Atlantis' Crew Celebrates Charitable Strides with Commemorative Cargo

There are lots of ways for an everyday item to take on a special significance, but few work better than carrying that item into space.

The crew of STS-132 aims to make scores of objects already precious in their meaning more inspirational by taking them on this mission to the International Space Station.

A lapel pin from the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s “Race for a Cure,” for example, will be tucked inside an Atlantis locker. A green and black rubber wristband from Eli’s Army Cancer Survivors also is making the trip, along with a wristband from Team G Force Cancer Survivors.

There also are mementos from several other organizations inside Atlantis. A teddy bear from the Cleft Palate Foundation of Chapel Hill, N.C., a lapel pin from the Alzheimer’s Association of Chicago, and flags from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International and Make-A-Wish Foundation will be flown into orbit.

A box of commemorative items for NASA was packed inside space shuttle Atlantis for the STS-132 mission. Photo credit: NASA

Lapel pins and similar-sized commemoratives often are carried because they are small and lightweight, but their symbolism can be immense. The crew tucked a pin from the "Imagine There's No Hunger" campaign, for example, into the flight kit.

There also is room for bulkier items including banners, shirts and jerseys. For instance, Atlantis astronauts are taking a red T-shirt from the charity organization Save the Children.

The astronauts also are carrying several other lighthearted personal items, such as a 4 by 6-inch photo of Peter Pizza in Brooklyn, a piece for a Lego space shuttle and a DVD from the 2009 induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A red squeeze ball from the business network CNBC also is along for the ride.

Such commemorative items typically reflect a personal interest or achievement by a crew member and NASA makes room for them. The expectation is that, back on Earth, many of the objects will inspire future explorers and achievements.

A pair of large boxes holding flags, patches and other items have been anchored to the support struts for the airlock in Atlantis' cargo bay. Photo credit: NASA

Atlantis and the other shuttles typically carry a host of things, such as patches, flags and other objects intended as special rewards to groups or individuals or goodwill items.

Two large boxes, outfitted for space duty, have been bolted between the braces on Atlantis’ airlock in the payload bay. The triangular containers have been packed with 3 1/2-inch American flags, some 755 small international flags and 1,200 Space Shuttle Program flags. There also are six packages of the red, white and blue flags designed for the individual orbiters.

Shuttles have carried such mementos for more than 30 years. Space shuttle Enterprise, for example, was loaded with patches and flags when it was released from a 747 on several test flights in 1977. Columbia carried a similar assortment on STS-1 and each mission thereafter has included a host of similar items.

Astronaut Gus Grissom is credited with carrying the first mementos into space when he took rolls of dimes on his Mercury flight in 1961.

Almost 50 years later, the goal and effect remain the same: to celebrate and inspire exploration.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/whatsgoingup132.html

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NASA's Mars Rovers Set Surface Longevity Record

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project will pass a historic Martian longevity record on Thursday, May 20. The Opportunity rover will surpass the duration record set by NASA's Viking 1 Lander of six years and 116 days operating on the surface of Mars. The effects of favorable weather on the red planet could also help the rovers generate more power.

Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, began working on Mars three weeks before Opportunity. However, Spirit has been out of communication since March 22. If it awakens from hibernation and resumes communication, that rover will attain the Martian surface longevity record.

Spirit's hibernation was anticipated, based on energy forecasts, as the amount of sunshine hitting the robot's solar panels declined during autumn on Mars' southern hemisphere. Unfortunately, mobility problems prevented rover operators from positioning Spirit with a favorable tilt toward the north, as during the first three winters it experienced. The rovers' fourth winter solstice, the day of the Martian year with the least sunshine at their locations, was Wednesday, May 12.

"Opportunity, and likely Spirit, surpassing the Viking Lander 1 longevity record is truly remarkable, considering these rovers were designed for only a 90-day mission on the surface of Mars," Callas said. "Passing the solstice means we're over the hump for the cold, dark, winter season." Unless dust interferes, which is unlikely in the coming months, the solar panels on both rovers should gradually generate more electricity. Operators hope that Spirit will recharge its batteries enough to awaken from hibernation, start communicating and resume science tasks.

Unlike recent operations, Opportunity will not have to rest to regain energy between driving days. The gradual increase in available sunshine will eventually improve the rate of Opportunity's progress across a vast plain toward its long-term destination, the Endeavour Crater.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera for this northward view of tracks the rover left on a drive from one energy-favorable position on the northern end of a sand ripple to another. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This month, some of Opportunity's drives have been planned to end at an energy-favorable tilt on the northern face of small Martian plain surface ripples. The positioning sacrifices some distance to regain energy sooner for the next drive. Opportunity's cameras can see a portion of the rim of Endeavour on the horizon, approximately eight miles away, across the plain's ripples of windblown sand.

"The ripples look like waves on the ocean, like we're out in the middle of the ocean with land on the horizon, our destination," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Squyres is the principal investigator for Opportunity and Spirit. "Even though we know we might never get there, Endeavour is the goal that drives our exploration."

The team chose Endeavour as a destination in mid-2008, after Opportunity finished two years examining the smaller Victoria Crater. Since then, the goal became even more alluring when orbital observations found clay minerals exposed at Endeavour. Clay minerals have been found extensively on Mars from orbit, but have not been examined on the surface. "Those minerals form under wet conditions more neutral than the wet, acidic environment that formed the sulfates we've found with Opportunity," said Squyres. "The clay minerals at Endeavour speak to a time when the chemistry was much friendlier to life than the environments that formed the minerals Opportunity has seen so far. We want to get there to learn their context. Was there flowing water? Were there steam vents? Hot springs? We want to find out."

Launched in 1975, Project Viking consisted of two orbiters, each carrying a stationary lander. Viking Lander 1 was the first successful mission to the surface of Mars, touching down on July 20, 1976. It operated until Nov. 13, 1982, more than two years longer than its twin lander or either of the Viking orbiters.

