Mar 1 2017

From The Space Library

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Current revision

MEDIA ADVISORY M17-024 NASA Acting Administrator, U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Speak to Astronauts Aboard International Space Station

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson will discuss life aboard the International Space Station during a space-to-Earth with participants at the Chamber of Commerce’s 16th Annual Aviation Summit in Washington March 2.

During an annual U.S. Chamber of Commerce conference in Washington, NASA acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot will moderate a discussion with NASA astronauts currently living and working aboard the International Space Station at 11:05 a.m. EST Thursday, March 2. The 20-minute, Earth-to-Space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson will answer questions from participants in the Chamber of Commerce’s 16th Annual Aviation Summit. Canadian Minister of Transport Marc Garneau and Chamber representative Carol Hallett will join Lightfoot for the question-and-answer session. More than 600 industry leaders are expected to be in attendance.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Stacy Day at 202-463-5682 or via email at press@uschamber.com. The conference will be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel at 2500 Calvert St. Northwest in Washington.

Kimbrough launched to the station Oct. 19, 2016, and is scheduled to return to Earth April 10. Whitson launched Nov. 17, 2016.

For more than 16 years, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth that will enable long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space. A global endeavor, more than 200 people from 18 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 1,900 research investigations from researchers in more than 95 countries.

RELEASE 17-023 NASA Releases Software Catalog, Granting the Public Free Access to Technologies for Earthy Applications

NASA has released its 2017-2018 software catalog, which offers an extensive portfolio of software products for a wide variety of technical applications, all free of charge to the public, without any royalty or copyright fees.

Available in both hard copy and online, this third edition of the publication has contributions from all the agency’s centers on data processing/storage, business systems, operations, propulsion and aeronautics. It includes many of the tools NASA uses to explore space and broaden our understanding of the universe. A number of software packages are being presented for release for the first time. Each catalog entry is accompanied with a plain language description of what it does.

“The software catalog is our way of supporting the innovation economy by granting access to tools used by today’s top aerospace professionals to entrepreneurs, small businesses, academia and industry,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) in Washington. “Access to these software codes has the potential to generate tangible benefits that create American jobs, earn revenue and save lives.”

NASA published the first edition of its software catalog in April 2014, becoming the first comprehensive listing of publicly available software to be compiled by a federal government agency -- the largest creator of custom code. Since then, NASA has shared thousands of its software programs with students, industry, individuals and other government agencies.

“Software has been a critical component of each of NASA’s mission successes and scientific discoveries. In fact, more than 30 percent of all reported NASA innovations are software,” said Dan Lockney, NASA’s Technology Transfer program executive. “We’re pleased to transfer these tools to other sectors and excited at the prospect of seeing them implemented in new and creative ways.”

Some of the software available include codes for more advanced drones, and quieter aircraft. While access restrictions apply to some codes, NASA has automated and updated its software release process over the last two years to ensure that it is as quick, easy and straightforward as possible.

The software catalog is a product of NASA’s Technology Transfer program, managed for the agency by STMD. The program ensures technologies developed for missions in exploration and discovery are broadly available to the public, maximizing the benefit to the nation.