into orbit around Earth expect NASA on May 13 to legally bless their privately funded project to recover and restart the 36 year-old International Sun/Earth Explorer-3.
"We expect the Space Act Agreement to be signed tomorrow," Dennis Wingo, president of Moffett Field, California-based Skycorp Inc. wrote in a May 12 email.
This piece of paper from NASA is a definite nice-to-have, given that "a private entity cannot legally salvage U.S. government property in space," according to Mike Gold, a space law expert and attorney who works full time as the head of Washington operations for Bigelow Aerospace, the North Las Vegas, Nevada, company developing inflatable space habitats with technology licensed from NASA.
But practically speaking, it appears NASA could have done little to stop the ISEE-3 Reboot project from moving ahead with its plan to take over the old spacecraft — an Earth-Sun observatory that launched to the gravitationally stable Earth-Sun Lagrange point 1 in 1978 and is now swinging back toward the home planet in the heliocentric orbit NASA nudged it into in 1982 to chase comets.
Prior to getting the Space Act Agreement, Wingo and his partner on the ISEE-3 reboot project, NASA gadfly and Internet publisher Keith Cowing, had already secured the use of four enormous non-NASA ground radar dishes, the help of about 20 volunteers, and the loan of a $200,000 transmitter that should allow controllers at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico — one of the four radar dishes — to contact the vintage Earth-observatory May 19 and command it to enter telemetry mode.
If that exercise is successful, it will clear the way for the real test in June. By then, the spacecraft will be in position to fire its engines and break out of solar orbit to return to the Earth-Moon system, with a little help from the Moon's gravity. Precise details of the new orbit have yet to be decided, the ISEE-3 Reboot team says, but the spacecraft will have to be on its way before mid-July, by which time its engines will no longer be strong enough to divert course into a useful orbit.
Meanwhile, Cowing and Wingo appear close to hitting a fundraising target of $125,000 they set for themselves, and to which some 1,600 donors had contributed just north of $112,000 on May 12 through the crowdfunding website rockethub.com. The duo chose rockethub.com over crowdfunding posterchild kickstarter.com because, Cowing said, they liked the name.
In a phone interview from his Reston, Virginia, home where he publishes the widely read NASAWatch.com blog, Cowing told SpaceNews the crowdsourced cash will be used to cover the ISEE-3 Reboot project's operating expenses. That includes the cost of sending personnel to Arecibo, and shipping the donated transmitter to the observatory. The freight bill alone exceeds $1,000, Cowing said. Financially speaking, the ISEE-3 Reboot project does not depend on NASA at all.
And yet, the ISEE-3 Reboot project would not be possible without NASA, built as it is upon a cornerstone the agency laid at taxpayer expense.
This is quintessentially "new space": maintain a trendily appropriate distance from the stodgy old space agency and its thicket of government procurement rules, but play up the any NASA-like aspects of your project in hopes that some of the agency's Coca-Cola-caliber brand recognition will rub off and attract investors, media and adoring masses.
Anybody, Cowing said, but the usual crowd of inside-spaceball experts who make their living in or around the U.S. space program — "space weenies," Cowing called them, lumping himself without hesitation into the category.
When he put on his public relations hat for ISEE-3, Cowing said, he used Twitter to target potential donors he reckoned had never have even heard the word "heliophysics." In 2014, NASA's Heliophysics Division — which builds and operates solar-observing spacecraft — represents a roughly $600 million chunk of the agency's $17.6 billion budget.
NASA's own cost-benefit analysis came down on the side of letting ISEE-3 fly by this summer without trying to hail it.
"NASA looked into the feasibility of communicating with ISEE-3 in 2010 and found that commanding the spacecraft was based on a method that is obsolete and too costly," agency spokesman Dwayne Brown wrote in a May 9 email. "Current NASA spacecraft are providing more comprehensive data and of higher scientific quality than ISEE-3 reflecting the progress that has been made since ISEE-3 completed its mission."
ISEE-3, rebadged the International Cometary Mission after three years of studying the sun's influence on Earth's magnetosphere, encountered two comets and ultimately returned to part-time sun-watching duties before being finally being shutdown in 1997. NASA threw out the 1970s vintage communications equipment used to talk to ISEE-3. That has left the ISEE-3 Reboot sifting through 40 year-old NASA documents to figure out how to talk to the aging spacecraft from what will be its main ground station, should the reboot succeed: Not Arecibo, but the so-called "big dish" at Morehead State University in Kentucky.
