NASA Awards Financial and Business Management Services Contract

Wichita Tribal Enterprises
NASA has selected Wichita Tribal Enterprises, LLC, of Houston to provide financial and business management services for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and other entities at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The new contract calls for a three-year base period and two one-year options. The maximum potential value of the contract is $45 million. Under the contract, Wichita Tribal Enterprises will provide program and resources management and process improvement services.

The work will be performed at Johnson and other locations, as required. The three-year base period of performance for the contract is scheduled to begin Jan. 1, 2012, and continue through Dec. 31, 2014, with two one-year options available. The contract is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders.Significant subcontractors on the contract are Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies of Greenbelt, Md., and Barrios Technologies of Houston.

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NASA Launches Most Capable and Robust Rover to Explore Mars

NASA Launches Robust Rover

NASA began a historic voyage to Mars with the Nov. 26 launch of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which carries a car-sized rover named Curiosity. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard an Atlas V rocket occurred at 10:02 a.m. EST. "We are very excited about sending the world's most advanced scientific laboratory to Mars," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "MSL will tell us critical things we need to know about Mars, and while it advances science, we'll be working on the capabilities for a human mission to the Red Planet and to other destinations where we've never been."

The mission will pioneer precision landing technology and a sky-crane touchdown to place Curiosity near the foot of a mountain inside Gale Crater on Aug. 6, 2012. During a nearly two-year prime mission after landing, the rover will investigate whether the region has ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. "The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and we're on our way to Mars," said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive."

The Atlas V initially lofted the spacecraft into Earth orbit and then, with a second burst from the vehicle's upper stage, pushed it out of Earth orbit into a 352-million-mile (567-million-kilometer) journey to Mars. "Our first trajectory correction maneuver will be in about two weeks," Theisinger said. "We'll do instrument checkouts in the next several weeks and continue with thorough preparations for the landing on Mars and operations on the surface." Curiosity's ambitious science goals are among the mission's many differences from earlier Mars rovers. It will use a drill and scoop at the end of its robotic arm to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into analytical laboratory instruments inside the rover.

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NASA Hosts Second Annual Education Stakeholders' Summit

One Stop Shopping Initiative
NASA's Office of Education will host the second Education Stakeholders' Summit Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Chantilly, Va. The summit's theme is "An Innovative Solution for the STEM Workforce of Tomorrow." A major conference focus will be the One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI). The program's goal is to build a robust NASA infrastructure for attracting students and facilitating their entry into the NASA workforce through a variety of internships, fellowships and scholarships.

This year's keynote speaker will be John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management, who will deliver remarks on "Why It's Cool to Work for the Federal Government" during the opening plenary session on Tuesday, Nov. 29. His address will be followed by a series of presentations, including "Why It's Cool to Work in NASA Education" by Leland Melvin, NASA's associate administrator for education. Media representatives interested in attending opening day activities should contact Ann Marie Trotta at ann.marie.trotta@nasa.gov by 3 p.m. EST on Nov. 28. The Marriott Westfields Conference Center is located at 14750 Conference Center Drive in Chantilly, Va.

Space Station Trio Lands Safely in Kazakhstan

Space Station Trio Lands
Three International Space Station crew members safely returned to Earth on Monday, wrapping up nearly six months in space during which NASA and its international partners celebrated the 11th anniversary of continuous residence and work aboard the station. Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum, Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Sergei Volkov of the Russian Federal Space Agency landed their Soyuz spacecraft in frigid conditions on the central steppe of Kazakhstan at 8:26 p.m. CST Nov. 21 (8:26 a.m. Kazakhstan time, Nov. 22). The trio arrived at the station on June 9. They spent 167 days in space and 165 days on the complex. Volkov, a two-time station crew member, now has accumulated 366 days in space.

Before leaving the station, Fossum handed over command to NASA's Dan Burbank, who leads Expedition 30. Burbank and Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov of Russia will continue research and maintenance aboard the station. The remaining Expedition 30 crew members, NASA astronaut Don Pettit, European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, are scheduled to launch Dec. 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and dock with the station on Dec. 23.

NASA Announces Space Shuttle Closeout Contract Modification

NASA Announces Space Shuttle
NASA announced the Space Shuttle Program and subcontractor closeout modification to the Space Program Operations Contract (SPOC) with United Space Alliance (USA) of Houston, valued at $232.9 million.

