NASA
NASA SCIENTIST JOHN C. MATHER WINS 2006 NOBEL PHYSICS PRIZE
The Nobel Prize Committee announced Tuesday that NASA scientist and
Goddard Fellow Dr. John C. Mather is this year's recipient of the
Nobel Prize for Physics. Mather is currently serving as senior
project scientist for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope program.
Mather shares the prize with George Smoot of the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. They received the award for
their work that helped cement the Big Bang theory of the universe and
deepened our understanding of the origin of stars and galaxies.
"I was thrilled and amazed when I found out we won the Nobel Prize,"
Mather said. "The dedicated and talented women and men of the COBE
team collaborated to produce the science results being recognized.
This is truly such a rare and special honor."
Mather and Smoot's work was based on measurements performed with
NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite, launched in 1989.
Together, the scientists could observe the universe in its early
stages about 380,000 years after it was born. Ripples in the light
they detected helped demonstrate how galaxies came together over
time.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said, "I am thrilled to hear that
Dr. John Mather has been selected to receive the Nobel Prize in
Physics. John would be a world-class scientist no matter where he had
chosen to spend his career, but we at NASA are enormously proud that
he has chosen to spend it with us."
Dr. Ed Weiler, the Director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., added, "This is a tremendous accomplishment for John
and for the COBE team. It is also important to note that COBE was
built entirely 'in-house,' and the fact that a NASA civil servant has
won the biggest science award possible demonstrates that world-class
research is happening here at NASA."
COBE was built at Goddard to measure microwave and infrared light from
the early universe. COBE determined that the cosmic microwave
background, which is essentially the afterglow of the Big Bang, has a
temperature of approximately minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit. This
observation matched the predictions of the hot Big Bang theory and
indicated that nearly all of the radiant energy of the universe was
released within the first year after the Big Bang.
Also, COBE discovered slight temperature variations of approximately
10 parts per million in this relatively uniform light. These
variations pointed to density differences which, through gravity over
the course of billions of years, gave rise to the stars, galaxies and
hierarchal structure we see today.
Steven Hawking a decade ago, independent of the COBE team, called
these variations "the most important discovery of the century, if not
of all time."
Alfred Nobel, the wealthy Swedish industrialist who endowed the
prizes, left guidelines in his will for the selection committee which
cited "the prize should be given to those who shall have conferred
the greatest benefit on mankind" and "have made the most important
discovery or invention within the field of physics."
The 2006 Nobel Laureates will gather in Stockholm on Dec. 10 to
receive their Nobel Prize Medal, diploma and monetary award from King
Carl Gustav XVI of Sweden.
For Mather's biographical information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/nobel_prize_mather.html
For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA AWARDS SPACE PROGRAM OPERATIONS CONTRACT
NASA has awarded a letter contract valued at $1.1 billion for the
first six months to United Space Alliance (USA), LLC, of Houston.
When definitized, it will result in a four-year contract through
Sept. 30, 2010, to cover Space Shuttle Program operations.
Efforts under the Space Program Operations Contract include work and
support for mission design and planning; software development and
integration; astronaut and flight controller training; system
integration; flight operations; vehicle processing, launch and
recovery; vehicle sustaining engineering; flight crew equipment
processing; and Space Shuttle and International Space Station-related
support to the Constellation Program. It is a cost reimbursement
contract, with provisions for award and performance fees.
Work in support of this contract is performed at USA's facilities in
Houston; Huntsville, Ala.; Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; major
subcontractor facilities in Huntington Beach, Calif.; Houston; and
Cape Canaveral, Fla.
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA ENDS ONE CHAPTER IN HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT, PREPARES FOR THE NEXT
NASA is marking a historic moment in the life of the nation's largest
rocket engine test complex. The Stennis Space Center conducted the
final space shuttle main engine test on its A-1 Test Stand Friday.
Although this ends the stand's work on the Space Shuttle Program, it
will soon be used for the rocket that will carry America's next
generation human spacecraft, Orion.
The A-1 Test Stand was the site of the first test on a shuttle main
engine in 1975. Stennis will continue testing shuttle main engines on
its A-2 Test Stand through the end of the Space Shuttle Program in
2010.
The A-1 stand begins a new chapter in its operational history in
October. It will be temporarily decommissioned to convert it for
testing the J-2X engine, which will power the upper stage of NASA's
new crew launch vehicle, the Ares I. The J-2X will also power the
Earth departure stage of the Ares V new cargo launch vehicle. The
Ares I and V vehicles will provide the thrust, while the Orion crew
capsule will be future astronauts' home in space.
"This is truly an important milestone for Stennis," said Don
Beckmeyer, space shuttle main engine project manager in the Test
Projects Office of Stennis' Project Directorate. "As we transition
the A-1 Test Stand from testing shuttle main engines to testing J-2X
engines, we are entering into some exciting years ahead where our
work force and the center as a whole will be key in the development
of this new engine. Until the shuttle engines are retired in 2010, we
will have two critical test programs running side by side."
