Fwd: nasa news - my version, Merry Christmas

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: December 24, 2014 at 8:53:22 AM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: nasa news - my version, Merry Christmas

Light news day.   Have a very Merry Christmas everyone—next news will be on Monday unless something else is noteworthy to pass on.  Be safe and enjoy time with family and friends.

 

 

NASA NEWS

• NASA Makes Lists Of Top Achievements In Space For The Year.

HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS

• ISS Astronauts All Have Stockings For Christmas.

• Ratchet Wrench Print Completes First Stage Of ISS' 3D Printer Tests.

• Gerst's Timelapse Shows That ISS Is The "Best Place" To Witness Auroras.

• Orion In "Good Condition" Following Its First Flight.

• Engineers Have Solved Problem With SLS' Qualification Motor.

• Commercial Crew Participants Reach 23 Milestones In 2014.

• Astronaut Cuisine Developer Profiled.

• Cobbs Given Commendation Award For Work on Leaky Spacesuit.

• Hadfield Explains His Photography From The ISS.

• Ulster BOCES Making Shipping Containers For NASA.

NASA NEWS

NASA Makes Lists Of Top Achievements In Space For The Year.

The Delhi Daily News (IND) (12/24) continues reviews of space news for 2014 by focusing solely on what NASA, the "premiere space agency," accomplished. According to the article, NASA did "a lot" in 2014 both in terms of manned and unmanned spaceflight.

        SPACE (12/23, Cofield, 276K) lists some of its top astronomy stories of the year, starting with discoveries at Mars by the Curiosity rover and the arrival of NASA's MAVEN and the ISRO's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). Other stories listed include the results from the BICEP2 experiment, the ESA landing a spacecraft on a comet, comet Siding Spring passing by Mars, the Kepler telescope discovering "an Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of its parent star," news relating to dark matter, and this year's eclipses.

        Under the headline, "Our Manifest Destiny Is To Move Beyond Earth," The Financial Times (12/24, Subscription Publication, 1.36M) editorializes, "The triumph and tragedy of space flight, manned and unmanned, have been on full view over the past year."

        Blog Coverage. Kerry Flynn at the Huffington Post (12/23, 11.54M) lists astronaut Reid Wiseman's vines from the ISS as the "coolest" vines for 2014.

        Elizabeth Howell at Universe Today (12/23, 9K) lists the publication's top 10 space stories for the year. In descending order they are the end of Venus express, discoveries by NASA's rovers at Mars, comet Siding Spring, MAVEN's Mars arrival, MOM's similar arrival, private spaceflight accidents, SpaceX's "rocket landing attempts," Orion's launch, and Philae's comet landing.

HUMAN EXPLORATION AND OPERATIONS

ISS Astronauts All Have Stockings For Christmas.

CBS News (12/23, 3.8M) website reports on ISS commander Barry Wilmore and astronaut Terry Virts' appearance on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday, focusing on how the two will spend Christmas at the station. Wilmore, speaking about how he stays in contact with his family, said that NASA gives "us the opportunity to do video links once a week. ... It's fantastic to see them, and my daughters are seven and 10, so actually see them change and lose teeth and whatnot from here, it's very unique and it's a very good thing that NASA does." As for how astronauts celebrate Christmas, Virts said, "We've got some stockings. Butch got each crew member a stocking out in the U.S. lab, we have some Santa hats and some other gear. ... We've got some turkey and mashed potatoes in the kitchen. So we got some traditional Christmas stuff here." The article notes that the crew is currently tasked with conducting "several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science," as well as preparing for spacewalks next year.

        Meanwhile, South Wales Evening Post (UK) (12/23, Evans), ITV London (UK) (12/23, 64K), Bath (UK) Chronicle (12/23), Telegraph (UK) (12/23, Gosden, 3.4M), Somerset (UK) Guardian (12/24), Somerset (UK) Standard (12/24), Limerick Post (IRE) (12/23, Carey), Mid Devon (UK) Gazette (12/24), Metro (UK) (12/24, Willis, 2.48M), Exeter (UK) Express-Echo (12/24, 336), and the Essex (UK) Chronicle (12/23) continue coverage of how the ISS will be visible over the UK on Christmas Eve, which some may tell their children is Santa's sleigh.

