Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield to Receive 2014 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.(Feb. 24, 2014) -- In 2013, millions of people around the world watched as Canadian astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield played his guitar from the International Space Station (ISS), covering David Bowie's song "Space Oddity."

In 2014, the Space Foundation will honor Hadfield with the Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award for his use of social media to engage millions of followers while chronicling life aboard the ISS. In addition to his musical performances from space, Hadfield's YouTube videos have included demonstrations of eating, sleeping and trying to cry in space.

The award will be presented on May 19 during the opening ceremony of the Space Foundation's 30th Space Symposium, co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman, and held at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA.

About HadfieldThe first Canadian to walk in space, Hadfield was accepted into the Canadian astronaut program in 1992, and was assigned by the Canadian Space Agency to the NASA Johnson Space Center. In 1995, Hadfield served as mission specialist on STS-74, NASA's second space shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir.

In April 2001 he flew again on STS-100 to the ISS, where he walked in space and helped install the Canadarm2. In December 2012, he flew for a third time aboard Soyuz TMA-07M and joined Expedition 34 on the ISS. He was a member of this expedition until March 2013 when he became the commander of the ISS as part of Expedition 35. During this mission he gained international popularity with his videos of life on the ISS, his photos of Earth and his commentary on Facebook and Tumblr, and to more than one million Twitter followers.

Hadfield retired as a Colonel from the Canadian Air Force in 2003 after 25 years of military service.

About the Morrow AwardThe award's namesake was an Academy Award winning writer and producer, space advocate and early member of the board of directors of the Space Foundation. Designed to recognize those who have made significant contributions to public understanding of, and support for, space programs, the Morrow Award has a long list of distinguished recipients, including: astronaut Eileen Collins; actor/director Tom Hanks; the X PRIZE Foundation; space artist Robert T. McCall; the late Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry; the crew of Space Shuttle Mission STS-95; NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; actor/director Leonard Nimoy; space journalists Jay Barbree, Marcia Dunn and William Harwood; the NASA social media team; and in 2013 Bill Nye.

Co-sponsors The Space Symposium officially kicks off Monday evening, May 19, with a spectacular opening ceremony, co-sponsored byNorthrop Grumman. Other event co-sponsors include:a.i. solutions;Aerojet Rocketdyne;Airbus Group, Inc.;Arianespace;ATK;Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.;Booz Allen Hamilton;Colorado Space Business Roundtable(CSBR);Lockheed Martin;MetiSpace Technologies, Inc.;Millennium Engineering and Integration Company;MOOG;PAE;Raytheon;Scitor Corporation;SES Government Solutions;Space Generation Advisory Council(SGAC);SpaceX;Spincraft;SSL;Stellar Solutions,Inc.;The Boeing Company;The SI Organization;andUnited Launch Alliance.Aviation Week,SatNews PublishersandSpaceNewsare media partners.

Register Now for Space Symposium and Cyber 1.4 The 30th Space Symposium is preceded by a full-day cyberspace conference, Cyber 1.4 on Monday, May 19, at The Broadmoor Hotel.Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX),chairman of the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, will give the Cyber 1.4 keynote speech. See more details, and register for both the Symposium and Cyber 1.4 atwww.SpaceSymposium.org.

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Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield to Receive 2014 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award

NASA Seeks US Industry Feedback On Options For Future Space Station Cargo Services

February 24, 2014

Image Caption: International Space Station in orbit. Credit: NASA

NASA

Over the past two years, NASA and its American industry partners have returned International Space Station resupply launches to U.S. soil, established new national space transportation capabilities and helped create jobs right here on Earth. More than 250 miles overhead, hundreds of science experiments not possible on Earth are being conducted by an international team of astronauts, enabled by these new cargo delivery and return services.

In January, the Obama Administration announced plans to extend the life of the space station through at least 2024 marking another decade of discoveries to come that will benefit Earth while increasing the knowledge NASA needs to send astronauts to an asteroid and Mars.

NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry feedback on options to meet the future needs of the International Space Station for cargo delivery of a variety of new science experiments, space station hardware and crew supplies.

