May 20 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-228
INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS DISCUSS SPACE STATION EXTENSION AND USE
WASHINGTON -- The International Space Station partner agencies met Tuesday, Sept. 21, by videoconference to discuss continuation of space station operations into the next decade and its use as a research laboratory. The Multilateral Coordination Board (MCB) meeting included senior representatives from NASA, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The MCB meets periodically to ensure coordination of station operations and activities among the partners. The MCB was pleased to learn that the government of Japan has approved continuing space station operations beyond 2016. Coupled with the approval of the government of the Russian Federation for continuation to 2020, this progress is indicative of the strength of the station partnership and the successful use of station. ESA and CSA are working with their respective governments to reach consensus about the continuation of the station. NASA also is continuing to work with the U.S. Congress to complete the necessary procedures to extend station operations consistent with the presidential budget request. The MCB also noted the benefits to future exploration beyond low-Earth orbit through enhanced station research, technology development and other opportunities. Each partner agency reaffirmed its commitment to gaining the maximum return from station with increasing the operational efficiency. On-going research with potential societal impacts includes: -- NASA and the National Institutes of Health recently announced three new biomedical experiments using the station's unique microgravity facilities to improve human health on Earth. The experiments will use the station to study how bones and the immune system weaken in space as part of NIH's new BioMed-ISS program. -- CSA will focus its life science research program on mitigating health risks associated with spaceflight. More specifically, these health experiments and activities will monitor crew health and deliver health care on space missions, develop exercise, etc. http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng -- ESA just started a fluid physics experiment in the Microgravity Science Glovebox onboard the station's Columbus module that is of high interest to material scientists. The experiment uses advanced optical diagnostics to investigate the transformation of particles to aggregates due to density fluctuations in a mixture. The ESA experiment demonstrates a new capability to reverse and fine-tune the aggregation process; such control may yield a significant potential impact on fabrication of micro-structured materials such as photonic crystals. http://www.esa.int/spaceflight -- Roscosmos continues experimental programs aimed at human's adaptation to future long-term expeditions. Effects of the flight conditions on the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system and bones are being carefully investigated in dedicated medical experiments. Other research being conducted includes plantation of wheat and vegetables followed by genetic, microbiological and biochemical tests of plants. http://www.federalspace.ru -- Japan's externally mounted X-Ray camera monitors more than 1,000 X-ray sources in space, including black holes and neutron stars. The instrument scans the entire sky in X-ray wavelengths and downlinks data to be distributed through the Internet to research groups around the world. Since last October, it has issued more than 50 alerts for the X-ray transient phenomena. http://www.mext.go.jp/english All of the partners also recognize the key role of the space station in inspiring students around the world to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics. More than 30 million students have participated in human spaceflight though communications downlinks and interactive experiments with station astronauts.
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RELEASE: 10-233
NASA MISSION SHOWS EVOLUTION OF CONDITIONS AT EDGE OF SOLAR SYSTEM
WASHINGTON -- New data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft, reveal that conditions at the edge of our solar system may be much more dynamic than previously thought. Future exploration missions will benefit in design and mission objectives from a better understanding of the changing conditions in this outer region of our solar system. The IBEX has produced a new set of all-sky maps of our solar system's interaction with the galaxy, allowing researchers to continue viewing and studying the interaction between our galaxy and sun. The new maps reveal changing conditions in the region that separates the nearest reaches of our galaxy, called the local interstellar medium, from our heliosphere -- a protective bubble that shields and protects our solar system. In October 2009, scientists announced that the first map data produced by IBEX revealed an unpredicted bright ribbon of energetic neutral atoms emanating toward the sun from the edge of the solar system. This discovery was unexpected to scientists, because the ribbon of bright emissions did not resemble any previous theoretical models of the region. The IBEX spacecraft creates sky maps by measuring and counting particles referred to as energetic neutral atoms that are created in an area of our solar system known as the interstellar boundary region. This imaging technique is required since this region emits no light that can be collected by conventional telescopes. This interstellar boundary is where charged particles from the sun, called the solar wind, flow outward far beyond the orbits of the planets and collide with material between stars. These collisions cause energetic neutral atoms to travel inward toward the sun from interstellar space at velocities ranging from 100,000 mph to more than 2.4 million mph. This second set of all-sky maps, created using data collected during six months of observations, show the evolution of the interstellar boundary region. The maps help delineate the interstellar boundary region, the area at the edge of our solar system that shields it from most of the dangerous galactic cosmic radiation that would otherwise enter from interstellar space. The new findings were published this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics, a publication of the American Geophysical Union. "Our discovery of changes over six months in the IBEX ribbon and other neutral atoms propagating in from the edge of our solar system show that the interaction of our sun and the galaxy is amazingly dynamic, said David J. McComas, IBEX principal investigator and assistant vice president of the Space Science and Engineering Division at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. These variations are taking place on remarkably short timescales. The IBEX spacecraft was launched in October 2008. Its science objective was to discover the nature of the interactions between the solar wind and the interstellar medium at the edge of our solar system. "This situational awareness provided by IBEX shows our place in space is not constant, said Dick Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division in NASA's Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. Better understanding of the dynamic environment of space is vital for successful planning for future exploration. The goal of the Heliophysics Division is to understand the sun and its interactions with Earth and the solar system. The Southwest Research Institute developed and leads the IBEX mission with a team of national and international partners. The spacecraft is one of NASA's series of low-cost, rapidly developed missions in the Small Explorers Program. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate.
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MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-134
NASA ASTRONAUTS ON SPACE STATION CONNECT WITH HOUSTON STUDENTS
HOUSTON -- International Space Station astronaut Shannon Walker will speak on Wednesday, Sept. 29 to students from three schools she attended while growing up in Houston. Students from Parker Elementary and Westbury High School will join those gathered at Johnston Middle School to ask questions of Flight Engineer Walker and station Commander Doug Wheelock from 10:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m. CDT. Media planning to attend should contact Norm Uhl via email at nuhl@houstonisd.org . Walker is the first native Houstonian astronaut. She has been living on the International Space Station since June. Walker was assigned to Expedition 24/25 for a six-month stay and will return to Earth in late November. She has been employed at NASA's Johnson Space Center since 1987 and was selected as an astronaut in May 2004. Students have been preparing for the downlink by participating in science lessons and studying the space station. To determine who will have the opportunity to ask questions, Johnston students filled out applications where they explained the impact the space station has had on society and their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This live, in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office. Teaching From Space promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of human spaceflight. NASA Television will air video from the space station during the event. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
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