Beckmeyer and other engineers have praised the foresight of NASA's
early management, whose vision still allows the rugged structures to
meet current and future rocket engine testing needs.
"Reaching these milestones is really a testament to the designers and
builders of the test stands back in the 1960s," Beckmeyer said. "They
were built to last, and their longevity and flexibility are key
assets to the agency. We are about to embark on the third generation
of rocket engines to be tested on A-1, and we fully expect this test
stand to be instrumental in developing and certifying these engines
for years to come."
A-1 and its sister stand A-2 were built in the 1960s to test the
stages of the Apollo Program's rocket engines, then modified in the
1970s to test-fire and prove flight-worthy all main engines for
NASA's space shuttle fleet.
According to Beckmeyer and Gary Benton, Stennis' J-2X engine project
manager, A-1 is set to be reactivated in the spring of 2007.
The J-2X is a modification of the Apollo Program's J-2 engine, which
helped send the first Americans to the moon. The original J-2s were
also tested at Stennis.
As the A-1 Test Stand moved into the shuttle era, it handled more than
1,000 shuttle main engine tests, which have been crucial to the
flight record of the orbiter's powerful engines. In the 116 launches
logged by the shuttle fleet, no main engine has ever experienced a
major problem.
For more information about the Space Shuttle Program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For information about the J-2X engines and Ares rockets, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ares
NASA MARS ROVER ARRIVES AT DRAMATIC VISTA ON RED PLANET
Sept 27,2006
NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has arrived at the rim of a crater approximately five times wider than a previous stadium-sized one it studied for half a year. Initial images from the rover's first overlook after a 21-month journey to "Victoria Crater" show rugged walls with layers of exposed rock and a floor blanketed with dunes. The far wall is approximately one-half mile from the rover. "This is a geologist's dream come true," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for NASA's twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit. "Those layers of rock, if we can get to them, will tell us new stories about the environmental conditions long ago. We especially want to learn whether the wet era that we found recorded in the rocks closer to the landing site extended farther back in time. The way to find that out is to go deeper, and Victoria may let us do that." Opportunity has been exploring Mars since January 2004, more than 10 times longer than its original prime mission of three months. It has driven more than 5.7 miles. Most of that was to get from "Endurance" crater to Victoria, across a flat plain pocked with smaller craters and strewn with sand ripples. Frequent stops to examine intriguing rocks interrupted the journey, and one large sand ripple kept the rover trapped for more than five weeks. "We're so proud of Opportunity, the rover that 'takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'," said Cindy Oda, a Mars rover mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. "It continues to overcome all challenges despite its aging parts and difficult terrain. We are looking forward to exciting new discoveries as Opportunity begins its new adventure exploring Victoria crater." Spirit, halfway around Mars and farther south of the planet's equator, has been staying at one northward-tilted position through the southern Mars winter for a maximum energy supply for its solar panels. Spirit is conducting studies that benefit from staying in one place, such as monitoring effects of wind on dust. It will begin driving again when the Martian spring increases the amount of solar power available. Operations for both rovers will be minimized for much of October as Mars passes nearly behind the sun from Earth's perspective, making radio communication more difficult than usual. Opportunity's view into the Victoria crater is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION STATUS REPORT: SS06-042
After six months aboard the International Space Station that included
arrival of two space shuttle missions, resumption of construction of
the orbiting laboratory and the restoration of a three-member crew,
Expedition 13 landed at 9:13 p.m. EDT in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Commander Pavel Vinogradov and NASA station science officer Jeff
Williams landed in their Soyuz TMA 8 spacecraft about 50 miles
northeast of Arkalyk. Russian recovery forces and NASA officials
arrived at the site shortly after the spacecraft touched down. The
Soyuz undocked from the space station at 5:53 p.m. EDT.
The crew will spend several weeks in Star City, near Moscow, for
debriefing and medical examinations.
With Williams and Vinogradov was Spaceflight Participant Anousheh
Ansari, who flew to the station with the Expedition 14 crew and spent
eight days there. The American businesswoman went to the station
under a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency.
During their mission, which launched March 29, Vinogradov and Williams
were joined by Thomas Reiter, a European Space Agency astronaut from
Germany. He became the first non-Russian, non-U.S. long-duration
station crew member. He will remain aboard as part of the Expedition
14 crew until December when he returns to Earth on the next space
shuttle flight.
Two successful spacewalks were conducted during Expedition 13. The
first was by Vinogradov and Williams in Russian spacesuits and the
second by Williams and Reiter in U.S. spacesuits.