The contract covers SPOC closeout actions from Oct. 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2013, including:

-- Making orbiters Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour safe for public display
-- Ferry operation activities for Discovery
-- Property, information technology systems and records disposition by USA
-- Subcontract closeout activities including property disposition, information technology systems disposition and records disposition by 31 subcontractors through firm-fixed-price contracts and five subcontractors through five cost-plus type contracts.

The principal locations of the various work elements are USA's facilities in Houston, Huntsville, Ala.; and Titusville, Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Center in Fla.


NASA Probe Data Show Evidence Of Liquid Water On Icy Europa



Liquid Water On Icy Europa

Data from a NASA planetary mission have provided scientists evidence of what appears to be a body of liquid water, equal in volume to the North American Great Lakes, beneath the icy surface of Jupiter's moon, Europa.The data suggest there is significant exchange between Europa's icy shell and the ocean beneath. This information could bolster arguments that Europa's global subsurface ocean represents a potential habitat for life elsewhere in our solar system. The findings are published in the scientific journal Nature.

"The data opens up some compelling possibilities," said Mary Voytek, director of NASA's Astrobiology Program at agency headquarters in Washington. "However, scientists worldwide will want to take a close look at this analysis and review the data before we can fully appreciate the implication of these results." NASA's Galileo spacecraft, launched by the space shuttle Atlantis in 1989 to Jupiter, produced numerous discoveries and provided scientists decades of data to analyze. Galileo studied Jupiter, which is the most massive planet in the solar system, and some of its many moons.

One of the most significant discoveries was the inference of a global salt water ocean below the surface of Europa. This ocean is deep enough to cover the whole surface of Europa and contains more liquid water than all of Earth's oceans combined. However, being far from the sun, the ocean surface is completely frozen. Most scientists think this ice crust is tens of miles thick. "One opinion in the scientific community has been if the ice shell is thick, that's bad for biology. That might mean the surface isn't communicating with the underlying ocean," said Britney Schmidt, lead author of the paper and postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Geophysics, University of Texas at Austin. "Now, we see evidence that it's a thick ice shell that can mix vigorously and new evidence for giant shallow lakes. That could make Europa and its ocean more habitable."

Schmidt and her team focused on Galileo images of two roughly circular, bumpy features on Europa's surface called chaos terrains. Based on similar processes seen on Earth -- on ice shelves and under glaciers overlaying volcanoes they developed a four-step model to explain how the features form. The model resolves several conflicting observations. Some seemed to suggest the ice shell is thick. Others suggest it is thin. This recent analysis shows the chaos features on Europa's surface may be formed by mechanisms that involve significant exchange between the icy shell and the underlying lake. This provides a mechanism or model for transferring nutrients and energy between the surface and the vast global ocean already inferred to exist below the thick ice shell. This is thought to increase the potential for life there.

2011 Awards Presented For Achievements In Earth Remote Sensing

nasa logoNASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior presented the 2011 William T. Pecora awards to Alan H. Strahler, professor of geography and environment at Boston University, and to the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing at a ceremony Tuesday in Herndon, Va. Strahler was recognized for his contributions to remote-sensing science, leadership and education, which have improved the fundamental understanding of the remote-sensing process and its applications for observing land surface properties. The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing received the group award for outstanding collaboration across national boundaries.

The awards were presented at the Pecora 18 Symposium by Michael Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate and Lori Caramanian, Department of the Interior's deputy assistant secretary for water and science. "Understanding of our home planet and predicting future global environmental changes require both individual technical efforts and worldwide collaborations," Freilich said. "This year's awards acknowledge just how important sustained, decades-long efforts by individuals and nations are to Earth science, and the benefits they can bring to the world."

Strahler's early theoretical contributions in describing the interactions of light with forest trees led to realistic and quantifiable approaches employed today in many areas of remote sensing. Strahler also advanced the field of image analysis by developing new methods for incorporating spatial information. His innovative methods for incorporating spatial information such as size, shape, and texture in the interpretation of remotely sensed image data were important in the coupling of remote sensing with geographic information systems.

The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing was recognized for advancing the understanding of Earth over a period of 40 years through the development of important technologies and innovative applications. The centre contributed substantially to the success of global remote-sensing technology through partnerships with many different groups, domestically and internationally. As a national remote-sensing program, the centre served as a model for numerous other countries where visiting scientists learned advanced remote-sensing science and how to organize a national remote-sensing program.

NASA and the Department of the Interior present individual and group Pecora Awards to honor outstanding contributions in the field of remote sensing and its application to understanding Earth. The award was established in 1974 to honor the memory of William T. Pecora, former director of the U.S. Geological Survey and undersecretary of the Department of the Interior. Pecora was influential in the establishment of the Landsat satellite program, which created a continuous, nearly 40-year record of Earth's land areas.

