NASA Goddard:Webb Move from Houston to LA

Dawn Spacecraft Gets Second Mission Extension - probing a dwarf planet

NASA's Dawn spacecraft,designed and built by Orbital ATK,has gotten a second mission extension to further explore dwarf planet Ceres.The new orbit will enable its closest approach to the celestial body located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter,to within 120 miles/200 km of the surface.Its previous closest approach had been 240 miles/385 km.The orbit will also become Dawn's permanent home once it runs out of hydrazine fuel,which will probably be in late 2018.The Dawn mission team doesn't want the spacecraft to contaminate Ceres by landing on it or crashing into it.*
In the new orbit,Dawn will study the composition of Ceres' upper layer with its gamma ray and neutron spectrometer.Of particular interest is the amount of ice that may be present on and near the surface.Dawn's camera will also take visible light images of Ceres' surface geology,while its visible and infrared mapping spectrometer will take measurements of Ceres' mineralogy.Another highlight will be Dawn's presence during Ceres' perihelion,or closest approach to the Sun,in April 2018.Ice on and near Ceres' surface may turn to water vapor or even the weak transient atmosphere previous observations by ESA's Herschel Space Observatory have documented.Ground-based observatories will also be tapped for this study of Ceres' perihelion behaviour.The prime cause of the fleeting atmosphere,which lasts about a week per occurrence,is currently suspected to be solar wind protons bombarding Ceres in the course of the solar cycle and interacting with ice on and in its outer layer,irrespective of Ceres' distance from the Sun.*
Managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Dawn's mission science is headed by UCLA.International partners on the mission include The German Aerospace Center;the Max Planck Institue for Solar System Research;the Italian Space Agency;and the Italian National Astrophysical Institute.*
Orbital ATK Inc (OA)

Crew Recovery Drills,SLS Rocket Fabrication Move Orion Program Forward

Among the Orion Program's milestones this summer have been the crew recovery drills and Space Launch System fabrication efforts on the road to Exploration Mission-1.The deep space exploration program's roadmap is similar to that which the Apollo Program followed to the Moon landings,with EM-1 being an uncrewed test,or full dress rehearsal,if you will,for the first crewed Orion mission,EM-2.Based on its decades of space flight experience,NASA feels this stepwise approach is the surest way to succeed in our international quest to reach beyond the Earth and the Moon.*
From 10-14 July 2017,an interagency team of NASA,the US Navy,Coast Guard and Air Force staged a number of crew module  recovery scenarios in the Gulf of Mexico off the Galveston,Texas coast.This was to test egress from the Orion crew module,evaluating  plans and hardware for getting the crew out of Orion as safely and efficiently as possible under all conditions.That means taking into account crew health;weather;and condition of recovery personnel and equipment in the area in real-time.Can the crew get out safely under adverse conditions-say if the capsule lands off course and recovery personnel aren't able to reach them right away,or if water intrudes into the capsule before help arrives?*
The astronauts and engineering test subjects wore modified NASA Advanced Crew Escape suits to keep the drills as close to mission scenarios as possible.The ACE suits,which are worn on launch and re-entry,are still in development.*
Yasmin Ali,Launch and Recovery Systems manager for Orion,noted that:
We're making important headway this summer with all of our landing and recovery systems testing.*
At the same time,the new SLS rocket fabrication and testing has been going on apace at several different NASA and contractor facilities.For instance,the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage is currently in the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center,Florida.It will be in the high bay of the facility for cleaning and maintenance until it is moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking beneath the Orion capsule and integration with other components.
Five-segment powerhouse motors for the Solid Rocket Boosters are in production by subcontractor Orbital-ATK at its Utah facility.The motors will be shipped to KSC,then integrated with forward and aft booster structures,and then the SLS core stage.Welding for the Boeing liquid oxygen tank is also underway at the NASA Michoud Assemby Facility,New Orleans.Indeed,four core stage tanks are being built simultaneously.
On 25 July,a test of the RS-25 rocket engine was successfully conducted at the NASA Stennis Space Center,Mississippi.Four of the modified Space Shuttle engines are used to power the SLS.*
EM-1,which will venture a record 40,000 miles beyond the Moon,is slated for a 2019 launch,with the crewed EM-2 to follow in the 2022-23 time frame.Besides testing the integrated Orion system,EM-1 will be a research mission,deploying 13 CubeSats,small satellites investigating such topics as lunar science and astrobiology.*
Boeing (BA),Orbital ATK Inc (OA)