View the Request For Information

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has had crew members continuous on board since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASAs next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

Source: NASA

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NASA Seeks US Industry Feedback On Options For Future Space Station Cargo Services

NASA's smart SPHERES are about to get a whole lot smarter

Smart devices such as tablets and phones increasingly are an essential part of everyday life on Earth. The same can be said for life off-planet aboard the International Space Station. From astronaut tweets to Google+ Hangouts, our reliance on these mobile and social technologies means equipment and software upgrades are an everyday occurrence like buying a new pair of shoes to replace a pair of well-worn ones.

Thats why the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASAs Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., with funding from the Technology Demonstration Missions Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, is working to upgrade the smartphones currently equipped on a trio of volleyball-sized free-flying satellites on the space station called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES). In 2011 on the final flight of space shuttle Atlantis, NASA sent the first smartphone to the station and mounted it to SPHERES.

Each SPHERE satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and navigation equipment as well as expansion ports for additional sensors and appendages, such as cameras and wireless power transfer systems. This is where the SPHERES' smartphone upgrades are attached.

By connecting a smartphone, the SPHERES become Smart SPHERES. They now are more intelligent because they have built-in cameras to take pictures and video, sensors to help conduct inspections, powerful computing units to make calculations and Wi-Fi connections to transfer data in real time to the computers aboard the space station and at mission control.

"With this latest upgrade, we believe the Smart SPHERES will be a step closer to becoming a mobile assistant' for the astronauts, said DW Wheeler, lead engineer with SGT Inc. in the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames. "This ability for Smart SPHERES to independently perform inventory and environmental surveys on the space station can free up time for astronauts and mission control to perform science experiments and other work.

Later this year, NASA will launch a Project Tango prototype Android smartphone developed by Googles Advanced Technology and Projects division of Mountain View, Calif. The prototype phone includes an integrated custom 3-D sensor, which means the device is capable of tracking its own position and orientation in real time as well as generating a full 3-D model of the environment.

The Project Tango prototype incorporates a particularly important feature for the Smart SPHERES a 3-D sensor, said Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames. This allows the satellites to do a better job of flying around on the space station and understanding where exactly they are.

Later this month, Ames engineers will fly the prototype phone several times aboard an airplane that is capable of simulating microgravity by performing a parabolic flight path. The team has modified the motion-tracking and positioning code developed by Google that tells the phone where it is to work in the microgravity conditions of the space station. To verify that the phone will work, they must take the phone out of the lab at Ames and test it in a microgravity environment.

The SPHERES facility aboard the space station provides affordable opportunities to test a wide range of hardware and software. It acts as a free-flying platform that can accommodate various mounting features and mechanisms in order to test and examine the physical or mechanical properties of materials in microgravity. SPHERES also provides a test bed for space applications including physical sciences investigations, free-flying spatial analyses, multi-body formation flying and various multi-spacecraft control algorithm verifications and analyses. SPHERES also is used for the annual Zero Robotics student software programming competition. Ames operates and maintains the SPHERES facility, which is funded by the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

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NASA's smart SPHERES are about to get a whole lot smarter

Computerworld Singapore – IT news, features, blogs, tech reviews, career advice

Sharon Gaudin | Feb. 24, 2014

NASA wants a humanoid robot that can perform CPR, draw blood and operate on astronauts on the International Space Station or as they travel to Mars.

NASA wants a humanoid robot that can perform CPR, draw blood and operate on astronauts aboard the International Space Station or en route to Mars.

A doctor at the Houston Methodist Research Institute is working to make that happen.

The humanoid robot, Robonaut, developed by NASA, is in training at the Houston Methodist Research Institute to perform medical procedures in space someday.

"We're trying to get the best care for our astronauts, who are risking their lives to push the boundaries in space," said Dr. Zsolt Garami, an instructor at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, an arm of Houston Methodist Hospital. "Our motivation was really when we saw astronauts perform ultrasounds on each other or on themselves. They just could use an extra hand.... Why not have a robot help? There's already a robot up in the space station, and he's already shown that he can switch buttons reliably. Why not make him a nurse or a physician?"

Garami is working with NASA to teach robots how to perform medical procedures. He said the robots are quick learners much quicker than his human students.

Robonaut, the robot Garami is working with, learned in two hours what humans take a week to learn. That hasn't been a popular observation with his colleagues.