NASA's New Upper Stage Engine Passes Major Test

J-2X rocket engine
NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine on Wednesday, Nov. 9, marking another important step in development of an upper stage for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS). SLS will carry the Orion spacecraft, its crew, cargo, equipment and science experiments to destinations in deep space. SLS will be safe, affordable and sustainable to continue America's journey of discovery from the unique vantage point of space.

"The J-2X engine is critical to the development of the Space Launch System," Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said after the test at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. "Today's test means NASA is moving closer to developing the rocket it needs if humans are to explore beyond low-Earth orbit." Data from the test will be analyzed as operators prepare for additional engine firings. The J-2X and the RS-25D/E engines for the SLS core stage will be tested for flight certification at Stennis. Both engines use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants. The core stage engines were developed originally for the space shuttle.

"The J-2X engine team and the SLS program as a whole are extremely happy that we accomplished a good, safe and successful test today," said Mike Kynard, Space Launch System Engines Element Manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "This engine test firing gives us critical data to move forward in the engine's development." Stennis has tested engines that carried Americans to space in both the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. The J-2X engine is being developed for Marshall by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of Canoga Park, Calif. "We look forward to adding to the legacy as we fulfill our responsibility to test engines that will power America's next launch vehicle," said Stennis Director Patrick Scheuermann.

NASA Proposes Orion Spacecraft Test Flight In 2014

NASA Proposes Orion Spacecraft
NASA plans to add an unmanned flight test of the Orion spacecraft in early 2014 to its contract with Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the multi-purpose crew vehicle's design, development, test and evaluation. This test supports the new Space Launch System (SLS) that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before, create U.S. jobs, and provide the cornerstone for America's future human spaceflight efforts.

"President Obama and Congress have laid out an ambitious space exploration plan, and NASA is moving out quickly to implement it," NASA Associate Administrator for Communications David Weaver said. "This flight test will provide invaluable data to support the deep space exploration missions this nation is embarking upon."

This Exploration Flight Test, or EFT-1, will fly two orbits to a high-apogee, with a high-energy re-entry through Earth's atmosphere. Orion will make a water landing and be recovered using operations planned for future human exploration missions. The test mission will be launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to acquire critical re-entry flight performance data and demonstrate early integration capabilities that benefit the Orion, SLS, and 21st Century Ground Systems programs. The agency has posted a synopsis explaining its intention on NASA's procurement website.

"The entry part of the test will produce data needed to develop a spacecraft capable of surviving speeds greater than 20,000 mph and safely return astronauts from beyond Earth orbit," Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier said. "This test is very important to the detailed design process in terms of the data we expect to receive."

NASA also intends to release several competitive solicitations to industry in the near future. One solicitation will request proposals for the design, development, test and evaluation of a new advanced liquid or solid booster capability for the SLS. Another future contract NASA intends to compete will be for the development of spacecraft, and payload adaptors and fairings for crew and cargo missions. The competition and award dates for these will be determined as missions are identified.

NASA is developing the Orion spacecraft to launch astronauts to asteroids, the moon, Mars and other destinations atop SLS, the agency's new heavy launch vehicle. An early orbital flight test such as EFT-1 will provide data needed to influence design decisions and serve as a pathfinder to validate innovative new approaches to space systems development. The goal is to reduce the cost and schedule risks of exploration missions.

New Space Station Camera Reveals the Cosmic Shore

 Space Station Camera

Part of human fascination with space is the chance to look back at our own planet from afar. The unique vantage from the International Space Station affords a vista both breathtaking and scientifically illuminating.Here on Earth, both scientists and spectators rely on the station's crew to record and transmit images and videos of what they see to share in their experience. Until recently, reduced lighting conditions at night, combined with insufficiently perceptive equipment, made some of the most beautiful views difficult to capture.

This changed with the arrival of the Super Sensitive High Definition TV, or SS-HDTV, camera on the space station. With the SS-HDTV, the crew can document new and more detailed footage of the dynamic interactions that take place in the area between the Earths' atmosphere and the vacuum of space, known as the cosmic shore.

According to Keiji Murakami, a senior engineer with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, this camera's superior recording capability opens up a significant window of observation. Some may not realize that the station orbits the Earth 16 times a day, experiencing multiple sunrises and sunsets during those 24 hours. The crew actually has a 50/50 chance of a night view. "Half of the Earth view from [station] is a night view. And the day view and night view are very different," said Murakami.