NASA Engineer Profiles Goddard Space Flight Center - large STEM facility manages multiple lines of inquiry

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland is one of America's primary space science centres,involved in the management of  research programmes carried out by a variety of space probes,especially those in Earth orbit or perhaps as far out as the Moon or Mars-the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,California handles probes to the outer planets and beyond.Larry Mignosa,a Mechanical Engineer at Goddard for 25 years,gave a broad overview of the facility and its lines of inquiry to a small audience of STEM enthusiasts at the C.Burr Artz Library in Frederick,Maryland,which has positioned itself as a STEM education center.He was educated as a civil engineer,but that discipline comes under the mechanical engineering heading at Goddard.Mr.Mignosa has worked on repairing the Hubble Space Telescope,which Goddard manages;as well as the Broad Band X-Ray Telescope,which was a Space Shuttle astronomy mission;the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and the Global Precipitation Measuring Mission,gathering data for better climate modeling and carried out with JAXA,the Japanese Space Agency;and now ICE Sat-2,which will use lasers to measure the height of ice fields in an effort to understand the future of Earth's climate change.He said he's been making a number of visits to the ICE Sat-2 contractor in Arizona.*
In satellite design today,Mr.Mignosa pointed out,they always use materials so that it will demise on its own;otherwise,you will have to pay for extra fuel to control the re-entry.NASA launches a satellite every three to four months.The launches have a success rate of 95%.*
The repair of Hubble,which is in Earth orbit,involved five corrective mirrors and five corrective optics installed by Space Shuttle astronauts.The successor mission,the JamesWebb Space Telescope,has a mirror comprised of several cells.They can be electronically reconfigured for a correction,a capacity for self-repair.*
Mr.Mignosa likened NASA Goddard to a college campus.It employs about 10,000 people.Goddard has a lot of physics majors to study the physics of the planets;math majors;as well as mechanical,optical,aerospace and electrical engineers.A young student in the audience is interested in telescope design.*
NASA Goddard manages the MAVEN satellite that is probing the Martian atmosphere,some of the instruments on the Curiosity rover,as well as the Solar Dynamics Observatory.Sometimes they build their own satellites,but most often they contract them out.Goddard has extensive equipment to test the satellites for their ability to withstand the harshness of spaceflight,such as a centrifuge and vibration table.*
As for future missions,the James Webb Space Telescope,which Goddard is managing,is set for an October/November 2018 launch.It will be positioned in a solar orbit at point L2,a million miles from Earth to avoid the Earth and Moon's light.WFIRST will boast a field of view 100x greater than Hubble's,with access to a million galaxies;it will be launched in the 2020-2025 time frame.ATLAST will feature an 8-16 meter mirror and is considered  a flagship mission.Only a few people are studying the project now in its concept development phase.It is envisioned for a 2025-2035 launch.*

What NASA Astronomers Do - observational specialist graphs his career and the history of the science