As for mission control, that will be in Mountain View, California, in a long-closed McDonald's restaurant at the NASA Ames Research Center — McMoons, Wingo called it. Use of the facility is also part of the Space Act Agreement Wingo expects to be signed May 13.
Wingo and Cowing have used McMoons before, for the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery project that began in 2007. In that project, the two sifted through old NASA tapes from the 1960s to digitize images gathered by five Lunar Orbiter spacecraft in the lead up to the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Russia plans to leave International Space Station by 2020, official says
Suzanne Presto – CNN
Russia said it does not plan to use the International Space Station beyond 2020, casting a shadow on U.S. plans to continue cooperation with the country and extend the life of the orbiting laboratory until at least 2024.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters Tuesday that Russia is looking to redirect its attention to other projects after 2020. His comments come as tensions mount over U.S. sanctions on Russia for its role in the crisis in Ukraine.
NASA released a statement saying that the U.S. space agency "has not received any official notification from the Government of Russia on any changes in our space cooperation at this point."
NASA added that cooperation in space has been a hallmark of U.S.-Russian relations, even during the Cold War, and it pointed to the past 13 years of continuous human presence on the orbiting outpost.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki echoed that the United States and Russia have a long history of cooperation in space and that the United States hopes it will continue.
At present, the U.S. space program relies on the Russian program. Ever since NASA retired its aging shuttle fleet in 2011, the only way for astronauts to reach the space station is aboard a Russian Soyuz craft.
Private industry has filled a gap by ferrying cargo in low-Earth orbit, and NASA has awarded cargo resupply contracts to the California-based SpaceX and the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corporation.
SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Rogozin's statements. Orbital spokesman Barron Beneski told CNN that the company did not have an immediate reaction to the Russian reports, and he noted that the company's contract calls for the delivery of cargo to the speace station through 2016.
The United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada are the principal countries involved in the operation of the International Space Station.
NASA aims to land on, capture asteroids within next 15 years
Russia Today
NASA researchers are at work developing a plan that not only hopes to physically place astronauts on an asteroid for the first time, but also to wrangle a space object and place it in the orbit of the Earth's moon.
The project is not scheduled to be complete until the 2020s, although prospective astronauts are already preparing for the low gravity mission by training underwater – the most similar circumstances scientists can simulate on earth. They have also finished a replica of the Orion spacecraft, which will transport astronauts to the asteroid.
"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," Stan Love, one of the astronauts training in the 40-foot deep pool, said in a NASA statement.
"When it's there, we can send people there to take samples and take a look at it up close. That's our main task; we're looking at tools we'd use for that, how we'd take those samples."
Scientists hope that if they are able to extract samples from an asteroid it will be made up of layers, which could then provide some insight into the current state of the solar system, possibly even information about how it was formed.
One current problem is the tools: reliable Earth tools like a hammer and nails are not adequate in space because of the problems created by an astronaut swinging a heavy weight in front of his thin glass face shield. Another issue is that the necessary spacesuit has yet to be developed. Walking on the moon and climbing on an asteroid are two very different actions, making it necessary for a spacesuit to be durable and dynamic.
"We need some significant modifications to make it easy to translate," astronaut Steve Bowen said of the spacesuit, as quoted by NASA. "I can't stretch my arms out quite as far as in the [space station suit]. The work envelop is very small. So as we get through, we look at these tasks. These tasks are outstanding to help us develop what needs to be modified in the suit, as well."
The quiet announcement comes two years after a group of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs made waves by telling the public that they hope to develop robotic spacecraft capable of extracting valuable minerals from asteroids. With financial backing from Google bosses Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, as well as British billionaire Richard Branson, the so-called Planetary Resources group was touted as "the future of entrepreneurial space."
Now, the group has dialed back some of the rhetoric and admitted its new goal is to find water on or near asteroids and process it into fuel that could be used to preserve aging commercial satellites, according to The Wall Street Journal.
"I still consider that mining," Planetary Resources co-founder Eric Anderson told the newspaper. "We're going to take the resources of space and turn them into a usable material."
Both initiatives could use some help when it comes to identifying exactly which asteroids could work. Last year, NASA asked for the public's help in scoping out some of the 99 percent of asteroids measuring 30 to 40 meters in size – which would be large enough to devastate a city – that have yet to be found.
The initiative was inspired by the 18-meter asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia in February and will almost certainly assist the plan to land on an asteroid in outer space, according to NASA chief engineer Brian Muirhead.
"What we need to do is increase the frequency of identification of asteroids such that we can also track them and characterize them," Muirhead told National Geographic. "That will give us a choice [to see] which [asteroid] we want to grab hold of and bring back to the earth-moon system."
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