Nov 18 2010

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-075

NASA ANNOUNCES LIVE WEB STREAMING OF SPACE EXPLORATION WORKSHOP AND TELEPHONE MEDIA BRIEFING

WASHINGTON -- The opening day activities of NASA's Exploration Enterprise Workshop will be Web-streamed live on Tuesday, May 25, from 9:30 a.m. to approximately 5 p.m. EDT. The Galveston, Texas, event is filled to capacity with more than 400 attendees. NASA also will hold a media teleconference on Tuesday at 5:30 pm EDT with the workshop's presenters. Reporters should contact Michael Braukus at 202-358-1979 for dial-in information. The two-day workshop will bring together a broad community of space exploration stakeholders from industry, academia and the federal government. The main discussion topics will cover the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate's plans for human and robotic space exploration and the administration's fiscal year 2011 budget request. The breakout sessions on the second day will not be webcast. To view workshop presentations and discussions, visit: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-esmd-enterprise-workshop The May 25th agenda is available at: http://www.aiaa.org/events/NASAworkshop Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live on NASA's website at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-062

NASA TV CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OPERATIONS

WASHINGTON -- NASA Television marks the 20th anniversary of on-orbit operations of the Hubble Space Telescope with a documentary that premieres Monday, April 26 at 2 p.m. EDT. It will re-air at 4 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. "Hubble: 20 Years of Discovery celebrates the achievements of one of the most popular and important scientific instruments in the history of exploration. Narrated by actor and writer Brent Spiner, this special video presentation takes viewers on a journey back in time and into the farthest reaches of the cosmos. Hubble's discoveries have revolutionized nearly all areas of current astronomical research, from planetary science to cosmology, and its images are unmistakably out of this world. Spiner is best known for his portrayal of Lt. Commander Data, the sentient android in the iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation television series and films. "Hubble: 20 Years of Discovery also will be featured on NASA's Internet homepage http://www.nasa.gov and the agency's popular You Tube channel.

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RELEASE: 10-218

NASA INVITES STUDENTS TO A WEIGHTLESS CHALLENGE

CLEVELAND -- NASA is hosting two national science competitions that challenge student teams to develop and prepare a microgravity experiment. Proposals are due Nov. 1. "Dropping In a Microgravity Environment, or DIME, is the competition for high school student teams. What If No Gravity? or WING, is the competition for student teams in sixth through ninth grades. Both competitions are open to student teams across the United States and Puerto Rico. Teams may be formed from any type of organization or club, such as a science class, a group of friends, a scout troop or a youth group. Each team must have an adult advisor, such as a teacher, parent or technical consultant. A panel of NASA scientists and engineers will evaluate and select the top-ranked proposals by Dec. 1. The winning teams then will design and build the experiments that will be conducted in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. When an experiment is ?dropped? into the 79-foot tower, it experiences weightlessness, or microgravity, for 2.2 seconds. Researchers from around the world use this tower to study the effects of microgravity on physical phenomena such as combustion and fluid dynamics, and to develop new technology for future space missions. The top four DIME teams will receive an all-expenses-paid trip in March to conduct their experiments, review the results with NASA personnel and tour Glenn's facilities. All DIME participants visiting NASA must be U.S. citizens. Four additional DIME teams and up to 30 WING teams will be selected to build their experiments and ship them to Glenn to be drop-tested by NASA. These experiments and the resulting data will be returned to the teams so they can prepare reports about their findings.

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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-076

NASA SPACE SHUTTLE CREW IN WASHINGTON, AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS

WASHINGTON -- NASA Headquarters in Washington will welcome space shuttle Discovery's STS-131 astronauts for a visit Tuesday, May 25, through Thursday, May 27. Their 15-day mission of more than 6.2 million miles wrapped up on April 20. The crew includes Rockville, Md., native Alan Poindexter and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, the last of three teachers selected as educator astronauts to fly on the shuttle. On Tuesday, Metcalf-Lindenburger, STS-131 Commander Poindexter, Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson and Clay Anderson will be available for media interviews from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW. At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the crew will share mission highlights with NASA employees, their families and reporters at NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium. The crew's presentation will be broadcast live on NASA Television. Reporters interested in interviewing a crew member or covering the presentation should contact NASA's Office of Communications at 202-358-1100. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and her STS-131 crewmates in Washington will attend an educational event from 1-1:50 p.m. on Thursday at the Japan Information and Culture Center at the Embassy of Japan, 1155 21st Street, N.W. The astronauts will discuss the mission with about 150 U.S. elementary school students and other guests. Journalists are invited to attend.

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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-142

NEW ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR EDUCATION AVAILABLE FOR MEDIA

WASHINGTON -- Leland D. Melvin, NASA's newly appointed associate administrator for education, will be available to members of the media on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. EDT. Melvin, a former astronaut, will be available for a media roundtable teleconference at 1 p.m. and for television live shots from 3 to 4 p.m. To participate in one or both of these media opportunities, reporters should contact Ann Marie Trotta at 202-358-1601 or ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov by 2 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 19. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden appointed Melvin on Oct. 12 to be responsible for developing and implementing agency education programs that strengthen student involvement and public awareness about NASA's scientific goals and missions. Melvin is from Lynchburg, Va. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Richmond and a master's degree in materials science engineering from the University Virginia. Melvin joined NASA in 1989 as an aerospace research engineer at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. He joined the astronaut corps in 1998 and served as a mission specialist on two space shuttle missions: STS-122 in 2008 and STS-129 in 2009, logging more than 565 hours in space. In 2003, Melvin co-managed the former Educator Astronaut Program, which recruited teachers to become fully-trained astronauts in an effort to connect space exploration with students across the country. NASA Television's Live Interview Media Outlet channel will be used for the live shots. The channel is a digital satellite C-band downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3, transponder 9C, located at 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5 Mhz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity. FEC is 3/4, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission DVB-S, 4:2:0. The interviews also will be broadcast live on NASA TV's Public and Media Channels. For streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For complete biographical information about Melvin, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/melvin_bio.html

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