Dr.Ted Gull,astronomer emeritus at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland,described what it has been like to be an astronomer for the past 50 years-perhaps a harder job than people think-to a handful of astronomy buffs at C.Burr Artz Library in Frederick,Maryland as part of the library's Discover Space initiative this summer.Dr.Gull has been with NASA for 37 of those years,during which he has authored 597 papers.He is still continuing his research beyond his retirement two years ago.As an emeritus at GSFC,he gets a study carrel in an office he shares with 12 other people,and a computer.He has traveled so widely since retirement,he and his wife have only been home eight months over the past two years.He's been working in Sweden,Italy and Chile,among other places.*
Dr.Gull graduated from MIT in 1966,one of a group of twelve physics majors who went on to get degrees in astronomy.In the 1960s,he pointed out,photo diodes were used to measure the light of a star,one star at a time.Images were captured on 14x14 glass plates coated with a photo-sensitive emulsion-at Mt.Palomar,California,for instance,home of the then stupendous 200-inch Hale Telescope.Spectrographs were then,as they are now,one of the major tools that astronomers use.A spectrograph is a device that separates light into its wavelengths and records the data,or spectrum.University of Wisconsin astronomer Blair Savage put it this way:
A picture may be worth a thousand words;but a spectrum is worth a thousand pictures.*
Until the 1980s,Dr.Gull recalled,astronomy was very laborious,carried out in very cold conditions at night.Astronomers often worked 18 hour days preparing observations,calibrating telescopes,making the observations at night,developing and cataloging the photographic plates.It was like this until the advent of the CCD solid state devices,or charged coupled devices,which directly recorded the images,read them electronically,and provided data for processing by computer.We are developing new CCD detectors every day for future missions-and they have many military applications as well.*
The early space telescopes were OAO-1 and OAO-2 (Copernicus).Such astronomy projects took months,years-even decades-to develop.They were computer-controlled,but with primitive computers at first.The iPhone 7 is a thousand times faster than those computers were.Eventually,however,as technology progressed,observatory observations started being made in university offices hundreds or even thousands of miles from the actual telescopes.Yet even today someone still has to be on site at the observatory to operate the telescope,make sure it's working right and make weather observations.You still need clear skies for observing.*
The International Ultraviolet Explorer Telescope lasted for 18 years,from 1978-96,until its funding ran out.It was the first remotely interactive observatory.From its data,thousands of published papers and over 100 PhD theses were generated.Indeed,papers based on its data are still being written to this day.*
Dr.Gull worked directly with the astronauts for two years between the Apollo and Space Shuttle eras,preparing them for Space Shuttle astronomy projects.*
The Astro-1 space telescope was attached to the Space Shuttle.Dr.Gull was chief scientist of the mission.It was the mission from hell,Dr.Gull joked.Initially,it was to be on five different shuttle missions,and two astronomers were to fly on the shuttle as mission specialists.Dr.Gull removed himself from consideration for becoming an astronaut-a decision he doesn't regret.The Space Shuttle Challenger accident led to a hiatus of four and a half years for Astro-1,but it finally got to fly on 2-11 December 1990,and a second time five years later,which went beautifully.Astro-1 was beset by hardware problems,but they were all resolved.In the end,Astro-1 got 50% of the observations they had hoped for,and its data generated 100 papers.*
The Hubble Space Telescope was conceived by Lyman Spitzer in the 1940s as a way to circumvent the murkiness of the Earth's atmosphere,as you cannot see ultraviolet radiation through the atmosphere.Launched in 1990,it is still operational after 26 years in orbit.Its mirror is 2.4 meters in aperture.HST needed periodic upgrades and repairs.The correction of lenses and mirrors were needed;and gyros,computers and solar panels had to be changed over the course of five servicing missions.The last repair mission was in 2009,and HST is still working beautifully.
The HST mirrors were modified so as to fit in with the spy satellites the shuttle had to carry as well,Dr.Gull noted.HST is expected to be in orbit until the 2030s.It has a 96 minute orbit and is traveling at 18,000 mph.During its life,we have gone from reel-to-reel tape to all solid state memory.
Everything that goes up into space still has to be radiation-hardened,Dr.Gull added.It takes up to ten years to devise hardening for something.*
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will be launched in 2018 from French Guiana on a European Space Agency Ariane V rocket,which demonstrates the international nature of the programme.It is named after James Webb,the first administrator of NASA.Dr.Gull actually met James Webb and feels that he was a visionary.While Dr.Gull has been photographed next to the JWST,he isn't directly involved with it.Its mission is to peer back to the first stars and galaxies in the universe,in the first 300 million years of the universe's existence.Its mirror is 6.5 meters across.*
As for his own research,there is a nebulous,or gaseous,region in the constellation Orion.Dr.Gull noticed that one of the Orion nebula's stars has an arc around it.That means the star has a wind.The star is moving through an ionised region of the nebula,creating a bow wave.Stars have massive winds,and there are over a dozen examples of this.
His favourite celestial object is the Eta Carinae binary star system.It is a Southern Hemisphere object.Eta Carinae is a massive binary that is nearing the end of its life.Eventually,two supernovae will result from it.Why is this binary so important?The first stars that formed in the universe were massive,and most likely binaries,Dr.Gull explained.This binary system is producing huge amounts of Nitrogen.Our own bodies are made of such star stuff,so we are trying to understand ourselves when we learn what the first stars were like,and how they enrich the interstellar medium.
Dr.Gull continues to do his research using the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory,as well as the Atacama Large Millimeter Array radio telescope in Chile.Such is the life of discovery of a sharp scientific mind engaged in NASA astronomy.

