Buzz Aldrin calls for NZ to help in Mars exploration, Stuff.co.nz

"Moonwalk pioneer Buzz Aldrin says Australia and New Zealand should be part of an international coalition to explore and colonise Mars. International co-operation in space was very difficult and in many ways inefficient, the second man to walk on the moon said. "But I think if we can take the English-speaking people ... we can have American science, technology and bring together the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa ... and have a togetherness organisation," he told AAP in Sydney on Thursday."

Keith's note: Well Buzz, if you want to be accurate, this is the so-called "anglosphere". It includes Canada, eh?

TV's 'Top Chefs' cook up ultimate astronaut takeout, space.com

"Among those who tasted the cosmically inspired dishes during the show were former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, and current astronauts Leland Melvin and Sandra Magnus. The 'Top Chef' cooks received the challenge at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland during a video message from astronauts Timothy "T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson on the International Space Station."

Keith's note: Yea, yea, yea. NASA Edge found out how they actually make this stuff at NASA:

Frank's note: Heaven forbid that the 5-segment solid rocket motor test would have blown up - nobody in their right minds would want that. But I have to ask why on Earth is NASA proceeding to invest time and money in testing boosters that may have no role in the future of human spaceflight.

The Senate seems hell bent on requiring NASA to develop the next Heavy Lift launch vehicle using "no less than four segment solids", but the requirement, contained in the report not the actual Senate bill, has yet to be lodged in the House version, still in play. Wouldn't it have been better to wait a few weeks and see how the House bill language winds up in the much anticipated CR. Would it have killed them? So far, Congress seems intent to make a Shuttle-derived solution the basics of a much-accelerated HLV launcher for as-yet undefined payloads to haul into deep space to as yet undefined destinations.

Canadian Space Agency to Announce Milestone Astronaut Mission Tomorrow, SpaceRef Canada

"It is expected that the Canadian Space Agency will announce that veteran Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will be introduced as the first Canadian Commander of an expedition to the International Space Station. Earlier this year we reported that Hadfield would most likely fly to the International Space Station in November of 2012 as a member of Expedition 34. He would then transition to Commander of Expedition 35 and spend a total of 6 months aboard the space station."

Veteran Astronaut Chris Hadfield Selected as Space Station Expedition 35 Commander, SpaceRef Canada

"As reported earlier this year by SpaceRef Hadfield will fly to the International Space Station in December of 2012 onboard a Russian Soyuz rocket as a member of Expedition 34. He will then transition to Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 35 and will spend a total of 6 months aboard the space station."

NASA Ranked Fifth In Best Places To Work In The Federal Government

"NASA has been ranked fifth in the Partnership for Public Service 2010 ratings for the "Best Places to Work in the Federal Government." The 2010 survey is the fifth conducted by the partnership since 2003. NASA has been rated in the top five in the federal government in four of the surveys and sixth in the other. An award was accepted by Associate Deputy Administrator Charles Scales on behalf of the agency at a special briefing held by the partnership on Wednesday, Sept. 1."

Keith's note: NASA was ranked #1 in 2004.

Frank's note: What a nice study. Real good for the ego, right? Trouble is, most of the people that work at NASA HQ that I know are deeply divided and unhappy at the agency's current mixed status-maybe Constellation and maybe not. And it's worse at field centers like JSC, KSC and MSFC. The Obama administration, who had a fairly good program of empowering commercial firms to access the ISS and reinvigorate its technology development program, proceeded to mangle the rollout of its new initiatives. They then compounded the felony by allowing an inept NASA messaging machine to lose control of its own message.

Much like the Republican's false characterization of Obama's health care bill as containing "death panels", the administration sat by and allowed critics to declare Obama was ending manned spaceflight. I bet a majority of the public still believes this. Now, after seven months after the budget announcement and five months after Obama spoke in Florida, NASA still seems unable to explain what it wants to do, and why it matters to American families.

Do you trust these guys to go to Mars? But, oh yeah, it's a great place to work if you don't care where you are going. The good folks need reinforcements and the deadwood need to take a buy out. Else nothing will ever change.

NASA May Enlist Astronauts, Celebrities to Entertain Trapped Chile Miners

"The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration may help organize astronauts and celebrities to entertain 33 miners trapped in a mine in Chile during a rescue that may take as much as four months. The miners, who have been trapped in the San Jose underground mine in the Atacama Desert for a record 26 days, have already received messages of support from Chilean soccer star Ivan Zamorano and the national coach Marcelo Bielsa and have spoken on the phone with President Sebastian Pinera. "As we progress through in the coming weeks and months there might be an opportunity to have others make contact with the miners," James Duncan, deputy chief medical officer at the Johnson Space Center, told reporters in Santiago today. They may include famous Chileans or NASA astronauts, he said."

On ice and in space, lessons for Chilean miners, Washington Post

"The lessons that could help keep 33 trapped Chilean miners safe and sane during their months underground were learned at desperate times in isolated places: ice-bound sailing ships, prisoner-of-war camps, malfunctioning capsules whizzing through space."

