Image above: The STS-134 crew aboard space shuttle Endeavour talks to reporters during a live in-flight media event on Monday. Photo credit: NASA TV

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.

During the 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for Dextre.

NASA will launch a spacecraft to an asteroid in 2016 and use a robotic arm to pluck samples that could better explain our solar system's formation and how life began. The mission, called Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth.

"This is a critical step in meeting the objectives outlined by President Obama to extend our reach beyond low-Earth orbit and explore into deep space," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "It’s robotic missions like these that will pave the way for future human space missions to an asteroid and other deep space destinations." 

NASA selected OSIRIS-REx after reviewing three concept study reports for new scientific missions, which also included a sample return mission from the far side of the Moon and a mission to the surface of Venus.

Asteroids are leftovers formed from the cloud of gas and dust -- the solar nebula -- that collapsed to form our sun and the planets about 4.5 billion years ago. As such, they contain the original material from the solar nebula, which can tell us about the conditions of our solar system's birth.

Caterpillar promotes education and technology at international collegiate event

Showcasing its world-class technology leadership, Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) is supporting the NASA Lunabotics Mining Competition at the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. The event, May 26-28, is designed to engage and retain college students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). For complete coverage, follow the competition on Twitter @CaterpillarInc. or #lmc2011.

Tana Utley, Caterpillar Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, will be a keynote speaker during the opening ceremonies of the three-day event. "Educational outreach has been an important part of our collaboration with NASA, and we look forward to continuing this focus during the Lunabotics Mining Competition," said Utley. "The technologies produced at the competition could one day be used in mine and work sites. What better way to enhance jobsite safety and efficiency than to design autonomous solutions."

Participants in the competition will design and build autonomous systems that could be used for future lunar exploration. Teams will test their designs in a head-to-head challenge to see which machine can excavate the most simulated lunar "dirt" over a specific timeframe. "Caterpillar has a long history of supporting educational opportunities that promote the STEM areas," said Eric Reiners, Caterpillar Automation Manager, who is lending his expertise as a judge at the event. "We need to encourage technology, innovation and ingenuity to students of all ages. The development of autonomous systems will ultimately help our global customers boost safety, efficiency and increase profitability."

Currently, there are 45 graduate and undergraduate student teams enrolled in the competition from various parts of the world. That number has more than doubled from last year's event. Caterpillar will have a 287C semi-autonomous Multi Terrain Loader (MTL) on display to showcase the technologies Caterpillar and NASA are developing.

For updates during the competition, find us on Twitter @CaterpillarInc. or #lmc2011 and www.caterpillar.com. To learn more about the Lunabotics Mining Competition, please go to

About Caterpillar:

For more than 85 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been making sustainable progress possible and driving positive change on every continent. With 2010 sales and revenues of $42.588 billion, Caterpillar is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. 

The company also is a leading services provider through Caterpillar Financial Services, Caterpillar Remanufacturing Services, Caterpillar Logistics Services and Progress Rail Services. More information is available at: http://www.caterpillar.com.

Event Format: Advisory Meeting

Date: Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Location: NASA Headquarters, Room 9H40, 300 E. Street, SW., Washington DC, DC 20546, US

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 88 (Friday, May 6, 2011)] [Notices] [Pages 26316-26317] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2011-11028]

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION 

[Notice 11- 044]

Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of meeting; Correction. 

Federal Register Citation of Previous Announcement: 76 FR 23339, Notice Number 11-043, dated April 26, 2011; and 76 FR 19147, Notice Number 11-030, dated April 6, 2011.

SUMMARY: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration published a notice in the Federal Register of April 26, 2011, announcing a meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to take place on May 24, 2011, at the Kennedy Space Center, FL. 

Correction: Date and time of ASAP public meeting remains the same: Tuesday, May 24, 2011, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location has been moved to: NASA Headquarters, Room 9H40, 300 E. Street, SW., Washington, DC 20546. Agenda has been modified accordingly. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Kathy Dakon, ASAP Executive Director, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC 20546, (202) 358-0732. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel will hold its 2nd Quarterly Meeting for 2011. This discussion is pursuant to carrying out its statutory duties for which the Panel reviews, identifies, evaluates, and advises on those program activities, systems, procedures, and management activities that can contribute to program risk. Priority is given to those programs that involve the safety of human flight.

