When NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) launches on its first flight, it will be doing some serious multi-tasking. Not only will Exploration Mission-1 test the performance of SLS and its integration with the Orion spacecraft - the agency plans to use its massive lift capability to carry nearly a dozen nano-satellites to conduct science experiments beyond low Earth orbit.

NASA's newest rocket will launch Orion on an uncrewed test flight to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon. Tucked inside the stage adapter - the ring connecting Orion to the top propulsion stage of the SLS - will be 11 self-contained small satellites, each about the size of a large shoebox.

"NASA is taking advantage of a great opportunity to conduct more science beyond our primary focus of this mission," said Jody Singer manager of the Flight Programs and Partnerships Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "While this new vehicle will enable missions beyond Earth orbit, we're taking steps to increase the scientific and exploration capability of SLS by accommodating small, CubeSat-class payloads."

About 10 minutes after Orion and its service module escape the pull of Earth's gravity, the two will disconnect and Orion will proceed toward the moon. Once Orion is a safe distance away, the small payloads will begin to be deployed, all at various times during the flight depending on the particular missions.

These CubeSats are small nano-satellites designed to be efficient and versatile. The masses of these secondary payloads are light - no heavier than 30 pounds (14 kilograms) - and will not require any extra power from the vehicle to function. They will essentially piggyback on the SLS flight, providing what otherwise would be costly access to deep space.

"We are expanding the capabilities of this particular SLS test flight," said Joseph Pelfrey, deputy manager of the Exploration and Space Transportation Development Office at Marshall. "The rocket will be the strongest ever built by NASA and we want to take advantage of that design. Flying secondary payloads is something we plan to do for missions to come and provide the science community an opportunity they haven't had before."

The dispensers on the adapter ring will be built with commercially available materials. No pyrotechnic devices will be a part of the payloads and each will be ejected with a spring mechanism - similar to opening a lid on a toy jack-in-the-box.

The principal investigators and engineers for the payloads will work with the secondary payload integration team to develop mission-specific requirements and verify interfacing and safety requirements are met. Multiple organizations at NASA Headquarters in Washington are soliciting inputs for the available EM-1 secondary payload slots, and three have already been selected for further development: Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout, Lunar Flashlight and BioSentinel.

Both NEA Scout and Lunar Flashlight involve Marshall engineering and science teams, while BioSentinel is managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in California.

NEA Scout, using solar sail propulsion, will fly by a small asteroid, taking pictures and making observations that will enhance the current understanding of an the asteroid environment and will yield key information for future astronauts exploring an asteroid. "A solar sail works best when deployed in deep space and SLS will get us there," said Les Johnson, principal investigator for NEA Scout at Marshall. "It will take us out of Earth orbit and to interplanetary space - where we need to be to deploy the solar sail. It's a perfect ride to begin our mission."

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Space Launch System to Boost Science with Secondary Payloads