Vinogradov and Williams welcomed Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts
and Reiter during the STS-121 mission to the station in July. In
September Space Shuttle Atlantis' crew on the STS-115 mission brought
and installed the station's integrated P3/P4 truss segments.
Expedition 14 Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria, Mikhail Tyurin and Reiter,
now are on their own aboard the station after a week of handover,
maintenance and some science activities. Vinogradov and Tyurin
replaced a major component of the Elektron oxygen-producing device,
which malfunctioned shortly after Atlantis departed.
The device was activated Sept. 16 and functioned for about three hours
before shutting itself off. Further troubleshooting is planned.
The next status report will be issued Friday, Oct. 6, or earlier if
events warrant. For more about the crew's activities and station
sighting opportunities, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
NASA EXTENDS JOHNSON SECURITY SUPPORT SERVICES CONTRACT
NASA has awarded a potential two-year extension valued at $26 million to the existing contract for security support services at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, to The Diamond Group of Dallas. The contract provides protective services, industrial and physical security, emergency response, risk assessment, vulnerability analysis, badging operations and other security enhancements to Johnson, the Sonny Carter Training Facility, NASA's Ellington Field facilities in Houston and the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The modification will increase the total value of the contract to $282 million. The modification adds a performance period from Oct. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007, with the potential of four three-month options that could extend the contract through Sept. 30, 2008. The contract is managed from Johnson and White Sands. For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA HONORS VETERAN GEMINI-APOLLO ASTRONAUT JAMES MCDIVITT
NASA will honor former astronaut James (Jim) McDivitt for his involvement in the Gemini and Apollo space programs with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award. The ceremony is at 3:30 p.m. EDT, Friday, Oct. 6, in the Boeing Auditorium, Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building, University of Michigan, College of Engineering, Ann Arbor, Mich. NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the astronauts and other key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs for realizing America's vision of space exploration from 1961 to 1972. The award is a small sample of lunar material encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. The material is part of the 842 pounds of samples brought back to Earth during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972. McDivitt was the command pilot for Gemini 4 in 1965. He was commander of Apollo 9, a 10-day Earth orbital mission, launched March 3, 1969. This was the first flight of the complete set of Apollo hardware and the Lunar Module. In August 1969 he became manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program. He was program manager for Apollo 12 through 16. McDivitt's award will be displayed at the College of Engineering. For McDivitt's astronaut biographical information, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/mcdivitt-ja.html
NASA ANNOUNCES NEW ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS NASA
Administrator Michael Griffin named nine new members to the NASA Advisory Council on Friday, including Dr. Edward David, Jr., Chair of the Science Committee, and Dr. Paul Robinson, Chair of the new Space Operations Committee. "These outstanding individuals will add to an already strong group and will greatly assist Chairman Schmitt in meeting the Council's goals," Griffin said. "The charge of the Council and its six standing Committees is to provide me with the best advice possible in the many areas of NASA programs and activities." The NASA Advisory Council (The "Council") consists of six committees, Aeronautics, Audit and Finance, Exploration, Human Capital, Science, and Space Operations. Council Chairman Harrison H. Schmitt welcomed the new members. "These accomplished individuals join some of the most experienced and most capable minds in the country serving on the Council, the primary source of outside assistance to Mike Griffin in fulfilling NASA's role in national space policy," Schmitt said. "I am impressed by their accomplishments and look forward to working with them over the next few years." Schmitt was NASA's first scientist astronaut to fly in space and explored the moon during the Apollo 17 mission. He also served as a U.S. Senator from New Mexico. The new members and their primary committee assignments are: Col. Eileen Collins (USAF, Ret.), a retired astronaut, was the first female pilot and commander of the space shuttle. Col. Collins, most recently the commander of STS-114, will serve on the Space Operations Committee. Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Pat Condon (USAF, Ret.) is the Chairman of the Board of the Air Force Association and will serve on the Space Operations Committee. Dr. Edward David was the Science Advisor to the President from 1970-1973 and currently is the President of EED, Inc. Dr. David will serve as the Chair of the Science Committee. Dr. Owen Garriott is a retired scientist astronaut who flew on board the second manned Skylab mission and Spacelab-1. He will serve on the Science Committee. Dr. Thomas Jones, a retired scientist astronaut and planetologist who flew four Space Shuttle missions, installed the centerpiece module of the International Space Station during his final mission. Dr. Jones will serve on the Space Operations Committee. Admiral Benjamin Montoya, former Chairman, President and CEO of the Public Service Company of New Mexico, is the Chief Executive Officer of SmartSystems Technologies and will serve on the Space Operations Committee. Dr. C. Paul Robinson, President Emeritus and former Director of Sandia National Laboratories, will serve as the Chair of the Space Operations Committee. Dr. Alan Stern is the Executive Director of the Space Science and Engineering Division of the Southwest Research Institute and will serve on the Science Committee. Dr. John Sullivan is the Director of the Center for Advanced Manufacturing at Purdue University and will serve on the Aeronautics Committee. The NASA Advisory Council will host its next public meeting on October 12, 2006, at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. For information about the NASA Advisory Council, visit: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/oer/nac