Of Pressure and Risk:NASA Considers the Trump Proposal to Speed Up the Orion Program

A NASA official,Dr.William Gerstenmaier,Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate,has spoken to the media via teleconference about the White House request that NASA consider making Exploration Mission-1 of the Orion Program,currently slated to be an unmanned mission in 2018,to be the first crewed mission as well as a test mission for the integrated Orion spacecraft and new Space Launch System rocket,in order to speed the development process up and preserve American leadership in space exploration:
We don't need the full capability of the Exploration Upper Stage to do this revised mission EM-1.What changes do we need to make?We think we can still protect the crew.We didn't do a test of the cargo flights to International Space Station.We might add micrometeorite protection for the high Earth orbit.The mission would be in 2019.We're going to do an altitude abort test to make sure it works.
Does this really advance our ability to get to the Moon?It will be a risks analysis.We can notionally pull the altitude abort test forward to early in 2019,ahead of revised EM-1.
We recognise this is an increased risk,and we have to decide whether it's worth it with astronauts included in the discussion.What do I really gain from putting a crew on board?When you look at STS-1,the first Space Shuttle mission,which also added crew to a test flight,it's not as big a step as what we did with Shuttle technology.*
From my perspective,I don't see this as pressure.It's better if I don't have a preconceived notion.They gave us freedom to delay EM-1 and extra funding.I think it's great if we have a chance to look at this.We make some changes to give us a better system overall,even if we don't add crew to EM-1.It's going to take a significant amount of money-and pretty quickly-to do what we have to do.We will still have a pretty exciting mission without a crew on EM-1;but a very successful Exploration Flight Test-1 helps give us confidence in adding new things to EM-1.We hit 85 of 87 flight tests successfully on EFT-1,except for the crew uprighting at splashdown.We were looking at this on our own to see what we could do.We added crew seats and dummies and radiation testing.To make this faster,the carbon dioxide removal has been tested on ISS.The waste management system will be going to ISS.*
I don't consider this a ton of extra work for us.I've picked team members for this evaluation not directly associated with Orion so the Orion team could stay focused on EM-1/EM-2.We don't have a specific schedule about getting information.If we go beyond 2019,we might as well go fly EM-2 instead.In the next month or so,we hope to have some of our preliminary findings briefed within the agency.We want to have a pretty polished format in about a month,Dr.Bill Gerstenmaier explained to the media.*
Priniciple contractors for the Orion Program include Lockheed Martin (LMT);Boeing (BA);United Launch Alliance (LMT/BA partnership);and Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD).

Bulletin:NASA's Spitzer Telescope Discovers Accessible Red Dwarf Star With Several Earthlike Planets