Papers deriving from NASA support: 1 Smith SM, Zwart SR, Heer M. Human adaptation to space flight: The role of nutrition. Houston, TX: NASA Johnson Space Center. 2014; 151 p. NP-2014-10-018-JSC. http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/human-adaptation-to-spaceflight-the-role-of-nutrition.pdf Note:ISS results. This report may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:Not applicable to this publication Funding:No funding cited. S.M. Smith is at NASA Johnson Space Center. 2 Stabley JN, Prisby RD, Behnke BJ, Delp MD. Type 2 diabetes alters bone and marrow blood flow and vascular control mechanisms in the ZDF rat. J Endocrinol. 2015 Apr;225(1):47-58. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25817711 PI:M.D. Delp Journal Impact Factor:3.586 Funding:"This study was supported by grants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX12AL41G and NNX14AQ57G) and National Institutes of Health (AG-31317)." 3 S RC, Zeman KL, Bennett WD, Prisk GK, Darquenne C. Effect of posture on regional deposition of coarse particles in the healthy human lung. J Aerosol Med Pulm Drug Deliv. 2015 Mar 31. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25826480 PI:G.K. Prisk; R.C. S, NSBRI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:2.395 Funding:"The study was supported by National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA cooperative agreement NCC 9-58 (Grant HFP01604 and Postdoctoral Fellowship PF02103)." 4 LaVoy EC, Bollard CM, Hanley PJ, Blaney JW, O'Connor DP, Bosch JA, Simpson RJ. A single bout of dynamic exercise enhances the expansion of MAGE-A4 and PRAME-specific cytotoxic T-cells from healthy adults. Exerc Immunol Rev. 2015;21:144-53. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25826370 PI:R.J. Simpson Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:9.929 Funding:"This work was partially supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration grant [NNX12AB48G] to R.J. Simpson, the University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences dissertation fellowship to E. LaVoy, and as part of a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society SCOR Project to C. Bollard." 5 Jeong Y, Carleton SM, Gentry BA, Yao X, Ferreira JA, Salamango DJ, Weis M, Oestreich AK, Williams AM, McCray MG, Eyre DR, Brown M, Wang Y, Phillips CL. Hindlimb skeletal muscle function and skeletal quality and strength in +/G610C mice with and without weight-bearing exercise. J Bone Miner Res. 2015 Mar 31. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25829218 PI:S.M. Carleton, NSBRI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Note:Mice were exposed to treadmill exercise regimen for the weight-bearing activity. Journal Impact Factor:6.589 Funding:"We would also like to thank the following funding sources: National Institutes of Health ARO55907 (YJJ, SMC, BAG, YY, DJS, AMW, ADKO, MGM,YW, CLP), T32 RR007004 (BAG), HD058834 (MB), AR037318 (DRE), HD070394 (DRE); National Space and Biomedical Research Institute NCC 9-58 (SMC); Leda J. Sears Trust Foundation (SMC, BAG, DJS, AMW, ADKO, MGM, CLP); Phi Zeta (BAG); University of Missouri Research Board (MB, CLP, JAF); Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (CLP, XY, YW ); University of Missouri Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CLP, MB); University of Missouri Interdisciplinary Intercampus Research Program (CLP,YW,ADKO)." 6 Courtney A, Corrigan CF, Steffey D. Letter to the Editor regarding Bajaj D, et al., The resistance of cortical bone tissue to failure under cyclic loading is reduced with alendronate, Bone 2014;64:57-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25797158 and Bajaj D, Geissler JR, Allen MR, Burr DB, Fritton JC. Response to Courtney et al. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25813582 PI:D. Bajaj, NSBRI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Note:These letters refer to the article: Bajaj D, Geissler JR, Allen MR, Burr DB, Fritton JC. The resistance of cortical bone tissue to failure under cyclic loading is reduced with alendronate. Bone. 2014 Jul;64:57-64.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24704262, which appeared in SPACELINE Current Awareness List #610, August 8, 2014. Journal Impact Factor:3.823 Funding:"The National Institutes of Health (RR010601; AR007581;AR047838; AR062002; AR063351), the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NASA contract NCC 9-58), and Merck (drug at no cost)." 7 Sasi SP, Park D, Muralidharan S, Wage J, Kiladjian A, Onufrak J, Enderling H, Yan X, Goukassian DA. Particle radiation-induced nontargeted effects in bone-marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells. Stem Cells Int. 2015:496512. [Article in Press] http://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/aa/496512/ PI:D.A. Goukassian Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. Journal Impact Factor:2.801 Funding:"This work was supported by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) under Grant no. NNJ10ZSA001N and American Heart Association (AHA) Grant no. 14GRNT18860032 to David A. Goukassian. This work was also supported in part by Grants from AHA 10GRNT4710003 and NHLBI HL106098 to Xinhua Yan." 8 Armstrong PA, Wood SJ, Shimizu N, Kuster K, Perachio A, Makishima T. Preserved otolith organ function in caspase-3-deficient mice with impaired horizontal semicircular canal function. Exp Brain Res. 2015 Apr 1. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25827332 PI:S.J. Wood Journal Impact Factor:2.168 Funding:The PI reports that the eye tracking software used was funded by NASA. ______________________________________________________ Other papers of interest: 1 Mandsager KT, Robertson D, Diedrich A. The function of the autonomic nervous system during spaceflight. Clin Auton Res. 2015 Mar 29. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25820827 Note:STS-90 results. The paper reviews in-flight autonomic and hemodynamic data about sympathetic activation and vasorelaxation, highlighting results from NASAs NEUROLAB mission. 2 Putro WS, Lestair RE. The scoring quality of astronauts' sleeps using Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) during microgravity effect in the International Space Station (ISS). Sci J PPI-UKM. 2015;2(1):1-3. http://www.kemalapublisher.com/index.php/ppi-ukm/article/view/28/pdf_2 Note:ISS, STS-114 results. This article may be obtained online without charge. 3 Seedhouse E. Crew selection and medical care. In: Survival and Sacrifice in Mars Exploration. Springer Praxis Books: Springer International Publishing, 2015. p. 41-67. http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-12448-3_3 4 Tajino J, Ito A, Nagai M, Zhang X, Yamaguchi S, Iijima H, Aoyama T, Kuroki H. Intermittent application of hypergravity by centrifugation attenuates disruption of rat gait induced by 2 weeks of simulated microgravity. Behav Brain Res. 2015 Mar 25. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25819803 Note:Hindlimb unloading and centrifugation were used. 5 Brockhurst J, Cheleuitte-Nieves C, Buckmaster CL, Schatzberg AF, Lyons DM. Stress inoculation modeled in mice. Transl Psychiatry. 2015 Mar 31;5:e537. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25826112 Note:Hindlimb unloading study. This article may be obtained online without charge. 6 Luo Z, Jiang L, Xu Y, Li H, Xu W, Wu S, Wang Y, Tang Z, Lv Y, Yang L. Mechano growth factor (MGF) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-3 functionalized silk scaffolds enhance articular hyaline cartilage regeneration in rabbit model. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25818452 7 Olson AL, McNiece IK. Novel clinical uses for cord blood derived mesenchymal stromal cells. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25819838 8 Shenkman BS, Lomonosova Iu N, Nemirovskaia TL. [Neuronal NO-synthase as the molecular guard of myofiber stability. NO-dependent signaling pathways in the active and unloaded muscle]. Usp Fiziol Nauk. 2014 Apr-Jun;45(2):37-48. Russian. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25707262 Note:The method of unloading is not specified. 9 Tagliaferri C, Wittrant Y, Davicco MJ, Walrand S, Coxam V. Muscle and bone, two interconnected tissues. Ageing Res Rev. 2015 May;21:55-70. Epub 2015Mar 21. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25804855 10 Quinlan E, Thompson EM, Matsiko A, O'Brien FJ, Lpez-Noriega A. Long-term controlled delivery of rhBMP-2 from collagen-hydroxyapatite scaffolds for superior bone tissue regeneration. J Control Release. 2015 Mar 25. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25817394 11 Nawathe S, Yang H, Fields AJ, Bouxsein ML, Keaveny TM. Theoretical effects of fully ductile versus fully brittle behaviors of bone tissue on the strength of the human proximal femur and vertebral body. J Biomech. 2015 Mar 12. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25828400 12 Miller GJ, Gerstenfeld LC, Morgan EF. Mechanical microenvironments and protein expression associated with formation of different skeletal tissues during bone healing. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2015 Mar 31. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25822264 13 Harrison J. Overview of ICRP Committee 2 'Doses from radiation exposure.' Ann ICRP. 2015 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25816256 14 Kim CS, Seong KM, Lee BS, Lee IK, Yang KH, Kim JY, Nam SY. Chronic low-dose -irradiation ofDrosophila melanogasterlarvae induces gene expression changes and enhances locomotive behavior. J Radiat Res. 2015 Mar 19. [Epub ahead of print] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25792464 Note:This article may be obtained online without charge. 15 Liu Q, Zhou R, Zhao X, Oei TPS. Effects of prolonged head-down bed rest on working memory. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2015 Mar 25;11:835-42. http://www.dovepress.com/effects-of-prolonged-head-down-bed-rest-on-working-memory-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-NDT Note:Bed rest study. This article may be obtained online without charge. 16 Lasota PA, Shah JA. Analyzing the effects of human-aware motion planning on close-proximity human-robot collaboration. Hum Factors. 2015 Feb;57(1):21-33. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25790568 17 Shao Y, Sang J, Fu J. On human pluripotent stem cell control: The rise of 3D bioengineering and mechanobiology. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25818411 18 Coon BG, Baeyens N, Han J, Budatha M, Ross TD, Fang JS, Yun S, Thomas JL, Schwartz MA. Intramembrane binding of VE-cadherin to VEGFR2 and VEGFR3 assembles the endothelial mechanosensory complex. J Cell Biol. 2015 Mar 30;208(7):975-86. Epub 2014 Mar 23. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25800053 19 Bernardeschi I, Greco F, Ciofani G, Marino A, Mattoli V, Mazzolai B, Beccai L. A soft, stretchable and conductive biointerface for cell mechanobiology. Biomed Microdevices. 2015 Apr;17(2):46. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25797705

