Nov 17 2015

From The Space Library

Release 15-222 NASA Awards Two Robots to University Groups for R&D Upgrades

Humanoid robots will be helpful to astronauts on our journey to Mars, so NASA has awarded prototypes to two universities for advanced research and development work.

NASA is interested in humanoid robots because they can help or even take the place of astronauts working in extreme space environments. Robots, like NASA’s R5, could be used in future NASA missions either as precursor robots performing mission tasks before humans arrive or as human-assistive robots actively collaborating with the human crew. R5 initially was designed to complete disaster-relief maneuvers, however, its main goal is to prove itself worthy of even trickier terrain -- deep space exploration.

“Advances in robotics, including human-robotic collaboration, are critical to developing the capabilities required for our journey to Mars,” said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are excited to engage these university research groups to help NASA with this next big step in robotics technology development.”

The two university proposals selected are:

• Robust Autonomy for Extreme Space Environments: Hosting R5 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, led by principal investigator Russ Tedrake
• Accessible Testing on Humanoid-Robot-R5 and Evaluation of NASA Administered (ATHENA) Space Robotics Challenge -- Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, led by principal investigator Taskin Padir

The two university groups were chosen through a competitive selection process from groups entered in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Robotics Challenge. They also will receive as much as $250,000 a year for two years and have access to onsite and virtual technical support from NASA. STMD’s Game Changing Development Program, which is charged with rapidly maturing innovative technologies that will one day change the way NASA explores space, is funding the research.

The university principal investigators will serve as critical partners in NASA’s upcoming Space Robotics Challenge where the two R5 units will act as instruments. The challenge is part of the agency’s Centennial Challenges Program, and is divided into two competitions: a virtual competition using robotic simulations, and a physical competition using the two upgraded R5 robots. The goal of the challenge is to create better software for dexterous humanoid robots used in space missions, giving them more autonomy.

NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, manages the Game Changing Development Program for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. The Space Technology Mission Directorate is responsible for developing the cross-cutting, pioneering, new technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions.

Release M15-163 NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra Available for Interviews Before Space Station Mission

NASA astronaut Tim Kopra, who is making final preparations for a December launch to the International Space Station, is available for live satellite interviews from 7-8 a.m. EST Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Kopra will participate in the interviews live from the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. The interviews will be preceded at 6:30 a.m. by a video highlighting his mission training.

To participate, reporters should contact Karen Svetaka at 281-483-8684 no later than 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 23. Media participating in the live shots must tune to NTV-3. Satellite tuning information is available at: [1]

Kopra, who was born in Austin, Texas, will launch to the station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft at 6:03 a.m. EST on Dec. 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, along with crewmates cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Tim Peake of ESA (European Space Agency).

Kopra’s first mission to space was as a flight engineer on Expedition 20 in 2009. During that two-month mission, he completed one spacewalk that lasted five hours, 32 minutes. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York. He holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, a second master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a third and fourth in business administration from Columbia University in New York and London Business School in the United Kingdom.

At the space station, Kopra, Malenchenko and Peake will join Expedition 46 NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Roscosmos cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Sergey Volkov. Kelly and Kornienko are approaching the ninth month of their one-year mission on board the space station. Together, the six crew members will continue the several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity’s only orbiting laboratory.

Release 15-223 NASA Receives Fifth Consecutive Clean Audit Opinion

NASA has received an unmodified audit opinion on its Fiscal Year 2015 (FY 2015) financial statements, marking the fifth consecutive year of “clean” opinions. The agency has released its FY 2015 Agency Financial Report (AFR), which provides details on its financial results and performance highlights.

The auditor's unmodified opinion is that NASA's financial statements fairly present the agency's financial position and results of operations. An unmodified opinion is the highest audit opinion that may be received from an external auditor.

“Fiscal Year 2015 marks the fifth year in a row NASA has received a “clean” audit opinion,” said NASA Chief Financial Officer David Radzanowski. “This reflects the agency’s strong commitment to excellence in financial management and to effective stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”

The AFR highlights NASA's progress toward meeting its strategic goals, including major milestones in the development of new systems for the human exploration of deep space. FY 2015 saw the first flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which is designed to take humans on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and on the journey to Mars. This year NASA also accomplished major milestones in the development of the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, including the first qualification booster test.

FY 2015 also was highlighted by breakthroughs in science, aeronautics, and technology development that advanced the nation's technical capabilities and expanded our knowledge of the universe. NASA’s robotic explorers continued to astound in FY 2015, including the New Horizons mission’s historic first-ever flyby of Pluto, and the Dawn mission’s exploration of the dwarf planet Ceres. NASA also continued vital research and technology development activities on the International Space Station.

NASA produces an Annual Performance Report (APR) that will include more details on these important accomplishments. The APR will be released in early 2016 concurrently with the president's budget request for FY 2017.