Aug 23 2012

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-157 NASA'S WISE SCIENTISTS TO DISCUSS BLACK HOLES AND EXTREME OBJECTS WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 29, to announce new discoveries from its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). The discoveries are related to the distant universe, including supermassive black holes and rare galaxies. The briefing participants are: -- Daniel Stern, astronomer, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. -- Peter Eisenhardt, WISE project scientist, JPL -- Jingwen Wu, astronomer, JPL -- Rachel Somerville, Downsbrough Chair in Astrophysics, Rutgers University

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-158 NASA HOSTS FIRST SOCIAL MEDIA EVENT AT GOLDSTONE DEEP SPACE COMMUNICATIONS COMPLEX

WASHINGTON -- Sixty-five of NASA's social media followers will have a rare opportunity to tour the agency's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California's Mojave Desert during a NASA Social on Monday, Oct. 15, 2012. Goldstone is one of three NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) complexes strategically placed around the world. The complex provides the ability to communicate with spacecraft not only in orbit around Earth, but also in the farther reaches of our solar system. People who engage with NASA through Twitter, Facebook and Google+ also will travel to Apollo Valley to see the historic Apollo antenna and 34-meter Beam Waveguide Cluster antennas; take a trip to Mars Valley, home of the large 70-meter Mars antenna (230-foot dish); the 34-meter Uranus antenna and Signal Processing Center 10; and the Spacecraft Operations Control Center. Participants will have an opportunity to speak with scientists, engineers and other team members from NASA and Goldstone. They also will interact with fellow NASA social media followers, space enthusiasts and members of NASA's social media team. The 65 participants will be selected randomly from online registrations for this NASA Social. Registration opens at noon EDT, Wednesday, Aug. 29, and closes at noon Friday, Aug. 31. Because of space limitations, those selected to attend may not bring a guest. Each participant must be a U.S. citizen, age 18 or older.

RELEASE: 12-285 EPIC STRUGGLE BETWEEN BIRDS AND PIGS GOES ON WITH A MARTIAN TWIST

WASHINGTON -- NASA is helping pigs and birds explore the Martian terrain and shed light on the agency's missions to the Red Planet in the latest update to the game Angry Birds Space. Rovio Entertainment, creator of Angry Birds, announced the update Thursday, complete with a cast of agency rovers and landers. Earlier this year, millions of gamers were introduced to concepts of microgravity in Angry Birds Space, which was supported through a partnership with NASA and includes links to a variety of education information. "Rovio is teaching huge new audiences about NASA's missions to Mars thanks to this collaboration," said David Weaver, associate administrator for communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It's a great way to introduce both kids and adults to the wonders of the planet in a fun and entertaining way." NASA participated with Rovio on Angry Birds Space under a Space Act Agreement to share the excitement of space with the Angry Birds community, educate players about agency projects and programs, and collaboratively create interactive informational experiences for the public. The game will include links to NASA web content about Mars exploration and NASA missions that are represented in the game. "We're huge NASA fans, and we were all cheering the Mars Curiosity rover as it touched down," said Peter Vesterbacka, chief marketing officer of Rovio Entertainment. "So, working together on the Mars update was a perfect fit, especially since we got such an amazing response to our previous collaboration, the 'Angry Birds Space: NASA announcement' video, which quickly surged to the top of 2012's viral video charts. We're thrilled to continue working with NASA. Stay tuned for even more great fun and educational content coming up."

RELEASE: 12-293 NASA ADMINISTRATOR ANNOUNCES NEW COMMERCIAL CREW AND CARGO MILESTONES

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced Thursday new milestones in the nation's commercial space initiatives from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The latest advances made by NASA's commercial space partners pave the way for the first contracted flight of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) this fall and mark progress toward a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in the next 5 years. Bolden announced Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed its Space Act Agreement with NASA for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). SpaceX is scheduled to launch the first of its 12 contracted cargo flights to the space station from Cape Canaveral in October, under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program. "We're working to open a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space and create job opportunities right here in Florida and across the United States," Bolden said. "And we're working to in-source the work that is currently being done elsewhere and bring it right back here to the U.S. where it belongs." Through the COTS program, NASA provides investments to stimulate the American commercial space industry. As part of its COTS partnership, SpaceX became the first commercial company to resupply the space station in May, successfully launching its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting complex. During the historic mission, the Dragon was captured by astronauts using the station's robot arm, unloaded and safely returned to Earth carrying experiments conducted aboard ISS. Later this winter, Orbital Sciences Corp. plans to carry out its first test flight under COTS. Bolden also announced NASA partner Sierra Nevada Corp. has conducted its first milestone under the agency's recently announced Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. The milestone, a program implementation plan review, marks an important first step in Sierra Nevada's efforts to develop a crew transportation system with its Dream Chaser spacecraft. CCiCap is an initiative of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and an Obama administration priority. The objective of the CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the space station and low Earth orbit. After the capability is matured, it is expected to be available to the government and other customers. NASA could contract to purchase commercial services to meet its station crew transportation needs later this decade. While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.