| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Russian Spacewalk on NASA TV Today
- Deck the Door for Orion Contest
- 2014 JSC Honor Awards Ceremony
- Lund University, Sweden Student Exhibition
- Self-Identification of Disability - Organizations/Social
- Red Ribbon Week: Combating Substance Abuse
- Innovations Through Generations
- The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
- EWB-JSC Needs Your Scrap Metal
- Face 2 Face (F2F) With Sumara Thompson-King
- Kids Bash & Haunted House - This Friday at Gilruth
- Starport Boot Camp: Early Registration Ends Soon - Jobs and Training
- Webinar: Workplace and People With Disabilities
- Oct. 22 Webinar: My Nutrition Target; Simple & Fun - Community
- JSC Children's Calendar Contest Now Underway
- An Evening With Neil DeGrasse Tyson |  |
| Headlines - Russian Spacewalk on NASA TV Today
NASA TV will broadcast live coverage of a six-hour spacewalk by two Russian crew members aboard the International Space Station beginning at 8 a.m. this morning, Oct. 22. Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency will don Orlan spacesuits and exit the station's Pirs airlock at 8:24 a.m. They will remove and jettison several pieces of hardware no longer needed on the Russian segment of the station and conduct a detailed photographic survey of the exterior surface of the Russian modules. The spacewalk will be the 184th in support of space station assembly and maintenance, the third in as many weeks for Expedition 41 crew members and the second career spacewalks for both Suraev and Samokutyaev. Suraev will be designated as extravehicular (EV) crew member 1 and will wear an Orlan suit bearing red stripes. Samokutyaev will be designated as EV-2 and will wear a suit with blue stripes. First-time users will need to install the EZTV Monitor and Player client applications: - For those WITH admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you'll be prompted to download and install the clients when you first visit the IPTV website
- For those WITHOUT admin rights (Elevated Privileges), you can download the EZTV client applications from the ACES Software Refresh Portal (SRP)
If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367, or visit the FAQ site. Event Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Event Start Time:8:00 AM Event End Time:3:00 PM
Event Location: NASA TV, IPTV
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JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111 http://www.nasa.gov/station
[top] - Deck the Door for Orion Contest
Orion is launching on its first test flight in a matter of weeks! You can be a part of the excitement by participating in our "Deck the Door for Orion" contest. Pick a door in your organization's building, decorate it with an Orion-related theme and show your support for Exploration Flight Test-1. There will be a first-, second- and third-place prize. The most impressive doors will also be featured on Orion's social media accounts. Enter the contest by sending an email with the name of your team, participants, organization and the location of your decorated door by close of business Oct. 27. We will only judge the doors of the first 15 teams to enter the contest. Please limit teams to four people per team. All JSC employees are encouraged to participate! Door judging will take place Nov. 13, and the winning teams will be announced in JSC Today on Nov. 14. Good luck! - 2014 JSC Honor Awards Ceremony
The JSC community is invited to attend the 2014 JSC Honor Awards Ceremony. Awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Teague Auditorium next week on Tuesday, Oct. 28. This year the JSC Honor Awards Ceremony will be held in two sessions. The first session begins at 1:30 p.m. and will be a presentation of the JSC Director's Commendation Awards. The Director's Commendation Award recognizes JSC employees who have provided significant contributions to the center throughout the year. The second session will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will include a presentation of the JSC Director's Innovation Individual and Team Awards, Power of One Awards and Secretarial Excellence. Event Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2014 Event Start Time:1:30 PM Event End Time:4:00 PM
Event Location: Teague Auditorium
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Samantha Nehls x27804
[top] - Lund University, Sweden Student Exhibition
You are cordially invited to stop by at your convenience and see work by students in industrial design from Lund University in Sweden. These students have been working at the Lunar and Planetary Institute for the last 10 days, focusing on project areas related to the human exploration of Mars. They will have posters of their work displayed, and they look forward to your feedback and comments before returning to Lund. The exhibition will take place during the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. TODAY, Oct. 22, in the breezeway between Buildings 4N and 4S. - Self-Identification of Disability
Please take a moment to update your disability status quickly and easily in Employee Express. NASA uses aggregate information about individuals with disabilities for reporting purposes and to determine how to provide assistive resources that can benefit the entire workforce. Ensuring accurate information takes a matter of minutes. Log into Employee Express, and from the main menu click on "Disability Update" to identify current disability status. Disability status is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974. Data entered into Employee Express is secure, and will be uploaded directly into NASA's Federal Personnel and Payroll System. It can be accessed only by NASA officials with a "need to know," such as Equal Employment Opportunity staff. Questions regarding data collection requirements can be directed to the Disability Program Manager, Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, at 281-483-7504. Organizations/Social - Red Ribbon Week: Combating Substance Abuse