The record for longest working lifetime by a spacecraft at Mars belongs to a later orbiter: NASA's Mars Global Surveyor operated for more than 9 years after arriving in 1997. NASA's Mars Odyssey, in orbit since in 2001, has been working at Mars longer than any other current mission and is on track to take the Mars longevity record late this year. Science discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rover have included Opportunity finding the first mineralogical evidence that Mars had liquid water and Spirit finding evidence for hot springs or steam vents and a past environment of explosive volcanism.

JPL manages the Mars rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about the rovers, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/rovers

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/news/mer20100519.html

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A Feat of Daring Display

Anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint, astronaut Garrett Reisman continued his work during the first of three planned spacewalks for the STS-132 mission. During the seven-hour, 25-minute spacewalk, Reisman and NASA astronaut Steve Bowen installed a second antenna for high-speed Ku-band transmissions and added a spare parts platform to Dextre, a two-armed extension for the station’s robotic arm.

Image Credit: NASA

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1669.html

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Beauty of Future Airplanes is More than Skin Deep

An 18-month NASA research effort to visualize the passenger airplanes of the future has produced some ideas that at first glance may appear to be old fashioned. Instead of exotic new designs seemingly borrowed from science fiction, familiar shapes dominate the pages of advanced concept studies which four industry teams completed for NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program in April 2010.

Look more closely at these concepts for airplanes that may enter service 20 to 25 years from now and you'll see things that are quite different from the aircraft of today.

The process of starting with many possible solutions and narrowing it down to just a few. Image credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

Just beneath the skin of these concepts lie breakthrough airframe and propulsion technologies designed to help the commercial aircraft of tomorrow fly significantly quieter, cleaner, and more fuel-efficiently, with more passenger comfort, and to more of America's airports.

You may see ultramodern shape memory alloys, ceramic or fiber composites, carbon nanotube or fiber optic cabling, self-healing skin, hybrid electric engines, folding wings, double fuselages and virtual reality windows.

"Standing next to the airplane, you may not be able to tell the difference, but the improvements will be revolutionary," said Richard Wahls, project scientist for the Fundamental Aeronautics Program's Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. "Technological beauty is more than skin deep."

In October 2008, NASA asked industry and academia to imagine what the future might bring and develop advanced concepts for aircraft that can satisfy anticipated commercial air transportation needs while meeting specific energy efficiency, environmental and operational goals in 2030 and beyond. The studies were intended to identify key technology development needs to enable the envisioned advanced airframes and propulsion systems.

A 20-passenger commercial aircraft design concept. Image credit: NASA/GE Aviation

NASA's goals for a 2030-era aircraft, compared with an aircraft entering service today, are:

• A 71-decibel reduction below current Federal Aviation Administration noise standards, which aim to contain objectionable noise within airport boundaries.
• A greater than 75 percent reduction on the International Civil Aviation Organization's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection Sixth Meeting, or CAEP/6, standard for nitrogen oxide emissions, which aims to improve air quality around airports.
• A greater than 70 percent reduction in fuel burn performance, which could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of air travel.
• The ability to exploit metroplex concepts that enable optimal use of runways at multiple airports within metropolitan areas, as a means of reducing air traffic congestion and delays.

The teams were led by General Electric, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Company. Here are some highlights from their final reports:

• The GE Aviation team conceptualizes a 20-passenger aircraft that could reduce congestion at major metropolitan hubs by using community airports for point-to-point travel. The aircraft has an oval-shaped fuselage that seats four across in full-sized seats. Other features include an aircraft shape that smoothes the flow of air over all surfaces, and electricity-generating fuel cells to power advanced electrical systems. The aircraft's advanced turboprop engines sport low-noise propellers and further mitigate noise by providing thrust sufficient for short takeoffs and quick climbs.
• With its 180-passenger D8 "double bubble" configuration, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team strays farthest from the familiar, fusing two aircraft bodies together lengthwise and mounting three turbofan jet engines on the tail. Important components of the MIT concept are the use of composite materials for lower weight and turbofan engines with an ultra high bypass ratio (meaning air flow through the core of the engine is even smaller, while air flow through the duct surrounding the core is substantially larger, than in a conventional engine) for more efficient thrust. In a reversal of current design trends the MIT concept increases the bypass ratio by minimizing expansion of the overall diameter of the engine and shrinking the diameter of the jet exhaust instead. The team said it designed the D8 to do the same work as a Boeing 737-800. The D8's unusual shape gives it a roomier coach cabin than the 737.
• The Northrop Grumman team foresees the greatest need for a smaller 120-passenger aircraft that is tailored for shorter runways in order to help expand capacity and reduce delays. The team describes its Silent Efficient Low Emissions Commercial Transport, or SELECT, concept as "revolutionary in its performance, if not in its appearance." Ceramic composites, nanotechnology and shape memory alloys figure prominently in the airframe and ultra high bypass ratio propulsion system construction. The aircraft delivers on environmental and operational goals in large part by using smaller airports, with runways as short as 5,000 feet, for a wider geographic distribution of air traffic.
• The Boeing Company's Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research, or SUGAR, team examined five concepts. The team's preferred concept, the SUGAR Volt, is a twin-engine aircraft with hybrid propulsion technology, a tube-shaped body and a truss-braced wing mounted to the top. Compared to the typical wing used today, the SUGAR Volt wing is longer from tip to tip, shorter from leading edge to trailing edge, and has less sweep. It also may include hinges to fold the wings while parked close together at airport gates. Projected advances in battery technology enable a unique, hybrid turbo-electric propulsion system. The aircraft's engines could use both fuel to burn in the engine's core, and electricity to turn the turbofan when the core is powered down.

