Sep 14 2015
From The Space Library
Release M15-140 NASA Administrator to Attend Minority Partnerships Meeting, Visit Alabama A&M
Media are invited to speak with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on Wednesday, Sept. 16 during the second annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) Partnerships Meeting in Huntsville, Alabama.
The partnerships meeting is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT at the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, located at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.
Bolden will be available to speak with media at 11:30 a.m. Also available for interviews will be Patrick Scheuermann, director Marshall Space Flight Center; Glenn Delgado, associate administrator for the Office of Small Business Programs; and Joeletta Patrick, Minority University Research and Education Project program manager for NASA’s Office of Education.
Bolden will tour Alabama A&M University from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and hear the benefits of the university’s mentor-protégé agreement with Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA. Students from the engineering department will meet with Bolden to discuss success stories and showcase their work. Media are invited to join the tour.
The event is part of a NASA initiative to create and sustain working relationships between the agency’s prime contractors and colleges and universities that serve minority students. The goal is to afford an opportunity for HBCU/MSI representatives to discuss potential subcontracting opportunities with NASA and many of its prime contractors. This event is sponsored by NASA’s Office of Small Business Programs, NASA’s Office of Education and supported by the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Release M15-135 NASA, U.S. Senate Welcome Robot Challenge Winners to Washington
The West Virginia Mountaineers, winners of the 2015 Sample Return Robot Challenge, will be recognized for their achievement at an event from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 21, in Room 385 of the Senate Russell Office Building in Washington. Media are invited to attend and meet the team members.
The Mountaineers were awarded $100,000 in prize money for successfully completing Level 2 of NASA’s Sample Return Robot Challenge, part of the agency’s Centennial Challenges prize program, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts June 10-12.
In addition to the members of the winning team, also in attendance will be:
- Sen. Joe Manchin, West Virginia
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
- Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate
- David A. Wyrick, associate dean of West Virginia University's Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources
The Centennial Challenges program is part of NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate, which is innovating, developing, testing and flying hardware for use in NASA's future missions. Release C15-038 NASA Awards Contract for Institutional Operations and Maintenance Services
NASA has selected Mainthia Technologies, Inc., of Cleveland to provide on-site support services for operations and maintenance for the central process systems recertification and pressure vessels and systems at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
The cost-plus-fixed-fee contract had a potential total value of $59.9 million and five-year performance period, which includes a two-year base period and three one-year option periods.
Under this contract, Mainthia Technologies will operate, maintain and repair the center’s central process systems equipment; maintain and repair high-voltage electrical substations control equipment and cryogenic systems; and, provide certification services for all pressurized vessels and systems at Glenn’s Lewis Field campus.
The company also will maintain and repair cryogenic systems and provide certification services for all pressurized vessels and systems at Glenn’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.
Release 15-186 NASA, Honeywell Bring Hip-Hop Education Show to 10 Midwest States
NASA and Honeywell are starting the 11th year of their "FMA Live! Forces in Motion" show with a fall 2015 tour designed to ignite students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
FMA Live! is a high-energy, live stage show that features actors, hip-hop dance, music videos, interactive scientific demonstrations and video interviews with NASA scientists to teach Sir Isaac Newton's three laws of motion and universal laws of gravity. The name of the show comes from Newton’s second law of motion: force = mass x acceleration.
“Each child needs to understand that a solid foundation in STEM can open doors they may not have known existed. Getting them excited is the first step – from there, the career possibilities are endless,” said Donald James, associate administrator for NASA’s Office of Education. “This has been a great collaboration between NASA and Honeywell, and I'm proud of how many schools and students we've engaged through FMA Live!”
Research shows interactive, experiential learning is the most effective way to engage students in STEM studies. A major goal of FMA Live! is to encourage middle school students to pursue STEM academic coursework and ultimately seek careers in STEM-related fields.
Since its creation in 2004, FMA Live! has reached more than 415,000 middle school students across the United States, as well as students in Canada and Mexico.
During the course of the next 10 weeks, the show, under the direction of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, will travel to more than 40 public, private and Department of Defense-affiliated middle schools in 10 states: Minneapolis, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina. FMA Live! will travel to the west coast of the United States in spring 2016.
“Today’s students are tomorrow’s engineers and scientists,” said Mike Bennett, president, Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company’s global corporate citizenship initiative. “We know that STEM learning teaches students critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that are applicable in nearly every career field. We hope when students are exposed to programs such as FMA Live! Forces in Motion, it will pique their interest in pursuing STEM education and career paths in the future.”
NASA is committed to using the agency's unique assets, programs and facilities to inspire students to pursue STEM studies and careers. NASA’s Office of Education collaborates with a wide variety of organizations from academia, industry and government to reach learners and educators across the United States.
Release M15-141 USAID, NASA Officials and Astronauts Discuss Connecting Space to Village
USAID will host a town hall from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Sept. 17 to discuss its partnership with NASA to use space data to help international development efforts around the world. The event will be held in Washington in the amphitheater of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW.
Through the SERVIR partnership, USAID and NASA use Earth observation information to improve environmental management and resilience to climate change through regional institutions supported by the SERVIR global network.
The event participants are:
- Charles Bolden, administrator, NASA
- Eric Postel, associate administrator, USAID
- Terry Virts, astronaut, NASA
- Samantha Cristoforetti, astronaut, ESA (European Space Agency)
- Dan Irwin, director, NASA SERVIR Coordination Office
- Charles North, senior deputy assistant administrator, USAID
- Carrie Stokes, Geospatial Information Technology advisor, USAID
Reporters interested in attending the event in person can contact Natasha Jackson at 202-712-1647 or NJackson@usaid.gov for more information.
SERVIR is improving awareness, increasing access to information, and supporting analysis to help people in Africa, Hindu Kush-Himalaya, Lower Mekong, and Mesoamerica manage challenges in the areas of food security, water resources, land use change, and natural disasters. With activities in more than 30 countries and counting, SERVIR has already developed over 40 custom tools, collaborated with over 200 institutions, and trained more than 1800 individuals, improving the capacity to develop local solutions.
In addition to satellite data, NASA acquires images and data using the International Space Station's unique Earth-observing capabilities. Astronauts provide images and several instruments mounted to the space station's exterior monitor ocean winds, clouds and pollution. NASA Earth observation information is used every day around the world to improve development decision-making.