The agenda will include: Updates on Safety and Mission Assurance; Safety Metrics; and Commercial Space. 

The meeting will be open to the public up to the seating capacity of the room. Seating will be on a first-come basis. Photographs will only be permitted during the first 10 minutes of the meeting. During the first 30 minutes of the meeting, members of the public may make a 5-minute verbal presentation to the Panel on the subject of safety in NASA. To do so, please contact Ms. Susan Burch at susan.burch@nasa.gov or by telephone at (202) 358-0550 at least 48 hours in advance. Any member of the public is permitted to file a written statement with the Panel at the time of the meeting. 

Verbal presentations and written comments should be limited to the subject of safety in NASA. Attendees will be requested to sign a register and to comply with NASA security requirements, including the presentation of a valid picture ID, before receiving an access badge. 

Foreign nationals attending this meeting will be required to provide a copy of their passport, visa, or green card in addition to providing the following information no less than 10 working days prior to the meeting: Full name; gender; date/place of birth; citizenship; visa/green card information (number, type, expiration date); 

passport information (number, country, expiration date); employer/affiliation information (name of institution, address, country, telephone); title/position of attendee. To expedite admittance, attendees with U.S. citizenship can provide identifying information 3 working days in advance by contacting Susan Burch via e-mail at susan.burch@nasa.gov or by telephone at (202) 358-0550. 

It is imperative that the meeting be held on this date to accommodate the scheduling priorities of the key participants. 

May 2, 2011. P. Diane Rausch, Advisory Committee Management Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [FR Doc. 2011-11028 Filed 5-5-11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE P

The images from the Hubble space telescope provide breathtaking visual information. And multispectral imaging methods used to see the Martian surface have been applied to, as the Chicago Tribune reported, "badly charred Roman manuscripts that were buried during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Examining those carbonized manuscripts under different wavelengths of light suddenly revealed writing that had been invisible to scholars for two centuries," because of manuscript degradation.

APE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Iconic images of the shuttle joined to a completed International Space Station will be snapped Monday night if an unprecedented space operation goes off as planned.

For the first time, a Russian space taxi is scheduled to leave the station while a shuttle is docked there.

The departure presents what may be the only opportunity to take pictures NASA and many space fans covet of the shuttle, on the eve of its retirement, parked at the $100 billion outpost that is its greatest legacy.

"Hopefully those pictures will show up in textbooks for years to come," said Kenny Todd, NASA's station manager for operations and integration.

Around 5:30 p.m., a Soyuz spacecraft piloted by Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and carrying a NASA astronaut and an Italian astronaut will undock from a port 50 feet from Endeavour and back away to a distance of about 650 feet.

The station then will rotate 130 degrees in an unusual sideways pose that offers a good view of the station, Endeavour, and two cargo ships flown by Russia and Europe.

Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli will climb temporarily into the windowed Soyuz module — a part of the craft that burns up during re-entry — and begin taking pictures and video of the shuttle and station floating 220 miles above the planet.

Nespoli will have about five minutes to take in the unique view before Soyuz thrusters fire to separate the spacecraft from the station and put Kondratyev, Nespoli and American Cady Coleman en route to a landing in Kazakhstan late Monday night.

It sounds simple enough, but the whole process involves risks that took years to gain acceptance.

"There's been a lot of work by a whole lot of teams to make sure this is really a good thing to be doing, but folks are very comfortable with the plan," Courtenay McMillan, a station flight director, said of the photo opportunity.

"Now, instead of a unique configuration, we have more of what I term more of a unique opportunity," Todd said since not every vehicle would be represented in the picture.

The opportunity arose when shuttle and station program leaders approved what is known as "dual docked operations."

In the past, vehicles coming and going from the station were conflicts for a shuttle mission to avoid.

Another showstopper could be coordinating shuttle and Soyuz crew schedules so each gets enough rest and can execute their separate missions without interference.

In this case, engineers determined there was acceptable rocket fuel plume risk , and the schedules could be managed.

But the photo opportunity presented additional challenges.

The Soyuz will back away much like it always does, but at a slightly higher angle to make sure the sun doesn't blind Kondratyev while he manually keeps the spacecraft hovering behind the station for an extended period.

The station had to figure out a pose that ensured good lighting, and flying in any new position, even for half an orbit, requires verification that systems won't be exposed to harmful temperatures.