Red Ribbon Week is an ideal way for people and communities to unite and take a visible stand against substance abuse. Learn about addiction intervention and show your personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the red ribbon from Oct. 20 to 28. The JSC Employee Assistance Program will be in the Building 11 Starport Café on Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Please stop by and show your support. - Innovations Through Generations
The Emerge Employee Resource Group (ERG) is combining forces with all JSC ERGs to host "Innovations Through Generations." This event will be a 20-minute interactive experience with informative games, videos, prizes and more. The goal of the event is to educate the JSC workforce on the differences between generational working preferences and communication, and how to transform those differences into strengths to propel innovation. The event will take place in the Teague Auditorium lobby on Nov. 5 from noon to 1:30 p.m. We invite all civil servant and contractor employees to join us! Event Date: Wednesday, November 5, 2014 Event Start Time:12:00 PM Event End Time:1:30 PM
Event Location: Teague Lobby
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Rachael Copeland x46962
[top] - The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback
Do you struggle with giving colleagues or employees constructive feedback? Do you wish your supervisor would give you more meaningful feedback, but are not sure how to get the conversation started? Join the African-American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) for a Human Resources-guided discussion and fun exercises on giving, receiving and soliciting feedback to enhance your personal and career development. If you are unable to make this brown-bag lunch-and-learn event in person, you may tie in via Lync. Dial-in:1-888-764-9146 Participant code: 8133445 Event Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 Event Start Time:11:30 AM Event End Time:12:30 PM
Event Location: Bldg 1, Rm 871
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Sheela Logan x34214
[top] - EWB-JSC Needs Your Scrap Metal
Recycle scrap metal for a good cause. Do you have scrap metal lying around your house and taking up space? Examples include motors, wire, aluminum wheels, cans, bike frames and more. If you donate it to Engineers Without Borders (EWB) this Saturday, you will help the environment and our Thailand project. Bring it to the "JSC Sandbox" (a.k.a. Building 348). This is for personal scrap metal. Contact the JSC Environmental Office if you need help recycling government scrap metal. Scrap-metal drop off is this Saturday, Oct. 25, between 9:30 and 11 a.m. Contact Mike Ewert at 281-483-9134 with any questions or to arrange an earlier drop off. - Face 2 Face (F2F) With Sumara Thompson-King
Do you know what it takes to assume senior-level responsibilities within NASA? If not, don't worry! An F2F with Sumara Thompson-King, NASA general counsel, will be held at JSC on Thursday, Nov. 6. Thompson-King is the first woman to serve as general counsel of NASA. As a functional office associate administrator, Thompson-King serves in an advisory capacity to the administrator and works with enterprise associate administrators and center directors to ensure agency activities are conducted in accordance with all statutory and regulatory requirements. She will talk about her personal experience in becoming a female NASA executive. Seating is limited to the first 50 people. Civil servants and contractors are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be provided. Click HERE to RSVP no later than Oct. 31. Please submit your questions on the "Question" tab with your RSVP. Event Date: Thursday, November 6, 2014 Event Start Time:5:00 PM Event End Time:6:30 PM
Event Location: Gilruth/Lone Star Room
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Stacy G. Houston x39649
[top] - Kids Bash & Haunted House - This Friday at Gilruth
The Kids Bash and Haunted House return as two of the most popular parts of Starport's Fright Fest. The Kids Bash is designed for all ages. Kids can compete in costume contests, play a variety of games, get their faces painted, jump in the bounce house and venture into Starport's Haunted House for a spooky good time! - Kids Bash - REGISTER NOW
- Haunted House (kid friendly)
- Family Halloween movie
- Thriller Dance Class
Make sure you check out all of the great activities going on at the Gilruth that evening. Other activities include: - Bare Bowls Kitchen
- The Waffle Bus
- Angie's Cake
- Adult beverages available
- Graveyard Dash 2K - REGISTER NOW
- Graveyard Trails
Don't miss this frightfully fun event for the whole family! - Starport Boot Camp: Early Registration Ends Soon
Starport's boot camp is back, and registration is open and filling fast. Don't miss a chance to be part of Starport's incredibly popular program. The class will fill up, so register now! Early registration (ends Oct. 24) - $90 per person (just $5 per class)
Regular registration (Oct. 25 to Nov. 3): - $110 per person
The workout begins on Monday, Nov. 3. Are you ready for 18 hours of intense workouts with an amazing personal trainer to get you to your fitness goal? Sign up today! Register now online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. Jobs and Training - Webinar: Workplace and People With Disabilities
This webinar will focus on employment and disability, which coincides with National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Academic, policy and advocacy experts will share historical perspectives, discuss current initiatives and the state of employment for people with disabilities today, and examine issues that need to be addressed to support full workplace inclusion of people with disabilities in the future. The webinar will be hosted by Cornell University's Susanne Bruyere, director of Industrial Labor Relation's Employment and Disability Institute, and Lisa Nishii, associate professor of human resource studies. Date: Wednesday, Oct. 29 Time: 11 a.m. to noon CDT Location: Building 1, Room 360 This webinar is brought to you by JSC's Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity (OEOD). Accommodations for a specific disability are available upon request. For more information, please contact OEOD at 281-483-0607. - Oct. 22 Webinar: My Nutrition Target; Simple & Fun