NASA did not specify future commercial air transportation needs as domestic or global. All four teams focused on aircraft sized for travel within a single continent because their business cases showed that small- and medium-sized planes will continue to account for the largest percentage of the overall fleet in the future. One team, however, did present a large hybrid wing concept for intercontinental transport.

The "double bubble" D8 design concept. Image credit: NASA/MIT/Aurora Flight Sciences

All of the teams provided "clear paths" for future technology research and development, said Ruben Del Rosario, principal investigator for the Subsonic Fixed Wing Project at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. "Their reports will make a difference in planning our research portfolio. We will identify the common themes in these studies and use them to build a more effective strategy for the future," Del Rosario said.

These are some of the common themes from the four reports:

• Slower cruising -- at about Mach 0.7, or seven-tenths the speed of sound, which is 5 percent to 10 percent slower than today's aircraft -- and at higher altitudes, to save fuel.
• Engines that require less power on takeoff, for quieter flight.
• Shorter runways -- about 5,000 feet long, on average -- to increase operating capacity and efficiency.
• Smaller aircraft – in the medium-size class of a Boeing 737, with cabin accommodations for no more than 180 passengers – flying shorter and more direct routes, for cost-efficiency.
• Reliance on promised advancements in air traffic management such as the use of automated decision-making tools for merging and spacing enroute and during departure climbs and arrival descents.

The teams recommended a variety of improvements in lightweight composite structures, heat- and stress-tolerant engine materials, and aerodynamic modeling that can help bring their ideas to reality. NASA is weighing the recommendations against its objective of developing aeronautics technologies that can be applied to a broad range of aircraft and operating scenarios for the greatest public benefit.

The Silent Efficient Low Emissions Commercial Transport, or SELECT, design concept. Image credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation

"This input from our customers has provided us with well thought-out scenarios for our vision of the future, and it will help us place our research investment decisions squarely in the mainstream," said Jaiwon Shin, associate administrator for aeronautics research at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"Identifying those necessary technologies will help us establish a research roadmap to follow in bringing these innovations to life during the coming years," Shin said.

The next step in NASA's effort to design the aircraft of 2030 is a second phase of studies to begin developing the new technologies that will be necessary to meet the national goals related to an improved air transportation system with increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. The agency received proposals from the four teams in late April and expects to award one or two research contracts for work starting in 2011.

NASA managers also will reassess the goals for 2030 aircraft to determine whether some of the crucial technologies will need additional time to move from laboratory and field testing into operational use. The four teams managed to meet either the fuel burn or the noise goal with their concepts, not both.

The Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research, or SUGAR, Volt design concept. Image credit: NASA/The Boeing Company

A companion research effort looked at concepts for a new generation of supersonic transport aircraft capable of meeting NASA's noise, emissions and fuel efficiency goals for 2030. NASA envisions a broader market for supersonic travel, with aircraft carrying more passengers to improve economic viability while meeting increasingly stringent environmental requirements.

Teams lead by The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin evaluated market conditions, design goals and constraints, conventional and unconventional configurations, and enabling technologies to create proposed roadmaps for research and development activities. Both teams produced concepts for aircraft that can carry more than 100 passengers at cruise speeds of more than 1.6 Mach and a range of up to 5,000 miles.

› View Future Aircraft Image Gallery
› Read October 2008 News Release and Team Abstracts

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/10-051.html

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Final Attempts to Hear from Mars Phoenix Scheduled

PASADENA, Calif. -- From May 17 to 21, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter will conduct a fourth and final campaign to check on whether the Phoenix Mars Lander has come back to life.

During that period, Odyssey will listen for a signal from Phoenix during 61 flights over the lander's site on far-northern Mars. The orbiter detected no transmission from the lander in earlier campaigns totaling 150 overflights in January, February and April.

Artist concept of NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL

In 2008, Phoenix completed its three-month mission studying Martian ice, soil and atmosphere. The lander worked for five months before reduced sunlight caused energy to become insufficient to keep the lander functioning. The solar-powered robot was not designed to survive through the dark and cold conditions of a Martian arctic winter. However, in case it did, NASA has used Odyssey to listen for the signals that Phoenix would transmit if abundant spring sunshine revived the lander.

Northern Mars will experience its maximum-sunshine day, the summer solstice, on May 12 (Eastern Time; May 13, Universal Time), so the sun will be higher in the sky above Phoenix during the fourth listening campaign than during any of the prior ones. Still, expectations of hearing from the lander remain low.

"To be thorough, we decided to conduct this final session around the time of the summer solstice, during the best thermal and power conditions for Phoenix," said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

The Phoenix mission is led by Principal Investigator Peter H. Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson, with project management at JPL and development partnership with Lockheed Martin Space Systems. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, also manages the Odyssey project in an operational partnership with Lockheed Martin.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phx20100513.html

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A New 'Dawn' in Space

There's a new "dawn" for science experiments aboard the International Space Station.

A Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1 launched on space shuttle Atlantis' STS-132 mission May 14. The module, known as Rassvet -- which translates as "dawn" -- will be used for science research and cargo storage. It also will provide an additional docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles at the space station.

Weighing more than 11,000 pounds and measuring 19.7 feet in length and 7.7 feet in diameter, Rassvet will host a wide variety of biotechnology and biological science experiments and fluid physics and educational research.

The Russian-built Mini-Research Module-1, or Rassvet, is moved into a transportation container at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., prior to being loaded onto space shuttle Atlantis for its journey to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA

The module contains a pressurized compartment with eight workstations equipped with facilities such as a glovebox to keep experiments separated from the in-cabin environment; two incubators to accommodate high- and low-temperature experiments; and a vibroprotective platform to protect payloads and experiments from onboard vibrations. The module contains four other workstations, complete with mechanical adapters, to install payloads into roll-out racks and shelves.