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NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #643 - 10 April 2015

Today (April 10) marks the start of the International Space Apps Challenge, a global hackathon open to anyone with an Internet connection that aims to use data from NASA and other space organizations to solve real-world problems.

Participants in the International Space Apps Challenge are tasked with creating mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization tools and platforms that either take on one of the "challenges" created by NASA or tackle unique projects.

Attendees of the New York City local event, hosted at Microsoft NYC in Times Square, will have the opportunity to hear from and work with astronauts Cady Coleman, Richard Garriott, Ron Garan and Gregory Johnson, as well as other NASA officials. [10 Best Space Apps in the Universe]

In anticipation of this weekend's event, Space.com talked with one of the Space Apps Challenge creators: technologist and developer Sean Herron. We asked Herron about where the idea for the challenge came from, what the weekend-long event is like in different parts of the world and how people of many different skill levels can participate.

Space.com: How did you and your colleagues at NASA came up with the idea for the International Space Apps Challenge?

Sean Herron: We were thinking about how there's this huge mass of people all around the world who are just incredible fans of NASA and space in general. And [we saw] all these amazing things that come out on the Internet all the time, of people doing just great stuff with data collected from NASA missions.

And our thought was, would there be a really cool way to kind of tap all of this genius and bring them together, and have one big event to try andsolve what we call "problems of a global nature?"

So, what if we got the best and brightest inside of NASA to say, "These are challenges that NASA has in various areas from climate change, to ways of doing human space flight on long-duration missions, to all these different areas." What if we drafted some very small challenges, very small pieces of those larger problems, and put them to that collective consciousness for a weekend and just see what they came up with?

And so that was the initial impetus behind the idea. And we hosted the first event back in 2012, where we ended up bringing together I think 70 countries around the world, with thousands of people coming together, working on a whole bunch of challenges that had been inspired by NASA missions. And it was really amazing to see what came out of that.

Space.com: The challenge is something people can do from home, or they can go to event centers in over 130 cities all over the world. Which events have you been able to attend, and what are they like?

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Cosmic Hackathon: Q&A with Space Apps Challenge Co-Founder Sean Herron

NASA APOLLO 7 MANNED SPACE FLIGHT FILM REPORT 71452
This historic NASA film shows the Apollo 7 mission -- the first mission in the United States #39; Apollo program to carry a crew into space. It was also the first U.S. spaceflight to carry astronauts...

By: PeriscopeFilm

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NASA APOLLO 7 MANNED SPACE FLIGHT FILM REPORT 71452 - Video

Private Space Series - Episode 2
The Private Space team travels to the Mojave Desert in California to interview Dr. Lee Valentine, Chairman of the Space Studies Institutes and an early investor in XCOR aerospace, to talk about...

By: LifeAssembled Studios

Original post:

Private Space Series - Episode 2 - Video

Engineers are about to start studying the first parts made by a 3D printer in space.