For the first time,NASA has discovered a star with seven Earth-sized planets,three of which are in the habitable zone.The findings,which many scientists consider exciting,were broadcast worldwide by NASA on 22 February 2017.Agency scientists and collaborators expressed amazement at the discovery of an entire solar system of Earth cousins orbiting the ultra-cool red dwarf star called Trappist-1.Trappist-1 is 39 light years away,which is too far for crewed spacecraft to travel to in the forseeable future,yet close enough that the James Webb Space Telescope,to be launched in 2018,and even the Hubble Space Telescope currently in space,will be able to provide reams of data about the star and its solar system of possibly life-harbouring planets.
NASA said that SETI instruments had already swept the Trappist-1 solar system for signs of intelligent beings,but couldn't detect any relevant signals.Now the Spitzer Space Telescope,Kepler Space Observatory and Hubble are being trained on Trappist-1 to glean all the data they can until JWST can join the study.Planets such as the three in the habitable zone of Trappist-1 are capable of pooling liquid water on the surface.The fact that JWST,Hubble and Spitzer are able to study Trappist-1 without clouds interfering and so on,and will have three targets to study,not just one as is typically the case,makes the discovery a major step forward in the search for life on exoplanets,the scientists said.
The red dwarf star Trappist-1 is much smaller and cooler than the Sun.If the Sun is a basketball,Trappist-1 is a golf ball.One of the Trappist-1 planets,Trappist-1 F,seems likely to be water-rich.It has a nine day orbit and receives about as much starlight as Mars.On exoplanet Trappist-1 E,you could have temperatures similar to Earth;it is 5% of the distance of the Earth from the Sun to its star,Trappist-1.Trappist-1 G is the largest exoplanet in its solar system,with a radius 13% larger than Earth's.About a thousand red dwarf stars are known,and these will now be searched by all available telescopes.About a few dozen exoplanets in the habitable zone are known,yet they are not accessible to near-term study as the Trappist-1 solar system is.
We should expect final results of the study of the Trappist-1 exoplanets sometime in the early 2020's,NASA said.*
The Trappist-1 exoplanets are only a few times the distance of the Earth from the Moon to their star,Trappist-1.They are so close to each other,they look like the size of the Moon from each other's surfaces.We can get good signals-to-noise ratios while studying these Trappist-1 exoplanets.NASA JPL and contractor Lockheed Martin engineered the Spitzer telescope that made the discovery.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Crewed Spaceflight to Surge as Boeing,SpaceX Awarded NASA Contracts-Commercial Crew Program test schedule disclosed

Beginning in late 2017,the pace of crewed space flight programmes will pick up markedly,long hobbled by the gap between the end of the Space Shuttle Program and the beginning of the Orion and Commercial Crew Programs.Boeing and SpaceX have each been awarded six crew rotation missions that will fly following NASA certification of their capability to safely transport astronauts to and from Low Earth Orbit.The Commecial Crew Program will help NASA get full operational use of the national lab aboard the International Space Station for scientific research by increasing the number of astronauts on the ISS and allowing the crew to dedicate more time to research and testing,including activities preparing for deep space exploration.*
Each Commercial Crew spaceflight will transport up to four astronauts and 220 pounds of cargo to the ISS.*
The current schedule for the CCP spacecraft test flights is as follows:
SpaceX Crew Dragon uncrewed flight test:November 2017;
SpaceX Crew Dragon crewed flight test:May 2018;
Boeing CST-100 Starliner uncrewed flight test:1 June 2018;
Boeing CST-100 Starliner crewed flight test:August 2018.*
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner will launch on a United Launch Alliance (Boeing/Lockheed Martin) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida.
The SpaceX Crew Dragon will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center,Florida.*
Incidentally,NASA's Orion spacecraft is slated to launch on the new Space Launch System rocket its uncrewed Exploration Mission-1 in December 2018.*
The increase in deep space research and testing resulting from the CCP will facilitate the progress of the Orion missions to the Mars system and require more astronauts.The next class of NASA astronauts will be announced in 2017.*
Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Aerospace Engineering:Critical Design Review Completed for ESA Orion Service Module

NASA and the ESA completed a critical design review culminating in a final review board on 16 June 2016 for the European-built Orion Service Module.The OSM,manufactured by Airbus Group SE,will power,propel and cool the Orion capsule in deep space,along with providing air,water and storage capacity for Orion's crew.
No new major issues were identified during an initial scan of the review,NASA said.Indeed,numerous items were processed and closed out,assuring engineers the OSM design is mature enough to continue with fabrication,assembly,integration and testing.While Airbus builds the OSM,Lockheed Martin is serving as prime contractor of the Orion spacecraft itself.*
The CDR set April 2017 as the target for OSM delivery to Kennedy Space Center for final processng for its late 2018 launch on the unmanned Exploration Mission-1,when it will be stacked atop the new Space Launch System rocket and beneath the Orion spacecraft.
Orion and its Ground Systems Development Program that provides the facilities and ground support at KSC to prepare SLS and Orion for deep space missions,successfully completed their own joint CDR in March 2016.*
Airbus Group SE (Euronext:EAD),Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Inside NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission - what,when and why