"Our science capabilities are going to be greater than ever on the space station," said Igor Sorokin, deputy head of the Space Station Utilization Center at S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. "From the standpoint of science capabilities to be provided, as well as payload integration principles to be applied, this module can be considered as an intermediate one -- even in its "mini" version -- between the older Russian Service Module and future Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which is targeted for the station in 2012. We have applied some advanced principles of research facilities development and integration as compared with the Service Module, which will increase the utilization efficiency of the Russian segment."

Glovebox-C is intended for operations with sterile, dangerous or free-flowing substances, providing a 99,9% purification rate of the working chamber air. Image credit: S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia

Some benefits include conducting experiments such as Conjugation, which studies the exchange of genetic material in microgravity to develop strains producing new target proteins to fight disease. Another experiment, Kristallizator, allows large protein crystals to grow in orbit to better determine their 3-D structure. The results could be used in biology, medicine and pharmacology.

"Rassvet provides important new real estate for experiments to be conducted on the space station, and will be a cornerstone of Russian laboratory facilities for years to come," said Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This new module enhances the station's research capabilities and enables new investigations to be performed."

Rassvet was developed at S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia in Russia.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/10-051.html

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The National Laboratory That Soars Above

As America celebrates National Lab Day on May 12, astronauts are helping scientists expand and execute research on the only National Laboratory in microgravity -- the International Space Station.

As the nation's newest national laboratory, the station will further strengthen relationships among NASA, other federal entities and private-sector leaders in the pursuit of national priorities for the advancement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Expedition 22 Commander Jeffrey Williams performs a check of the Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES) Beacon / Beacon Tester in the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory. Image Credit: NASA

For years, NASA has helped connect students and astronauts in orbit through interactive events and video downlinks. The station’s National Laboratory education activities are opening new paths for student exploration, and using the station’s resources to inspire, engage and educate students and teachers. A number of programs are providing access for students already:

• The InSPIRE (ISS SPHERES Integrated Research Experiments) Program includes a grand challenge competition where high school students design software to control the on orbit SPHERES hardware, which looks at improving automatic spacecraft docking technology. The Pathfinder ZERO Robotics competition ran in December 2009 with 2 schools successfully executing SPHERES control software on the station. SPHERES is a NASA/Massachusetts Institute of Technology partnership.


• The Commercial Generic Bio-processing Apparatus (CGBA) Science Inserts (CSI) project includes a kit in which plants, spiders, and caterpillars/butterfly experiments have flown from 2006 through 2009. This activity is a partnership with CGBA payload developer Bioserve. Educational materials that enable students to conduct ground based control groups following flight experiment studies are available though Orion’s Quest educational non-profit organization. Website: www.orionsquest.org


• The Kids in Micro-g! Challenge is a nation-wide competition for grades 5-8 students to design microgravity experiments or demonstrations. Selected winners’ experiments will be tried on the station through the latter half of the 2009/2010 academic school year.


• The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project helps connect students in elementary, middle and high schools, and universities with astronauts in space using a worldwide network of amateur radio satellite ground stations. ARISSat is a deployable payload developed in partnership with the Radio Amateur Satellite Corp. (AMSAT) that will carry university level experiments with data transmission via amateur radio downlink.


• The High Schools United with NASA to Create Hardware (HUNCH) project lets students in middle and high schools get hands-on experience designing and building flight and training hardware for the station in 8 states in at least 31 schools. In addition, HUNCH students also are editing videos for NASA use.


• Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students (EarthKAM) is an educational outreach program that allows middle school students to take pictures of Earth from a digital camera on board the International Space Station. The images are used to support student research projects in their classrooms.


• The Education Payload Operations project allows demonstration items to be flown to the station for astronauts to use while conducting microgravity demonstrations for K-12 students and educators.


• Microsoft Bliink is a collaboration between NASA and Microsoft on education competitions. The initial agreement is for the Bliink competition targeted for Texas high school students to design web pages addressing station-related subjects.

The station is becoming a novel resource for education, strengthening the future workforces of NASA and the nation, attracting and retaining students in core disciplines and engaging Americans in NASA’s mission. Experience has shown that NASA’s compelling mission inspires the next generation in a unique and powerful way, and the station is an invaluable educational investment.

For more information about NASA’s National Lab activities, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/nlab/

For more information about National Lab Day, visit:

http://www.nationallabday.org

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/national_lab_day.html

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NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations

NEEMO -- the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations project -- sends groups of NASA employees and contractors to live in Aquarius for up to three weeks at a time. For NASA, Aquarius provides a convincing analog to space exploration, and NEEMO crewmembers experience some of the same tasks and challenges underwater as they would in space.

Like the environment of space, the undersea world is a hostile, alien place for humans to live. Far beneath the waves near Key Largo, Fla., an underwater laboratory called Aquarius provides a safe harbor for scientists to live and work for weeks at a time.

Equipped with SCUBA gear, NEEMO-6 crewmembers leave the Aquarius habitat to begin a two-hour underwater extravehicular activity. Credit: NASA

Owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and managed by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Aquarius operates 5.6 kilometers (3.5 miles) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed next to deep coral reefs 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface.

The laboratory is most often used by marine biologists, for whom Aquarius acts as home base as they study the coral reef, the fish and aquatic plants that live nearby and composition of the surrounding seawater. Aquarius houses sophisticated lab equipment and computers, enabling scientists to perform research and process samples without leaving their underwater facilities.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/index.html

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Atlantis Roars Off the Launch Pad

Space shuttle Atlantis lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin the STS-132 mission to the International Space Station.

Image credit: NASA
May 14, 2010

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/multimedia/images/launch2.html

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Atlantis Revealed on Launch Pad 39A

The countdown continues toward the scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission. At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, the rotating service structure has been pulled away from Atlantis in preparation for liftoff Friday at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

"We've had a very clean countdown so far and we're currently on schedule, and we're not working on any issues," NASA Test Director Jeremy Graeber said Thursday morning.