If our goal is to design a healthy diet and stay on plan, then simplicity and enjoyment are a must. We usually know "what" we're supposed to do, but sometimes it's the "how" that trips us up. This webinar will present methods to introduce healthful foods into our diets on a regular basis. First we need to start with the right kitchen pantry and learn how to prepare healthy foods that fit any schedule. These dishes also need to travel from the kitchen to the table, the lunch box, the fridge and the freezer. We will need a reliable list of simple and fabulous options, as well as efficient methods to bring this all together. Finally, we'll touch upon food cost control by reducing unnecessary food waste. All civil servants, contractors and family members are invited to attend. Community - JSC Children's Calendar Contest Now Underway
Don't miss this great opportunity to teach your kids about safety, health and the environment in this creative way. They could be one of 36 winners who will receive their very own T-shirt imprinted with their drawing. And, the most fun of all is the annual award party held in January, to which each winner and his or her family members are invited. Pick up an entry form today at any of the following buildings: 1, 3, 4S, 11, 30, 45, 419, the JSC Child Care Center or Gilruth Center. You can also call x45078 to obtain an entry form. All JSC civil service and contractor employees are eligible to sponsor a child—their own or an acquaintance's. The deadline for entries is Friday, Nov. 14. - An Evening With Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Society for the Performing Arts presents an evening with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, host of Cosmos and the director of the Hayden Planetarium, next summer on June 17, 2015. The performance will be at 8 p.m. at Jones Hall in Houston. JSC team members will get FIRST dibs on great seats before tickets are available to the public beginning Nov. 17. Get your tickets before you have to compete with the rest of the world, and use the password: NASAVIP JSC Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday – October 22, 2014
International Space Station:
International Space Station Expedition 41 Commander Max Suraev and Flight Engineer Alexander Samokutyaev of the Russian Federal Space Agency began a planned 6-hour spacewalk from the Earth-facing Pirs Docking Compartment at 9:28 a.m. EDT.
Suraev is designated extravehicular (EV) crew member 1 and wearing an Orlan suit bearing red stripes. Samokutyaev, designated EV-2, is wearing a suit with blue stripes. Their suits are equipped with NASA helmet cameras to provide close-up views of the work they are performing outside the station. Suraev's helmet camera displays the number 18, and Samokutyaev's displays the number 17.
Join the conversation on Twitter by following the hashtags #Exp41, #ISS and #spacewalk.
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Only One Way to Mars?
Jan Millsaps - Huffington Post
Seventh grader Alyssa Carson grabbed recent headlines because she wants to be one of the first humans on Mars. Accumulating the right stuff starts early these days. This young woman has been pursuing her space dream since she was in diapers.
Doses of radiation contracted by cosmonauts aboard spaceships overstated
This finding is crucial to the planning of protracted space flights, Dr. Vyacheslav Shurshakov from the Moscow-based Institute of Medical-Biological Problems says
TASS
Doses of radiation contracted by cosmonauts during orbital missions are smaller by a factor of several times that it was thought previously, suggest the results of the Matryoshka-R experiment held aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by scientists from different countries, including Russia, since 2004.
Italy's first female astronaut prepares for launch to ISS
Tomasz Nowakowski - Spaceflight Insider
Samantha Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, is currently scheduled to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 23. She will travel to orbit as part of the Expedition 42/43, and her five and a half month mission will be loaded with scientific experiments. Recently she presented the details of her research at the headquarters of the Italian Space Agency (ASI ).
Court Declines SNC's Motion to Overrule NASA on CCtCAP Authorization to Proceed
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a verbal decision today declining to overrule NASA on its decision to allow SpaceX and Boeing to proceed in executing the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contracts. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is suing the government over NASA's October 9 decision to rescind a previously issued stop-work order while SNC's protest of the contract awards is under consideration by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Court says space taxi work can go on as Sierra Nevada disputes contract
Boeing and SpaceX will not be forced to stop work again on NASA's commercial crewed spacecraft program.
Judge: NASA can move forward with Boeing, SpaceX
James Dean - Florida Today
A judge Tuesday allowed NASA to move forward with new contracts to develop private space taxis despite a legal challenge to the deals worth up to $6.8 billion.
Court Rejects Sierra Nevada Motion to Reinstate Commercial Crew Stop-Work Order
Jeff Foust - Space News
A federal court ruled against a motion by Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Oct. 21 to reinstate a suspension of work by two companies on commercial crew contracts awarded by NASA last month.
Top U.S. Defense Official Says Pentagon Will Wean Itself from RD-180 Engine
Mike Gruss – Space News
A top U.S. defense official reiterated to a large group of California lawmakers that "now is the time" to study how to reduce the Pentagon's dependence on a Russian-made rocket engine.
KSC To Offer Undeveloped Center Property for Commercial Users
Jeff Foust – Space News
With most of its surplus space shuttle-era infrastructure handed over to other organizations — including the U.S. Air Force's X-37B military spaceplane program — NASA's Kennedy Space Center will soon solicit proposals from companies that want to develop new facilities there, including new launch sites.
