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Month: September 2013
Balancing a One Year Space Station Mission Risks

‘Balancing’ the 1-year mission risks, NASA Johnson Space Center “If you’ve ever stumbled out of bed in the middle of the night, fallen out of a yoga pose or had trouble “finding your legs” after hopping off a rollercoaster or a boat, then you know getting your balance can be challenging. This is even truer for astronauts who have just returned from extended spaceflight in microgravity. Spaceflight causes changes in […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 30, 2013
CASIS-Funded Payloads Finally Arrive at the ISS

First CASIS-Funded Payloads Berthed to the International Space Station, CASIS “The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, congratulates Orbital Sciences on a successful launch of the Antares rocket and on the berthing of the Cygnus cargo vehicle to the International Space Station. Orbital’s successful mission also represents a milestone for CASIS: The first-ever […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 30, 2013
SpaceX Launches Falcon 9 v1.1 on Maiden Flight

SpaceX Launch Update: This Sunday SpaceX will attempt to launch the first Falcon 9 v1.1. While similar to the original Falcon 9, the upgraded version sports the more powerful Merlin 1D engines which have yet to fly, a much longer fuselage, a new larger fairing and a number of other upgrades to the rocket including its software. The launch will be webcast. The primary payload is the Canadian Space Agency […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 29, 2013
Cygnus Rendezvous Complete

Updated Cygnus Rendezvous Date, NASA TV Coverage for Orbital Sciences’ Demonstration Mission to International Space Station, NASA “NASA and its International Space Station partners have approved a Sunday, Sept. 29, target arrival of Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus spacecraft on its demonstration cargo resupply mission to the space station. NASA Television coverage of the rendezvous will begin at 4:30 a.m. EDT and will continue through the capture and installation of the Cygnus […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 29, 2013
New NASA Climate Models

NASA Data Shows Potential 21st Century Temperature, Precipitation Changes [Watch], NASA “New data visualizations from the NASA Center for Climate Simulation and NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., show how climate models used in the new report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimate possible temperature and precipitation pattern changes throughout the 21st century.” Also released today: Climate report by international […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 27, 2013
Astronauts Practice Launching in Orion

Astronauts Practice Launching in NASA’s New Orion Spacecraft, NASA “Astronauts Rick Linnehan and Mike Foreman try out a prototype display and control system inside an Orion spacecraft mockup at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston during the first ascent and abort simulations for the program. For the first time, NASA astronauts are practicing a launch into space aboard the agency’s Orion spacecraft, and provided feedback on the new capsule’s cockpit […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 27, 2013
NASA Hides Science Behind Paywalls

Water for Future Mars Astronauts?, LANL “Perhaps most notable among findings from the ChemCam team is that all of the dust and fine soil contains small amounts of water.” A Martian Igneous Rock That’s Surprisingly Earth-like, Caltech “But Curiosity is far more than a one-trick rover, and in a paper published today in the journal Science, a team of MSL scientists reports its analysis of a surprisingly Earth-like Martian rock […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 26, 2013
NASA OIG Seeks Media Commentary For SOFIA Audit

Keith’s note: I am really baffled by this. I got this unsolicted email today from the JPL OIG. I had no idea that this SOFIA audit was going on. My reply (to PAO, OIG): “Thanks for thinking that I may have opinions relevant to your audit/investigation. But what I want to know (and, heads up,  I consider this to be newsworthy and hence publishable) is why are you using an […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 26, 2013
OIG Report on Classified National Security Information at NASA

NASA’s Compliance with Executive Order 13526: Classified National Security Information “However, while the Agency’s procedures meet Federal requirements, its implementing directive does not require Agency personnel with classification authority to receive all necessary training. Additionally, we found instances in which Agency personnel were not consistently following these NASA policies. Specifically, we found classified documents that were improperly marked,training requirements that were not met, and self-inspections that were not fully implemented. […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 26, 2013
SpaceX Statement on Shared Use of LC-39A (Update)

According to SpaceX on 20 Sep: “SpaceX has nearly 50 missions on manifest to launch over the proposed 5 year lease period and we can easily make use of the additional launch site. At the time we submitted the bid, SpaceX was unaware any other parties had interest in using the pad. However, if awarded this limited duration lease on 39A, SpaceX would be more than happy to support other […]

  • NASA Watch
  • September 25, 2013