Late last year, the 3D printer aboard the International Space Station cranked out 21 items, as part of a project designed to validate 3D-printing technology in microgravity conditions. The parts came back down to Earth in February aboard SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo capsule, and then were delivered to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

On Monday (April 6), Marshall engineers opened up the boxes and took their first looksat the space-printed parts.

"Before the printer was launched to the space station, it made an identical set of parts," NASA officials wrote in an update on Tuesday (April 7). "Now, materials engineers will put both the space samples and ground control samples literally under a microscope and through a series of tests. Project engineers will perform durability, strength and structural tests on both sets of printed items and even put them under an electron microscope to scan for differences in the objects."

3D printers build objects layer by layer out of plastic, polymers and other raw materials, in a process also known as additive manufacturing. NASA has high hopes for this technology, which agency officials say could reduce the costs of space missions and help humanity extend its footprint out into the solar system.

Spacecraft and off-Earth colonies equipped with 3D printers would be much more self-sufficient, reducing the need for resupply from Earth, the thinking goes.

The space station's 3D printer was built for NASA by California-based startup Made In Space, as part of a collaborative project called the 3D Printing In Zero-G Technology Demonstration. The machine launched to the space station aboard Dragon in September 2014, and was installed in the station's Microgravity Science Glovebox by NASA astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore on Nov. 17.

NASA expects to use the device again later this year, agency officials said. Made In Space, meanwhile, aims to send a larger 3D printer known as the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) up to the orbiting lab later this year. The company will retain ownership of the AMF, which will be commercially available to users on Earth, Made In Space representatives have said.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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1st Parts from 3D Printer in Space About to Get a Close-Up (Video)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) Ever since Alan Shepard blasted off aboard the Freedom 7 capsule in Jan. 1961, the roughly 550 individuals who have traveled into space have all come from an elite albeit similar pool of candidates.

The original "Mercury Seven" astronauts? All military pilots. Through much of NASA's space shuttle program, the space agency mostly limited its pool of astronauts to pilots, engineers, scientists and medical doctors along with the occasional politician.

In 1986, NASA expanded its criteria when it launched teacher Christa McAuliffe aboard space shuttle Challenger a flight that ended in fatal tragedy for all seven crew members. Though NASA says McAuliffe will always be remembered as the nation's first and only "Teacher in Space," the agency launched McAuliffe's backup, Barbara Morgan, as an "Educator Mission Specialist" in 2007, and says it remains committed to sending more teachers in the future.

But as the crew that makes up Expedition 44 comprised of American astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui prepares to launch for a six-month stint aboard the International Space Station, they say they're also preparing to host a new type of unconventional' astronaut: famed opera singer Sarah Brightman.

Station Soprano

Brightman, who received worldwide acclaim for her breakout role as 'Christine' in Andrew Lloyd Weber's popular 1986 rock-opera "Phantom of the Opera," has been a performing vocalist for three decades, with her official Web site calling her "the world's biggest selling soprano" who boasts a vocal range of over "three full octaves."

And if all goes as planned, in September, Brightman will be singing from an unprecedented venue, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule and spending 10 days aboard the International Space Station. Using the station as her concert stage, Brightman is expected to perform a song written in collaboration with Weber especially for the occasion, along with accompaniment by artists on the Earth.

Lindgren, Kononenko and Yui will be on the station during Brightman's brief stay, and WDRB Web Producer Travis Kircher -- along with Space.com reporter Miriam Kramer -- spoke with them briefly during a round robbins phone interview about the upcoming flight.

"I'm excited that Sarah Brightman is flying," Lindgren said. "She is something of an international ambassador for arts and so I'm excited to see the arts in space to see music and do a little performance in space of something that's new."

"She's going to be reaching out to a whole new population that maybe didn't have a particular interest in space previously," he added. "And then she's just going to be something new to the space station. I can tell you that it's going to be very exciting to watch her and hear her perform up there."

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Upcoming International Space Station crew prepares to host musical celebrity

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - NASA partnered with the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce to hold the Alabama NASA Space Launch System Supplier Conference on Wednesday.The space program has a significant economic impact right here in Alabama, and leaders are hoping to grow that impact even more.

NASA's latest mission, the Space Launch System, is to send humans into deep space with hopes of one day reaching Mars, but leaders say that's only possible with the help of others outside of NASA.

"We look for folks that want to be part of the future and rise to the next chapter of our history of exploration," said Jody Singer, program manager for the flight programs and partnerships office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.

Now, NASA leaders are giving the all call for businesses, of any sort, to help with the mission.

"It obviously has to be within what we work in our mission of going forward with exploration, but there are many different companies, many different activities, many different things that we need and specialties," Singer said. "As well as, day today activity that we need to be able to fly and survive in space. So the doors are really wide open."

"We want to make sure we communicate that not only are they looking for rocket scientists. Yes, they are looking for new ideas, but they're also looking for commodities such as ink pens, pencils, and paper. They have to run officers everyday. Theyhave to have grass cut. You'd be amazed at what you can sell to them," said Ron Simmons, Vice President of Business Development for the Chamber of Commerce.

One Montgomery company, Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood, is already partnered with another firm on a contract to design the Space Launch System test stand. The company hopes it's a contract which could launch them into even more business.

"We want to keep expanding on it. It's important to the company, it's also important to our country," said Al Allenbeck, Vice President of Airport Planning and Engineering with Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood.