During the 12-day mission, Atlantis and the mission's six astronauts are delivering an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station.

Image above: At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39A, space shuttle Atlantis is revealed Thursday evening after retraction of the pad's rotating service structure. Image credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller

According to STS-132 Weather Officer Todd McNamara, the primary launch weather concern is a low cloud ceiling. But the forecast is good overall, calling for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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Central Peak of Bullialdus Crater

Nearly every square inch of the Moon is affected by impact craters, from micron-sized pits to gargantuan impact basins (like the 1100 km diameter Imbrium basin, which you can see with your naked eyes on a clear night). Lunar craters have a dizzying array of sizes and morphologies; this is because the size and the morphology of a crater depends on the size (and to some extent, the speed) of the impacting bolide.

The Moon is the best preserved and most accessible laboratory for understanding impact processes. Impacts are the most fundamental and important geologic process in the Solar System. On the Earth, which has been hit by impactors for over four billion years, erosion caused by wind and precipitation degrades impact craters, making them (relatively) hard to study. On the Moon, though, these craters are relatively well preserved.

Summit of the central peak of Bullialdus crater, a Constellation region of interest. LROC Narrow Angle Camera image M114098458LE, image is 500 m wide Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Complex craters are of particular interest. Complex craters have a well defined central peak and often a terraced rim; this central peak is brought up from great depths beneath the crater as the ground elastically rebounds after the shock and pressure of the bolide impact. These sorts of impacts happened on Earth, too - but the erosion caused by terrestrial weather removes all traces of their presence. On the Moon, though, complex impact structures are well-preserved, and the central peaks - which have brought up materials from great depth - offer us the easiest way to explore the composition of the Moon's lower crust and upper mantle, providing critical insights for planetary scientists trying to figure out how planets in this Solar System (and others, around other stars) form.

LROC Wide Angle Camera View of Bullialdus crater (60 km diameter). The approximate position of today's NAC featured image is highlighted with the white arrow. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Today's featured image shows the summit of the central peak of Bullialdus crater, an exploration region of interest located in the western part of Mare Nubium. Spectroscopic observations of Bullialdus using terrestrial telescopes showed that Bullialdus is compositionally distinct from the surrounding region. Later studies using Clementine multispectral data indicated that there are several rock types exposed on the floor of the crater. Lunar scientists who have studied Bullialdus proposed that the impact excavated mafic materials from great depth. Lunar scientists need to discover what these mafic materials are - are they some type of exotic mare basalts? Rare highlands non-mare volcanic rocks? We don't know, and we must find out to fully understand the Moon.

The central peak of Bullialdus is about a kilometer high. Astronaut explorers will not only have to explore around the base, but probably also scale this small mountain to collect the diverse array of samples required to really answer this question.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/20100513_bullialdus.html

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NASA Managers 'Go' for Friday Launch

Wednesday is "L-2" at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, meaning there are only two days remaining until the scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission. Countdown clocks across the launch complex were activated at 4 p.m. EDT Tuesday and the countdown continues on schedule for liftoff Friday at 2:20 p.m.

During the 12-day mission, Atlantis and the mission's six astronauts are delivering an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station.

"From a Space Shuttle Program and ISS Program standpoint, we're ready to launch Atlantis and get this mission under way," said Mike Moses, chair of the prelaunch mission management team that gathered today at Kennedy and gave a unanimous "go" for liftoff. According to Launch Director Mike Leinbach, the launch team is not tracking any issues that would prevent an on-time liftoff.

Image above: Members of the STS-132 launch team take their stations in Firing Room 4 for the start of the STS-132 launch countdown. From left are United Space Alliance Orbiter Test Conductors Lauren Sally and Scott Kraftchick and NASA Test Directors William Heidtman and Jeffrey Skaja. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

Atlantis' astronauts are relaxing today while technicians at Launch Pad 39A load the orbiter's power reactant and storage distribution system, which supplies super-cold propellants to the vehicle's three fuel cells and life-support system during flight.

A high-pressure system continues to dominate Florida's weather pattern, resulting in favorable weather for the rest of the week. The primary launch weather concern is a low cloud ceiling, but the forecast is good overall, calling for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at launch time.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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NASA Invites Public to Take Virtual Walk on Moon

More than 37 years after humans last walked on the moon, planetary scientists are inviting members of the public to return to the lunar surface as “virtual astronauts” to help answer important scientific questions.

No spacesuit or rocket ship is required -- all visitors need to do is go to www.moonzoo.org and be among the first to see the lunar surface in unprecedented detail. New high-resolution images, taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), offer exciting clues to unveil or reveal the history of the moon and our solar system.

“We need Web users around the world to help us interpret these stunning new images of the lunar surface,” said Chris Lintott of Oxford University and chair of the Citizen Science Alliance. “If you only spend five minutes on the site counting craters you’ll be making a valuable contribution to science and, who knows, you might run across a Russian spacecraft.”

Screen capture of the Moon Zoo site.

Scientists are particularly interested in knowing how many craters appear in a particular region of the moon in order to determine the age and depth of the lunar surface (regolith). Fresh craters left by recent impacts provide clues about the potential risks from meteor strikes on the moon and on Earth.

“We hope to address key questions about the impact bombardment history of the moon and discover sites of geological interest that have never been seen before,” said Katherine Joy of the Lunar and Planetary Institute and a Moon Zoo science team member.

NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) scientists are contributing to the Moon Zoo efforts by providing science expertise. NLSI is also providing educational content and supporting outreach goals of the project.

The Moon Zoo makes use of images, such as this one showing the Apollo 11 landing site, from the LRO Camera. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

“The NASA Lunar Science Institute is very excited to be involved with Moon Zoo and support lunar citizen science,” said David Morrison, NLSI director. “Science and public outreach are cornerstones of our Institute; Moon Zoo will contribute to the accomplishment of important science, while being a major step forward in participatory exploration.”

