[Spacetalk] http://www.nasa.gov/index.html

Gabrielle, George F. (KSC-ISC-4011)[URS Federal Technical Services, Inc.] george.f.gabrielle at nasa.gov
Thu Jun 18 07:10:00 CDT 2015


Good morning all,
 I hope you are having a fun week...they seem to go so fast...everything is great here, most people are complaining it is too hot and too sunny but I love it, especially since I swim in the afternoons and can be our in the sunshine :) the excitement is really building for the Pluto mission...I was here to see the launch 10 years ago and remember thinking.....10 years????? That is so far away yet, in so many ways, it seems just a few weeks ago... and as I reflect back on those ten years I have to think about how my life has changed because the visits to the schools started about that time, I think in 2006 when I went to South Africa...it is so hard to imagine it has been that long and the tens of thousands of kids I have met, made friends with, and share so much fun...so many of you have shared this adventure with me and it is still fun to every once in a while meet someone who says they have been getting the group email for years and then to finally meet. Lots going on with the space program....in addition to the Pluto Mission...next week is a launch to the ISS, Friday June 26th.... SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket at approximately 11:09 a.m. EDT, then the mission to Jupiter's moon Europa....and so much more, go to the subject link for all the latest... Wishing you all a wonderful day and weekend ahead...we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, let those we care about most know, be appreciative of the good in our lives, smile and have fun...gabe


NASA Celebrates Martian New Year in Mars, Pennsylvania
 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/mars_pa.jpg>
Spaceship landmark in Mars, Pennsylvania
Creative Commons License<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode>
NASA will land in Mars, Pennsylvania Friday, June 19 to celebrate Mars' New Year with Red Planet enthusiasts of the Keystone State for three days of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) activities. The goal is to encourage young people to pursue careers in in these critical fields of study that will enable NASA's journey to Mars.
At the invitation of the borough of Mars, NASA will provide exhibits, booths and outreach activities at the celebration. Mars expert Jim Green, NASA's director of Planetary Science at the agency's headquarters in Washington, will deliver a keynote talk Friday evening and again Saturday, June 20 about NASA's journey to Mars. Green served as a technical consultant on the upcoming Fox Entertainment movie "The Martian."
The Martian New Year occurs about every two Earth-years and is timed to the Northern Hemisphere Spring Equinox on Mars. That equinox occurs this month on Earth.
To kick off the three-day, Red Planet extravaganza, NASA will participate in a media briefing at 3 p.m. EDT on Friday in front of the town's flying saucer sculpture, located at 16046 Pittsburgh Street.
Participants in the briefing will be:
*       Honorable Gregg Hartung, mayor of Mars
*       Jim Green
*       Mike Harvey, honorary chairman and meteorologist for WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh
After brief opening remarks and a question-and-answer session, media and social media will be given a preview walking tour of activities planned for the rest of the weekend celebration.
Green will be available for 10-minute interviews 4 to 5 p.m. on Friday, and again 11 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. To reserve a one-on-one interview, media should contact Dave Steitz at 202-358-1730 or david.steitz at nasa.gov<mailto:david.steitz at nasa.gov>.
For a complete listing of activities planned for the Mars New Year celebration in Pennsylvania, visit; http://www.marsnewyear.com<http://www.marsnewyear.com/>
For more information about NASA's #JourneyToMars, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars/index.html


 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/m15-078.jpg>
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida carrying the Dragon resupply spacecraft on the sixth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station.
Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Media accreditation is open for the June 26 launch of NASA's next commercial cargo resupply mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida to the International Space Station.
SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket at approximately 11:09 a.m. EDT on the company's seventh NASA-contracted cargo mission and its eighth visit to the station. The flight will deliver several tons of supplies, such as new science experiments and technology research, as well as the first of two International Docking Adapters. These adapters will be installed on the station to facilitate docking of commercial crew spacecraft, including the Boeing CST-100 and SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Media prelaunch and launch activities will take place at CCAFS and nearby at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. For international media without U.S. citizenship, accreditation is open until noon on June 16 for Kennedy access only. The deadline for U.S. media to apply for credentials is 4:30 p.m. on June 22.
All media accreditation requests must be submitted online at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov<https://media.ksc.nasa.gov/>
All media representatives must present two forms of unexpired legal, government identification to access Kennedy. One form must be a photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license. Questions about accreditation should be directed to Jennifer Horner at jennifer.p.horner at nasa.gov<mailto:jennifer.p.horner at nasa.gov> or 321-867-6598.
For more information about the SpaceX resupply mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/spacex
For information about the International Space Station, its crew and research, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station



Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here's how NASA's mission to Europa would find out.
 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/pia19048.jpg>
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Beyond Earth, Jupiter's moon Europa is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to search for signs of present-day life, and a new NASA mission to explore this potential is moving forward from concept review to development.
NASA's mission concept -- to conduct a detailed survey of Europa and investigate its habitability -- has successfully completed its first major review by the agency and now is entering the development phase known as formulation.
"Today we're taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Observations of Europa have provided us with tantalizing clues over the last two decades, and the time has come to seek answers to one of humanity's most profound questions."
NASA's Galileo mission<http://science.nasa.gov/missions/galileo/> to Jupiter in the late 1990s produced strong evidence that Europa, about the size of Earth's moon, has an ocean beneath its frozen crust. If proven to exist, this global ocean could hold more than twice as much water as Earth. With abundant salt water, a rocky sea floor, and the energy and chemistry provided by tidal heating, Europa may have the ingredients needed to support simple organisms.
The mission plan calls for a spacecraft to be launched to Jupiter in the 2020s, arriving in the distant planet's orbit after a journey of several years. The spacecraft would orbit the giant planet about every two weeks, providing many opportunities for close flybys of Europa. The mission plan includes 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moon's icy surface at high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, has been assigned the responsibility of managing the project. JPL has been studying the multiple-flyby mission concept, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, since 2011.
Instruments selected for the Europa mission's scientific payload were announced<http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-europa-mission-begins-with-selection-of-science-instruments> by NASA on May 26. Institutions supplying instruments include APL; JPL; Arizona State University, Tempe; the University of Texas at Austin; Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio and the University of Colorado, Boulder.
"It's a great day for science," said Joan Salute, Europa program executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We are thrilled to pass the first major milestone in the lifecycle of a mission that will ultimately inform us on the habitability of Europa."
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington conducts a wide variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth studies, space weather, the solar system and the universe.
For more information about NASA's mission to Europa, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/europa