NASA has more than a $3 billion economic impact in our state alone. Local leaders are hopeful that chunk of change will head to central Alabama, ultimately creating more jobs.

"We want these companies to do well, make a good profit, generate revenue, but grow jobs, that's what we are here for," claims Simmons.

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AL NASA Space Launch System Supplier Conference held in Montgomery

IMAGE:Bands of magnetized solar material march toward the sun's equator. The way the bands in each hemisphere interact leads to a 330-day cycle of waxing and waning activity on the... view more

Credit: S. McIntosh

Our sun is constantly changing. It goes through cycles of activity - swinging between times of relative calm and times when frequent explosions on its surface can fling light, particles and energy out into space. This activity cycle peaks approximately every 11 years. New research shows evidence of a shorter time cycle as well, with activity waxing and waning over the course of about 330 days.

Understanding when to expect such bursts of solar activity is crucial to successfully forecast the sun's eruptions, which can drive solar storms at Earth. These space weather events can interfere with satellite electronics, GPS navigation, and radio communications. The quasi-annual variations in space weather seem to be driven by changes in bands of strong magnetic field that are present in each solar hemisphere, said researchers in a paper published on April 7, 2015, in Nature Communications.

"What we're looking at here is a massive driver of solar storms," said Scott McIntosh, lead author of the paper and director of the High Altitude Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "By better understanding how these activity bands form in the sun and cause these seasonal instabilities, we can greatly improve forecasts of space weather."

The new study is one of several by the research team to examine what creates the magnetic bands and how they influence solar cycles. McIntosh and his co-authors detected the bands by drawing on a host of NASA satellites and ground-based observatories that observe the sun and its output -- from the constant flow of particles in the solar wind to large explosions such as solar flares or giant eruptions of solar material called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.

The scientists note that the changes in the magnetic field in the bands gives rise to a 330-day activity cycle on the sun that is observable but has often been downplayed and overlooked when trying to seek the cause of the sun's longer, 11-year cycle.

"People have not paid much attention to this nearly-annual cycle," said McIntosh. "But it's such a driver of space weather that we really do need to focus on it. Cycles over this time frame are observed in all sorts of output from the sun: the sun's radiance, the solar wind, solar flares, CMEs."

Magnetic band interaction can also help explain a puzzle first discovered in the 1960s: Why does the number of powerful solar flares and CMEs peak a year or more after the maximum number of sunspots? This lag is known as the Gnevyshev Gap, after the Soviet scientist who first noticed the pattern. The answer appears to also depend on two activity bands. Having one band located in each solar hemisphere provides an opportunity for them to mix -- magnetic field from one band effectively leaking into the other -- creating more unstable active regions on the sun and leading to more flares and CMEs. In other papers, scientists have shown that this process happens only after the sunspot maximum.

In doing their analysis on band interaction the scientists noticed that the bands themselves undergo strong quasi-annual variations, taking place separately in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Those quasi-annual variations in magnetism could be almost as large in magnitude as those of the more familiar, approximately 11-year solar cycle, giving rise to the appearance of stormy seasons.

Read more here:

Seasonal, year-long cycles seen on the Sun

Jack Booth 3D modelling Showreel 2015
Dead Space Flight Lounge based off Jason Courtney #39;s Flight Lounge concept art.

By: Jack Booth

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Jack Booth 3D modelling Showreel 2015 - Video

April 7, 2015

The first items ever manufactured in space with a 3-D printer were unboxed on April 6, 2015 in the Additive Manufacturing Laboratory at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The parts were made on the International Space Station and returned to Earth for testing at Marshall. (Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given)

Provided by Tracy McMahan, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Engineers atNASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, unboxed some special cargo from theInternational Space Station on April 6: the first items manufactured in space with a 3-D printer.

The items were manufactured as part of the3-D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration on the space station to show that additive manufacturing can make a variety of parts and tools in space. These early in-space 3-D printing demonstrations are the first steps toward realizing an additive manufacturing, print-on-demand machine shop for long-duration missions and sustaining human exploration of other planets, where there is extremely limited ability and availability of Earth-based resupply and logistics support. In-space manufacturing technologies like 3-D printing will help NASA explore Mars, asteroids, and other locations.

A cool plate on the inside of the Made In Space 3D printer. If you know code, you may be able to translate what all those 1's and 0's mean. But if not, according to Made In Space, they say, "Make it so," which was one of Jean Luc Picard's catchphrases in "Star Trek". (Credit: redOrbit)

The technology demonstration got underway when NASA astronaut Barry Butch Wilmore installed the printer in the stationsMicrogravity Science Glovebox in November 2014. Before the end of the year, the crew manufactured 21 items including awrench, the first tool built in space. To make the items, the printer heated a relatively low-temperature plastic filament to build parts, layer on top of layer, in designs supplied to the machine. The printer remains on aboard the station for continued use later this year. The station provides a one-of-a-kind laboratory for demonstrating additive manufacturing in the microgravity environment where NASA wants to use the technology.

The aforementioned wrench. (Credit: redOrbit)

The printer used 14 different designs and built a total of 21 items and some calibration coupons. The parts returned to Earth in February on the SpaceX Dragon. They were then delivered to Marshall where the testing to compare the ground controls to the flight parts will be conducted. Before the printer was launched to the space station, it made an identical set of parts. Now, materials engineers will put both the space samples and ground control samples literally under a microscope and through a series of tests. Project engineers will perform durability, strength and structural tests on both sets of printed items and even put them under an electron microscope to scan for differences in the objects.