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/moon-zoo.html

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NASA Sees Dull Gray Oil Slick Morph Into Letter 'J'

NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Gulf of Mexico and the Deepwater Horizon oil slick on May 10 at 16:35 UTC (12:35 p.m. EDT) and captured a visible image with its Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer Instrument. The oil slick is located southeast of the Mississippi Delta and appears as a dull gray color, almost in the shape of the letter "J." Directly north of the spill is the Alabama/Mississippi border. The area of the gulf where the slick is situated was virtually cloud-free with the exception of some high clouds (lower left, white).

Image credit: NASA/Goddard/MODIS Rapid Response Team
Text credit: Rob Gutro, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/oilspill/oil-spill-may10.html

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Demonstrating Centrifugal Force

NASA Administrator and former Astronaut Charles Bolden demonstrates centrifugal force during a visit with fifth graders at the Langdon Education Campus, Tuesday, May 11, 2010 in Washington. Bolden's visit was in support of National Lab Day which aims to bring hands-on learning to students across the country.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/centrifugal-force.html

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Bonds of Courage, Beads of Courage Fly on Atlantis, STS-132

Soldiers, policemen and firemen risk their lives every day serving their country or community. Each day people stumble upon accidents or jump into frozen rivers to save survivors of plane crashes. We recognize these heroes for their acts of courage; medals, decorations and other rewards are bestowed upon them by an appreciative public official or superior officer.

How do you recognize and encourage a young child fighting a battle against a life-threatening disease? A battle that is no less dangerous and harrowing? A battle where the outcome is as uncertain as the dangers faced by more well-known heroes?

You present that child with a Bead of Courage.

Jamie Newton, an employee of CIBER Inc., a support contractor at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., knows about Beads of Courage. His six-year-old daughter, Sydney, has been battling cancer for more than a year. During that time, Sydney has received more than 450 beads -- each representing an entirely separate event in the process of her treatments.

"There really is no way to fully explain how the past year has affected us all; affected our family," said Newton. "It's been a really tough year. Sydney has done everything she’s been asked to do and more."

Early this year, Newton developed the idea of asking NASA about the possibility of flying some very special beads for Beads of Courage Inc., of Tucson, Ariz., on one of the final space shuttle missions.

Space Beads of Courage

Beads of Courage is the organization that provides the Beads of Courage Program and other innovative, arts-in-medicine supportive care programs for children coping with serious illness, their families and the health care providers who care for them. Together, Beads of Courage and Newton developed the idea of sponsoring a contest for the best designs of a new bead of courage. These special beads of courage would highlight the role of the space program as space beads of courage.

Newton thought "nothing could be more encouraging to a child fighting cancer than to see a symbol of courage -- a bead -- actually flown to space by the very people who ride into orbit on the space shuttle. That act represents one of the most courageous things other human beings do for all of us."

The contest to design the space beads of courage ran from mid-March to mid-April and concluded with the selection of 17 bead designs. Realizing that only a handful of shuttle launches remained before the end of the shuttle program, Newton and Beads of Courage submitted a request to fly the beads to NASA. The Space Shuttle Program Office at Johnson Space Center in Houston approved the request to fly the beads as part of NASA's Official Flight Kit.

The space beads, designed by talented bead artists, will fly aboard space shuttle Atlantis with Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Steve Bowen, and Piers Sellers. The shuttle and its crew are scheduled to lift off on Friday, May 14 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After Atlantis returns from its mission, NASA will present the string of beads to Beads of Courage Inc. as a symbol of courage to sick children everywhere.

Images above show an assortment of the "Beads of Courage" designs that will fly on space shuttle Atlantis during the STS-132 mission. Image Credit: Beads of Courage

"It is a great honor to be a part of and support a wonderful organization like NASA," said Newton. "This opportunity to fly the Space Beads of Courage onboard space shuttle Atlantis will help children battling cancer and hopefully inspire them to be among the next generations of astronauts and engineers; making it possible for all of us to see what lies beyond our Earth."

"Since 2005, we have been working to transform the treatment experience for children coping with chronic, life threatening illness through our arts-in-medicine programs," explained Jean Baruch, founder of the Beads of Courage program. "We are honored to work with the NASA family on this worthy effort."

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/beads.html

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NEEMO 14 Mission

On May 10, two astronauts, a veteran undersea engineer and an experienced scientist will embark on the 14th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) undersea analog mission.

The crew will conduct a series of extravehicular activities (EVAs), simulating activities that astronauts would be likely to perform during missions in space.

Using near-scale mockup vehicles, EVA teams will conduct off-loading, retrieval and survival missions, including the transfer of an incapacitated astronaut from the ocean floor to the deck of the lander.

Click the image above to start the slideshow.

While inside the Aquarius laboratory, the crew will perform life sciences experiments focused on human behavior, performance and physiology.

The mission also includes a study of autonomous crew work. This will include periods of time when there is limited communication between the crew and the mission control center, much like what could happen during missions to the moon or Mars.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/NEEMO14/index.html

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Crew Prepares for Visiting Vehicles

Aboard the International Space Station Monday, the Expedition 23 crew members oversaw the undocking of the ISS Progress 36 cargo craft and reviewed procedures for the upcoming relocation of the Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft.

The ISS Progress 36 cargo ship undocked from the aft end of the Zvezda service module at 7:16 a.m. EDT and fired its thrusters to move to a safe distance away from the International Space Station. Russian engineers will conduct systems tests with the craft until it is deorbited around July 1.

The crew spent time reviewing procedures for the undocking of the Soyuz TMA-17 from Zarya’s Earth-facing port on Wednesday. With Commander Oleg Kotov at the controls, alongside fellow crew members Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi, the TMA-17 will redock to Zvezda’s free aft end port, which previously was home to the Progress 36.