SHORT-TERM OCEAN COOLING SUGGESTS GLOBAL WARMING 'SPEED BUMP'
The average temperature of the water near the top of the Earth's oceans has significantly cooled since 2003. New research suggests global warming trends are not always steady in their effects on ocean temperatures. Although the average temperature of the upper oceans has significantly cooled since 2003, the decline is a fraction of the total ocean warming over the previous 48 years. "This research suggests global warming isn't always steady, but happens with occasional 'speed bumps'," said Josh Willis, a co-author of the study at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "This cooling is probably natural climate variability. The oceans today are still warmer than they were during the 1980s, and most scientists expect the oceans will eventually continue to warm in response to human-induced climate change." Willis said the findings have significant implications for global sea-level rise. "Average sea level goes up partly due to warming and thermal expansion of the oceans and partly due to runoff from melting glaciers and ice sheets," Willis said. "The recent cooling episode suggests sea level should have actually decreased in the past two years. Despite this, sea level has continued to rise. This may mean that sea level rise has recently shifted from being mostly caused by warming to being dominated by melting. This idea is consistent with recent estimates of ice-mass loss in Antarctica and accelerating ice-mass loss on Greenland," he said. For the study, John Lyman at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle, and his co-authors estimated the heat content of the upper 2,500 feet of Earth's oceans from 1993 to 2005. This area represents about 20 percent of the global ocean's average depth. Researchers found the average temperature of the upper ocean rose by 0.16 degrees Fahrenheit from 1993 to 2003, and then fell 0.055 degrees Fahrenheit from 2003 to 2005. The recent decrease is a dip equal to about one-fifth of the heat gained by the ocean between 1955 and 2003. They analyzed data from a broad array of ocean moorings, floats and shipboard sensors, and supported their results with data from NASA's Jason and Topex/Poseidon satellites. Lyman said the recent cooling is not unprecedented. "While global ocean temperatures have generally increased over the past 50 years, there have also been substantial decadal decreases," he said. "Other studies have shown that a similar rapid cooling took place from 1980 to 1983. But overall, the long-term trend is warming." Monitoring the heat content of the oceans is vital to understanding how Earth's energy balance is changing. "The capacity of Earth's oceans to store the sun's energy is more than 1,000 times that of Earth's atmosphere," Lyman said. "It's important to measure upper ocean temperature, since 84 percent of the heat absorbed by Earth since the mid-1950s has gone toward warming the ocean. Measuring ocean temperature is really measuring the progress of global warming." The recent changes in ocean temperature run deep. A small amount of cooling was detected at the ocean's surface, consistent with global measurements of sea-surface temperature. The maximum amount of cooling was at a depth of about 1,300 feet, but substantial cooling was still observed at 2,500 feet, and the cooling appears to extend deeper. Lyman said the cause of the recent cooling is not yet clear. Research suggests it may be due to a net loss of heat from the Earth. "Further work will be necessary to solve this cooling mystery," he said. Another implication of the study is greater uncertainty in estimates of long-term ocean warming rates. "Understanding decadal rises and dips in Earth's ocean temperature is important in predicting Earth's climate," Lyman said. "Hopefully, the results of our study will help refine the ability of computer models to make these predictions." The study included researchers from NASA, NOAA, and the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research of the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Results are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
NASA WELCOMES SPACE SHUTTLE CREW BACK TO EARTH The
Space Shuttle Atlantis and its crew are home after a 12-day journey of more than 4.9 million miles in space. The mission, STS-115, succeeded in restarting assembly of the International Space Station. The crew delivered and installed the massive P3/P4 truss, an integral part of the station's backbone, and two sets of solar arrays that will eventually provide one quarter of the station's power. Atlantis' Commander Brent Jett, Pilot Chris Ferguson and mission specialists Joe Tanner, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Dan Burbank, and Steve MacLean, a Canadian astronaut, landed Thursday, Sept. 21, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 6:21 a.m. EDT. After landing, Jett told Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center, "Thanks, Houston. It's nice to be back. It was a great team effort, so I think assembly's off to a good start." The flight was the first in a series of missions that will be among the most complex in space history. Atlantis delivered the first major new component to the station since 2002 and laid the groundwork for upcoming station assembly missions. STS-115 is one of the most photographed shuttle missions ever, with more than 100 high-definition, digital, video and film cameras documenting the launch and climb to orbit. Data from these images, as well as station and shuttle crew inspection, helped to clear Atlantis' thermal protection system for return only two and a half days after launch. Tanner, Piper, Burbank and MacLean, with the help of crewmates, made three spacewalks that completed truss installation, enabled solar arrays to be deployed and prepared an important radiator for later activation. They