To build and operate the printer, NASA worked with Made In Space Inc., a northern California company that is building anAdditive Manufacturing Facility the next-generation printer that will be operated on the station. This printer will be available to both commercial and government users, including NASA, through theCenter for the Advancement of Science In Space, or CASIS.

Read more from the original source:

3D-printed objects arrive from ISS

Jeffrey P. Bezos space company said Tuesday it is a step closer to taking tourists into suborbital space where they would have the rare chance to experience weightlessness and glimpse the Earth from more than 60 miles away.

Executives from Blue Origin, based in Kent Washington, said they had reached a significant milestone with one of its rocket engines and would begin test flights with the company'sreusable New Shepard spacecraft later this year.

In a statement, Bezos, the founder of amazon.com who also owns The Washington Post, said the engine, known as the BE-3, had undergone rigorous testing and soon well put it to the ultimate test of flight. It wouldbe the first hydrogen engine developed in the U.S. in more than a decade.

In a call with reporters, Blue Origin President Rob Meyerson declined to say when exactly that flight would take place, but that it would be later this year. The companys New Shepard capsule can carry three or more astronauts and scientific payloads, he said.

Flights to suborbital space would last between 10 and 15 minutes, he said. But the company still has a long way to go, he cautioned, saying there would be a lot of testing before the company flies test pilots and eventually customers, a prospect that is still years away.

Bezos is among a new vanguard of ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs who have turned their interest in space into businesses. Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic is also working to fly tourists into space. And Elon Musks SpaceX has contracts with NASA to fly cargo, and eventually astronauts, to the International Space Station.

Blue Origin was also chosen to develop an engine forUnited Launch Alliance,ajoint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. That engine, the BE-4, would be more powerful than the BE-3.

Like Musk, who wants to colonize Mars, Meyerson said Blue Origins has a long-term vision to extend humankind beyond our planet.

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The Great Nebula in Orion is a intriguing place. Visible to the unaided eye, it appears as a small fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion. But this image, an illusory-color composite of four colors of infrared light taken with the Earth orbiting WISE observatory, shows the Orion Nebula to be a bustling neighborhood or recently formed stars, hot gas and dark dust. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the stars of the Trapezium star cluster, seen near the center of the above wide field image. The eerie green glow surrounding the bright stars pictured here is their own starlight reflected by intricate dust filaments that cover much of the region. The current Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years. Credit: NASA,JPL-Caltech,UCLA

Michelle Thaller is the Assistant Director of Science at Goddard Space Flight Center at NASA. She contributed this article toSpace.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

A lot of people ask me if being an astronomer changes the wayIlook at life. To some degree, I guess there's no way it couldn't. There's a lot you have to let go of things that seem so obvious and straightforward in people's everyday lives take on a scale and complexity that the human brain can't process. So you give up trying. I have no idea what it really feels like to travel through a distance like a light-year, a little more than a trillion miles. I can't easily visualize what 1,000 of something is, let alone a billion.

My mind doesn't grasp the scale of the universe any better than anyone else's, yet this is the environment that I go to work in, talk to my friends at cocktail parties about and muse about with my husband before we turn off the lights. Andrew (said husband) works on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which, when launched, will have the power to peer into the universe more than 13 billion light-years away. Effectively, it will look back to the time when the first stars began to shine. So he knows about this stuff. We often hold hands and buffer ourselves against all this scale. We even have an expression for it: "You still have to feed the cat."

Whenever we're listening to a particle-physicist friend of ours describe multiple rolled-up dimensions or reading the latest paper that asserts that space and time don't really exist and maybe we're all just asingle quantum-entangled particle, we look at each other with some wistfulness and repeat our cat mantra.

All those discoveries can be overwhelming, and sometimes it behooves us to remember that, in fact, there are some fixed points of certainly in it all. My cats would agree with that, or at least there would be hell to pay if we forgot to feed them, lost in the rapture of the cosmos.

In my podcast on the Transistor series, "The Ultimate Wayback Machine," I speak to two exceptionally brilliant women, Nancy Grace Roman, former chief of astrophysics, solar physics and relativity at NASAs Office of Space Science and Jane Rigby Deputy Project Scientist for Operations of the James Webb Space Telescope, about what time really means when you have to let go of the idea that there is a real past, present and future.

For example, consider what you see when you look up at a single constellation. Orion has always been my favorite, and I do a little dance every year when I see it for the first time in the autumn sky seriously. I've also published papers on some of the stars in Orion's belt, which are actually ginormous monsters: closely bonded binary stars that race around each other, orbiting in just a few days. The stars you see in that constellation are not all at the same distance from Earth, so the light has taken different amounts of time to reach your eye. You're not seeing a single point in time, but a span of several hundred years that somehow all arrives at your eye together, all at once. That gives me some pause, every time I look up at what now seems like an old friend in the sky.

