Sep 4 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-302 NASA ANNOUNCES ASTEROID NAMING CONTEST FOR STUDENTS

WASHINGTON -- Students worldwide have an opportunity to name an asteroid from which an upcoming NASA mission will return samples to Earth. Scheduled to launch in 2016, the mission is called the Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). Samples returned from the primitive surface of the near-Earth asteroid currently called (101955) 1999 RQ36 could hold clues to the origin of the solar system and organic molecules that may have seeded life on Earth. NASA also is planning a crewed mission to an asteroid by 2025. A closer scientific study of asteroids will provide context and help inform this mission. "Because the samples returned by the mission will be available for study for future generations, it is possible the person who names the asteroid will grow up to study the regolith we return to Earth," said Jason Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The competition is open to students under age 18 from anywhere in the world. Each contestant can submit one name, up to 16 characters long. Entries must include a short explanation and rationale for the name. Submissions must be made by an adult on behalf of the student. The contest deadline is Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. The contest is a partnership with The Planetary Society in Pasadena, Calif.; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington; and the University of Arizona in Tucson. A panel will review proposed asteroid names. First prize will be awarded to the student who recommends a name that is approved by the International Astronomical Union Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature. "Our mission will be focused on this asteroid for more than a decade," said Dante Lauretta, principal investigator for the mission at the University of Arizona. "We look forward to having a name that is easier to say than (101955) 1999 RQ36." The asteroid was discovered in 1999 by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey at MIT's Lincoln Laboratory. LINEAR is part of NASA's Near Earth Observation Program in Washington, which detects and catalogs near-Earth asteroids and comets. The asteroid has an average diameter of approximately one-third of a mile (500 meters). "We are excited to have discovered the minor planet that will be visited by the OSIRIS-REx mission and to be able to engage students around the world to suggest a name for 1999 RQ36," said Grant Stokes, head of the Aerospace Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and principal investigator for the LINEAR program. The asteroid received its designation of (101955) 1999 RQ36 from the Minor Planet Center, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. The center assigns an initial alphanumeric designation to any newly discovered asteroid once certain criteria are met to determine its orbit. "Asteroids are just cool and 1999 RQ36 deserves a cool name!" said Bill Nye, chief executive officer for The Planetary Society. "Engaging kids around the world in a naming contest will get them tuned in to asteroids and asteroid science." NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center will provide overall mission management, systems engineering and safety and mission assurance. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver will build the spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages New Frontiers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

RELEASE: 12-304 NASA IS EXPANDING OFFER FOR SPACE SHUTTLE TILES AND FOOD

WASHINGTON -- NASA is expanding its offer to museums and schools of space shuttle heat shield tiles and food packaged for spaceflight. Beginning Tuesday, museums across the United States will be eligible to receive these pieces of space history, in addition to the schools and universities that have received them since the end of the Space Shuttle Program. Providing space shuttle thermal protection tiles and dehydrated astronaut food to museums is a way for NASA to share technology and history with the public. This initiative helps NASA inspire the next generation of space explorers, scientists and engineers. The lightweight tiles protected the shuttles from extreme temperatures when they re-entered Earth's atmosphere. The astronaut food was precooked or processed so it required no refrigeration and was ready to eat. It could be prepared simply by adding water or by heating. Requests for these artifacts are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Museums must obtain a user ID and password from their state agency for surplus property. Eligible educational institutions need their National Center for Education Statistics or Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System numbers assigned by the U.S. Department of Education to apply for this offer. Tiles are available in three types: black-coated, white-coated and uncoated. Institutions may request up to three tiles, one of each type, while supplies last. Schools and museums are responsible for a $23.40 shipping and handling fee per tile, which is payable to the shipping company through a secure website. Space food is offered as a package of approximately three space food items for a shipping and handling fee of $28.03. Institutions may request only one package of space food. NASA also is offering artifacts representing significant human spaceflight technologies, processes and accomplishments from its space exploration programs. Artifacts include 11 Fastrac engine nozzles used on X-34 aircraft; models of aircraft fuselages tested at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; early space shuttle prototype models; Ranger, Telestar, Explorer XII, Mariner VII, Nimbus and other spacecraft models; X3 solar mirrors; and various space shuttle components.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-172 NASA TO HONOR NEIL ARMSTRONG AT NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other dignitaries will attend a public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life and career of astronaut Neil Armstrong on Thursday, Sept. 13. The memorial will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed online by the agency's and National Cathedral's websites. The service is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT at the historic cathedral, which is known as the spiritual home for the nation. Dignitaries, community and political leaders, members of the Armstrong family and members of the NASA family, including current and former astronauts, will pay respects to the first man to walk on the moon, who died Aug. 25. News media wishing to cover the memorial service must contact Meredith MacKenzie at meredith@rabinowitz-dorf.com by Tuesday, Sept. 11, to receive credentials to cover this service. Space is limited. A very limited number of seats will be made available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in attending must contact Christine Peterson at: christine.peterson@nasa.gov. Details regarding the service and participants will be released as plans are finalized. Washington National Cathedral is a historic landmark symbolizing the role of faith in America, and its iconography tells the stories that have shaped the nation's identity. Armstrong, along with fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, presented the National Cathedral with a moon rock brought back during their Apollo 11 mission. The presentation took place in a July 21, 1974 service commemorating the fifth anniversary of the first lunar landing. The iconic Space Window that later would display the sliver of lunar rock also was dedicated at that service.