Bold Endeavors: Lessons from Polar and Space Exploration, Jack Stuster, Excerpt from "Risk and Exploration: Earth, Sea, and the Stars", NASA SP-4701

"What happened on board the Belgica is well-documented. The crew gradually slipped into a malaise that was paralyzing to some of them. One man died because of what Cook thought was the effects of the isolation and confinement. One man developed a temporary deafness. Another man developed a temporary blindness. One man, each night, would find a place below deck where he could hide and sleep, because he thought people were going to kill him. Roald Amundsen served his apprenticeship as an explorer as mate on the Belgica, and later wrote, "Insanity and disease stalked the decks of the Belgica that winter." He credited Frederick Cook with saving the expedition from certain psychological collapse."

Keith's note: I took Jack Stuster's book "Bold Endeavors" to Everest Base Camp with me in 2009. Alas, I did not really read much there. I read some of Edmund Hillary's "High Adventure" (still very accurate, 50 years on), "The Ascent of Rum Doodle" ("send down more champagne" - a requirement), and a portion of Jack's book that focused on polar epics - until it got too cold to turn the pages, that is. Another lesson to be learned: let's invent books that turn their own pages at -20F (hint to iPad developers).

Letter to Rep. Gordon Regarding House Science Committee Authorization Bill As It Relates to NASA

"President Obama's new strategy revitalizes and expands our investments in technology, commercial spaceflight, student research, and robotic exploration precursors. These are the key elements of the President's new plan for NASA that must be retained in any consensus solution reached by Congress and the White House. These investments will benefit all parts of our space program. Indeed, human space exploration beyond Earth orbit can only be truly sustainable and affordable if commercial spaceflight to low Earth orbit and innovative research and development efforts are pursued as well. We feel that the following programs, which are substantially underfunded in the current House Science Committee authorization bill, are especially critical:"

Keith's note: Given that this letter addresses the future, young people, and education - and commerical space, among the signers, you find

- No one under 50
- Only 1 female
- Little - if any - space commerce experience
- College management only - little/no classroom teachers

Keith's additional note: With all due respect to all the signers, and not to take away from their comments, but I do not see a single person on this list who will spend their entire career in the future referred to by this letter. One would think that their voices would be among the most persuasive.

NASA KSC Solicitation: LIFE-LIKE ROBOT

"NASA/KSC has a requirement for a 5'9" Life-Like Robot, brand-name Engineered Arts Limited, RoboThespian, or equal. The solicitation (14 pages) is attached and includes: terms and conditions of order, salient characteristics for life-like robot, and questions/answers to inquiries about the Request for Information (RFI) that was previously posted."

Keith's 12 July note: I will be the last person to say that NASA does not need to enhance the way that it interacts with the public. The cooler that interaction is, the more you are going to reach people in a memorable way. I have no doubt that RoboThespian is cool. But at a time when NASA is off developing a real (and much, much cooler) robot that will work in space (Robonaut) why not try and use something that resembles actual NASA robots to do education and public outreach? RoboThespian is manufactured overseas in the UK (Cornwall). Quite frankly, at a cost of between $54,000 to $119,000 wouldn't you think that KSC could find an American company that offers something that will fit the bill? Indeed, Disney World is an hour west of KSC in Orlando and they have lots of animatronic robots - indeed, its their specialty.

Maybe we could get RoboThespian and Robobaut 2 to compete for the job ... like they do on Futurama. Imagine some good old robot-on-robot action in the ring. In one corner, RoboThespian, armed with his thesaurus and his fancy accent, and in the other corner, Robonaut 2 armed with ... power tools. Hmmm .. what would Bender do?

Keith's update: NASA KSC decided to buy the Cornish robot. I wonder if KSC could (if asked) actually provide the requirements for this acquisition - requirements that clearly show that only this Cornish droid meets their requirements - and that there was no domestic sources that could also do so. Let's see if DFRC goes ahead with its plan to buy Ethnically Diverse Cylons.

More viewing options here.

NASA and ATK Successfully Test Five-Segment Solid Rocket Motor (with Video)

"With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs. The stationary firing of the first-stage development solid rocket motor, dubbed DM-2, was the most heavily instrumented solid rocket motor test in NASA history. More than 760 instruments measured 53 test objectives."

NASA Tests Engine With an Uncertain Future, NY Times

"The shuttle solids, Dr. [Doug] Stanley said, "have a very high demonstrated reliability." The five-segment motors would also take advantage of the existing factory that builds the shuttle boosters. For James Muncy, a space policy consultant who has been an ardent critic of Constellation, that is exactly the reason he would like the solids to go away. "They work," he said. But he added: "They're expensive. Nobody else needs them."

NASA Selects Two Firms for Experimental Space Vehicle Test Flights, NASA (with video)

"NASA's Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR) has awarded a total of approximately $475,000 to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas and Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif. The awards will allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space.