First Humanoid Robot In Space Receives NASA Government Invention of the Year


 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/629766main_jsc2012e034637.jpg>
The Robo-Glove was built through the continuing partnership between NASA and General Motors. It uses R2 technology to increase the strength of a human's grasp.
Credits: NASA
 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/exoskeleton2_full.jpg>
NASA Project Engineer Shelley Rea demonstrates the X1 Robotic Exoskeleton, which could improve the mobility and strength of astronauts and paraplegics.
If you ever visit NASA's Johnson Space Center<http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/home/index.html> and get to meet the Robonaut 2 prototype, be sure to shake the robot's hand, since it can do that, and congratulate it. The actual Robonaut 2<http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/> (R2), the first humanoid robot in space, was recently selected as the NASA Government Invention of the Year for 2014. While R2 resides aboard the International Space Station<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html>, many of the technologies developed for R2 are being adapted for use on Earth, helping to give it the distinction of an outstanding government invention.
R2 is recognized as an invention that exemplifies one of NASA's missions: to transfer advanced technology<http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/techtransfer/technology/robonaut2_licensing.html> to U.S. industry. The robot was chosen from among many other valuable innovations by the NASA Invention and Contributions Board, NASA General Counsel and the NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden<http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/bolden_bio.html>. These entities evaluated R2 in the following areas: Aerospace Significance, Industry Significance, Humanitarian Significance, Technology Readiness Level, NASA Use, Industry Use and Creativity.
"I am proud of the entire Robonaut team that made this achievement possible and look forward to future robotic firsts that I have no doubt they will accomplish," said Ron Diftler, Ph.D., project manager for Robonaut in the Robotic Systems Technology Branch at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
The first Robonaut<http://robonaut.jsc.nasa.gov/R1/index.asp>, R1, was built as a ground prototype to explore the potential for a humanoid robot to help astronauts during spacewalks by preparing worksites and providing an extra pair of dexterous hands during maintenance tasks. NASA has since gained expertise in expanding robotic technologies for space and Earth applications through the successful creation of partnerships with outside organizations. R2 was co-developed with General Motors (GM) through a Space Act Agreement. R2 is a faster, more dexterous robot than the first iteration of Robonaut. With more sensing, a greater range of motion and a safety system that allows it to work side-by-side with astronauts, R2 holds great potential to assist with space station activities.
Technologies resulting from R2 include a robotic glove, a robotic exoskeleton and telemedicine applications. The R2 technology has resulted in a total of 39 issued patents, with several more still under review.
The robotic glove, or the Robo-Glove<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/robo-glove.html>, was developed as a grasp assist device after NASA and GM realized there was overlap between what astronauts needed in space and what factory workers could use on the ground. The Robo-Glove could help astronauts close their gloves and reduce the amount of effort they apply while conducting EVA tasks, much like the way power steering helps to steer a car. The glove also may help the factory workers to grip a tool longer with less discomfort by reducing the amount of force that they need to exert. This could result in less fatigue and fewer stress injuries.
NASA and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC)<http://www.ihmc.us/>, with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems<http://www.oceaneering.com/space-systems/> of Houston, jointly developed a robotic exoskeleton<http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/feature_exoskeleton.html> called X1. Currently in the research and development phase, X1 is a 57-pound robotic device that a human could wear over his or her body either to assist or inhibit movement in leg joints. NASA and IHMC streamlined R2 arm technology to make it slim enough to allow a person in a wheelchair to get out using the exoskeleton. The X1 device has the potential to allow for assisted walking over varied terrain to paraplegics or other patients in rehabilitation settings, and also produce sufficient force to be an effective low mass exercise device for future space missions.
The Houston Methodist Research Institute <http://www.houstonmethodist.org/research> and NASA also worked together to test R2 for use in telemedicine, conducting medical procedures through electronic communication by remotely operating R2 to perform an ultrasound scan of a medical mannequin and to use a syringe as part of a procedure. This demonstration of R2's capabilities could potentially allow physicians to conduct complex medical procedures on humans in remote locations on Earth or in space.
The NASA Invention of the Year is a first for a humanoid robot and another in a series of firsts for R2 that include: the first robot inside a human space vehicle operating without a cage and the first robot to work with human-rated tools in space. Using the International Space Station as a test bed for these robotic and future technologies will be vital to human exploration and beneficial to human health


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 59496 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 1.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 2.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 25258 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 2.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 3.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 43684 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 3.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 4.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 27825 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 4.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 5.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 32225 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 5.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 6.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 15202 bytes
Desc: Picture (Device Independent Bitmap) 6.jpg
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20150618/4cff0f8b/attachment-0005.jpg>


More information about the Spacetalk mailing list