May 3 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-198
NASA ANNOUNCES HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION FOR FUTURE ENGINEERS: TEAMS TO DESIGN SOFTWARE FOR SMALL SATELLITES ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
WASHINGTON -- NASA is challenging high school teams to design software to program small satellites aboard the International Space Station. The competition centers on the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, or SPHERES. SPHERES are bowling ball-sized spherical satellites used to test maneuvers for spacecraft performing autonomous rendezvous and docking. Three of these satellites fly inside the station's cabin. Each is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and navigation equipment. The Zero-Robotics investigation, run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., is designed to inspire future scientists and engineers. The teams are asked to address challenges of satellite docking, assembly and flight formation. The 2010 Zero-Robotics Challenge expands on a limited pilot program performed in fall 2009. This expanded pilot, called HelioSPHERES, will involve high schools from across the country during the 2010 - 2011 academic year. This new education program builds critical engineering skills for students, such as problem solving, design thought process, operations training, teamwork and presentation skills. The first 100 high school teams to register by Sept. 10 will be selected for the competition. Their full proposals are due by Sept. 14. More information and registration instructions are available at: http://zerorobotics.mit.edu Twenty teams selected from the 100 candidates will compete using simulations and ground-based testing at MIT. The software of the top 10 winners will be sent to the station, and an astronaut aboard the orbiting laboratory will program the SPHERES satellites to run the students' tests. MIT's Space Systems Laboratory developed the SPHERES program to provide the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, NASA and other researchers with a long-term test bed for validating technologies critical to the operation of future satellites, docking missions and satellite autonomous maneuvers. SPHERES have been used by many organizations, including other government agencies and graduate student research groups, since the program began in 2006. The satellites provide opportunities to test a wide range of hardware and software at an affordable cost. For additional information on NASA and MIT's Zero-Robotics program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/SPHERES-Zero-Robotics.html
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-114
NASA PLANS NEXT SPACE STATION REPAIR SPACEWALK FOR MONDAY
HOUSTON -- The third spacewalk to restore full cooling capability to the International Space Station is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 16. Expedition 24 Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson will venture outside to install a replacement pump and connect its electrical and fluid lines. The two NASA astronauts conducted the first two spacewalks to remove the failed ammonia pump from the station's truss, or backbone. The pump removed during Wednesday's spacewalk failed on July 31, causing a loss of half of the station's cooling system. Since then, the station has been operating normally while a second ammonia pump provides cooling for electronics. NASA Television coverage will begin Monday at 5 a.m. CDT. Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson are scheduled to begin the spacewalk just before 6 a.m. Monday's spacewalk will be the sixth for Wheelock and the third for Caldwell Dyson. Approximately two hours after the conclusion of the spacewalk, NASA TV will broadcast a briefing from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The briefing participants will be Kirk Shireman, International Space Station deputy program manager; Courtenay McMillan, Expedition 24 spacewalk flight director; and David Beaver, Expedition 24 spacewalk officer. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations, and should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm participation. Johnson's newsroom will be open for credentialed reporters to attend the briefing. Johnson also will operate a telephone bridge for reporters with valid media credentials issued by a NASA center. Journalists planning to use the service must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 15 minutes prior to the start of the briefing. Phone bridge capacity is limited and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
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