        Aqua Satellite Images Christmas Island. SPACE (12/23, Kramer, 276K) reports that NASA's Aqua satellite imaged Christmas Island on November 11. NASA wrote in a statement, "Although an Australian Territory, Christmas Island is located 2,600 km (1,616 miles) northwest of Perth, Western Australia. The island is famous for land dwelling red crab which scramble to the sea each November to release eggs."

        NASA Report On Holiday Lights Called "Misleadingly Gleeful." In an article for the New Republic (12/23, 195K), Naomi Shavin writes that NASA's report on how US cities are brighter during the holiday season is "misleadingly gleeful." To Shavin, the report highlights an annual "flagrant waste of energy" via light pollution. This form of pollution is more that a "wasteful and obnoxious" display, as previous studies note that it can hurt astronomy, distract drivers, and even cause health problems.

Ratchet Wrench Print Completes First Stage Of ISS' 3D Printer Tests.

SPACE (12/23, Wall, 276K) continues coverage of the ratchet wrench recently printed out at the ISS, noting that it marks the completion of the 3D printer's "first phase of its orbital test run." In a statement, Quincy Bean of the Marshall Space Flight Center said, "We can't wait to get these objects home and put them through structural and mechanical testing. ... We really won't know how well this process worked in space until we inspect the parts and complete these tests." 3D Print program manager Niki Werkheiser added, "For the printer's final test in this phase of operations, NASA wanted to validate the process for printing on demand, which will be critical on longer journeys to Mars. ... In less than a week, the ratchet was designed, approved by safety and other NASA reviewers, and the file was sent to space where the printer made the wrench in four hours." Werkheiser said that the next phase of the project will focus on finding "existing tools that we can make with the printer. ... We can't wait until it is routine to see station astronauts use tools that they built in space."

        WHNT-TV Huntsville, AL (12/23, 10:13 p.m. CST, 48K) and 20 other TV broadcasts also cover the story.

        Blog Coverage. Leo King at Forbes (12/23, 12.06M) profiles Werkheiser and her "major goal" of developing "highly sustainable, self-supporting space missions" under NASA's In Space Manufacturing Initiative. Werkheiser said, "We are working to develop recyclers, printable electronics, in-space metal technologies, and even large-scale 3D printers that can use Martian or Lunar regolith [soil] as feedstock to construct large structures such as habitats." King notes that Werkheiser is also supportive of "young girls, teenagers and adult women" to take on any "science and technology breakthroughs" they envision.

Gerst's Timelapse Shows That ISS Is The "Best Place" To Witness Auroras.

Positive coverage continues of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst's timelapse video made from 12,500 images taken from the ISS. The Christian Science Monitor (12/23, Scott, 426K) is one of the few sources with new material not covered before, focusing on the image of the aurora seen in the timelapse in an article titled, "Best Place To Watch The Aurora Borealis? The International Space Station."

        Blog Coverage. Nick Schwartz at the USA Today (12/23, 9.86M) "For The Win" blog posts several GIFs compiled from parts of the video.

Orion In "Good Condition" Following Its First Flight.

KONG-TV Seattle (12/23, 1:18 p.m. PST, 15K) broadcast that "upon closer inspection," NASA stated that the Orion spacecraft suffered "some burn marks" from its first flight, but otherwise is in "good condition." NASA's Louie Garcia said, "It does make you feel a great pride and great to be an American and to show that America knows how to put us back into space."

        NWCN-TV Seattle (12/23, 5:37 a.m. PST, 1K) also covered the story.

Engineers Have Solved Problem With SLS' Qualification Motor.

