Lawmakers want to make sure NASA’s next big mission to the moon doesn’t send too many workers to the unemployment line.
A four-year gap between the last scheduled shuttle launch and the first launch of Orion set for the year 2014 could leave thousands of NASA employees out of work, WESH 2 News reported. Read more
NASA has selected Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall of Los Angeles to provide on-site architectural and engineering support services at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Read more
Boeing Co. edged a key rival to win a contract to work on the rockets NASA will use to return astronauts to the moon, the U.S. space agency said late Tuesday.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it chose Boeing as the contractor to design and build the upper stage of the Ares 1 rocket, which will help carry a crew of astronauts into space – over and over, if NASA’s plans come through.
Ares and the Orion crew vehicle, the conical capsule that will sit atop the rocket, are set to become NASA’s next vehicle for space transport when it retires its last space shuttle in 2010. read more…
Donald W. Monell, the manager for NASA’s Constellation Project Modeling, Simulation and Data Architecture, will give a keynote address on 4 October at ISA EXPO 2007 in Houston, Texas.
With over 24 years of experience, including a wide range of aircraft and spacecraft systems design and analysis activities, Monell is responsible for defining strategies, policies, and guidelines for the use of modeling and simulation applications across the Constellation program.
He works to define, develop, and implement data architecture requirements that ensure a cohesive approach to defining and managing Constellation data. read more…
For NASA to reach the moon again, the agency needs to keep experienced employees working on Earth. However, NASA’s employee unions say the agency is not going about it the right way.
NASA has begun using a variety of new information system tools to manage its human resources challenges. The agency that President Bush has tasked to send people to the moon relies mostly on a workforce that is gearing up for retirement.
“We want to keep our best people and are doing everything we can to encourage our core technology brain trust to remain in the fold,” said Paul Curto, chief technologist in the Office of the NASA Chief Engineer. Read more…
Researchers with the University of Alabama in Huntsville are working on a three-year, $748,500 NASA grant to develop tiny onboard sensors that would detect dangerous rocket fuel byproducts, such as the toxic chemical hydrazine.
“We’re trying to take recent advances in nano- and micro-technology and convert them into useful devices, of which there aren’t many,” Dr. Robert Lindquist, interim director of the UAH Nano- and Micro-Device Center, said in a NASA news release. “NASA has asked us to work on sensors for several specific things, including hydrazine, hydrogen and biological contaminants.” read more…
NASA officials stated on Friday, August 24, 2007 that they found microscopic cracks in the foam covers on brackets of Discovery’s external tank (ET) during inspections for its STS-120 mission on October 23.
They think this problem contributed to foam shearing off of Endeavour’s ET when the STS-118 mission lifted off on August 8.
NASA found the cracks when they performed x-ray analysis of the brackets on the external tank of Discovery, which is scheduled to lift off next. Read more…
Future NASA astronauts who land on the moon will owe their success in part to the men and women of the Gulf Coast, who are already at work on the next generation of space travel. NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans both will have critical roles in the Constellation Program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon by the end of the next decade. read more…
Image you are a team member of well-trained scientists heading toward the moon in the new Orion spacecraft. While descending on the lunar surface, a problem with the thrusters forces the spacecraft off course from the lunar outpost by about 50 miles. Reaching the outpost is critical for survival.
Now create a plan with your team on how to reach the outpost safely that includes navigation plus the basic needs of food, shelter, water and air. Read more…
WASHINGTON – NASA will host a news conference at 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 28, to announce the selection of a contractor for the upper stage element of the Ares I rocket that will help launch future human missions to the moon. The Ares I will carry to low Earth orbit the Orion crew exploration vehicle, which will succeed the space shuttle as NASA’s primary vehicle for human space exploration. Read more…
