Feb 26 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-273
NASA ANNOUNCES NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH FOURSQUARE ASTRONAUT DOUG WHEELOCK CHECKS IN FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
WASHINGTON -- NASA astronaut and International Space Station Commander Doug Wheelock became the first person to check in from space Friday using the mobile social networking application Foursquare. Wheelock's check in to the space station launches a partnership between NASA and Foursquare to connect its users to the space agency, enabling them to explore the universe and discover Earth. The partnership also features a customized section of the Foursquare website for NASA, where the agency will provide official tips and information about the nation's space program in locations throughout the United States. "NASA's work ranges from proving flight technologies to exploring the universe, said Bob Jacobs, deputy associate administrator for communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Partnering with Foursquare allows NASA to connect directly with the people who visit our locations and share with them the interesting things that happen at each place. When Wheelock checked in to the space station venue using Foursquare's mobile site, he received a message that revealed a new Foursquare badge: You are now 220 miles above Earth traveling at 17,500 mph and unlocked the NASA Explorer Badge! Show this badge and get a free scoop of astronaut ice cream. When Wheelock completes his mission and returns to Earth at the end of November, the NASA Explorer badge will be available for Foursquare users to earn. "Check-ins from around the world have been cool, but this blew my mind! said Dennis Crowley, CEO and co-founder of Foursquare. We're psyched to partner with NASA to help users explore the space program and the universe. Foursquare users check in to venues wherever they go using the service to find nearby friends; get helpful tips about the places they're visiting; and be challenged and rewarded for experiencing new things. As result of the partnership, Foursquare users who check in to a NASA-related venue will find information from NASA about the location. For example, someone checking in at the agency's headquarters in Washington will discover that a replica of NASA astrophysicist John Mather's Nobel Prize is on display in the lobby. Wheelock launched to the space station as a flight engineer for the Expedition 24 crew on June 15. On Sept. 22, he assumed command of the orbiting laboratory and Expedition 25. During his time in space, he and astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson conducted three spacewalks to replace a faulty cooling pump module on the station's backbone, known as the truss. Additionally, the Expedition 24 and 25 crew members continue work on more than 100 microgravity experiments in human research, biology and biotechnology, physical and materials sciences, technology development, and Earth and space sciences. JESS3 designed the customized NASA page for Foursquare and produced the check-in video. NASA's page on Foursquare, the official location of the partnership, can be found and followed at: http://www.foursquare.com/NASA More information about the partnership, including links to Wheelock's Foursquare and Twitter accounts and video of the check in from the space station, will be posted at: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/foursquare.html
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CONTRACT RELEASE: C10-036
NASA AWARDS LAUNCH SERVICES CONTRACT FOR OCO-2 MISSION
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has selected Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., to launch the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) mission. The spacecraft will fly in February 2013 aboard a Taurus XL 3110 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The total cost of the OCO-2 launch services is approximately $70 million. The estimated cost includes the task ordered launch service for a Taurus XL 3110 rocket, plus additional services under other contracts for payload processing, OCO-2 mission unique support, launch vehicle integration, and tracking, data and telemetry support. OCO-2 is a NASA's first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in the Earth's climate. OCO-2 will provide the first complete picture of human and natural carbon dioxide sources and sinks, the places where the gas is pulled out of the atmosphere and stored. It will map the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. The OCO-2 spacecraft will replace OCO-1, lost during a launch vehicle failure in 2009. The OCO-2 project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the Taurus XL 3110 rocket.
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CONTRACT RELEASE: C10-065
NASA AWARDS LAUNCH SERVICES CONTRACT FOR MAVEN MISSION
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has selected United Launch Services, LLC of Littleton, Colo., to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft known as MAVEN. MAVEN will launch in November 2013 aboard an Atlas V 401 rocket from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The total cost value for the MAVEN launch service is approximately $187 million. This estimated cost includes the task ordered launch service for the Atlas plus additional services under other contracts for payload processing; launch vehicle integration; mission unique launch site ground support; and tracking, data and telemetry services. MAVEN is a Mars orbiter that will greatly enhance our understanding of Mars' climate history by providing a comprehensive picture of the planet's upper atmosphere, ionosphere, solar energy drivers and atmospheric losses. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the MAVEN project. MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the Atlas V launch services. United Launch Alliance provides the launch services for United Launch Services.
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