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) has two mission segments,according to NASA's Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST),a group of government and academic solar system exploration experts advising NASA on mission requirements.The Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM),slated for an end of year 2020 launch,will be the first mission ever to visit a large Near Earth Object,land on it,collect and return the asteroid material to a stable orbit around the Moon.The second mission segment is the Asteroid Redirect Crew Mission (ARCM),planned for a late 2025 launch of the Orion spacecraft on the new Space Launch System rocket,in which astronauts will explore the boulder and return to Earth with samples.*
A principal objective of the ARM is the development of a high-power Solar Electric Propulsion vehicle for the ARRM and the demonstration that it can operate for many years in interplanetary space.A second prime objective is to conduct a human spaceflight mission including in-space interaction with a natural object,to provide the systems and operational experience required for eventual human exploration of Mars,including the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos.The ARRM will test how Orion can dock and operate with a SEP-powered spacecraft.This new technology will help send the large amount of cargo,habitats and propellant to Mars in advance of a human mission.*
ARCM provides a compelling focus for the Orion program before the infrastructure for more ambitious flights will be available.The ARCM will provide the opportunity for human explorers to work in space with asteroid material,testing the activities that would be performed and tools that would be needed for later exploration of primitive body surfaces in deep space,close to our home planet and making it a significantly more affordable approach to obtaining this experience.*
According to the FAST draft report for public comment dated 23 November 2015,NASA has identified the NEA 2008 EV5 (the 5 is formally rendered as a subscript numeral) as the reference target for the ARRM.Final target selection will be made approximately a year before launch.2OO8 EV5 provides a valid target that can be used to help with formulation and development efforts.It is about 400m in diameter and has a reflectance spectrum consistent with carbonaceous chondrite meteorites (meteorites are small pieces of asteroids or comets that entered the atmosphere and survived to reach the surface of Earth).It is possible to identify 6 distinct candidate 10-m scale boulders on 2008 EV5's surface by visual inspection of radar images.One of the candidate boulders is located near the asteroid's South Pole;the others cannot be located with certainty at this time.
As for regoliths,or unconsolidated rocky material,there are likely millions of 10-cm scale cobbles on this NEA;and 3000 1-5m boulders would be expected on its surface.In terms of vehicle safety,steep cratered topography is not prevalent on asteroids less than 1 km in diameter,which are of interest to the ARRM.*
Initial dynamic modeling indicates 2008 EV5 began its existence as part of a much larger body in the Asteroid Belt (likely diameter 100 km) and migrated inward across the inner main belt over many millions of years until it reached a planetary gravitational resonance that drove it into the NEA population.Besides material collection,2008 EV5 will also be used for an enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection demonstration.This is one of the prospective defence techniques to deflect dangerous asteroids and protect Earth if needed in the future.