Aerojet Rocketdyne selected to provide power system and thrusters for 2020 Mars rover
Jason Rhian – Spaceflight Insider
With NASA preparing to send crews to travel to Mars some time in the 2030s, the space agency is developing mechanical pathfinders which will blaze the trail that their human counterparts will retrace when their time comes to make history. However, getting to the Martian surface – is more difficult than recent missions have made it out to be. To help ensure that NASA's 2020 Mars Rover makes it safely to the dusty terrain – it has selected a well-known aerospace entity, under a larger collaborative effort - to provide key systems to help ensure success.
COMPLETE STORIES
Only One Way to Mars?
Jan Millsaps - Huffington Post
Seventh grader Alyssa Carson grabbed recent headlines because she wants to be one of the first humans on Mars. Accumulating the right stuff starts early these days. This young woman has been pursuing her space dream since she was in diapers.
She's been on a tear, attending Space Academy, Robotics Academy, National Flight Academy, NASA's Space Flight Academy, Sally Ride Academy, Sally Ride day camps, Space Camp Turkey, Space Camp Canada -- and every other space camp in the world. She's witnessed three space shuttle launches. She's done a TEDx talk in Greece. She's an official Mars One ambassador, with a featured profile on the Mars One site.
She tweets her adventures. She puts multilingual videos (she's fluent in four languages) on her Facebook page, where she's listed as a "public figure" -- which means you can "like" her but not "friend" her.
She and her father Bret Carson have a 20-year plan that includes higher education at Cambridge and the International Space University, followed (if all goes well) by her mission to Mars sometime in the 2030s.
NASA's Paul Foreman says she's "taking all the right steps to actually become an astronaut."
Is Alyssa truly on a fast track to Mars? And is this how it's done these days -- with early and enormous public fanfare?
I don't know whether Alyssa comes from a privileged background, whether her family pays out of pocket for her prestigious prep school and her many space adventures, or whether she has patrons or sponsors. What I do know is that most girls don't have nearly the level of support or the number of opportunities she seems to have -- and those who do have something like it haven't had it for nearly as long.
Recently I interviewed several summer interns at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, who consider themselves fortunate to be working with the likes of Contact inspiration Jill Tartar. These bright young women all have space dreams. They all want to go to Mars.
"Sign me up," said Lindsey Lesh, who attends Bowling Green State University in Ohio. "I'll go colonize it right now."
But when asked about the support they'd had for their space dreams, they were unanimous in their opinion that the opportunities they currently have arrived only recently -- not until they went to college and declared a major in one of the space sciences. They all wish they'd been encouraged sooner.
Lindsey currently is "lead stargazer" in her university astronomy department, but she said she "never felt pushed to go into science" in high school.
"All the way through high school there was no science," said Katie Rodriguez, who goes to Cal State Long Beach.
"You basically have to get into college first before you get that support," said Divya Persaud from the University of Rochester. "A lot of girls don't make it to college, especially minority women."
Divya recently worked with a science program for inner-city middle-school girls -- "some of the most brilliant children that I've ever met," she said. "They wanted to do aerospace engineering, but they didn't have the resources that they needed, and that's why they were there. Of course there was a program, but it was just two weeks."
I have no doubt that Alyssa is a hardworking and deserving young woman, but for every fortunate and well-tended Alyssa, there must be thousands with similar dreams, many more who are restless, questioning, unsure -- perhaps not even able to articulate that these dreams exist (and certainly not in four languages!), much less see a way to pursue them. They may attend schools that are stretching just to teach the basics. The best they can hope for is an eventual recognition of their determined efforts, followed by the sustained support they'll need to fuel their efforts toward realizing their ambitions.
Our earliest astronauts were test pilots; their selection followed strict criteria of age, gender, and flight experience that severely limited participation. Are we in danger of creating another exclusive group of spacefarers -- those with the wherewithal to prepare themselves from an early age, the funds to travel the world, someone to manage their futures, and the social media savvy to promote themselves in all the right places?
There may be better ways to populate a space program. We live in a community of hopeful spacefarers. We talk about the importance of STEM education for all our young people, yet so many are left behind. Some are never even in the mix, while others get STEM experiences in spades. We should commit ourselves to recognizing and nurturing all our young people with the desire and the drive to succeed -- until no young spacefarer is left behind.
Doses of radiation contracted by cosmonauts aboard spaceships overstated
This finding is crucial to the planning of protracted space flights, Dr. Vyacheslav Shurshakov from the Moscow-based Institute of Medical-Biological Problems says
TASS
Doses of radiation contracted by cosmonauts during orbital missions are smaller by a factor of several times that it was thought previously, suggest the results of the Matryoshka-R experiment held aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by scientists from different countries, including Russia, since 2004.
"This finding is crucial to the planning of protracted space flights," Dr. Vyacheslav Shurshakov from the Moscow-based Institute of Medical-Biological Problems, one of the authors of the research, told TASS. "It means in practical terms we can fly longer and go further."
He admitted however that the doses of radiation the cosmonauts were subjected to were still large, and the problem of how to scale them down remained on the agenda.
In the course of the experiment, special mannequins were delivered to the ISS. They were made of polyurethane, which absorbs radiation in practically the same amounts as the human body does.