Image above: The ISS Progress 36 cargo ship is seen shortly after undocking from the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV

The Soyuz relocation opens up the Earth-facing port of Zarya for the installation of the new Rassvet mini-research module-1. The module will be delivered by space shuttle Atlantis, which is slated to launch Friday on the STS-132 mission. Rassvet, which means “dawn” in Russian, will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian spacecraft.

Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson held a conference with STS-132 crew members on Earth regarding robotics operations for the mission.

Creamer worked with the plant research experiment known as Cambium, which seeks definitive evidence that gravity has a direct effect on the cells located under the inner bark where secondary growth occurs in willow seedlings.

Meanwhile, Noguchi worked on a second plant experiment called Waving and Coiling of Arabidopsis at Different Gravity Levels. Also known as WAICO, this European Space Agency experiment studies the interaction of circumnutation (the successive bowing or bending in different directions of the growing tip of the stems and roots) and gravitropism (a tendency to grow toward or away from gravity) in microgravity and Earth gravity of Arabidopsis thaliana.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

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NASA at NASCAR

Cozily positioned next to the piping hot kettle corn tent and across from the Panasonic HD 3D truck, NASA's new traveling exhibit "From Rockets to Race Cars" made its NASCAR debut last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

From better brakes and safer tires, the exhibit features NASA's contributions to the racing world, a correlation that was news to a lot of people.

"I didn't realize how much NASA technology is related to NASCAR," said Scott Jungers of Richmond. "I'm really interested in that, and I think kids would be too."

A quarter-scale NASA Benefits Race Car and impressive Wheel Exhibit drew many families into the NASA tent on Friday afternoon before the Nationwide Series race the Bubba Burger 250. Staffers enthusiastically shared details of the NASA/NASCAR relationship to fans.

The Wheel Exhibit, which included a NASCAR tire, a Shuttle tire, replica of a Lunar Rover tire, a Lunar Tweel and a Spring Tire, was a major hit. Race fans took pictures in front of them and learned that NASA technology has resulted in stronger, safer tires for drivers.

"Where else can you see a Shuttle tire up close?" remarked one man.

Elementary school student Brianna Menegon from Pittsburgh enjoyed learning about space food and how technology used to make astronaut suits heat resistant is now used to make suits for racecar drivers. Having just completed a book report on Neil Armstrong for school, her parents found the NASA tent to be "right on time."

"She likes science a lot," said her mom.

Diana Zabetakis, an elementary school principal from Maryland, couldn't get over how "cool" it was seeing NASA at NASCAR. She and her two sons were waiting in line to play NASA Spin the Wheel game where they could win prizes for answering questions about space correctly.

"As an educator and mother, I think this kind of exposure is great for my guys," Zabetakis said. "They can see the display here and then it also gives us something to talk about when we get home."

"From Rockets to Race Cars" will continue along the racing circuit making stops at Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 29-30 and at the Kentucky Speedway, June 11-12.

HOW NASA HELPS NASCAR

Fire-resistant material
A chemically treated fabric that won't burn or give off fumes was developed by NASA to protect astronauts. It's now used to make suits for race car drivers and pit crews.

Heat-resistant paint
Inorganic paint protects the hot parts of automobiles like exhaust systems, brake drums, firewalls, and engine manifolds. The paint was developed from NASA technology.

Gas gauges
A gas leak detection system developed to monitor the shuttle's hydrogen propulsion system is now being used by automakers to build natural gas powered cars.

Keeping cool
Materials from the space shuttle thermal protection system are used on race cars to protect drivers from the extreme heat generated by the engines. Without the insulation, it can reach 160 degrees inside some vehicles.

Engine lubricants
A plasma spray coating eliminates the need for liquid lubricants in certain engines. The NASA technology may lead to lighter, cheaper, and more efficient compact cars.

Better brakes
NASA's search for heat-tolerant space materials led to composite materials for brake linings that wear longer, cost less, and stand up under friction temperatures up to 650 degrees.

Cleaner cars
Spaceflight research on how and why things burn has helped scientists' efforts to find other fuels, like hydrogen, for engines and furnaces. The research has already begun to show up in improved jet engines, and could soon mean cleaner-burning cars.

Oil-saving seal
NASA developed sealing gaskets to stand up under the extreme conditions of spaceflight. They keep car engine oil clean, increasing the life of the vehicle.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/topics/nasalife/features/nasa-nascar.html

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Intra-Crater Structure in NW Hellas Basin, Mars

This subimage from an observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter covers a small portion of the northwest quadrant of Hellas Basin, or Hellas Planitia, on southern Mars. With a diameter of about 2,200 kilometers (about 1,400 miles) and a depth reaching the lowest elevations on Mars, Hellas is one of the largest impact craters in the solar system.

This area of Hellas Basin has a number of unusual features which are thought to be quite old because of the high crater density. Here a crater inside Hellas has been filled with material. This may be related to volcanic activity on the northwestern rim of Hellas.

However, it might also be related to water and water ice. There is evidence elsewhere that the ground here is ice-rich. HiRISE is being used to investigate this in more detail when Hellas Basin is free from atmospheric dust.

This image is a portion of the HiRISE observation catalogued as ESP_017196_1455, taken on March 28, 2010, and centered at 33.95 degrees south latitude, 48.50 degrees east longitude. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_017196_1455.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo..

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/International Research School of Planetary Sciences

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia13097.html

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New Video "GOES" Exploring the Sun's Weather

The series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites known as GOES provide daily satellite images of weather here on Earth, but they also provide scientists with solar data and space weather observations in geosynchronous (over a fixed location on Earth's surface) orbit. NASA has just released a four-minute educational video called "A Weather Satellite Watches the Sun" explaining the uses of space weather instruments on the GOES satellites.

"The GOES space weather instruments provide crucial data for determining the intensity of space weather events reported by forecasters using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Scales," said Howard Singer, Chief Scientist, Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colo.