NASA Space Flight (12/23, Sloss, Bergin, 305) reports that ATK will conduct "the next full-scale test of a five-segment solid rocket motor" that will be used on the Space Launch System on March 11, 2015 now that "a lengthy investigation – and resolution path –" has been finalized to deal with issues found in Qualification Motor -1's (QM-1) aft segment. Todd May, SLS Program Manager, said in an interview, "That thing has dragged on longer than I would have liked (it) to." After much work, May said, "We finally were able to pour a new segment with this new process – it's the cleanest we've ever seen, it looks great and we think we've nailed the problem. It's passed inspection at this point, we've done a full inspection. ... We think that problem is behind us at this point." The article notes that while the March test is "much-delayed from the original schedule," it is not affecting the SLS's development. May said, "We're on the order of twenty to thirty weeks of schedule slack to the 2017 readiness date with the boosters, so schedule is not as big an issue there."

Commercial Crew Participants Reach 23 Milestones In 2014.

The ExecutiveBiz (12/23, Forrester) blog reports that on Monday, NASA announced that in 2014, Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corp. and SpaceX completed 23 milestones for the Commercial Crew Program. Kathy Lueders, Commercial Crew Program manager, said, "To say we've been busy would truly be an understatement. ... Pad infrastructures, processing facilities, hardware and crew training mockups, which are all key elements crucial to flying crew safely in just a few years, will take a more cohesive shape next year."

        SPACE (12/23, Howell, 276K) focused on the second milestone Boeing just completed to allow its CST-100 spacecraft to launch astronauts to the ISS in 2017. NASA recently examined Boeing's plans for ground support. Dave Allega, "a lead in the ground and mission operations office of NASA's Commercial Crew Program," said, "Along with facility designs, we looked at the operation processes. ... How would they be using those facilities? What is the flow? How are they going to build up their new spacecraft, get it ready to fly, put it on the launch vehicle and then operate it once it is there? Then, after landing, how will they go recover it and turn it around to go and do it again?" According to the article, NASA also examined how Boeing will train and monitor astronauts on missions. Allega added, "The CST-100 will be a more simple vehicle to operate than the space shuttle, but the automation is complicated in and of itself, so we need to understand that automation and so does the crew. ... When Boeing trains our astronauts, they will have to balance simplicity, and giving the crew everything they need to know to manually operate the spacecraft just in case something goes wrong."

        Sierra Nevada Protest Could Impact Stratolaunch's Profitability. The Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal (12/23, Wilhelm, Subscription Publication, 66K) continues coverage of Sierra Nevada's protest of NASA's commercial crew contract award. While the chances that Sierra Nevada will win the protest are "slim," the results do have implications for the profitability of Stratolaunch. Under a current deal, a Stratolaunch plane would launch a smaller version of Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser. According to the article, a Sierra Nevada protest win would help "pave the way" for Stratolaunch to expand.

Astronaut Cuisine Developer Profiled.

The Guardian (UK) (12/24, Hooper, 2.7M) profiles astronaut cuisine developer Argotec, which spent a great deal of time studying and experimenting on Italian meals for astronauts in space, preparing meals for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who is now at the ISS. The Guardian writes that "special meals could only justify their place in the payload if they helped to boost morale," which is what drove Argotec to make meals that were "significantly better" than the standard fare.

Cobbs Given Commendation Award For Work on Leaky Spacesuit.

The AP (12/24) reports that NASA recently awarded Ron Cobbs, avionics chief engineer to the ISS, the Johnson Space Center Director's Commendation Award, "the highest honor given by the NASA-JSC administrator." Cobbs was honored for the way he helped discover why a spacesuit leaked during a spacewalk in 2013.

Hadfield Explains His Photography From The ISS.

The Imaging Resource (12/23, Burgett, 7K) reports that in a video of a presentation at the At-Bristol Science Center, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield explains how he took images at the ISS, "what it takes to capture the images, the difficulties that arise and even attempts to recreate some out-of-this-world imagery using only household materials." According to the article, the video is "worth" watching.

Ulster BOCES Making Shipping Containers For NASA.

Hudson Valley Magazine (12/24, Levine) examines thepartnership between NASA and the Ulster BOCES to create shipping containers to be sent to the ISS through the HUNCH program. HUNCH, or "High School Students United With NASA to Create Hardware," enables "students in the Ulster BOCES Career and Technical Center" to "put their computer-assisted design and manufacturing skills to use in a hands-on, project-based assignment."