Ionizing radiation gauges were embedded in them. In the first phase of the experiment, the mannequins were installed on the outer surface of the ISS and placed in a tightly sealed container, the absorption parameters of which were equal to those of an EVA suit. In the next phase, they were placed inside the station. During the experiment the scientists measured the dose of radiation, which "affects critical bodily organs," Dr. Shurshakov said.
Co-authors of the research — researchers from Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Austria — recomputed the data then with the aid of Nundo computer model and received precise estimate of the radiation dose for each bodily organ.
The computations showed that the actual impact of radiation on critically important bodily organs was significantly smaller than shown by ordinary radiation warning devices.
"During a spacewalk, the real dose will be 15% smaller and inside the station it will be 100% smaller than the reading shown by the individual radiation damage monitors the cosmonauts have in the pockets of their spacesuits," Dr. Shurshakov said.
Along with this, he said the data showed once again that the radiation dose the travelers to the Mars might contract was still overly high and it created a risk of cancer. In the wake of it, the experts will still have to look for ways of cutting it down or reducing the time of flight from the Earth to the Mars.
Italy's first female astronaut prepares for launch to ISS
Tomasz Nowakowski - Spaceflight Insider
Samantha Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, is currently scheduled to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 23. She will travel to orbit as part of the Expedition 42/43, and her five and a half month mission will be loaded with scientific experiments. Recently she presented the details of her research at the headquarters of the Italian Space Agency (ASI ).
"The microgravity condition allows us to study the behavior of the elements from a privileged point of view; space can reveal many surprises on the behavior of the human body and fluids in the absence of gravity," she said about the value of space research. A total of nine Italian scientific research experiments and technological demonstrations, will be performed during her stay on the ISS.
Five projects will be devoted to the study of various aspects of human physiology in conditions of weightlessness, two will perform biological analyses on cell samples in microgravity; finally a demonstrator will be taken aboard the ISS for an automated manufacturing process for the realization of 3D objects in the absence of gravity (3D printing). The projects were designed by Italian universities, research centres, companies and SMEs, and selected by the ASI through National Tenders of Human Flight for the utilization of the ISS.
"Through the ASI Italy has a unique role on the ISS, our participation is in fact twofold: through ESA as a member state and through NASA under a bilateral agreement for the supply of pressurized modules," said Roberto Battiston, ASI President. "Thanks to the immense efforts, we have contributed to extraordinary experiments of exceptional scientific value, involving more than 120 scientists, 20 payloads and 2 active scientific facilities on board. This involvement has also been possible thanks to the contribution of Italian ESA astronauts, four of which are currently in service."
The press conference at the ASI headquarters was part of a series of meetings with the institutions and with the public in which Cristoforetti took part in October, such as the presentation at the Maker Faire in Rome, a show where third millennium innovators show the projects they are working on and share their technological and craftsman knowledge.
Cristoforetti was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. She joined ESA in September of 2009 and completed basic astronaut training in November of the following year. In July 2012 she was assigned to ASI mission aboard the ISS, to be launched on a Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Nov. 23, 2014. This will be the second long-duration ASI mission and the eighth long-duration mission for an ESA astronaut. She is now training for her mission on Station systems, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, robotics and spacewalks.
Court Declines SNC's Motion to Overrule NASA on CCtCAP Authorization to Proceed
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued a verbal decision today declining to overrule NASA on its decision to allow SpaceX and Boeing to proceed in executing the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCAP) contracts. Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is suing the government over NASA's October 9 decision to rescind a previously issued stop-work order while SNC's protest of the contract awards is under consideration by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In a terse statement, Judge Marilyn Blank Horn said:
"On October 21, 2014, the court held a hearing in the above captioned protest. Given the urgency to resolve the override issue, the court provided the parties with a verbal decision declining to overrule the override."
"Override" refers to NASA overriding a provision of the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA) under which work on a contract ordinarily would cease while a protest of the contract award is pending. NASA initially issued a stop-work order to Boeing and SpaceX in compliance with CICA after SNC filed its protest with GAO. On October 9, however, it rescinded that order, overriding the CICA requirement, on the basis that its statutory authority allowed it to avoid serious adverse consequences.
SNC's suit before this court is that NASA did not demonstrate those serious adverse consequences in overriding the CICA requirements and the override was "illegal and void."
GAO has until January 5, 2015 to rule on SNC's underlying protest of the contract awards. At the time it filed the protest, SNC said it found "serious questions and inconsistencies in the source selection process."
Boeing, SpaceX and SNC are all being funded under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCAP) phase of the commercial crew program. On September 16, NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to continue on to the next phase, CCtCAP, under which each company is expected to complete work on new commercial crew space transportation systems to take NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station by the end of 2017. Both designs are capsules: Boeing's CST-100 and SpaceX's Dragon V2. SNC's design is a winged vehicle, Dream Chaser, that resembles a small space shuttle.
Court says space taxi work can go on as Sierra Nevada disputes contract
Boeing and SpaceX will not be forced to stop work again on NASA's commercial crewed spacecraft program.
Federal Judge Marian Blank Horn on Tuesday denied Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Louisville-based Space Systems' request for a federal injunction to force NASA to order the work stopped while the awarded contracts are under protest. If granted, the work stoppage would have been the second in two months.