NASA has just released a four-minute educational video called "A Weather Satellite Watches the Sun" explaining the uses of space weather instruments on the GOES satellites. Credit: NASA/Silvia Stoyanova

The four-minute video was produced by Silvia Stoyanova, a visualizer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The video provides information about space weather, interviews with astronaut Paul Richards, NASA GOES Deputy Project Manager Andre' Dress, NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center Chief Scientist Howard Singer and many others to explain the importance of space weather and monitoring space weather changes.

NOAA manages the operational environmental satellite program and establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA's GOES Project located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the GOES series of satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis. NASA's GOES Project also creates some of the GOES satellite images and GOES satellite imagery animations.

GOES satellites continually monitor the solar and near-Earth space conditions and provide real-time data to scientists, forecasters, and space weather customers on Earth.

Artist's concept of GOES-O in orbit above Earth. Credit: NASA/Honeywell/C. Meaney

"Space weather" means the conditions on the sun, in the solar wind, and in the space surrounding Earth that affects human activities and technological systems. Space weather can affect satellite operations, cell phone reception, Global Positioning System (GPS) use, and power grids. NASA even uses the GOES satellite data to ensure that astronauts in the space shuttle, space station or on space walks are safe from solar particle events. Commercial airlines that fly polar routes also need to know about solar weather as it affects the ionosphere and high-frequency communications that they rely on at high latitudes.

There are two GOES satellites that cover weather conditions in the U.S. and they are positioned over the eastern and western U.S. GOES-13 is the satellite in the GOES EAST position that covers weather on the eastern side of the continental U.S., including the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. GOES-11 is in the GOES WEST position and covers the western half of the U.S. and the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

GOES-13 has a Space Environment Monitor that consists of three instrument groups: an energetic particle sensor (EPS) package, two magnetometer sensors, and a solar x-ray sensor (XRS) and extreme ultra-violet sensor (EUVS).

The EPS accurately measures the number of particles over a broad energy range, including protons, electrons, and alpha particles, and is used to provide alerts and warnings of hazardous conditions. The magnetometer sensors measure the Earth's magnetic field and provide alerts of changes in the solar wind.

The XRS is an x-ray telescope that observes and measures the sun's solar x-rays in order to provide alerts for potential disruptions in radio communications and degradation in GPS signals. The EUVS is an extreme ultra-violet sensor that measures ultraviolet emissions from the sun. These ultraviolet emissions heat the Earth's upper atmosphere and affect the drag on low-orbiting spacecraft.

The final instrument on GOES satellites that helps monitor space weather is called the Solar X-Ray Imager, or SXI. Every minute the SXI captures an image of the sun's atmosphere in X-rays and provides the space weather forecasters with the necessary information to forecast alerts of potential harmful conditions to space and ground systems.

Those three Space Environment Monitor instrument groups and the SXI operate at all times providing real-time data to the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

The SPWC is the nation's civilian "space weather" center. SPWC receives, monitors, and interprets a wide variety of solar terrestrial data and issues reports, alerts, warnings, and forecasts for special events such as solar flares and geomagnetic storms.

To see the Movie "A Weather Satellite Watches The Sun," visit:

http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010600/a010609/index.html


For more information about NASA's GOES Program visit:

http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/


For more information about NOAA, visit:

http://www.noaa.gov

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/GOES-O/news/new-video.html

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Juniper Jairala

Juniper Jairala once built international theme parks (while secretly performing in samba shows by night). Now she develops space hardware (while fire dancing by night).

Juniper grew up in Chicago, Illinois, Del Mar, California, and Quito, Ecuador. She recevied a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, and then went to build theme parks with Universal Studios and Warner Brothers in Japan and Spain (while samba dancing by night). Juniper's next adventure was working at NASA's Dryden Flight Research center with experimental aircraft, test pilots, and scientists.

However, Juniper's main passion was for human spaceflight, so she next earned a master's of science in aerospace engineering and bioastronautics from CU-Boulder. She worked in various private human spaceflight companies before coming to Johnson Space Center. Her current position has her scuba diving with astronauts, flying on the parabolic aircraft, developing space suits, bouncing on treadmills, and testing out new components of the International Space Station from an EVA perspective. By night, she performs with two Houston fire troupes, Zion's Flame and Luminosity.

Juniper is an EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity) Hardware Test Engineer supporting NEEMO through the Crew and Thermal Systems Division at NASA Johnson Space Center.

A fluent Spanish-speaking Latina with immigrant parents, Juniper also loves encouraging kids - especially girls and minorities - to pursue technology fields. She volunteers as a mentor to middle and high school students in math, science, and engineering through the Society of Hispanic Engineers, and several Houston programs. She likes showing kids how cool and easy it is to be a geek, and how achievable it is to work at places like NASA, where you get to do cool stuff like NEEMO!

Juniper's primary role on NEEMO 14 will be as a support diver for the aquanauts as they collect data regarding the effects of suit design on their performance in reduced-gravity environments (like those on the moon or Mars).

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/NEEMO14/jairala_bio.html

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New Martian Views From Orbiting Camera Show Diversity

New images from more than 750 recent observations of Mars by an orbiting telescopic camera testify to the diversity of landscapes there.

The images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are now available on NASA's Planetary Data System and on the camera team's website. The features visible in the images range from oddly sculpted terrain inside a giant crater to frosted dunes, deformed craters, old gullies and pits strung along fractured ground.

The view of oddly sculpted ground inside the giant Hellas Basin on Mars comes from the High Resolution Imaging Science Instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

This new batch brings the tally from the high-resolution camera to more than 1.4 million image products derived from more than 14,200 observations. Each observation can reveal features as small as desks in areas covering several square miles.

The camera is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in 2006. For more information about the mission, see http://www.nasa.gov/mro.

For more information visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/news/mro20100505.html

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