"Robonaut is learning extremely fast," he told Computerworld. "His motions, without shaky hands, are very precise and gentle. There were no sudden motions."

The humanoid robot that Garami is working with is a twin to Robonaut 2, or R2, which was brought to the space station early in 2011.

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Smart SPHERES are about to get a whole lot smarter

Smart devices -- such as tablets and phones -- increasingly are an essential part of everyday life on Earth. The same can be said for life off-planet aboard the International Space Station. From astronaut tweets to Google+ Hangouts, our reliance on these mobile and social technologies means equipment and software upgrades are an everyday occurrence -- like buying a new pair of shoes to replace a pair of well-worn ones.

That's why the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., with funding from the Technology Demonstration Missions Program in the Space Technology Mission Directorate, is working to upgrade the smartphones currently equipped on a trio of volleyball-sized free-flying satellites on the space station called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES). In 2011 on the final flight of space shuttle Atlantis, NASA sent the first smartphone to the station and mounted it to SPHERES.

Each SPHERE satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computing and navigation equipment as well as expansion ports for additional sensors and appendages, such as cameras and wireless power transfer systems. This is where the SPHERES' smartphone upgrades are attached.

By connecting a smartphone, the SPHERES become Smart SPHERES. They now are more intelligent because they have built-in cameras to take pictures and video, sensors to help conduct inspections, powerful computing units to make calculations and Wi-Fi connections to transfer data in real time to the computers aboard the space station and at mission control.

"With this latest upgrade, we believe the Smart SPHERES will be a step closer to becoming a 'mobile assistant' for the astronauts," said DW Wheeler, lead engineer with SGT Inc. in the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames. "This ability for Smart SPHERES to independently perform inventory and environmental surveys on the space station can free up time for astronauts and mission control to perform science experiments and other work."

Later this year, NASA will launch a Project Tango prototype Android smartphone developed by Google's Advanced Technology and Projects division of Mountain View, Calif. The prototype phone includes an integrated custom 3-D sensor, which means the device is capable of tracking its own position and orientation in real time as well as generating a full 3-D model of the environment.

"The Project Tango prototype incorporates a particularly important feature for the Smart SPHERES -- a 3-D sensor," said Terry Fong, director of the Intelligent Robotics Group at Ames. "This allows the satellites to do a better job of flying around on the space station and understanding where exactly they are."

Later this month, Ames engineers will fly the prototype phone several times aboard an airplane that is capable of simulating microgravity by performing a parabolic flight path. The team has modified the motion-tracking and positioning code developed by Google that tells the phone where it is to work in the microgravity conditions of the space station. To verify that the phone will work, they must take the phone out of the lab at Ames and test it in a microgravity environment.

The SPHERES facility aboard the space station provides affordable opportunities to test a wide range of hardware and software. It acts as a free-flying platform that can accommodate various mounting features and mechanisms in order to test and examine the physical or mechanical properties of materials in microgravity. SPHERES also provides a test bed for space applications including physical sciences investigations, free-flying spatial analyses, multi-body formation flying and various multi-spacecraft control algorithm verifications and analyses. SPHERES also is used for the annual Zero Robotics student software programming competition. Ames operates and maintains the SPHERES facility, which is funded by the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

To date, astronauts have conducted 77 investigations using SPHERES to test techniques to advance automated dockings, satellite servicing, spacecraft assembly and emergency repairs. Now researchers are preparing to control the SPHERES in real time from ground control stations on Earth and from space.

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Smart SPHERES are about to get a whole lot smarter

Could An 18,000lb Lost Satellite Cause A 'Gravity'-Style Disaster?

Details Published on Saturday, 22 February 2014 10:16

A satellite which the European Space Agency lost contact with in 2012 could create a similar cloud of space debris which hit the International Space Station in the film 'Gravity'A bus-sized satellite that is lost in space could break up and spark a devastating field of debris similar to that which hit Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the film Gravity.

The threat comes from the nine-metre wide Envisat satellite which lost contact with Earth in 2012 and now orbits under at an altitude of 491 miles (790km).

Scientists believe there is a chance of collision with other satellites and debris during the 150 years it is expected to remain in space. But bringing the satellite back to Earth may prove too costly.