But letting go of human perspective doesn't stop there. Not only does the universe leave the human sense of scale and time woefully in the dust, but people's literal senses what they can see, hear, smell and touch are also an incomplete picture of what is happening. Take sight: Human eyes are sensitive to only a tiny range of light energies. All around you, information about an invisible world is pouring into your eyes, but nothing in your retina reacts with it; no signal neurons are fired to send information to your brain that something is right in front of you. []

Again, take Orion: The space between the stars in this constellation are filled with gas and dust from a vast stellar nursery that is churning out hundreds of new stars at this moment. Near the top of the familiar figure of Orion is the star Meissa (or Lambda Orionis), which is ringed by an expanding shell of gas 130 light-years across, the remnant of a spectacular stellar tantrum. If your eyes could detect infrared light, light that is just a bit too low in energy to react with human retinas, you would see Orion filled with huge, glowing rings and clouds stretching between the stars.

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The 'Cat Mantra': How Astronomers Handle an Ungraspable Universe (Podcast)

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will be at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Tuesday, April 7, to honor the Center with a small business award and discuss the status of the Space Launch System rocket and the centers support role with the International Space Station and other center programs and projects that are contributing to NASA's mission of space exploration and steps on its journey to Mars.

Marshall Center Director Patrick Scheuermann will join Bolden at 11 a.m. CDT in the Building 4200 press room for a short question-and-answer session with media. The event will not be televised.

Media interested in attending should contact Kimberly Newton in the Marshall Center's Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 by 5 p.m. Monday, April 6. Participants must be at the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard, by 10:15 a.m. April 7 to attend. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the game. News media will need two photo identification and proof of car insurance. Visitor parking is available in front of Building 4200 on the southwest side.

For more information on the Marshall Space Flight Center, visit us on the Web:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall

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NASA Administrator to Visit Marshall Space Flight Center, Meet Media

The Pasadena Kiwanis Club 32nd Annual Mayors Prayer Breakfast on Thursday (April 2) featured Congressman Brian Babin as the keynote speaker. Babin represents Texas District 36, which includes Pasadena as well as the Clear Lake area and Johnson Space Center. He is a member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

My focus as member of the House Science Committee is to return human space flight as NASAs top priority. NASAs attention has been diverted toward a host of other competing priorities over the last several years. I think it is long past due that we return NASAs focus to what their mission was originally and that was human space flight and exploration.

Ending NASAs reliance on other countries to send astronauts to the International Space Station should also be a top priority, Babin said.

The only way we have of getting our astronauts to our space station is through the Russians. They have to be launched in a Russian Soyuz capsule from Russian soil. We have an obligation and a duty to make sure American astronauts are launched from American rockets from American soil and to do this as soon as possible, he said. We must provide NASA with the resources to return to flight and we must never put America in this position ever again.

The American space program offers numerous benefits such as its contributions to science, the economy and serves to inspire younger generations to learn about science and space, Babin said.

Not only has (the American space program) given us a healthy pride in America, but it has given us the motivation to explore the sciences, study harder in school for our kids and to think about doing what is considered impossible, he said.

As a Christian who believes that God is the author of the universe, what we saw over the past two decades through the lens of the Hubble Space Telescope is nothing short of awe-inspiring. The Hubble lifted the blinders even more and gave us a glimpse of our vast universe, he said.

Babin also commented on the impact of the nations investment in the space program on future generations.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson pointed out our investment in space is the only investment this generation makes that will benefit the next. While this may be a bit of an overstatement, it is true that our investment is space is mostly about the next generation.

Many of us may not live to see Americans landing on Mars. But, future generations will do so because of what we invest in our space program today, he said. I believe our investment in space is really a part of our fight for freedom because these investments are not only of scientific value, they also provide us with the military high ground. Throughout the history of mankind whoever controls the high ground has won the battlefields.

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Babin: Human space flight should be NASAs top priority

Space Flight Adventure
Experience the thrill! Beyond earth and into the reaches of the universe. Sounds unbelievable? Featuring comprehensive knowledge, personal skills development and full simulated space flight...

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Space Flight Adventure - Video

Orbital ATK has successfully launched its first scientific balloon flight as the operator of NASAs balloon program. The company supported NASAs super pressure balloon (SPB) launch from New Zealand, marking the first achievement for Orbital ATK in scientific balloon operations since NASA awarded the contract in November 2014. The contract is administered by the Goddard Space Flight Centers Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia and managed from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility (CSBF) in Palestine, Texas. The Columbia team has launched more than 1,700 scientific balloons from seven countries in the past 35 years.

Under NASAs direction, Orbital ATKs team of mission specialists from CSBF launched the balloon from Wanaka Airport in New Zealand at 5:12 p.m. EDT on March 26. The team provided program management, mission planning, engineering services and field operations for the launch. Flight managers will now monitor the balloons ability to achieve a stable altitude of 110,000 feet with a suspended two-and-one-half-ton payload for up to 100 days. The payload consists of tracking and communication instruments that are needed for the test flight.

The successful launch demonstrated the value of an experienced and dedicated team that will help maintain Wallops Flight Facilitys position as the world leader in scientific ballooning operations. These long duration balloon flights help provide critical scientific data, create new technologies and trigger new discoveries, said John Pullen, General Manager, Technical Services Division of Orbital ATKs Space Systems Group. The NASA/Orbital ATK team worked together seamlessly to provide the right combination of scientific ballooning and technical expertise.

A key goal of the mission is to exceed the current SPB record of 54 days in flight and demonstrate the ability to maintain a constant altitude for extended durations. The balloons have the potential to stay afloat for up to 100 days depending on favorable conditions. Filled with helium, the pumpkin-shaped SPB is made from 22 acres of polyethylene film and equipped to carry several tons of payloads. Since scientific research using high-altitude balloons began over five decades ago, there has been a dramatic increase in balloon size, payload mass and electronics support.