NASA and ESA:Orion Program Draws Them Even Closer

On 30 November,several NASA officials,plus Orion Program prime contractor Lockheed Martin and their European partners held a press conference to mark the start of testing of the European Service Module for the Orion spacecraft.The ESM test article was recently flown to the US on a huge Russian Antonov aircraft and trucked to the NASA Glenn Research Center in Clevelend and Sandusky,Ohio.The ESM will be certified for flight on Exploration Mission 1 in 2018,an unmanned mission that will be the first flight of Orion on the new Space Launch System rocket,which will take the spacecraft to the Moon and back.*
This is another step along that journey of designing a vehicle that's going to take us farther than human beings have gone ever,said GRC director Jim Free.It's really about ensuring the success of EM-1.GRC is the only place you can test a vehicle this size in its launch configuration.The huge vibration table here shakes the vehicle and the vacuum chamber simulates what space is like for the vehicle.At GRC's multiple locations for testing and getting qualified for flight,there will be ESM solar array deployment and firing pyrotechnics.It's all about ensuring mission success,meeting the flight and mission requirements here on the ground.
With the ESM Orion Service Module,we're building on the international partnership of the ISS.*
This is a significant milestone,said Greg Williams of NASA headquarters in Washingon,DC.What's more important is,we don't want to go it alone.We want exploration to be together.Orion and the Exploration Systems program will be the same as ISS.
We're building hardware,testing hardware,testing software.All the pieces are coming together.In the SLS program,tanks are being welded together;there is fabrication and testing.The huge Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center is being recertified;pads are being refurbished.It's really exciting to see we're on this march to EM-1.*
The vibration table and acoustic chamber here at GRC are unique in the world,said Mark Kirasich,Orion Program Manager,Johnson Space Center,Houston.We have to make sure we can survive that and the thermal extremes.We welcomed the ESA three years ago.Their ESM will provide Orion with propulsion,attitude control and abort capability.Its large solar arrays power the equipment and its radiators keep the equipment and astronauts comfortable.Its water and gas tanks are for drinking and breathing.
Down in Louisiana,the EM-1 crew module is almost complete;in early January,it will be shipped to KSC for the production and outfitting phase.*
This Saturday will be the first anniversary of EFT-1,the first test flight of Orion,said Dr.Mike Hawes,Orion Program Manager at Lockheed Martin.Five of the seven EM-1 crew module welds are complete.We are delivering computer boards to the ESA.We all believe exploration has to be an international venture.We work day in and day out with the Airbus team.The service module has to be totally interactive with the crew module.The crew module is the brains,directing the ESM's solar arrays and firing.The ISS proves that these partnerships can work on a vast scale.ESM is really building on that.We're testing Orion components on the ISS.*
It's a real team achievement,said Nico Dettman,head of the ESA's Development Department.I've seen a tremendous development in cooperation of the teams,a continuation of the ISS program.It's the first time ESA is embarking on a human mission beyond low earth orbit.*
On this programme,we are the partner of Lockheed Martin,building for the agencies,said Dr.Oliver Jukenhoefel,ESM Program Manager for Airbus Defence&Space.Our ESM couldn't fly alone;there is no onboard computer.The whole mission control is done by the crew module and NASA.Collaboration on a daily basis is not easy.The ESM test article is the majority of the mechanical.Space is in our DNA.The Orion Program is the best place we can be and we want to be in it for a very long period.*
The whole reason we're going to the Moon is for practice and as a staging area for equipment going to Mars,added NASA's Greg Williams.We need to develop equipment for deep space habitation;deep space propulsion ( needed first for the Asteroid Redirect Mission);and a landing capability for the Martian atmosphere.We are thinking ahead.Development and testing activities are underway.A lot is being tested on the ISS.Many componenets are either being designed or developed.It's a long,expensive proposition.We would love to see astronauts from several nations involved when we first set foot on the red planet.
All of our avionics and electronics have to be radiation-hardened.We,re building places to protect astronauts if we experience a solar flare,a place where they can hide.*

Career Opportunity:NASA Astronaut

Today NASA announced it will soon be recruiting US citizens again for a new astronaut candidate class.More human spacecraft are in development now than at any time in NASA history,and future astronauts will soon be launching from the Florida Space Coast on US-made commercial spacecraft and deep space missions to advance a future mission to Mars,the agency said.Applications will be accepted from 14 December to mid-February.NASA will announce the selectees in mid-2017.You can apply at http://www.usajobs.gov.The class of 2017 will be flying on either the International Space Station;the Boeing CST-100 Starliner;the SpaceX Crew Dragon;or the Orion deep-space exploration vehicle.*
NASA selects from a diverse pool of US citizens with a variety of backgrounds such as pilots,engineers,scientists and medical doctors.*
The next group of American space explorers will inspire the Mars generation to reach for new heights,and help us reach the goal of putting boot prints on the Red Planet,said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.Those selected for this service will fly on US-made spacecraft from American soil;advance critical science and research aboard the ISS;and help push the boundaries of technology in the proving ground of deep space.*
There are 47 astronauts currently in the active astronaut corps and more will be needed to crew future missions to the ISS and destinations in deep space.In its history,NASA has recruited more than 300 astronauts.
Requirements include a bachelor's degree in engineering,biological science,physical science or mathematics.Advanced degrees are desirable.Candidates must also have at least three years of related,progressively responsible professional experience,or at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft.They must also pass the NASA long duration spaceflight physical.*
For more information about this career and the requirements,please visit http://www.nasa.gov.astronauts.