The flights will demonstrate the capabilities of new vehicles to provide recoverable launch and testing of small payloads going to "near-space," the region of Earth's atmosphere between 65,000 and 350,000 feet. The CRuSR program fosters the development of commercial reusable transportation to near space. The overall goal of the program is regular, frequent and predictable access to near-space at a reasonable cost with easy recovery of intact payloads."

Commercial Spaceflight Federation Congratulates Initial Winning Launch Providers in NASA's Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) Program

"The commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to congratulate two of its member companies, Armadillo Aerospace and Masten Space Systems, for winning an initial NASA test flight contract as part of the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) Program. The first round of the program, an open competition for small businesses, was formally kicked off by NASA earlier this year with a Request for Quotations for commercial reusable suborbital flight services."

STA Event: An Engineering Assessment of the Way Forward in Human Spaceflight

"STA will be hosting a roundtable discussion focused on the topic, "An Engineering Assessment of the Way Forward in Human Spaceflight". Panelists will include: Mike Griffin, former NASA Administrator and Professor, University of Alabama in Huntsville; Bob Dickman, Executive Director, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics; Gary Payton, Former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Space and Scott Pace, Director, GWU Space Policy Institute."

India Announces Instrument Suite for Chandrayaan-2 Moon Orbiter, Lander and Rover, SpaceRef

"The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) today announced the suite of instruments for its second mission to the moon after it's first orbiter Chandrayaan-1 was successful in its mission. The second mission is scheduled to be launched on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota in 2013."

SpaceX Asks For Oct. 23 Dragon Launch Slot, Aviation Week

"Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has requested Oct. 23 on the 45th Space Wing's calendar for launch of its second Falcon 9 rocket, which will aim to place a Dragon cargo capsule into orbit.

The flight is the first of up to three launches planned under SpaceX's $278-million Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract with NASA, which is intended to help pay for the rocket and capsule's design, development and flight testing."

NASA, Internet Archive and Flickr Launch Historic Image Collection, NASA

"Visitors to NASA on The Commons can help tell the photos' story by adding tags, or keywords, to the images to identify objects and people. In addition, viewers can communicate with other visitors by sharing comments. These contributions will help make the images easier to find online and add insight about NASA's history."

Marc's note: This is cool way to share some great historical pictures and get the public involved.

Summoning the Future By Remembering the Past, Dennis Wingo

"Almost exactly 100 years and nine weeks before the famous speech by President Kennedy at Rice University calling for what would be known as the Apollo program, the U.S. Congress, in the middle of a war for the life of the nation, passed the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. The "national" railroad as it was called was chartered by the government had as its core purpose to bind the nation together in commerce and open up the frontier to economic development. The government picked the route, set standards for its construction, and paid milestone payments to each of the two railroads (Union Pacific in the east and Central Pacific in the west). The government provided further incentives in the form of huge land grants on either side of the tracks that could be resold by the railroads at a profit. Another note is that the railroad paid back the government at a six percent interest over 30 years, resulting in a direct profit to the treasury."

William Lenoir, astronaut who flew on first operational space shuttle mission, dies, Collectspace

"Former NASA astronaut William "Bill" Lenoir, who flew aboard the first operational mission of the space shuttle in November 1982, died Saturday at age 71. According to sources close to his family, Lenoir died after suffering head injuries during a bicycle accident Thursday. Lenoir, who was selected by NASA for its sixth astronaut group and second class of "scientist-astronauts" in 1967, did not fly in space until 15 years later as a member of the STS-5 crew."

NASTAR Center and Special Aerospace Services Commence Research Study on Emergency Detection and Human Response of Atlas V Profile

"The NASTAR(R) Center, the premier commercial space training and research center in the world, has completed the initial phase of a research effort focused on commercial human spaceflight and systems development related to emergency detection and response using an Atlas V flight profile, under a contract with Special Aerospace Service (SAS) on August 16, 2010. SAS used the capabilities of NASTAR Center's unique Space Training Simulator (STS-400) to accurately simulate the ascent G accelerations of an Atlas V rocket in Atlas 402 configuration. Nominal scenarios were performed with three subjects in order to understand crew reaction times. Subjects are medically monitored and tested at NASTAR Center. One subject, Jeff Ashby, is a former NASA Space Shuttle commander."

Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy, Ken Kremer

"Huge murals of artwork commemorating three decades of historic explorations and scientific achievements by all five of America's Space Shuttle Orbiters - Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour - now grace the Shuttle Firing Room inside the Launch Control Center (LCC) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The artwork was designed in tribute to the Space Shuttle Program as the three remaining Orbiters edge ever closer to their looming retirement date now slated for early to mid 2011 and coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the first launch."

NASA held an event that allowed the media to document the arrival of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer - 02 (AMS-02) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this week. Members of the media were invited to interview the STS-134 crew and the scientists that are working on this project.