Feb 12 2016

From The Space Library

Release M16-011 Austin, Texas, Students to Speak to Space Station Astronaut

Students from the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools in Austin, Texas, will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut currently living and working on the International Space Station at 11:55 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 16. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

During the event, hosted by the Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin native and Expedition 46 Flight Engineer Tim Kopra, who launched to the station on Dec. 15 will answer questions from second, fifth and sixth grade students from KIPP Austin Obras Elementary and KIPP Austin Vista Middle School.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Elizabeth Page at elizabeth.page@thestoryoftexas.com. The Bullock Texas State History Museum is located at 1800 Congress Avenue.

This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Office of Education’s efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station through the agency Office of Education’s STEM on Station activity provides authentic, live experiences in space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing the possibilities of life in space.

Media are Invited to Talk to Technology Experts, Tour Made In Space, Inc.

Reporters are invited to a media day on Friday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m. PST at Made In Space, Inc. (MIS), located at NASA’s Research Park, at Moffett Field, California, to learn about the startup company’s recent proposal award as part of NASA’s "Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships to Advance Tipping Point Technologies” solicitation, issued through NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD).

Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for STMD, will share the importance of the solicitation and give remarks, followed by a tour of the MIS facilities. The two-hour event will include informal briefings with MIS leadership as they discuss their winning proposal.

The American-based company was the first to use a 3-D printer on the International Space Station. Its project, “Versatile In-Space Robotic Precision Manufacturing and Assembly System,” was one of nine selected by STMD to mature technologies beyond their “tipping point.”

The goal of their selection is to develop mature technologies and qualify them for market, stimulating the commercial space industry while delivering technologies and capabilities needed for future NASA missions and commercial applications.

MIS leveraged NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, in which they received a Phase I and subsequent Phase II award. Their 3-D printer's success was a result of the SBIR program.

NASA Seeks Satellite Maker for Series of CubeSat Technology Missions In a unique invitation to develop a new satellite platform, NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology Program (SSTP) is requesting proposals from industry to provide small spacecraft for its Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator (PTD) missions that will include government-furnished technology payloads for a series of flight demonstrations.

NASA plans to award a contract for a six-unit (6U) CubeSat, with options for up to four additional CubeSats of the same basic design. The Pathfinder technology demonstration missions, enabled by this procurement, are expected to demonstrate several new propulsion systems, advanced control systems for precision pointing, and communications systems that will greatly increase data transmission for future missions.

“NASA wants to promote the development of the commercial small spacecraft industry,” said Andrew Petro, program executive for SSTP at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We are seeking a spacecraft bus that will meet our needs while avoiding over-specification so that the vendor can propose a spacecraft that might also meet the needs of a broader market.”

A 6U CubeSat measures 4 inches by 8 inches by 12 inches and has a mass of approximately 25 pounds. This Pathfinder CubeSat bus is required to provide at least 45 watts of power and allocate at least one-third of its volume for the technology payload. The proposed satellite is expected to be based on mature subsystems and require little, or preferably no new development, allowing for low cost, rapid delivery, and reasonably low technical risk.

NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley will lead the project in collaboration with NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. NASA expects the spacecraft and technology vendors to be partners in the mission operations.

“The team is excited to solicit proposals for a basic small satellite bus design that will be adaptable for use on a series of low-cost missions for NASA, and possibly for other customers,” said John Marmie, project manager at Ames. “The satellites will be used to demonstrate and characterize novel small satellite payloads in low-Earth orbit.”

This procurement is a departure from the approach in which NASA and others typically develop a new satellite platform for each technology demonstration or science mission. The procurement of multiple Pathfinder CubeSats will potentially enable a rapid cadence of technology demonstrations to advance the capabilities for CubeSats and other small spacecraft to support a wide variety of science, exploration and commercial space missions.

“This is a new opportunity for the private sector to participate with NASA in demonstrating some of the technologies recently selected in our Tipping Point solicitation as well as some technologies coming out of the Small Business Innovation Research program" said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Ames issued the request for proposals and manages SSTP within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. Proposals are due by March 30, 2016 and an award is anticipated by June 2016. The request for proposals can be found online at: [1]