The photo orientation is "different enough from what we usually fly that it is outside what we know about, so folks had to go off and do the math and figure out what the problems would be," McMillan said.

After taking the pictures, Nespoli will return to his seat in the crew module and seal the hatch. The crew module separates from two others and is the only part of the ship that survives atmospheric re-entry.

But the Soyuz won't be able to immediately return to its port if there is trouble sealing the hatch, which normally is closed prior to undocking. The maneuver hasn't been studied enough to know it can be done safely.

Managers say a hatch problem is highly unlikely, the Soyuz has backup landing opportunities through Tuesday and managers would come up with a solution if necessary.

"We would get there," said Derek Hassmann, the lead flight director for Endeavour's visit to the station.

Plans continue for another round of photos to be taken during the final shuttle flight. But that could be dropped if Monday's operation produces the desired imagery, which could be released within days.

If the effort succeeds, Todd said he hopes the photos give future generations an appreciation for the feat represented by the station, which couldn't have been built without the shuttle.

"So if we're ever to end up in the future somewhere in a book, it would be great to have the space shuttle represented there with us, as well as all the other international partners," he said.

 

 

When NASA's Opportunity Mars rover uses an onboard navigation capability during backward drives, it leaves a distinctive pattern in the wheel tracks visible on the Martian ground. 

The pattern appears in an image posted at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA14129 . 

The rover team routinely commands Opportunity to drive backward as a precaution for extending the life of the rover's right-front wheel, which has been drawing more electrical current than the other five wheels. Rover drivers can command the rover to check for potential hazards in the drive direction, whether the rover is driving backward or forward. In that autonomous navigation mode, the rover pauses frequently, views the ground with the navigation camera on its mast, analyzes the stereo images, and makes a decision about proceeding. 

When the drive is backward, the drive-direction view from the navigation camera is partially blocked by an antenna in the middle of the rover. Therefore, at each pause to check for hazards, the rover pivots slightly to the side to get a clear view. If it sees no hazard, it turns back to the direction it was going and continues the drive for about another 4 feet (1.2 meters) before checking again. This set of activities leaves tracks showing the slight turnout on a rhythmically repeated basis, like a dance step. 

Opportunity has driven more than 1.6 miles (about 2.6 kilometers) since leaving "Santa Maria" crater in late March and resuming a long-term trek toward the much larger Endeavour crater. Opportunity has now driven more than 18 miles (29 kilometers) on Mars. 

Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, completed their three-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004. Both rovers continued in years of bonus, extended missions. Both have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. Spirit has not communicated with Earth since March 2010. 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about the rovers is online at: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers . You can follow the rovers on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mars.rovers and on Twitter @MarsRovers . A full list of JPL’s social media accounts is at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/social/ .

 

Artist's concept of the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft. Image credit: NASA

PASADENA, Calif. – Final preparations are under way for the June 9 launch of the international Aquarius/SAC-D observatory. The mission's primary instrument, Aquarius, will study interactions between ocean circulation, the water cycle and climate by measuring ocean surface salinity. 

Engineers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are performing final tests before mating Aquarius/SAC-D to its Delta II rocket. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. SAC stands for Satelite de Applicaciones Cientificas. Aquarius was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

In addition to Aquarius, the observatory carries seven other instruments that will collect environmental data for a wide range of applications, including studies of natural hazards, air quality, land processes and epidemiology. 

The mission will make NASA's first space observations of the concentration of dissolved salt at the ocean surface. Aquarius' observations will reveal how salinity variations influence ocean circulation, trace the path of freshwater around our planet, and help drive Earth's climate. 

The ocean surface constantly exchanges water and heat with Earth's atmosphere. Approximately 80 percent of the global water cycle that moves freshwater from the ocean to the atmosphere to the land and back to the ocean happens over the ocean. 

Salinity plays a key role in these exchanges. By tracking changes in ocean surface salinity, Aquarius will monitor variations in the water cycle caused by evaporation and precipitation over the ocean, river runoff, and the freezing and melting of sea ice. 

Salinity also makes seawater denser, causing it to sink, where it becomes part of deep, interconnected ocean currents. This deep ocean "conveyor belt" moves water masses and heat from the tropics to the polar regions, helping to regulate Earth's climate. 

