May 19 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-219
NASA ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC SUSTAINABILITY AND PERFORMANCE PLAN
WASHINGTON -- NASA has released its Strategic Sustainability and Performance Plan (SSPP) as part of a government-wide effort to achieve goals without compromising the planet's resources. NASA's SSPP focuses on reducing greenhouse emissions, preventing pollution, increasing water use efficiency and constructing and maintaining high performance, sustainable buildings. The plan follows President Obama's executive order to increase federal effectiveness in pursuing these green goals and includes guidance for evaluating effectiveness and providing updates and review. "NASA is committed to a policy of sustainability that will be part of the work practices and mindset of the entire agency, said Olga Dominguez, assistant administrator for the Office of Strategic Infrastructure at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA submitted its plan to the Council on Environmental Quality. The plan was approved by the Office of Management and Budget. To read the NASA plan, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sustainability
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-040
NASA BRIEFING HIGHLIGHTS EDUCATION OUTREACH DURING NEXT SHUTTLE FLIGHT
Next mission includes teacher turned astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger HOUSTON -- NASA will highlight the educational activities planned on the next space shuttle mission during a news briefing at 12 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, March 9. The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Reporters will be able to ask questions from participating NASA locations. Astronaut and former school teacher Ricky Arnold will be joined by Cindy McArthur from the Teaching from Space Office to discuss educational activities involving astronaut and former teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger during the STS-131 shuttle flight. Metcalf-Lindenburger will be the last of the three school teachers selected as mission specialists in the 2004 Educator Astronaut Class to fly on the space shuttle. Arnold and Joseph Acaba flew on the STS-119 shuttle mission in March 2009. The educational activities on the STS-131 shuttle mission to the International Space Station will focus on robotics and careers in science, technology, engineering and math. The briefing also will explain how educators can become involved in learning activities during and after the shuttle mission. Without robotics, major accomplishments of building the station, repairing satellites in space and exploring other worlds would not be possible. Metcalf-Lindenburger will operate the space shuttle's robotic arm and a 50-foot Orbiter Boom Sensing System to inspect the shuttle for any damage that might have occurred during launch or in space. A digital camera and laser system on the boom's end provide three-dimensional imagery used by analysts to assess the health of the shuttle's heat shield.
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RELEASE: 10-214
NASA SELECTS WINNING TEAM IN BALLOONSAT COMPETITION
CLEVELAND -- NASA has selected the winner of the national Balloonsat High Altitude Flight Competition, a contest that introduces high school students to engineering principles and encourages engineering practices. The high school team from North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, N.C., took home the top prize. The winning team's experiment, Variations in Polyvinyl Alcohol Radiation Shields, was one of four student team experiments launched May 26 on a NASA weather balloon to the near-space environment of the stratosphere, an altitude of about 100,000 feet. The experiment demonstrated radiation shielding with homegrown polyvinyl alcohol films through a combination of ground tests and a flight experiment. "We were impressed by the work of all the teams, but especially this one, said David Snyder, technical lead for the Balloonsat project at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This team won because they combined a variety of techniques and information sources to look for radiation effects. NASA will present a medallion to members of the winning team, and the high school will receive a plaque this fall. The student teams were judged on teamwork, presentations at Glenn's May 27 Balloonsat Symposium, and a final report submitted after the experiments were launched on the weather balloon. Other teams which had experiments launched were: Charlottesville High School in Charlottesville, Va.; Upper St. Clair High School in Upper St. Clair, Pa.; and Stansbury High School in Stansbury, Utah. The Balloonsat competition and similar education programs help NASA attract and retain students in math, science, technology and engineering disciplines critical to the agency's future missions. Balloonsat is sponsored by the Educational Programs Office at Glenn, the Ohio Space Grant Consortium, and Teaching from Space, a program of the Education Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. For further information on this competition, visit: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/balloonsat/
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