also installed a signal processor and transponder that transmits voice and data to the ground and performed other tasks to upgrade and protect the station's systems. A new procedure called a "camp out" was implemented, in which astronauts slept in the Quest airlock prior to their spacewalks. The process shortens the "prebreathe" time during which nitrogen is purged from the astronauts' systems and air pressure is lowered so the spacewalkers avoid the condition known as the bends. On each of the three spacewalks, the astronauts were able to perform more than the number of scheduled activities. The astronauts performed unprecedented robotics work. They used the shuttle's arm in a delicate maneuver to hand off the school bus-sized truss to the station's arm. The 45-foot truss weighs 35,000 pounds. The arrays at the end of the truss extended to their full 240-foot wingspan once they unfurled on flight day six. The astronauts also moved the station's robotic arm to a position where it will assist in the next phase of station construction. After Atlantis undocked from the station, it did the first full fly around of the facility since prior to the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. The maneuver helped ground crews get a better perspective on the station's environment and overall exterior health. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a call during the mission to astronaut Steve MacLean to congratulate him on being the first Canadian to operate Canadarm2, the station's Canadian-built robotic arm. After undocking, the Atlantis crew participated in a first-ever three-way call with the Expedition 13 crew aboard the International Space Station and the three crew members of the Soyuz spacecraft on its way to the station. All 12 astronauts in space at that time were able to have a conversation. With Atlantis and its crew safely home, the stage is set for the next stage of International Space Station assembly. Preparations continue for Space Shuttle Discovery's launch, targeted for mid-December, on the STS-116 mission to deliver an additional truss segment and a cargo module to the station. Discovery will also do extensive work on the station's electrical and cooling systems. For more on the STS-115 mission and the upcoming STS-116 mission, visit:
M06-148 NASA HONORS AMERICA'S FIRST FLIGHT DIRECTOR CHRIS KRAFT NASA
will honor Christopher C. Kraft, Jr., for his key involvement in America's space programs with the presentation of the Ambassador of Exploration Award. The ceremony is at 10:30 a.m. EDT Saturday, Sept. 30, in the Inn at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va. NASA is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the astronauts and other key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs for realizing America's vision of space exploration from 1961 to 1972. Kraft originally joined the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA's predecessor agency, in 1945. In 1958, he joined the newly created NASA as one of the original members of the Space Task Group organized to design and manage Project Mercury. He was America's first manned space mission flight director, managing all of the Mercury and several Gemini missions. Kraft served as director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston from January 1972 to August 1982. He was one of the designers and implementers of the Mission Control Center in Houston, the heart of all NASA crewed space missions. After his retirement from federal service in 1982, he served as an aerospace consultant for numerous companies. The Ambassador of Exploration Award is a small sample of the 842 pounds of the lunar material collected during the six Apollo moon landings from 1969 to 1972. The sample is encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. The material for Kraft's award came from the samples brought back by the crew of Apollo 11, the first to land on the moon in 1969. Kraft's award will be displayed at Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. For College of Engineering and event information, contact Lynn Nystrom at: 540-231-4371; e-mail: tansy@vt.edu. For Kraft biographical information, visit: http://www.answers.com/topic/christopher-c-kraft-jr Video from the event will air as a NASA TV Video File. For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and digital downlink information visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For information about NASA and agency programs visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS SET FOR THURSDAY LANDING
The Space Shuttle Atlantis, led by Commander Brent Jett, is scheduled
to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on Thursday, Sept. 21,
completing space shuttle mission STS-115. Touchdown is expected at
about 6:21 a.m. EDT at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility. Atlantis
began its mission of nearly 12 days to the International Space
Station on Sept. 9.
The shuttle was originally scheduled to land on Wednesday, Sept. 20,
but waved off due to weather conditions and the presence of unknown
objects near the shuttle. After additional inspection of the vehicle
yesterday and today for possible orbital debris damage, the mission
management team gave its approval for landing.
Landing is slated to occur on orbit 187 at the mission-elapsed time of
11 days, 19 hours, six minutes. The deorbit burn will occur at 5:14
a.m. EDT. A second Kennedy landing opportunity is available at 7:57
a.m. EDT, with the deorbit burn at 6:51 a.m. EDT.
Mission managers are expected to attempt a landing only at Kennedy
Thursday unless there are technical reasons that would necessitate
other plans.
If landing occurs as scheduled, this will be the 63rd landing at
Kennedy in the history of the shuttle program. Atlantis will be
serviced and prepared for its next mission, STS-117, set for February
2007.
About an hour after touchdown, the STS-115 crew members will undergo
initial physical examinations and meet with their families. A post
landing news conference with NASA Administrator Michael Griffin will
be held no earlier than 8 a.m. EDT. A post-mission press conference
with the STS-115 crew is scheduled at Kennedy's News Center no
earlier than six hours after landing. Questions for both events will
be taken only at Kennedy.
