Feb 10 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-047 NASA SEEKS GAME CHANGING TECHNOLOGY PAYLOADS FOR SUBORBITAL RESEARCH FLIGHTS

WASHINGTON -- NASA is seeking proposals for small technology payloads that could fly on future NASA-sponsored suborbital flights. These future flights will travel to the edge of space and back, testing the innovative new technologies before they're sent to work in the harsh environment of space. "NASA's Game Changing Development Program focuses on maturing advanced space technologies that may lead to entirely new approaches for the agency's future space missions while providing solutions to significant national needs and adding to our nation's innovation economy," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This solicitation offers an opportunity to develop potentially transformative technologies that take advantage of our Flight Opportunities Program platforms, which allow frequent and predictable commercial access to near-space, with easy recovery of intact payloads." NASA's Game Changing Opportunities research announcement seeks proposals for payloads, vehicle enhancements and onboard facilities for payload integration that will help the agency advance technology development in the areas of exploration, space operations and other innovative technology areas relevant to NASA's missions. Sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Program, the agency expects proposals from entrepreneurs, scientists, technologists, instrument builders, research managers, and vehicle builders and operators. "This call for proposals is a great opportunity to develop innovative technology development payloads for flight on commercial suborbital, reusable vehicles which have novel ideas and approaches have the potential to revolutionize future space missions," said Stephen Gaddis, Game Changing Development program manager at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. Special emphasis will be given to proposals that address basic and applied research as well as development for advanced technologies and the development of test articles and techniques for evaluating the articles. Following development, selected payloads will be made available to NASA's Flight Opportunities Program for pairing with appropriate suborbital reusable launch service provider flights. In August 2011, NASA selected seven U.S. companies that can provide flight services and platforms to test innovative technology payloads through the Flight Opportunities Program. Under this solicitation, the selected Flight Opportunities suborbital reusable launch vehicles could be modified to facilitate integration and payload engineering of future payloads in support of specific research needs. Proposals will be accepted from U.S. or non-U.S. organizations including NASA centers and other government agencies, federally funded research and development centers, educational institutions, industry and nonprofit organizations. NASA expects to make approximately 20 awards this summer, with the majority of awards ranging between approximately $50,000 and $125,000 each. Several awards may be made for up to $500,000 in the area of vehicle integration and payload engineering technology enhancements and onboard research facilities to improve platform capabilities. NASA's Langley Research Center manages the Game Changing Development Program and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif., manages the Flight Opportunities Program for the agency's Space Technology Program.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-024 NASA TV TO BROADCAST SPACE STATION SPACEWALK FEB. 16

HOUSTON -- Two cosmonauts will conduct a six-hour spacewalk Thursday, Feb. 16, to continue outfitting the International Space Station. NASA Television will broadcast the spacewalk beginning at 7:45 a.m. CST. Expedition 30 Russian Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Anton Shkaplerov will move one of the two Strela cranes from the Pirs docking compartment to begin preparing for its replacement next year with a new laboratory and docking module. The 46-foot crane will be relocated to the Poisk module for future assembly and maintenance work. The duo also will install five debris shields on the Zvezda service module and, if time permits, a small experiment on the forward section of the module, an experiment sample pack on Poisk and support struts on the Pirs ladder. Both spacewalkers will wear Russian Orlan suits bearing blue stripes and equipped with NASA helmet cameras. They will emerge from the Pirs airlock at about 8:15 a.m. This spacewalk will be the 162nd in support of space station assembly and maintenance. The last spacewalk occurred Aug. 3, 2011. For Kononenko, it will be his third spacewalk following two in July 2008 during Expedition 17. His two previous spacewalks lasted a total of 12 hours and 12 minutes. It will be Shkaplerov's first spacewalk and the only one scheduled during Expedition 30. Because of the location of the activities, Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank of NASA and Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin will be isolated in their Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, which is attached to the Poisk module, for the duration of the spacewalk. NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit of NASA and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers will be free to move about the U.S. segment of the complex. Their Soyuz TMA-03M is attached to the Rassvet module.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-026 NASA HOSTS EVENTS TO CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF AMERICANS IN ORBIT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In celebration of 50 years of Americans in orbit, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will host several events Feb. 17 and 18 that will air live on NASA Television. On Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. EST, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana will host an employee presentation on NASA TV with the first two Americans to orbit Earth, Mercury astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. On Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn piloted his Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first U.S. orbital mission. Three months later, on May 24, Carpenter became the second American in orbit. At 3 p.m., NASA TV will air a news conference with Glenn and Carpenter. The event will take place at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in the Mercury Mission Control exhibit. On Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m., Glenn and Carpenter will participate in a ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex honoring all who made NASA's Project Mercury possible. The "On the Shoulders of Giants" program will include remarks from Cabana, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and astronaut Steve Robinson, who flew with Glenn on his second trip into orbit on shuttle Discovery's STS-95 mission in 1998.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-027 STATION ASTRONAUTS CAPTURE STUNNING VIEWS OF U.S., CANADA, NORTHERN LIGHTS

HOUSTON -- Astronauts aboard the International Space Station recently filmed what is among the most spectacular night imagery ever taken from space of the United States. The video, comprised of hundreds of sequential still images, will air on NASA Television's video file beginning today. The imagery also is available on the internet at NASA's Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth: Taken between Jan. 29-Feb. 3, the images show a continent ablaze with light, from the electric glow of hundreds of cities to a spectacular aurora borealis flickering on the northern horizon. The video includes flights above Mexico showing the entire Gulf Coast and continuing the length of the East Coast. Other video capture scenes from Brownsville, Texas, to the Great Lakes and above the St. Lawrence Seaway. Still another sequence begins in the western U.S. and continues across the Great Plains. New imagery also shows the aurora during flights above Canada. The imagery was taken using a still camera aboard the station, orbiting 240 miles above Earth.