"Sierra Nevada Corporation is disappointed that the court did not reinstate the GAO's stay of work proceeding under the CCtCap contract award. Nevertheless, SNC looks forward to the GAO's ongoing evaluation of the critical protest issues identified in the filing and demonstrating the capability and value of our Dream Chaser for the benefit of our nation," the company said in a statement.
At the center of the dispute is Space Systems' allegation that its Dream Chaser spacecraft was unfairly passed over for the award. The contract instead was split between Chicago-based Boeing Co.'s CST-100, which received $4.2 billion, and Elon Musk's SpaceX, which received $2.6 billion.
Space Systems filed formal protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Sept. 26, which triggered an automatic work stoppage.
On Oct. 9, NASA "under statutory authority available to it," ordered Boeing and SpaceX to resume work.
TThat override was "arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion and is contrary to law," according Space Systems, in documents filed with the in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on Oct. 15.
Horn disagreed, allowing the work to continue while the GAO continues its investigation.
Horn first heard the case Friday, however, the hearing was continued after Boeing and SpaceX filed motions to intervene in the case.
A motion to intervene is filed when a third party claims interest in the outcome of the case.
Space Systems is leaving the majority of the case with the GAO and was seeking only the work stoppage through the federal court.
The majority of the court documents filed last week, and the documents filed with the GAO, remain sealed.
Judge: NASA can move forward with Boeing, SpaceX
James Dean - Florida Today
A judge Tuesday allowed NASA to move forward with new contracts to develop private space taxis despite a legal challenge to the deals worth up to $6.8 billion.
The ruling was a setback for Colorado-based Sierra Nevada Corp., developer of the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle, which has protested NASA's award of the contracts last month to Boeing and SpaceX.
Sierra Nevada's bid protest initially triggered a stop-work order pending a U.S. Government Accountability Office review that will be completed by Jan. 5.
But NASA earlier this month took the unusual step of directing Boeing and SpaceX to proceed with the contracts before the protest is resolved.
NASA claimed it "best serves the United States" to enable the commercial crew systems as soon as possible, and that delays to flights planned by 2017 would put the International Space Station at risk.
Sierra Nevada called that decision "arbitrary and capricious" and asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to overturn it.
But at a hearing today, Judge Marian Blank Horn "provided the parties with a verbal decision declining to overrule" NASA's action, court records show.
The GAO will continue to consider Sierra Nevada's bid protest.
Boeing and SpaceX both are developing capsules to fly astronauts, called the CST-100 and Dragon, respectively.
In a Sept. 16 announcement at Kennedy Space Center, which leads the Commercial Crew Program, NASA awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $4.2 billion and another to SpaceX worth up to $2.6 billion. The funding covers a crewed test flight and up to six operational flights.
Sierra Nevada claims its bid was nearly $1 billion lower than Boeing's, and that the Dream Chaser's technical feasibility ranked close to the other proposals.
NASA has not released the statement explaining its selections.
Court Rejects Sierra Nevada Motion to Reinstate Commercial Crew Stop-Work Order
Jeff Foust - Space News
A federal court ruled against a motion by Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Oct. 21 to reinstate a suspension of work by two companies on commercial crew contracts awarded by NASA last month.
Judge Marian Blank Horn issued the order after a hearing earlier in the day on a motion filed by Sierra Nevada with the Court of Federal Claims here Oct. 15 requesting that a stop-work order on two Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts that NASA overrode earlier this month be restored.
"Given the urgency to resolve the override issue, the court provided the parties with a verbal decision declining to overrule the override," Horn wrote in a brief order issued by the court. The order did not explain the rationale for the decision, and the hearing was closed to the public.
"SNC is disappointed that the court did not reinstate the GAO's stay of work proceeding under the CCtCap contract award," the company said in a statement issued late Oct. 21. "Nevertheless, SNC looks forward to the GAO's ongoing evaluation of the critical protest issues identified in the filing."
NASA had issued stop-work orders to Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. shortly after Sierra Nevada filed its protest of the CCtCap awards with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Sept. 26. In a statement announcing the protest, Sierra Nevada alleged there were "serious questions and inconsistencies" in NASA's selection process.
On Oct. 9, NASA announced it was lifting the stop-work order, citing "statutory authority available to it" in order to keep the overall commercial crew effort on schedule. NASA warned of risks to operations of the international space station and NASA's ability to meet its international commitments if the development of commercial crew systems was delayed.
Sierra Nevada then filed suit with the court, seeking to overrule NASA's decision to override the stop-work order. The company argued that it could be harmed if Boeing and SpaceX were allowed to continue work on their contracts while the GAO reviewed the protest.
NASA's override is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and is contrary to law," Rogers Joseph O'Donnell, the law firm representing Sierra Nevada, argued in its request for an injunction. "The override constitutes NASA's unreasonable decision unnecessarily and unjustifiably to direct the awardees to proceed with contract performance."
The court's decision does not affect Sierra Nevada's protest itself. The GAO has until Jan. 5 to rule on that protest.