Kennedy's News Center will open for landing activities at 3 a.m. EDT
Thursday, Sept. 21 and close at 4:30 p.m. EDT. The STS-115 mission
badges are in effect through landing. The pass and identification
building on State Road 3 will be open for media badging activities on
Thursday from 3 to 4:30 a.m. EDT. The last bus will depart from
Kennedy's Press Site for the Shuttle Landing Facility an hour before
landing.
For the latest information on the STS-115 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
NASA FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH RED PLANET CAPITAL, INC.
NASA has joined with Red Planet Capital, Inc., San Mateo, Calif., in a
partnership to help the agency gain access to new and innovative
technologies through the venture capital community.
Red Planet Capital is a nonprofit organization that will establish a
strategic venture capital fund for NASA. The purpose of the fund is
to provide NASA earlier and broader exposure to emerging
technologies. It is designed to promote the future availability of
technologies with both government and commercial applications that
can meet NASA's future mission requirements. The effort signifies the
administration's commitment to creative approaches for promoting
innovation in pursuit of America's space agenda.
Red Planet Capital will use venture capital and a NASA investment of
approximately $75 million over five years to attract private sector
innovators and investors who typically have not done business with
the agency.
The principals selected to provide investment fund management are
Peter Banks, Co-Founder and Partner of XR Ventures, Grand Rapids,
Mich.; Graham Burnette, General Partner of the EA-Capital Fund
family; and Jacques Vallee, co-founder of the EA-Capital Fund family,
San Mateo. The principals will identify investment opportunities,
perform due diligence and manage equity investments in companies.
NASA will provide strategic direction and technical input to the
fund.
Red Planet Capital complements other investment tools available inside
NASA for promoting private sector participation in the agency's
mission and vision, such as the Small Business Innovative Research
program. For more information on Red Planet Capital, visit:
http://www.redplanetcapital.com
NASA TEAMS UP WITH JAPAN, UNITED KINGDOM AND EUROPE TO STUDY THE SUN
To shed new light on the sun's magnetic field and how it impacts life
on Earth, NASA is preparing major instrument components for launch
this September on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA)
Solar-B spacecraft.
"Solar-B will record how energy stored in the solar magnetic field is
released as that field rises into the sun's outer atmosphere," said
Larry Hill, Solar-B project manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Solar-B's three instruments -- the Solar Optical Telescope, the X-Ray
Telescope and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer -- will
perform coordinated measurements of the different layers of the solar
atmosphere. Continuous, simultaneous observations of specific solar
features by all three instruments will enable Solar-B to observe how
changes in the magnetic field at the sun's surface spread through the
layers of the solar atmosphere.
JAXA is the overall lead for the Solar-B mission, the spacecraft, the
launch vehicle and management of space operations. NASA provided the
Focal Plane Package for the Solar Optical Telescope, and components
for the Solar X-ray Telescope and the Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging
Spectrometer, as well as engineering support for integration of the
instruments.
The Solar Optical Telescope will be the first space-borne instrument
to measure the strength and direction of the sun's magnetic field in
the sun's low atmosphere, also called the photosphere.
The sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, will be captured by the X-ray
Telescope. The corona is the spawning ground for solar flares and
coronal mass ejections. Powered by the sun's magnetic field, this
explosive solar activity produces significant effects in the space
between the sun and Earth. By combining observations from Solar-B's
optical and X-ray telescopes, scientists will be able to study how
changes in the sun's magnetic field trigger these powerful events.
The Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer will measure the speed of
solar particles. The spectrometer provides a crucial link between the
other two instruments, measuring the layers that separate the
photosphere from the corona - an area known as the chromosphere and
the chromosphere-corona transition region. The spectrometer will also
be able to measure the temperature and density of solar plasma - the
hot, ionized gas surrounding the sun.
"The information that Solar-B will provide is significant for
understanding and forecasting of solar disturbances, which can
interfere with satellite communications, electric power transmission
grids, and threaten the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the
safety of the Earth's magnetic field," said John M. Davis, Solar-B
project scientist at NASA Marshall.
After its launch from Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan, the
Solar-B spacecraft will circle Earth in an orbit that places the
instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year.
Following launch, NASA and the science teams will support instrument
operations and data collection from the spacecraft operations center
at JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science facility.
NASA; Lockheed Martin, Palo Alto, Calif.; the High-Altitude
Observatory, Boulder, Colo.; JAXA's Institute of Space and
Astronautical Science (JAXA/ISAS), Sagamihara, Japan; and the
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), Tokyo,
participated in the development of the instrumentation for the Solar
Optical Telescope. The X-ray Telescope was built by the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass.; JAXA/ISAS; and NAOJ. The
spectrometer was developed by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory of
the University College London, United Kingdom; the Naval Research
Laboratory, Washington; and NAOJ.
