Oct 10 2012
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 12-356 INVESTING IN AMERICA'S TECHNOLOGY FUTURE: NASA SEEKS SPACE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS
WASHINGTON -- NASA is seeking applications from graduate students for the agency's Space Technology Research Fellowships. Applications will be accepted from students pursuing or planning to pursue master's or doctoral degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at accredited U.S. universities. The fellowship awards, worth as much as $68,000 per year, will coincide with the start of the fall 2013 term. The fellowships will sponsor U.S. graduate student researchers who show significant potential to contribute to NASA's strategic space technology objectives through their studies. To date, NASA has awarded these prestigious fellowships to 128 students from 50 universities and across 26 states and one U.S. territory. "NASA's Space Technology Program is building, testing and flying the technologies required for NASA's missions of tomorrow," said Michael Gazarik, director of the Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "With new technologies and innovation, astronauts will be able to travel safely beyond low Earth orbit and new science missions will make amazing discoveries about our universe. These fellowships will help create the next generation of highly skilled workers needed for NASA's and our nation's future, while motivating careers in science and technology that will lead to sustainable, high-tech jobs while America out-innovates the world." Sponsored by NASA's Space Technology Program, the continuing goal of the fellowships is to provide the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled researchers and technologists to improve U.S. technological competitiveness. Fellows will perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future leaders.
RELEASE: 12-357 SPACEX'S DRAGON CARRYING NASA CARGO RESUPPLIES SPACE STATION
HOUSTON -- The Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft was berthed to the International Space Station at 8:03 a.m. CDT Wednesday, a key milestone in a new era of commercial spaceflight. The delivery flight is the first contracted resupply mission by the company under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. "I want to congratulate SpaceX and the NASA team that worked alongside them to make this happen, and salute the astronauts aboard the space station who successfully captured the Dragon capsule," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "This marks the start of a new era of exploration for the United States, one where we will reduce the cost of missions to low-Earth orbit so we can focus our resources on deep space human missions back around the moon, to an asteroid and eventually to Mars." Space station Expedition 33 crew members Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Sunita Williams of NASA used the station's robotic arm to successfully capture Dragon at 5:56 a.m. The capture came 2 days, 10 hours, 21 minutes and after the mission's launch. The station was 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean, just west of Baja California. Following its capture, the spacecraft was attached to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony node. The station crew could open the hatch to Dragon as early as Wednesday afternoon to begin unloading its cargo. The capsule is scheduled to spend 18 days attached to the station before returning for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast. Dragon delivered 882 pounds of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, including 260 pounds of crew supplies, 390 pounds of scientific research, 225 pounds of hardware and several pounds of other supplies. Dragon will return a total of 1,673 pounds, including 163 pounds of crew supplies, 866 pounds of scientific research, and 518 pounds of vehicle hardware and other hardware. Dragon's capability to return cargo from the station is critical for supporting scientific research in the orbiting laboratory's unique microgravity environment, which enables important benefits for humanity and increases understanding of how humans can safely work, live and thrive in space for long periods. The ability to return frozen samples is a first for this flight and will be very helpful to the station's research community. Not since the space shuttle have NASA and its international partners been able to return considerable amounts of research and samples for analysis. The Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 8:35 p.m. EDT Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission was the first of at least 12 Space X cargo resupply missions to the space station through 2016. The resupply contract with NASA is worth $1.6 billion. "Under President Obama's leadership, the nation is embarking on an ambitious space program that is bringing critical launches back to the United States, in-sourcing American jobs, and keeping the nation on the cutting edge of technology development and innovation, all the while, maintaining America's world leadership and dominance in space exploration," Bolden said. SpaceX is one of two companies that built and tested new cargo spacecraft under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. SpaceX completed its final demonstration test in May when it launched a Dragon capsule to the station and performed a series of checkout maneuvers, before Dragon was grappled by the station crew and installed on the orbiting laboratory. Orbital Sciences is the other company participating in COTS. Orbital's Antares launch vehicle is on the launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket and pad will undergo a series of fueling tests that will take about three weeks. After the tests are completed, a hot fire test of the Antares first-stage engines will be conducted. A flight test of the Antares with a simulated Cygnus spacecraft will be flown in late 2012. A demonstration flight of Cygnus to the space station is planned in early 2013. NASA initiatives like COTS and the agency's Commercial Crew Program are helping develop a robust U.S. commercial space transportation industry with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station and low-Earth orbit. In addition to cargo flights, NASA's commercial space partners are making progress toward a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in the next 5 years.
MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-200 NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR TO VISIT LOCKHEED MARTIN TO VIEW NEXT MARS MISSION SPACECRAFT AND DEEP SPACE CAPSULE HEAT SHIELD
WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will visit Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colo., on Monday, Oct. 15 to view the next spacecraft to launch to Mars and a part of the Orion vehicle that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission will orbit Mars to explore how the sun may have stripped the Red Planet of most of its atmosphere, turning what possibly was once a planet habitable to microbial life into a cold and barren desert world. Lockheed Martin is building the spacecraft and will perform mission operations following launch. Orion is America's latest human spacecraft that will usher in a new era of space exploration. It is designed to be the safest, most advanced spacecraft ever, and will be flexible and capable enough to take NASA astronauts to a variety of destinations, including Mars. Lockheed Martin is building the Orion spacecraft. The Orion heat shield is being built at the company's Littleton facility. Garver will be available to speak with news media representatives following her tour of the MAVEN cleanroom and the facility where the Orion heat shield is being manufactured. There will be a photo opportunity with Garver and Lockheed Martin officials while they tour the MAVEN cleanroom before her comments to reporters in front of the Orion heat shield. The event starts at 9 a.m. MDT (11 a.m. EDT). Media representatives wanting to attend the event must call Gary Napier at 303-971-4012 or email him at gary.p.napier@lmco.com by 8 a.m., Monday, Oct. 15 to be badged into the facility. Journalists planning to attend must be U.S. citizens.
