Aug 8 2013

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M13-128 NASA Administrator Tours Earth Missions Under Construction in California

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will visit the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 13, to see progress on two Earth-observing missions currently undergoing preparation for launch in 2014.

Media are invited to accompany Bolden and JPL Director Charles Elachi on the tour at 1:30 p.m. PDT. Bolden will meet with the spacecraft teams, give some brief comments to media and answer questions.

Journalists who want to participate must arrange access through Elena Mejia of JPL Media Relations by 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 12, by sending an email to elena.mejia@jpl.nasa.gov.

Media who have responded and would like to enter the clean room where the two spacecraft are located must arrive at JPL no later than 12:15 p.m. Aug. 13 to don special gear and have any recording equipment cleaned. Media entering the clean room must wear flat, close-toed shoes and long pants.

Media who do not want to enter the clean room should arrive by 12:45 p.m. to view the event from an enclosed overhead gallery, where an audio feed will be available. Contact Mejia if you have any questions regarding the technical setup and allowable equipment in the clean room.

The spacecraft Bolden will see are the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, scheduled to launch in October 2014, and the International Space Station (ISS)-RapidScat instrument, which is set for launch to the orbiting laboratory in April 2014.

These missions will add to NASA’s suite of space and airborne research that contribute to scientists' understanding of weather and climate and efforts to improve life on Earth and protect our planet.

SMAP will produce global maps scientists can use to track water availability around our planet and guide policy decisions. It will improve the accuracy of short-term weather forecasts and long-term projections of climate change and provide vital early-warning information on agricultural crop yields.

ISS-RapidScat is a scatterometer that will be mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station to collect information on the speed and direction of winds near the ocean surface in Earth’s low and mid-latitudes. The instrument also will be used to calibrate other ocean winds satellites. The data it generates will help improve weather forecasts, including tracking of storms and hurricanes, and our understanding of how interactions between Earth’s ocean and atmosphere influence our climate.

JPL manages SMAP for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. ISS-RapidScat is a joint partnership of JPL and NASA's International Space Station Program Office at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, with support from the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

RELEASE 13-249 The Challenge is On: NASA-WPI 2014 Robot Prize Competition Registration Open

In pursuit of new technological solutions for America's space program and our nation's future, NASA and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Worcester, Mass., have opened registration for the $1.5 million 2014 Sample Return Robot prize competition.

Planned for June 2014 at WPI, industry and academic teams from across the nation will compete to demonstrate a robot can locate and retrieve geologic samples from wide and varied terrains without human controls. Teams that meet all competition requirements will be eligible to compete for the NASA-funded $1.5 million prize.

"The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in automatic navigation and robotic manipulator technologies that NASA could incorporate into future missions," said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for space technology in Washington. "Innovations stemming from this challenge may improve NASA's capability to explore an asteroid or Mars, and advance robotic technology for use in industries and applications here on Earth."

NASA is providing the prize money to the winning team as part of the agency's Centennial Challenges competitions, which seek inventive solutions to problems of interest to the agency and the nation. While NASA provides the prize purse, the competitions are managed by nonprofit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. Prizes are awarded only after solutions are successfully demonstrated.

Earlier this year NASA awarded $5,000 to Team Survey of Los Angeles for successfully completing Level 1 of the 2013 Sample Return Robot Challenge. NASA expects the 2014 event will advance the progress of the competition and include new, as well as returning, American competitors.

There have been 24 NASA Centennial Challenges competitions since 2005, with NASA awarding more than $6 million to 16 different winning teams. Competitors include private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the aerospace industry.

"We're honored and excited to once again host the Sample Return Robot Challenge," said Philip B. Ryan, interim president of WPI. "This year, 10,000 people turned out to watch the competition and to enjoy WPI's fantastic 'Touch Tomorrow Festival' of science, technology and robots. It's a pleasure to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in the wonders of this competition, this festival and this emerging field."

In addition to its academic programs, WPI's Robotics Resource Center supports robotics projects, teams, events and K-12 outreach programs. Each year, WPI manages at least seven competitive robotics tournaments. The university also has sponsored programs that foster the use of robots to solve important societal problems and encourage consideration of the societal implications of this new area of technology.

RELEASE 13-026 NASA's Journey to Tomorrow Traveling Exhibit Featured at Eastern Michigan University

The excitement of exploration is coming to the Eastern Michigan University Star Party in Ypsilanti, Mich. Visitors are invited to step inside NASA Glenn Research Center’s Journey to Tomorrow exhibit to participate in interactive activities from noon to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug 16-17.

The traveling exhibit will be on display at the university's planetarium located in the Mark Jefferson Science Complex. The 53-foot trailer is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible and packed with hands-on educational activities and digital learning stations.

The exhibit engages guests in real world challenges relative to both aeronautics and space exploration. Visitors can explore technology on computer kiosks and hands-on workstations which include NASA Spinoffs where guests can learn about how NASA technology improves our quality of life; a quiz in Sci-Fi vs. Science Fact, where visitors can find out how much they know about space travel and the search for extraterrestrial life; and perform small experiments in a glovebox.

Other activities include a solar system scale, where a person can find out how much they would weigh on another planet like Jupiter; and a planetary gravity simulator where guests can learn how gravity changes from planet to planet.

Visitors can test their skills landing on Mars with the Xbox Kinect video game called "Mars Rover Landing;" receive a free souvenir photo from the popular “Picture Yourself in Space” photo booth; and pickup free NASA informational material.