The NASA scientific balloon program offers low-cost, near-space access for payloads weighing up to 8,000 pounds that include science experiments and flight support equipment. These payloads provide critical scientific data in fields such as X-ray, ultra-violet, optical and infrared astronomy. The SPB technology, under development at NASA for the last 15 years, has the potential to revolutionize near-space access, providing an inexpensive platform for long-duration research at a stable altitude.

As the balloon travels around the Earth, it may be visible from the ground, particularly at sunrise and sunset, to those who live in the southern hemispheres mid-latitudes, such as Argentina and South Africa.

(Image provided by Orbital ATK)

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Orbital ATK Successfully Launches Scientific Balloon Flight

Russian cosmonauts have used a tablet computer for the first time in the history of Russian space exploration, as they performed the latest flight on the manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-16M, the Energia state corporation said Monday.

All the necessary information was pre-programmed into the Soyuz' on-board tablet computer prior to the launch. The cosmonauts received a complete set of on-board documentation, the flight program and information for dynamic operations, the release read. An easy navigation system and hyperlinks were also provided, it added.

So far, the Russian cosmonauts have been using print manuals but if on-board tablet computers prove successful, Russian spacecraft will switch to electronic guidance.

On Friday, the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. On Saturday, the spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko on board, along with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS).

Kornienko and Kelly will spend 342 days aboard the orbiting laboratory. As for Padalka, he has been prepared for a six-moth tour of duty. In total, the astronauts are expected to conduct 49 experiments.

Source: Sputnik News

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Cosmonauts Take Tablet Computer Into Space

Two humans are getting ready to say farewell to Earth for nearly 12 months. On March 27, 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will launch to the International Space Station, beginning a one-year mission in space, testing the limits of human research, space exploration and the human spirit.

Most expeditions to the space station last four to six months. By doubling the length of this mission, researchers hope to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight.

This knowledge is critical as NASA looks toward human journeys deeper into the solar system, including to and from Mars, which could last 500 days or longer. It also carries potential benefits for humans here on Earth, from helping patients recover from long periods of bed rest to improving monitoring for people whose bodies are unable to fight infections.

Long exposure to a zero-gravity environment can affect the human body in multiple ways. Some physical symptoms can include changes to the eyes, muscle atrophy and bone loss.

Human psychology is also an important area of study, as the effects of living in isolated and small spaces will be important to understand ahead of future human missions to Mars. Research collected from the one-year mission can help NASA and the international partners reduce risks and better understand how to ensure astronauts will thrive on longer missions.

There are seven key elements of research on the one-year mission. Functional studies will examine crew member performance during and after the 12-month span. Behavioral studies will monitor sleep patterns and exercise routines.

Visual impairment will be studied by measuring changes in pressure inside the human skull. Metabolic investigations will examine the immune system and effects of stress. Physical performance will be monitored through exercise examinations. Researchers will also monitor microbial changes in the crew, as well as the human factors associated with how the crew interacts aboard the station.

While Scott Kelly is in space, his identical twin brother, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, will participate in a number of comparative genetic studies. Some of these experiments will include the collection of blood samples as well as psychological and physical tests. These tests will track any degeneration or evolution that occurs in the human body from extended exposure to a zero-gravity environment. The new twin studies are a multi-faceted national cooperation between universities, corporations and government laboratory expertise.

All research gathered from both the American and Russian crew members will be shared between the countries, an important step in reducing cost and improving efficiency for all future space station research.

A number of spaceflight endurance records will be broken during the one-year mission, including the most cumulative time in space for any U.S. astronaut. Kelly and will spend 342 days off the planet resulting in a total of 522 days in space, allowing him to surpass current U.S. record holder Mike Fincke's mark of 382 days.

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A Year in Space

They will be included in 2018 flight of Orion andSpace Launch System NEA Scout will fly by a small asteroid, taking pictures and getting data Lunar Flashlight will illuminate moon's craters and measure surface ice BioSentinel will use yeast to measure the impact of deep space radiation

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 19:13 EST, 3 April 2015 | Updated: 06:41 EST, 4 April 2015

In 2018, Nasa will launch the Orion spacecraft using the largest, most powerful rocket booster ever built; the Space Launch System (SLS).

Tucked inside the stage adapter - the ring connecting Orion to the top propulsion stage of the SLS -will be 11 self-contained small satellites, each about the size of a large shoebox.

Now, the space agency has revealed three missions that will use these small satellites during the test flight to help develop technologies for astronauts travelling to deep space.

A concept image of the Near-Earth Asteroid Scout mission, one of 11 missions that will be secondary payloads to the first test flight of Nasa's Space Launch System

'Nasa is taking advantage of a great opportunity to conduct more science beyond our primary focus of this mission,' said Jody Singer manager of Nasa's Flight Programs and Partnerships Office.

'While this new vehicle will enable missions beyond Earth orbit, we're taking steps to increase the scientific and exploration capability of SLS by accommodating small, CubeSat-class payloads.'

The first is a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Scout, using solar sail propulsion, will fly by a small asteroid, taking pictures and making observations.

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Nasa reveals experiments its mega rocket will carry on its first test flight