"Salinity is the glue that bonds two major components of Earth's complex climate system: ocean circulation and the global water cycle," said Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef of Earth & Space Research in Seattle. "Aquarius will map global variations in salinity in unprecedented detail, leading to new discoveries that will improve our ability to predict future climate." 

Aquarius will measure salinity by sensing microwave emissions from the water's surface with a radiometer instrument. These emissions can be used to indicate the saltiness of the surface water, after accounting for other environmental factors. Salinity levels in the open ocean vary by only about five parts per thousand, and small changes are important. Aquarius uses advanced technologies to detect changes in salinity as small as about two parts per 10,000, equivalent to a pinch (about one-eighth of a teaspoon) of salt in a gallon of water. 

Aquarius will map the entire open ocean every seven days for at least three years from 408 miles (657 kilometers) above Earth. Its measurements will produce monthly estimates of ocean surface salinity with a spatial resolution of 93 miles (150 kilometers). The data will reveal how salinity changes over time and from one part of the ocean to another. 

The Aquarius/SAC-D mission continues NASA and CONAE's 17-year partnership. NASA provided launch vehicles and operations for three SAC satellite missions and science instruments for two.

JPL will manage Aquarius through its commissioning phase and archive mission data. Goddard will manage Aquarius mission operations and process science data. NASA's Launch Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch. 

CONAE is providing the SAC-D spacecraft, an optical camera, a thermal camera in collaboration with Canada, a microwave radiometer,; sensors from various Argentine institutions and the mission operations center there. France and Italy are contributing instruments. 

For more information about Aquarius/SAC-D, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius and http://www.conae.gov.ar/eng/principal.html .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

 

AMS-02 Ready for Launch in Endeavour’s Payload Bay, April 2011. (AMS Collaboration)  

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, was carried into orbit on STS-134 on a mission to the International Space Station. While it may sound like just another instrument, in actuality it is the largest scientific collaboration to use the laboratory! This investigation is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy and made possible by funding from 16 different nations. Led by Nobel Laureate Professor Samuel Ting, more than 600 physicists from around the globe will be able to participate in the data generated from this particle physics detector.

According to Trent Martin, AMS project manager for NASA, "This type of collaboration is starting to become more common in the space science community, but AMS is by far the most diversely funded space based science detector ever built. This is the type of collaboration that NASA hopes the ISS National Laboratory will help foster in the space scientific community."

The mission, to seek out answers to the mysteries of antimatter, dark matter, and cosmic ray propagation in the universe, is only part of the story. To fully understand where the science is going, you have to look at  

NASA efforts with AMS began in 1994, when NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, conducted a feasibility study to see if such a delicate instrument could even fly in space and still produce usable data.

Ken Bollweg, AMS deputy project manager for NASA, mentions the challenges that needed to be overcome for the hazardous environment of space. "The detectors used in these types of experiments are typically used in an underground environment where the temperature doesn’t change more than two degrees from winter to summer and the bedrock hasn't moved in millennia," comments Bollweg. "Reviews of the detectors and their operating requirements indicated that it would be very challenging to adapt this technology to space -- but possible nonetheless."

Work on AMS integration and interface hardware began in earnest upon approval in 1995. One of the first understandings NASA needed to reach with the AMS Collaboration was the limitations of mass, size and power. For instance, the AMS Collaboration considered the AMS permanent magnet lightweight at approximately 2 tons, given that similar electromagnets on Earth weigh about 10,000 tons.

Working together, NASA and the AMS Collaboration developed a two-part plan to enable the mass requirements. The Unique Support Structure or USS-01 completed in 1997 and was launched with STS-91 in June of 1998. It carried a 9,197 lb engineering evaluation version of AMS. With the successful STS-91 mission and some extra time, since it was clear that the station would not be ready to host AMS in 2001, the scientists decided to make a few improvements. Plans for the AMS grew to be more complex, including the upgrade to a more powerful cryogenic superconducting superfluid helium-cooled magnet. These changes increased the projected weight for AMS to 15,251 lb, making it necessary to test a second support structure, called USS-02.

Determining a way to communicate the data from AMS to the ground was another important element of the undertaking. A digital data recorder system was developed and used during the STS-91 mission to capture data for the AMS Collaboration. Even though this was a preliminary effort to the overall AMS goal, the resulting data led to improved measurement sensitivity.

