Jun 2 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-077
SPACE AVAILABLE: NASA EMBRACES OPEN GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE
WASHINGTON -- Whether using social networks to allow students to interact directly with astronauts, or creating a cloud computing platform to give unprecedented access to scientific data, NASA's embrace of Open Government has made it a leader among federal agencies. In December 2009, the White House issued the Open Government Directive calling on executive branch agencies to become more open and accountable. The directive is centered on the principles of transparency, collaboration, and participation. NASA released the first version of the agency's Open Government Plan on Wednesday: http://www.nasa.gov/open/plan Through information technology systems and NASA's award-winning Web site, NASA.GOV, America's space program is expanding transparency, participation and collaboration while providing a new level of openness and accountability. NASA is focusing on embedding Open Government Initiative principles into three specific aspects of operations -- policy, technology and culture. Through a new policy initiative, NASA is working to make open source software development more collaborative to benefit the agency and public. NASA technology has created Nebula, the U.S. government's only cloud computing platform, which offers an easier way for NASA scientists and researchers to share large, complex data sets with external partners and the public. The creation of a new NASA Participatory Exploration Office will infuse more public participation into NASA's mission as part of a culture change to directly engage people in exploration. Through participation in NASA's Open Government Initiative and the use of the Citizen Engagement Tool on the agency's Web site, NASA has received hundreds of ideas for improving openness and transparency, more suggestions than any other government agency. NASA continues to provide the public live access to its missions through NASA TV and streaming video feeds over the Web. NASA education outreach programs include projects where students interact with astronauts and take controls of space instruments remotely. NASA's highly successful Centennial Challenges prize program has engaged inventors from around the country to successfully build prototypes of technology and innovation for use in space. To learn more about the White House Open Government Initiative, visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/open To learn more about Open Government at NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/open
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RELEASE: 10-326
DOE AND NASA REACH CLEANUP AGREEMENTS WITH THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE SANTA SUSANA FIELD LABORATORY
WASHINGTON -- The Department of Energy and NASA signed Administrative Orders on Consent (AOC) with the California Environmental Protection Agency today that define the process for the characterization and cleanup end-state of portions of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL). The agreements come after more than 10 months of negotiations and extensive public comment on the conceptual framework for cleanup outlined in the Agreement in Principle and additional public comment on the legally enforceable process and procedures in the draft Administrative Order on Consent. "By working closely with the State of California, we have reached an historic agreement that will allow the Department to carry out its important cleanup work and protect the health of both the surrounding community and the environment, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said. "NASA is pleased to join with the Department of Energy and the State of California in signing these agreements and will do its part to assist with the Santa Susanna cleanup, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. We are committed to working with these partners to address the environmental concerns at this former test site. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said: The landmark agreements announced today between NASA, the Department of Energy and the State of California are an important step toward real protection for families who live near the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. For many years, I have strongly supported the state's and communities' efforts to ensure that a comprehensive cleanup is conducted at Santa Susana that protects the health of the public, including children and pregnant women. I am pleased that NASA and the Department of Energy have stepped up to the plate and agreed to clean up the Santa Susana site to the levels California has determined will provide the greatest protection to nearby communities. DOE's agreement is a commitment to clean up Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone of the SSFL to background levels for both chemical and radiological constituents. DOE's AOC includes several key steps needed to reach the desired end-state of a cleanup to background. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) will determine the radiological background for each radionuclide based upon its on-going radiological background study. - The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) will determine the chemical background for each potential chemical constituent based upon its on-going chemical background study. - The USEPA will determine, through the ongoing radiological characterization survey, the nature and extent of any remaining radiological contamination. - DTSC will determine the nature and extent of any remaining chemical contamination based on the previously submitted chemical sampling results, results from co-locating samples with USEPA for chemical analysis, and any DTSC determined necessary additional sampling. - A major component of the framework is the involvement of USEPA to serve as technical advisor to DTSC and DOE. USEPA will perform confirmatory sampling after DOE has completed cleanup to help ensure all cleanup goals have been met. USEPA also will approve for use DOE identified areas of backfill. In addition to providing the legal framework for the agreement, the Administrative Order on Consent also outlines a process to address the court-ordered Environmental Impact Statement. The Administrative Order on Consent can be found at: http://www.etec.energy.gov NASA is responsible for the environmental cleanup of the federal real property at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The NASA-held (federal) portion of the site has been used historically for the research, development and testing of rocket engines associated with the Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs. Under NASA's AOC, the agency will work with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to determine the chemical background for each potential chemical constituent, based on its on-going chemical background study. The agency also will work with DTSC to determine the nature and extent of any remaining chemical contamination based on the previously submitted chemical sampling results, and any DTSC-determined necessary additional sampling. Originally developed as a remote site to test rocket engines and conduct nuclear research, the 2,850-acre SSFL, located in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Valley, is owned primarily by the Boeing Company, with small portions administered by NASA. The former Atomic Energy Commission conducted nuclear research on nuclear-powered space vehicles and sodium coolant mediums at 10 small reactors at the Energy Technology Engineering Center -- 90 acres within SSFL Area IV -- from the 1950s until 1988.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-047
MONTEREY STUDENTS SET TO RECEIVE CALL FROM ORBITING SPACE SHUTTLE ASTRONAUTS -- INCLUDING FORMER TEACHER
WASHINGTON -- Eighth grade students and children of the military community in California's Monterey Peninsula area will speak with astronauts orbiting 220 miles above Earth on Saturday, April 10. The call with the students and space shuttle Discovery Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot Jim Dutton, and Mission Specialist Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger will take place at 7:36 a.m. PDT at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Reporters interested in attending the event must contact Alan Richmond at 831-656-3649 by 3 p.m. on April 7. The Naval Postgraduate School has educated 38 NASA astronauts, including Poindexter and former astronaut Dan Bursch, the school's National Reconnaissance Office Chair, who is leading the downlink event. Discovery and its crew launched Monday, April 5, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the 13-day mission to the International Space Station, the astronauts will deliver science experiments and supplies; take three spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station's truss, or backbone; install a spare ammonia storage tank and return a used one; and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station's exterior. Metcalf-Lindenburger is one of three teachers selected to fly as shuttle mission specialists in the 2004 Educator Astronaut Class. She operates the shuttle's robotic arm. Without robotics, major accomplishments like building the station, repairing satellites in space and exploring other worlds would not be possible. To introduce the students to the mission and prepare them for the downlink, the Naval Postgraduate School produced a video using NASA footage of Discovery and the STS-131 crew in training. Astronaut John Phillips and former astronaut Jim Newman, both professors at the school, will join Bursch to provide an overview of the mission. They will answer questions before and after the downlink about how to become an astronaut, pursue a career in space, and train for shuttle missions. Students from the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences will host a variety of space artifact displays for the student participants. The Naval Postgraduate School is a leader in space systems education and active in space-related outreach and education in the local and regional community; it celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2010. The event is part of a series with educational organizations in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The in-orbit call is part of Teaching From Space, a NASA project that uses the unique environment of human spaceflight to promote learning opportunities and build partnerships with the kindergarten through 12th grade education community. NASA Television will air video of the astronauts during the downlink. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
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