New Horizons Calls Home,Sends More Data

Some foreigners may have become little green envious men over NASA's brilliant New Horizons achievement,but British physicist Stephen Hawking was not among them.Dr.Hawking immediately relayed his warm congratulations to his American colleagues as the sturdy spacecraft entered the Pluto system on 14 July.*
We have telemetry lock,said Dr.Alice Bowman,NASA Mission Operations Manager at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel,Maryland,as she received word that New Horizons phoned home at 8:52 pm ET at the end of the exhilarating yet tiring day.The spacecraft had survived its rendezvous with the dwarf planet Pluto.Immediately it went back to work gathering data from the rest of its flyby.
New Horizons will go on to explore more deep space bodies in the Kuiper Belt,a ring of icy objects ranging from boulders to dwarf planets at the edge of the solar system.The plutonium-powered spacecraft can operate and return data for at least 20 years,exploring the outer heliosphere,or area of the Sun's influence,and possibly even beyond into interstellar space,as has its predecessor Voyager I,according to Principal Investigator Dr.Alan Stern.The difference is,New Horizons has much better instruments than the two Voyager spacecraft have.
The New Horizons team has been working 24/7 for the last 6 months at APL in preparation for the flyby.One of the latest photos from the probe shows a young mountain range on Pluto near the equator.Pluto's mountains are up to 11,000 feet in height.An abundance of methane has been detected across Pluto's frosty surface,but with striking differences from place to place.
Another new photo shows surprising,young and varied terrain on Pluto's largest moon,Charon.Charon has a 4-6 mile canyon,as well as troughs and cliffs.This blog also noted a smooth area near Charon's north pole that resembles Mare Crisium on our own Moon.Pluto's moon Hydra is potato-shaped and is made mostly of water ice.
Pluto has a thin nitrogen atmosphere and colour variation across its surface.
Data from the Pluto flyby alone will pour in from New Horizons over the next 16 months and may take upwards of a decade to interpret.

Boeing's Commercial Space Business

Boeing's commercial space business got a reaffirmation Tuesday when NASA announced it had chosen Boeing's Crew Space Transportation-100 and SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to begin flying US astronauts to the International Space Station in 2017.bOEING GOT A 4.2 billion dollar contract;while SpaceX got a 2.6 billion dollar contract.Boeing has been part of every American human space flight program,and we're honored that NASA has chosen us to continue that legacy,said John Elbon,Vice President and General Manager of Space Exploration.The CST-100 offers NASA the most cost-effective,safe,innovative and proven successor to the Space Shuttle.*
Boeing hopes to take commercial passengers and other governments to space eventually as well,working with Bigelow Aerospace and Space Adventures.*
In July,Boeing completed the critical design review and Phase Two Spacecraft Safety Review for the CST-100.It is the only competitor to pass a CDR as well as all Commercial Crew Integrated Capability development phase milestones on time and on budget.Boeing is building a factory in Florida for the capsules.It is working on an initial run of three spacecraft.John Mulholland,Commercial Space Exploration Program Manager noted the upcoming certification tests on pad abort.Well over 100 parts have been delivered to Boeing,which is utilising the old shuttle hangar OPM-3 for the assembly,integration and testing of the CST-100.*
The CST-100 has a seven person maximum capacity.It is a manned spacecraft that was built from scratch,which hadn't been done in decades.Unlike the shuttle program,Boeing will be delivering a service as well as hardware.CST-100 is a complete transportation system,including the Spacecraft;Launch Vehicle;Ground Operations;Mission Operations;and Recovery.*
The interior of the CST-100 features tablet displays and multicolour LED lighting,which is already used in Boeing commercial airplanes.The capsule can be manufactured without welding,for greater structural integrity.The Atlas V rocket has been selected for initial flight tests and verification of the spacecraft.*
Boeing partner Bigelow Aerospace is developing an inflatable commercial space station,while partner Space Adventures has already brokered space flights aboard the ISS.*
Boeing(BA)