Top U.S. Defense Official Says Pentagon Will Wean Itself from RD-180 Engine
Mike Gruss – Space News
A top U.S. defense official reiterated to a large group of California lawmakers that "now is the time" to study how to reduce the Pentagon's dependence on a Russian-made rocket engine.
In September, 32 members of California's congressional delegation asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to broaden competition in the U.S. national security launch program and to move away from the RD-180 rocket engine that powers the Atlas 5 rocket sooner rather than later. The Atlas 5 and Delta 4, both built by Denver-based United Launch Alliance, launch the vast majority of U.S. military payloads.
In an Oct. 17 response, Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said the RD-180 has "provided both a cost-effective alternative to the Delta 4 launch vehicle and an essential diversity of supply."
Nonetheless, Work also said, "We share your concern about dependency on unreliable sources."
"Secretary Hagel agrees that now is the time to investigate alternatives that would reduce our utilization of the RD-180 engine," Work said.
The RD-180 engine is built by NPO Energomash of Russia and sold to ULA by RD-Amross, a joint venture between Energomash and United Technologies Corp. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the country's space sector, threatened in May to ban exports of Russian-made rocket engines used to launch U.S. military satellites.
Pentagon and ULA officials say there has been no evidence of a slowdown in RD-180 deliveries, but both have begun preparing for a future without the engine. ULA has commissioned development of a new engine by the Blue Origin venture led by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, while the Air Force has solicited information from industry on future launch options, among other steps.
In their letter, the California lawmakers members said they were "troubled by the Department's willingness to continue sourcing this engine from the Russian government, apparently in the hope that the situation with Russia does not deteriorate further, and that Russia chooses to continue supporting U.S. military launches — while it ignores American sources of engine technology."
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., which is seeking to break ULA's virtual monopoly in the national security launch market, is headquartered in Hawthorne, California. Aerojet Rocketdyne, which has designed an engine that it says could replace the RD-180 within about five years, is located in Sacramento, California.
Work said the Defense Department is investigating "all possible methods of retaining assured access to space without a dependency on possibly unreliable sources."
KSC To Offer Undeveloped Center Property for Commercial Users
Jeff Foust – Space News
With most of its surplus space shuttle-era infrastructure handed over to other organizations — including the U.S. Air Force's X-37B military spaceplane program — NASA's Kennedy Space Center will soon solicit proposals from companies that want to develop new facilities there, including new launch sites.
"Now that our assets, for the most part, are spoken for or transitioned from shuttle, they can provide us a proposal for undeveloped land" on center property that companies would like to develop, said Scott Colloredo, director of KSC's Center Planning and Development Directorate, in a presentation here at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight Oct. 16.
That land use, which he said could include additional launch sites or manufacturing facilities, would have to be consistent with KSC's master plan published this year. That plan sets aside land at the center for additional horizontal and vertical launch and landing sites, as well as locations for assembly, testing and processing buildings.
"As long as it's compatible with our master plan and our future planning, we'll entertain it," Colloredo said. A formal announcement of opportunity, he said, will likely be released in the next few months.
Those plans come as KSC has largely completed efforts to hand over excess infrastructure to other users. On Oct. 8, KSC announced that the U.S. Air Force would take over two of the center's three Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) hangars to house X-37B, which landed Oct. 17 in California after nearly two years in orbit; a fourth unmanned mission is planned for 2015. The hangars previously were used to process space shuttle orbiters between missions.
Boeing, which is modifying two of the OPFs for the Air Force, will use the third OPF for its CST-100 commercial crew vehicle under an agreement with KSC and Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development organization, that was first announced in 2011.
In April, NASA and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. signed an agreement to transfer Launch Complex 39A, previously used by NASA for Apollo and space shuttle launches, to the company. SpaceX is renovating the launch pad to accommodate its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Colloredo said the first SpaceX launch from the pad is planned for sometime next year.
Colloredo said KSC continues to work with Space Florida to take over the Shuttle Landing Facility, the 4,570-meter runway built in the 1970s for space shuttle landings. NASA selected Space Florida in 2013 to operate the runway and has been negotiating a formal agreement since then. "We're still in negotiations," he said. "We do expect those to be completed soon."
One existing facility that is still available to commercial users, he said, is the Vehicle Assembly Building. While the building will continue to be primarily used by NASA to assemble Space Launch System vehicles, one of four bays within the building will be available to companies for their own launch vehicles or other uses.
Colloredo said KSC is in discussions with a number of potential additional users of the center's facilities. In his presentation here, he listed several, including Blue Origin, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory and Moon Express, but did not discuss what each organization is proposing to do at KSC.
Moon Express Chief Executive Bob Richards, speaking here Oct. 15, said the company was considering using KSC for tests of the MX-1 lunar lander it is developing in pursuit of the Google Lunar X Prize. The company would use the same site near KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility where NASA's Morpheus test vehicle flew a series of vertical launch and landing tests that concluded this year.
"If all goes well, we'll be flying a terrestrial version of our spacecraft down at the Shuttle Landing Facility, where Morpheus flies, within two months," Richards said.
