Sep 12 2012

From The Space Library

RELEASE: 12-317 NASA ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR AERONAUTICS SCHOLARSHIPS

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate is accepting scholarship applications from graduate and undergraduate students for the 2013-2014 academic year. The application deadline is Jan. 14, 2013. NASA expects to award 20 undergraduate and five graduate scholarships to students in an aeronautical engineering program or related field. Undergraduate students who have at least two years of study remaining will receive up to $15,000 per year for two years and the opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend by interning at a NASA research center during the summer. Graduate students will receive a $35,000 stipend per year and $11,000 for educational expenses for up to three years, with an opportunity to receive a $10,000 stipend interning at a NASA research center for up to two consecutive summers. Graduate students also must apply under a specific research topic to align with NASA's aeronautics research programs. Students not committed to a specific academic institution or program still may apply. If accepted, they must be admitted by fall 2013 into an aeronautical engineering program or related field of study at an accredited U.S. university. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Scholarship money may be used for tuition and other school-related expenses. NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate conducts cutting-edge, fundamental and integrated systems research in traditional and emerging disciplines. The intent is to help transform the nation's air transportation system and support development of future air and space vehicles. The directorate's goals include improving airspace capacity and flexibility, aviation safety, and aircraft performance, as well as minimizing the environmental footprint of aviation by reducing overall noise, engine emissions and fuel usage.

RELEASE: 12-319 MARS ROVER CURIOSITY ARM TESTS NEARLY COMPLETE

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Curiosity team is almost finished robotic arm tests in preparation for the rover to touch and examine its first Martian rock. Tests with the 7-foot (2.1-meter) arm have allowed the mission team to gain confidence in the arm's precise maneuvering in Martian temperature and gravity conditions. During these activities, Curiosity has remained at a site it reached by its most recent drive on Sept. 5. The team will resume driving the rover this week and use its cameras to seek the first rock to touch with instruments on the arm. "We're about to drive some more and try to find the right rock to begin doing contact science with the arm," said Jennifer Trosper, Curiosity mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Two science instruments -- a camera called Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) that can take close-up, color images and a tool called Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) that determines the elemental composition of a target rock -- have passed preparatory tests at the rover's current location. The instruments are mounted on a turret at the end of the arm and can be placed in contact with target rocks. Curiosity's Canadian-made APXS had taken atmospheric readings earlier, but its first use on a solid target on Mars was this week on a calibration target brought from Earth. X-ray detectors work best cold, but even the daytime APXS tests produced clean data for identifying elements in the target. "The spectrum peaks are so narrow, we're getting excellent resolution, just as good as we saw in tests on Earth under ideal conditions," said APXS principal investigator Ralf Gellert of the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. "The good news is that we can now make high-resolution measurements even at high noon to support quick decisions about whether a sample is worthwhile for further investigations." The adjustable-focus MAHLI camera this week has produced sharp images of objects near and far, "Honestly, seeing those images with Curiosity's wheels in the foreground and Mount Sharp in the background simply make me cry," said MAHLI principal investigator Ken Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. "I know we're just getting started, but it's already been an incredible journey." MAHLI is also aiding evaluation of the arm's ability to position its tools and instruments. Curiosity moved the arm to predetermined "teach points" Sept. 11, including points above each of three inlet ports where it will later drop samples of soil and powdered rock into analytical instruments inside the rover. Images from the MAHLI camera confirmed the placements. Photos taken before and after opening the inlet cover for the chemistry and mineralogy (CheMin) analytical instrument also confirmed good operation of the cover. "Seeing that inlet cover open heightens our anticipation of getting the first solid sample into CheMin in the coming weeks," said CheMin principal investigator David Blake of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. A test last week that checked X-rays passing through an empty sample cell in CheMin worked well. It confirmed the instrument beneath the inlet opening is ready to start analyzing soil and rock samples. Curiosity is five weeks into a 2-year prime mission on Mars. It will use 10 science instruments to assess whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.

RELEASE: 12-320 NASA REQUESTS PROPOSALS FOR INITIAL CONTRACTS TO CERTIFY COMMERCIAL CREW TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS

WASHINGTON -- NASA on Wednesday released a request for proposals for the first of two contract phases to certify commercially developed space systems in support of crewed missions to the International Space Station. Through these certification products contracts, NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) will ensure commercial missions are held to the agency's safety requirements and standards for human space transportation system missions to the space station. NASA's request for proposals outlines a two-phase approach in which the first phase awards will be made to multiple companies. The companies will provide data related to the development of their Crew Transportation System (CTS) design, including a spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground and mission operations and recovery. NASA plans to award up to $10 million to each company in early 2013 for the first phase. The first phase will last about 15 months, during which companies will outline their strategies to meet the agency's required standards and safety requirements before a CTS could be approved to fly NASA astronauts to the space station. "We're looking forward to a strong U.S. industry response for this certification phase," said Ed Mango, NASA's CCP manager. "This is a major step in certifying transportation systems that can meet America's goal of transporting our astronauts to and from the space station." At the conclusion of the first phase, the agency anticipates more than one company will be ready to compete for the second certification phase contract. The second phase will be open to any company with systems at the design maturity level of Phase 1. The second phase will include development, testing, evaluation and certification activities enabling NASA to assess and approve the CTS capability for performing space station missions in compliance with NASA requirements. The objective of CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. After the capability is matured and expected to be available to the government and other customers, NASA could contract to purchase commercial services to meet its station crew transportation needs. While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities to low Earth orbit, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-178 NASA COVERAGE OF NEIL ARMSTRONG SERVICE AT NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

WASHINGTON -- NASA will provide special live programming of the public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life and career of astronaut Neil Armstrong at 10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept. 13. The memorial will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed online by the agency's and National Cathedral's websites. NASA Television will air two high-definition feeds of memorial starting at 9:45 a.m. NASA TV's Public Channel (channel 101) will carry the service, complete with on-screen identification fonts of the participants. The agency's Media Channel (channel 103) will broadcast a clean feed. NASA TV's Education channel will carry the complete service in standard definition. Also during the live broadcast of the service, NASA's Chief Historian, Bill Barry, will conduct an online chat on UStream that will provide additional information about the speakers at the memorial and their connection to Armstrong and NASA. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, 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 Armstrong. Bolden, former Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow, and Eugene Cernan, the Apollo 17 mission commander and last man to walk on the moon, will offer tributes. Armstrong's Apollo 11 crewmate and command module pilot, Michael Collins, will lead prayers. Popular jazz singer-songwriter Diana Krall is scheduled to sing at the service. Other musicians include the U.S. Navy Band "Sea Chanters," the Cathedral Choir, and the Metropolitan Opera Brass. The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde will offer a homily in honoring the life of the first man to walk on the moon, who died Aug. 25. 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 Collins and Buzz Aldrin, 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.