Feb 5 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-291
NASA EPOXI FLYBY REVEALS NEW INSIGHTS INTO COMET FEATURES
WASHINGTON -- NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft successfully flew past comet Hartley 2 at 10 a.m. EDT Thursday. Scientists say initial images from the flyby provide new information about the comet's volume and material spewing from its surface. "Early observations of the comet show that, for the first time, we may be able to connect activity to individual features on the nucleus, said EPOXI principal investigator Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland, College Park. We certainly have our hands full. The images are full of great cometary data, and that's what we hoped for. EPOXI is an extended mission that uses the already in-flight Deep Impact spacecraft. Its encounter phase with Hartley 2 began at 4 p.m. EDT on Nov. 3, when the spacecraft began to point its two imagers at the comet's nucleus. Imaging of the nucleus began one hour later. "The spacecraft has provided the most extensive observations of a comet in history, said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. Scientists and engineers have successfully squeezed world class science from a re-purposed spacecraft at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers of a new science project. Images from the EPOXI mission reveal comet Hartley 2 to have 100 times less volume than comet Tempel 1, the first target of Deep Impact. More revelations about Hartley 2 are expected as analysis continues. Initial estimates indicate the spacecraft was about 435 miles from the comet at the closest-approach point. That's almost the exact distance that was calculated by engineers in advance of the flyby. "It is a testament to our team's skill that we nailed the flyby distance to a comet that likes to move around the sky so much, said Tim Larson, EPOXI project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. While it's great to see the images coming down, there is still work to be done. We have another three weeks of imaging during our outbound journey. The name EPOXI is a combination of the names for the two extended mission components: the Extrasolar Planet Observations and Characterization (EPOCh), and the flyby of comet Hartley 2, called the Deep Impact Extended Investigation (DIXI). The spacecraft has retained the name Deep Impact. In 2005, Deep Impact successfully released an impactor into the path of comet Tempel 1. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the EPOXI mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colo.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-111
NASA INVITES MEDIA TO ALPHA MAGNETIC SPECTROMETER ARRIVAL
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA will host a media event at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Aug. 26, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the arrival of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS). The state-of-the-art device to further our understanding of the universe will launch to the International Space Station during the last scheduled space shuttle flight next year. The AMS will arrive for processing at Kennedy's Shuttle Landing Facility at 11 a.m. aboard an Air Force C-5 aircraft. The instrument, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is a particle physics detector constructed, tested and operated by an international team representing 16 countries. During the media event, reporters will have an opportunity to speak with AMS' principal investigator, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Samuel Ting of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Mark Sistilli, NASA's program manager for AMS. Other members of the international AMS team, flight processing project managers, DOE staff and European Space Agency officials, whose facilities were used in testing the experiment, also will be available for interviews. U.S. reporters must apply for credentials by noon, Wednesday, Aug. 25. International journalists must apply by 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 17. Reporters without permanent Kennedy credentials should submit their request online at: https://media.ksc.nasa.gov Media planning to attend must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 9:30 a.m. for transportation to the event. Participants must be dressed in full-length pants, flat shoes that entirely cover the feet and shirts with sleeves. Because times are subject to change, call Kennedy's media information line for updates at 321-867-2525. The AMS will fly aboard shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, targeted to launch Feb. 26, 2011. The device will be mounted and operated on the space station. It will use the unique environment of space to advance knowledge of the universe, leading to a better understanding of the universe's origin by searching for antimatter, dark matter, strange matter and measuring cosmic rays. AMS will attempt to answer such fundamental questions of the origin and nature of the universe as, is there antimatter in the universe; what is the exact nature of dark matter; and does strange matter exist. The experiment is expected to remain active for the duration of the station's life.
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CONTRACT RELEASE: C10-019
NASA EXTENDS CONTRACT FOR SUPERCOMPUTING SUPPORT SERVICES
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA will exercise a one-year extension option on a contract with Computer Sciences Corporation in Lanham, Md., to provide supercomputing support services at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. The extension is valued at approximately $57 million. The option exercised on the cost-plus-award-fee contract begins April 1, 2010, and will continue to March 31, 2011. The contract consists of a two-year base period and eight one-year priced options with a maximum value of approximately $597 million if all options are exercised. The company will continue to support the supercomputing services provided by the agency's primary high performance computing facility operated by the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division at Ames. The division serves as the supercomputing pathfinder for the agency; maintains a deep knowledge of high performance computing and related technologies and applications; and develops and operates some of the largest, most advanced and productive supercomputers in the world. The contract is structured so the company also may provide supercomputing services to the NASA Center for Computational Sciences facility at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and additional high performance computing support to other agency field centers as needed.
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