Mar 14 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-082 NASA RELEASES NEW WISE MISSION CATALOG OF ENTIRE INFRARED SKY

WASHINGTON -- NASA unveiled a new atlas and catalog of the entire infrared sky today showing more than a half billion stars, galaxies and other objects captured by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. "Today, WISE delivers the fruit of 14 years of effort to the astronomical community," said Edward Wright, WISE principal investigator at UCLA, who first began working on the mission with other team members in 1998. WISE launched Dec. 14, 2009, and mapped the entire sky in 2010 with vastly better sensitivity than its predecessors. It collected more than 2.7 million images taken at four infrared wavelengths of light, capturing everything from nearby asteroids to distant galaxies. Since then, the team has been processing more than 15 trillion bytes of returned data. A preliminary release of WISE data, covering the first half of the sky surveyed, was made last April. The WISE catalog of the entire sky meets the mission's fundamental objective. The individual WISE exposures have been combined into an atlas of more than 18,000 images covering the sky and a catalog listing the infrared properties of more than 560 million individual objects found in the images. Most of the objects are stars and galaxies, with roughly equal numbers of each. Many of them have never been seen before. WISE observations have led to numerous discoveries, including the elusive, coolest class of stars. Astronomers hunted for these failed stars, called "Y-dwarfs," for more than a decade. Because they have been cooling since their formation, they don't shine in visible light and could not be spotted until WISE mapped the sky with its infrared vision. WISE also took a poll of near-Earth asteroids, finding there are significantly fewer mid-size objects than previously thought. It also determined NASA has found more than 90 percent of the largest near-Earth asteroids. Other discoveries were unexpected. WISE found the first known "Trojan" asteroid to share the same orbital path around the sun as Earth. One of the images released today shows a surprising view of an "echo" of infrared light surrounding an exploded star. The echo was etched in the clouds of gas and dust when the flash of light from the supernova explosion heated surrounding clouds. At least 100 papers on the results from the WISE survey already have been published. More discoveries are expected now that astronomers have access to the whole sky as seen by the spacecraft. "With the release of the all-sky catalog and atlas, WISE joins the pantheon of great sky surveys that have led to many remarkable discoveries about the universe," said Roc Cutri, who leads the WISE data processing and archiving effort at the Infrared and Processing Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "It will be exciting and rewarding to see the innovative ways the science and educational communities will use WISE in their studies now that they have the data at their fingertips." NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., manages and operates WISE for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program, which is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo. Science operations, data processing and archiving take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

RELEASE: 12-084 NASA SELECTS NEXT CLASS OF STUDENT AMBASSADORS

WASHINGTON -- NASA recently inducted 100 high-performing interns into the 2012 NASA Student Ambassadors Virtual Community. Their selection is part of the agency's effort to engage undergraduate and graduate students in science, engineering, mathematics and technology, or STEM, research and interactive opportunities. This fourth group of student ambassadors, known as Cohort IV, includes interns from 34 states and 73 universities. "Congratulations Cohort IV on your selection to the NASA Student Ambassadors," said Leland Melvin, associate administrator for education at NASA Headquarters. "We are proud of your commitment to excellence and your spirit of 'paying it forward.' Being selected for this prestigious group is an honor, and your creativity and innovation will help NASA inspire the STEM workforce of the future and the next generation of explorers." Members of this virtual community will interact with NASA personnel, share information, make vital professional connections, collaborate with peers, represent NASA in a variety of venues, and help inspire and engage future interns. Through the community's website, participants access tools needed to serve as a student ambassador, blog, announcements, member profiles, forums, polls, and career resources. NASA managers and mentors nominated the recipients from hundreds of current interns and fellows across the agency. NASA's internships are among the most exciting research and educational opportunities available to college students. This online initiative also serves as a vehicle for recognizing outstanding student contributions. The community elevates the visibility and contribution of the ambassadors, providing increased involvement with the agency's exploration and STEM education missions. "The NASA Student Ambassadors Virtual Community serves as an outreach vehicle to the nation's students and is an effective way to engage exceptional Gen-Y students," added Mabel J. Matthews, NASA's higher education manager. "This innovative activity is important to helping the agency attract, engage, educate and employ future scientists and engineers."

RELEASE: 12-085 NASA SUB-SCALE SOLID-ROCKET MOTOR TESTS MATERIAL FOR SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- A sub-scale solid rocket motor designed to mimic NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, booster design successfully was tested today by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The 20-second firing tested new insulation materials on the 24-inch-diameter, 109-inch-long motor. The motor is a scaled down, low-cost replica of the solid rocket motors that will boost SLS off the launch pad. Marshall is leading the design and development of the SLS on behalf of the agency. The new heavy-lift launch vehicle will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system. The test will help engineers develop and evaluate analytical models and skills to assess future full-scale SLS solid rocket motor tests. The next full-scale test, Qualification Motor-1 (QM-1), is targeted for spring 2013. Two five-segment solid rocket motors, the world's largest at 154-foot-long and 12-foot diameter, will be used in the first two 70-metric-ton capability flights of SLS. Previous ground tests of the motors included carbon insulation to protect the rocket's nozzle from the harsh environment and 5000-degree temperatures to which it is exposed. QM-1 will include a new insulation material, provided by a new vendor, to line the motor's nozzle. "Test firing small motors at Marshall provides a quick, affordable and effective way to evaluate the new nozzle liner's performance," said Scott Ringel, an engineer at Marshall and the design lead for this test. "We have sophisticated analytic and computer modeling tools that tell us whether the new nozzle insulation will perform well, but nothing gives us better confidence than a hot-fire test." The test also includes several secondary objectives. The team introduced an intentional defect in the propellant with a tool designed to create a specific flaw size. By measuring the temperature inside the motor at the flaw location, the team hopes to gain a better understanding for the propellant's margin for error. Test data also will help the team better understand acoustics and vibrations resulting from the rocket motor's plume. In addition, NASA's Engineering and Safety Center will use test data to measure a solid rocket motor's plume and how it reacts to certain materials. Engineers from Marshall's Engineering Directorate designed the test motor with support from ATK Aerospace Systems of Huntsville, Ala. ATK of Brigham City, Utah, the prime contractor for the SLS booster, is responsible for designing and testing the SLS five-segment solid rocket motor.