Solar-B is a collaboration among the space agencies of Japan, U.S.,
the United Kingdom and Europe. The mission is part of the Solar
Terrestrial Probes Program within the Heliophysics Division of NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
For more information about Solar-B, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/solar-b
NASA AWARDS THERMAL PROTECTION CONTRACT FOR ORION SPACECRAFT
NASA has selected The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif., to
support the design and development of a lunar direct return-capable
heat shield for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The hybrid firm
fixed-price and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract has a 16-month period of
performance, with a maximum value of approximately $14 million,
including all priced options.
The heat shield will protect the spacecraft and crew during
atmospheric reentry following missions to the moon or the
International Space Station. The heat shield attached at the base of
the spacecraft will reject the majority of the heat generated during
re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Returning from missions to the
station, Orion will re-enter at speeds similar to those experienced
by the space shuttle - 16,700 miles an hour. Returning from the moon,
Orion will reenter the atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles an
hour and experience heating about five times as extreme as missions
returning from the station.
NASA's Constellation Program is developing Orion as NASA's primary
vehicle for future human space exploration. Orion will carry
astronauts to the station by 2014, with a goal of landing astronauts
on the moon no later than 2020.
The present Phase II contract with Boeing is a continuation of an
earlier Phase I NASA effort that evaluated phenolic impregnated
carbon ablator (PICA), as well as four other candidate materials
using extensive testing and analysis. Boeing has been selected to
provide PICA, a proprietary material manufactured by its
subcontractor, Fiber Materials Inc. of Biddeford, Maine, for
continued testing and evaluation.
Boeing's deliverables for this contract include:
- Samples of thermal protection system materials for thermal,
structural and environmental testing and analysis
- A preliminary heat shield design and detailed heat shield
implementation plan using PICA
- A full-scale 16.5-foot (5-meter) heat shield manufacturing
demonstration unit
- Comprehensive trade studies targeted toward increasing the
technology readiness of a PICA-based heat shield.
- A material properties database and thermal response model for PICA
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., is the agency's
lead center for thermal protection systems and will use its thermal,
structural and environmental facilities to conduct extensive testing
and evaluation of the PICA deliverables. Ames will assess the
material performance and its risks and suitability for use as the
Orion heat shield. NASA will work with Boeing to provide key
validation and verification functions, as well as contributing toward
the development and delivery of the overall preliminary heat shield
design.
For more information about the heat shield, visit the Orion section of
the NASA portal:
NASA EXTENDS LOCKHEED MARTIN MISSION SUPPORT CONTRACT
NASA has awarded a potential five-year, $448.86 million contract extension to Lockheed Martin Space Operations Co., Houston, for space shuttle and International Space Station mission operations support work. This action extends the original Mission Support Operations Contract awarded Sept. 30, 2003, that expires in October 2006. The two-year extension, valued at $179,217,545, begins October 2006 and continues through September 2008. Three pre-priced, one-year options could continue the contract to September 2011, amounting to $448,863,617 for the full five-year extension. Under the contract, Lockheed Martin and its subcontractors perform space operations and data services support work for space shuttle missions and International Space Station expeditions. They provide mission operations and planning ground systems for the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, the Houston Support Room/Backup Command and Control Center in Russia and an Integrated Planning System. The contract's extension ensures continued space operations services to NASA during critical International Space Station assembly work and while the agency transitions its efforts to support future exploration operations. Including the original contract's value and the potential five-year extension, the full value of the cost-plus-award-fee contract now is $693,173,658. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA EXERCISES PAYLOAD PROCESSING SERVICES CONTRACT OPTION
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., will extend its Checkout, Assembly,
and Payload Processing Services contract for three years with Boeing
Space Operations Company of Titusville, Fla., a wholly owned
subsidiary of The Boeing Company, Chicago.
The contract extension and modification, valued at $278.5 million,
covers Oct. 1, 2006, through Sept. 30, 2009. The total contract value
including exercised and unexercised options is approximately $846
million.
The contract is a performance-based, cost-plus award fee contract to
provide checkout, assembly, and payload processing services at
Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.,
and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
Under the contract, Boeing provides management and technical support
of payload processing for the space shuttle, International Space
Station and expendable launch vehicle programs. Services and support
include the planning for and receiving of payloads, maintenance of
associated ground support systems, integration of payloads with the
space shuttle, launch support and space shuttle post-landing payload
activities.
