Oct 22 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-208
NASA SELECTS INVESTIGATIONS FOR FIRST MISSION TO ENCOUNTER THE SUN
WASHINGTON -- NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun closer than ever before. The unprecedented project, named Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch no later than 2018. The small car-sized spacecraft will plunge directly into the sun's atmosphere approximately four million miles from our star's surface. It will explore a region no other spacecraft ever has encountered. NASA has selected five science investigations that will unlock the sun's biggest mysteries. "The experiments selected for Solar Probe Plus are specifically designed to solve two key questions of solar physics -- why is the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than the sun's visible surface and what propels the solar wind that affects Earth and our solar system? said Dick Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division in Washington. We've been struggling with these questions for decades and this mission should finally provide those answers. As the spacecraft approaches the sun, its revolutionary carbon-composite heat shield must withstand temperatures exceeding 2550 degrees Fahrenheit and blasts of intense radiation. The spacecraft will have an up close and personal view of the sun enabling scientists to better understand, characterize and forecast the radiation environment for future space explorers. NASA invited researchers in 2009 to submit science proposals. Thirteen were reviewed by a panel of NASA and outside scientists. The total dollar amount for the five selected investigations is approximately $180 million for preliminary analysis, design, development and tests. The selected proposals are: -- Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation: principal investigator, Justin C. Kasper, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. This investigation will specifically count the most abundant particles in the solar wind -- electrons, protons and helium ions -- and measure their properties. The investigation also is designed to catch some of the particles for direct analysis. -- Wide-field Imager: principal investigator, Russell Howard, Naval Research Laboratory in Washington. This telescope will make 3-D images of the sun's corona, or atmosphere. The experiment will also provide 3-D images of the solar wind and shocks as they approach and pass the spacecraft. This investigation complements instruments on the spacecraft providing direct measurements by imaging the plasma the other instruments sample. -- Fields Experiment: principal investigator, Stuart Bale, University of California Space Sciences Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. This investigation will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, radio emissions, and shock waves that course through the sun's atmospheric plasma. The experiment also serves as a giant dust detector, registering voltage signatures when specks of space dust hit the spacecraft's antenna. -- Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun: principal investigator, David McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. This investigation consists of two instruments that will monitor electrons, protons and ions that are accelerated to high energies in the sun's atmosphere. -- Heliospheric Origins with Solar Probe Plus: principal investigator, Marco Velli of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Velli is the mission's observatory scientist, responsible for serving as a senior scientist on the science working group. He will provide an independent assessment of scientific performance and act as a community advocate for the mission. "This project allows humanity's ingenuity to go where no spacecraft has ever gone before, said Lika Guhathakurta, Solar Probe Plus program scientist at NASA Headquarters, in Washington. For the very first time, we'll be able to touch, taste and smell our sun. The Solar Probe Plus mission is part of NASA's Living with a Star Program. The program is designed to understand aspects of the sun and Earth's space environment that affect life and society. The program is managed by NASA'S Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., with oversight from NASA's Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Division. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., is responsible for formulating, implementing and operating the Solar Probe Mission.
-end-
MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-022
NASA ADMINISTRATOR TO HOLD NEWS BRIEFING AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will meet with reporters covering the launch of space shuttle Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The news briefing will be held at Kennedy's press site at 10 a.m. EST, Saturday, Feb. 6. Bolden will be available to talk with journalists about the shuttle's STS-130 mission to the International Space Station and other NASA programs. Endeavour is scheduled to lift off at 4:39 a.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 7. The news briefing will air live on NASA Television and the agency's Web site. Questions will be taken only from reporters at Kennedy. For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
-end-
CONTRACT RELEASE: C10-077
NASA SELECTS UNISYS FOR SIMULATION, AIRCRAFT TECHNICAL SERVICES
HAMPTON, Va. -- NASA has selected the Unisys Corp. in Reston, Va., to provide simulation and aircraft technical services for the agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The cost-plus-fixed-fee award is valued at $48.5 million over a three-year base period with one two-year option. Unisys will provide simulation-related hardware and software technology support services, including analysis, development, verification, validation, operations, maintenance, modification and systems integration for Langley flight simulation facilities and research aircraft systems.
-end-
MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-020
NASA ANNOUNCES TUESDAY NEWS TELECONFERENCES WITH DIRECTORATE LEADERS
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced the administration's fiscal year 2011 budget request Monday by calling for change and a new era of innovation in America's approach to science and space exploration. On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the associate administrators of the mission directorates will hold teleconferences to discuss the budget's impact on their specific areas. The teleconference schedule is (all times Eastern): 11:30 a.m. -- Science (phone 888-972-9928 or 415-228-4737, pass code: science) 12:15 p.m. -- Space Operations (phone: 800-369-6087 or 773-756-0843, pass code: spaceflight) 1 p.m. -- Exploration Systems (phone: 888-469-0980 or 630-395-0021, pass code: exploration) 1:45 p.m. -- Aeronautics (phone: 888-809-8972 or 212-287-1847, pass code: aeronautics) Each teleconference is scheduled to last 30 minutes. Reporters may join the teleconference of their choice by dialing the telephone number and using the pass code listed above. The number of available telephone lines is limited. Live audio of the budget teleconferences will stream online at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio Replays of each mission directorate's teleconference will be available until Feb. 16. The replay numbers are: Science: 888-403-4667 or 203-369-3149, pass code 78543 Space Operations: 800-944-3336 or 203-369-3426, pass code 12536 Exploration Systems: 800-262-5125 or 402-220-9716, pass code 55693 Aeronautics: 800-925-5459 or 203-369-3851, pass code 452361 The NASA budget and supporting information is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/budget
-end-
'
'
'
'