Colloredo interpreted those agreements in place, and the partnerships under discussion, as evidence that KSC had achieved its goal of moving from a facility that primarily supported only the space shuttle to becoming a "multiuser spaceport" for government and commercial vehicles. "We like to think we've transformed pretty well," he said. "We survived the transition."
Aerojet Rocketdyne selected to provide power system and thrusters for 2020 Mars rover
Jason Rhian – Spaceflight Insider
With NASA preparing to send crews to travel to Mars some time in the 2030s, the space agency is developing mechanical pathfinders which will blaze the trail that their human counterparts will retrace when their time comes to make history. However, getting to the Martian surface – is more difficult than recent missions have made it out to be. To help ensure that NASA's 2020 Mars Rover makes it safely to the dusty terrain – it has selected a well-known aerospace entity, under a larger collaborative effort - to provide key systems to help ensure success.
Aerojet Rocketdyne's thrusters have been selected for the follow-on mission to NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity. In its current configuration, the robotic explorer will be very similar to Curiosity – which landed on the Martian surface in August of 2012 after a nine-month journey across the void.
In terms of this upcoming mission, Aerojet Rocketdyne (AR) will supply the thrusters which will direct the rover, encapsulated in its aeroshell, to a touchdown on the Martian surface. This contract is with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL ) who will produce the rover itself. During the spacecraft's entry, descent and landing, more commonly known as the "seven minutes of terror" this new rover will rely on a mix of eight MR-80B 700-7 lbf thrusters and eight MR-107U 68 lbf thrusters. These will likely be arrayed in the same configuration on this new rover as they were on Curiosity's aeroshell.
"Aerojet Rocketdyne has provided propulsion for every Mars mission since Viking 1 and Viking 2, and we are proud to continue that legacy with a mission designed to drive innovation and technologies that may enable humans to live on our planetary neighbor one day," said the company's Vice President of Space Systems – Warren Yasuhara.
Perhaps of greater note is another aspect of the mission that AR will be contributing to. Mars is a world which sees dust storms that can cover the planet's entire surface. As such, NASA has opted to select the "nuclear option" in terms of power for the robot. Rovers before Curiosity were dependent on solar arrays to collect sunlight which would then be converted into electrical power. MSL marked the first time that the agency has used nuclear-powered Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (MMRTG), as the driving force behind these mechanical geologists.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy – will provide the MMRTG which will give the 2020 Mars Rover "life." Given that this, yet unnamed, automaton is planned to have seven new, advanced, science instruments – it will need it. The 2020 Mars Rover is, in design, similar to Curiosity and will be tasked with looking for evidence that the Red Planet might have once been able to support life – as well as other tasks pertinent to NASA's current direction.
The scientific instruments that are currently planned for this mission include the following:
- Planetary Instrument for X-Ray Lithochemistry (PIXL). This device is an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer which is being sent to Mars in order to gain a better understanding of the materials which cover the surface of the Red Planet.
- Radar Imager for Mars' subsurface experiment (RIMFAX). This instrument will give the rover the ability to peer dozens of meters below the robotic explorer.
- Mastcam-Z, a stereoscopic imaging system.
- Mars Environmental Dynamic Analyzer (MEDA) – will be used to chronicle weather conditions that include humidity, pressure, wind speed, dust size and wind speed.
- SuperCam, an instrument that can provide imaging, chemical composition analysis and mineralogy in rocks and regolith from a distance.
- The Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE). MOXIE will test out technologies which are necessary to produce oxygen on the Red Planet.
- The Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC). This ultraviolet Raman spectrometer will be used to detect organic compounds.
The program to produce the MMRTG – is a team effort. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Teledyne Energy Systems, and the U.S. Department of Energy are collaborating to supply the rover with all the energy it needs to test out systems for future crewed missions to Mars, conducts further studies into the past habitability of the Red Planet and look for potential candidates for a possible sample return mission.
"With no moving parts, our nuclear power source is extremely robust and should give the 2020 rover the same excellent mobility and scientific capability that Curiosity is presently experiencing in the harsh environment of Mars," said Aerojet Rocketdyne's Director of Advanced Power Systems, Larry Trager. "We understand the importance of a reliable, long-lasting power source for future, increasingly sophisticated Mars missions."
Unlike the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which were powered by solar arrays affixed to their "backs" – the MMRTG that is powering Curiosity and the one which will power the Mars 2020 rover – allows this next generation of robotic pathfinders to continue operating in the Martian night, Winter and even in the vacuum of space between worlds.
As it is currently envisioned, the Mars 2020 rover will have seven scientific instruments. Even more so than the robots that preceded it to the surface of Mars, this future robotic geologist – will also be tasked with scouting out in situ (on site) resources which could help pioneering astronauts on the surface of Mars generate oxygen for breathing – and for rocket fuel.
NASA announced its intention to launch the 2020 Mars Rover during the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Dec. 4, 2012. Almost 60 proposals were reviewed for the rover who has been given a budget of some $1.5 billion. This is an estimated $1 billion less than Curiosity. NASA's Associate Administer for the agency's Science Mission Directorate, John Grunsfeld, has stated that the availability of spare parts makes this reduction in cost possible.
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