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
NASA SEES RAPID CHANGES IN ARCTIC SEA ICE
NASA data shows that Arctic perennial sea ice, which normally survives the summer melt season and remains year-round, shrunk abruptly by 14 percent between 2004 and 2005. According to researchers, the loss of perennial ice in the East Arctic Ocean neared 50 percent during that time as some of the ice moved from the East Arctic to the West. The overall decrease in winter Arctic perennial sea ice totals 280,000 square miles--an area the size of Texas. Perennial ice can be 10 or more feet thick. It was replaced by new, seasonal ice only about one to seven feet thick that is more vulnerable to summer melt. The decrease in the perennial ice raises the possibility that Arctic sea ice will retreat to another record low extent this year. This follows a series of very low ice-cover years observed over the past four summers from active and passive microwave satellite data. A team led by Son Nghiem of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., used NASA's QuikScat satellite to measure the extent and distribution of perennial and seasonal sea ice in the Arctic. While the total area of all the Arctic sea ice was stable in winter, the distribution of seasonal and perennial sea ice changed significantly. "Recent changes in Arctic sea ice are rapid and dramatic," said Nghiem. "If the seasonal ice in the East Arctic Ocean were to be removed by summer melt, a vast ice-free area would open up. Such an ice-free area would have profound impacts on the environment, as well as on marine transportation and commerce." The researchers are examining what caused the rapid decrease in the perennial sea ice. Data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Boulder, Colo., suggest that winds pushed perennial ice from the East to the West Arctic Ocean (primarily located above North America) and significantly moved ice out of the Fram Strait, an area located between Greenland and Spitsbergen, Norway. This movement of ice out of the Arctic is a different mechanism for ice shrinkage than the melting of Arctic sea ice, but it produces the same results - a reduction in the amount of perennial Arctic sea ice. Researchers indicate that if the sea ice cover continues to decline, the surrounding ocean will get warmer, further accelerating summer ice melts and impeding fall freeze-ups. This longer melt season will, in turn, further diminish the Arctic ice cover. Nghiem cautioned the recent Arctic changes are not well understood and many questions remain. "It's vital that we continue to closely monitor this region, using both satellite and surface-based data," he said. This is one of three study results being released today by NASA. The findings are the result of a new study by NASA; the U.S. Army Cold Region Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, N.H.; and the National Ice Center, Washington, D.C. Study results are published in a recent issue of Geophysical Research Letters. For more information about QuikScat, visit: http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/index.cfm
NASA TELEVISION SETS COVERAGE OF STATION CREW EXCHANGE
The launch of the next International Space Station crew, Expedition 14, and the landing of the current crew, Expedition 13, are among events that will be broadcast live on NASA Television Sept. 17-29. Astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria, Expedition 14 commander and NASA station science officer, and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition 14 flight engineer and Soyuz commander, will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:09 a.m. EDT Sept. 18 (10:09 a.m. Baikonur time). They, along with Spaceflight Participant Anousheh Ansari, a U.S. businesswoman who will visit the station for nine days under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency, will launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Expedition 13 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and Ansari will land in north central Kazakhstan at 9:10 p.m. EDT Sept. 28 (7:10 a.m. Sept. 29 local Kazakhstan time) aboard the Soyuz spacecraft that is currently docked to the station. Vinogradov and Williams have been on the orbiting laboratory since April. Video highlights of Expedition 14 pre-launch activities in Russia and Kazakhstan will air on the NASA TV Video File Sept. 16-17. NASA TV coverage of Soyuz pre-launch, launch and docking Sept. 17-20 will be interspersed with the around-the-clock live broadcast of Space Shuttle Atlantis' STS-115 mission coverage. For the latest on broadcast coverage of Soyuz events, check the continuously updated STS-115 mission NASA TV schedule at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/mission_schedule.html The events and planned broadcast times include (all Eastern times): Sunday, Sept. 17: 10:30 p.m. -- Video B-roll replay of Soyuz crew pre-launch activities 11:30 p.m. -- Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant NASA TV launch coverage begins Monday, Sept. 18: 12:09 a.m. -- Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant launch 2:30 a.m. -- Video File B-roll replay of Expedition 14/Spaceflight participant Soyuz crew pre-launch activities, launch and post-launch interviews Wednesday, Sept. 20: 12 a.m. -- Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant station docking coverage begins (docking is at 1:24 a.m.; post-docking news conference is at 1:45 a.m.) 4:10 a.m. -- Expedition 14/Spaceflight Participant hatch opening and welcome ceremony coverage begins (hatch opening is at 4:20 a.m.) Thursday, Sept. 21: A Crew News Conference with all six crew members on the station will be conducted with a multi-center question and answer capability for media at participating NASA centers. The time will be 12:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28: 2:15 p.m. -- Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant farewell and hatch closure coverage begins (hatch closure is at 2:45 p.m.) 5:15 p.m. -- Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant undocking coverage begins (undocking is at 5:54 p.m.) 8 p.m. -- Expedition 13/Spaceflight Participant deorbit burn and landing coverage (deorbit burn is at 8:20 p.m.; landing is at 9:10 p.m.) Friday, Sept. 29: 5:30 a.m.