Each year, scientists believe two objects pass the 18,000lb satellite by within about 200m and other spacecraft have had to move out of Envisats path.

It is possible that a collision with Envisat could lead to a chain reaction effect, known as the Kessler Syndrome, which refers to when a cloud of fast-moving debris causes other collisions.

This is the type of a cloud that hit Bullock and Clooney during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station in the film Gravity.

The fact that Envisat is in a near-polar orbit doesnt help, since its path intersects most satellites orbits nearly at right angles, said Professor George Fraser, Director of the Universitys Space Research Centre.

Imagine driving down the motorway and every so often a large truck cuts right across all four lanes right in front of you.

Physics students at Leicester University claim it could make it difficult for future space missions to pass through the region of Envisats altitude, if the region becomes congested with space debris.

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Could An 18,000lb Lost Satellite Cause A 'Gravity'-Style Disaster?

High stakes: Canadian Space Agency wins hockey bet with NASA

It was a sweet bet that paid off in mouthfuls for the Canadian Space Agency.

On the line in the Canada-United States men's hockey wager with NASA was a box of cookies.

Thanks to Canada's semi-final victory at the Sochi Olympics on Friday, the Americans will eventually ship a box of maple creams to the International Space Station.

The U.S. space agency had accepted the challenge by wagering a cookie emblazoned with red, white and blue "Stars and Stripes" icing.

The Canadian Space Agency savoured the 1-0 victory, saying on its Twitter account: "Can't tweet. Mouth full, crumbs abound!"

With an eye on Sunday's Olympic gold-medal game against Sweden, the CSA then tweeted: "How to do you say maple cream cookies in Swedish?"

It won't be the first time the creamy biscuits have been in space.

While on the space station last April, then-Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield took a picture of a floating maple cookie and then ate it.

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High stakes: Canadian Space Agency wins hockey bet with NASA

Call of Duty: Ghosts Gameplay – Domination on Sovereign – Ground War – W/Commentary – Video


Call of Duty: Ghosts Gameplay - Domination on Sovereign - Ground War - W/Commentary
See The Full Call of Duty Ghosts Series Here: http://goo.gl/hJVF5k See The Next CoD Ghosts Episode on: Tuesday Call of Duty Ghosts: Gun Game on Strikezone Ca...

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Let’s Play Space Engineers – Episode 87: Space Station Project Part 16 – Video


Let #39;s Play Space Engineers - Episode 87: Space Station Project Part 16
On this episode of Space Engineers, we continue the Space Station Project. Using a combination of the new features from the recent Game Update some suggest...

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Let's Play Space Engineers - Episode 87: Space Station Project Part 16 - Video

Space Station Astronaut Set To Visit Northwest Oregon

NASA astronaut and recent International Space Station residentChris Cassidywill be giving two public presentations and making several stops at schools in northwestOregondiscussing his latest spaceflight and encouraging students to dream big.

At6:30 p.m. PST Monday, Feb. 24, Cassidy will give his first public presentation in the auditorium at Central High School, 1530 Monmouth St.,Independence, Ore.The presentation includes video highlights of Cassidy's recent mission to the space station as well as a question-and-answer session with audience members. The event is free of charge and open to the media.

A similar presentation will take place at7 p.m. PST Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the Bldg. 6 auditorium atChemeketa Community College, 4000 Lancaster Drive NE,Salem, Ore.

Along the way, Cassidy will visit additional schools inCorvallis,Independence,MonmouthandSalem. For information about the individual school visits contactGreg Mitchell, principal, Central High School, at 503-606-2216 orgmitchell@central.k12.or.us.

Cassidy spent six months living aboard the space station as a flight engineer on Expedition 36. During his stay, Cassidy and his crewmates conducted hundreds of research experiments before returning to earth onSept. 10, 2013. He is a 1993 graduate of theU.S. Naval Academyand a former member of the U.S. Navy SEAL Team. The two-time spaceflight veteran has completed six spacewalks, totaling 31 hours and 14 minutes and accumulated 182 days in space.

Journalists seeking interviews with Cassidy should contactBrenda Cabanissat 281-244-8860 orBrenda.a.cabaniss@nasa.gov.

For information about NASA, visit:http://www.nasa.gov

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Space Station Astronaut Set To Visit Northwest Oregon