Several years passed as engineers continued working on procedures, certification requirements, and entered into the testing phases of development. In December 2001 NASA flew a prototype synchrotron radiation detector with STS-108. This flight test clarified performance of the detector for the AMS. The enhanced complexity of the AMS also meant an increase in data channels from close to 70,000 to over 300,000. In response, NASA developed a new digital data recorder system, which launched on STS-133 in February 2011. This enabled a trial run of the recorder system in preparation for the actual launch of AMS with STS-134.

With the announcement that the space station would continue to operate through 2020, the AMS Collaboration swapped out the current cryogenic magnet with a permanent magnet, which would have an infinite life. The entire AMS was taken apart, the magnets exchanged, and put back together for testing. From concept to implementation, this only took seven months to extend the potential life of the AMS investigation.

Martin commends the efforts of the many NASA and contractor personnel who made significant contributions to the completion of the AMS investigation. These individuals will continue to support AMS while it is on its mission in orbit to gather valuable data. Martin notes in particular the support of NASA's Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations. "[He was] critical to AMS's success, especially while AMS was off the space shuttle and space station manifests after the Columbia accident," says Martin. "He saw to it that Advanced Projects Office personnel were able to continue with the integration and certification tasks and personally visited AMS at various stages of development and testing."

The AMS will be the most advanced charge particle detector flown in space, increasing global knowledge of antimatter and dark matter and providing a powerful tool to physicists. The investigation will enable the discipline of modern physics to grow as scientists seek answers to the origins of our universe.

The newly-installed Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 is visible at center of the International Space Station's starboard truss. The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, is the largest scientific collaboration to use the orbital laboratory. 

This investigation is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and made possible by funding from 16 nations. Led by Nobel Laureate Samuel Ting, more than 600 physicists from around the globe will be able to participate in the data generated from this particle physics detector. 

The mission of the AMS is, in part, to seek answers to the mysteries of antimatter, dark matter and cosmic ray propagation in the universe. 

 

Remember life before cell phones? Or GPS? Or tablet computers? Kind of hard, isn't it? Air traffic management researchers feel the same way about life before the Future ATM (Air Traffic Management) Concepts Evaluation Tool, or FACET.

FACET is a computer program developed by NASA that generates simulations for managing air traffic scenarios. It provides a "big picture" view of what's happening in the skies overhead. For any given moment in time, it can show thousands of aircraft swarming through our national airspace. With each aircraft represented as a tiny icon, a FACET simulation can look like an "ant farm in the sky," with aircraft clustering around major airports like ants targeting a drop of peanut butter. You may have seen video generated from FACET on the morning news during air travel outlook reports.

Recently, the creators of this simulation software at NASA's Ames Research Center in California won NASA's 2010 Government Invention of the Year. The award, presented by NASA's Inventions and Contributions Board, is given to inventions that have made a significant contribution to NASA's goals and to broader communities; in this case, the aeronautics community. Nominations are rated on use, creativity, benefits to the community, and overall significance to humankind.


This series of FACET simulations shows a typical day in U.S. air travel, an atypical day (September 11, 2001), and even
daily air travel sorted by U.S. airlines. Video credit: NASA/Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

"As the world's population grows and air travel demand increases, our airspace will become more crowded," said Banavar Sridhar, NASA senior scientist for Air Transportation Systems. "FACET helps air traffic management researchers find ways to increase airspace capacity and establish more efficient routes with the least impact on the environment, thereby saving fuel and minimizing emissions."

One of the best things about FACET is that it doesn't need supercomputers to run, even when asked to crunch data from thousands of flight plans. The software can operate on a single computer, which was a big leap forward that really helps researchers. FACET can model current traffic patterns to see where improvements could be made, or model entirely new patterns that result from new flight operations techniques, like new merging and spacing rules, weather avoidance techniques, or approach patterns into airports.

How does it work? FACET uses aircraft performance profiles, airspace models, weather data, and flight schedules to model trajectories for the climb, cruise, and descent phases of flight for each type of aircraft. Then a graphical interface displays the traffic patterns in two and three dimensions, under various current and projected conditions for specific airspace regions or over the entire continental United States. You'll see examples of all of these different models in the video linked from this page.

According to FACET team members, the software has become a valuable tool for Federal Aviation Administration traffic flow managers and commercial airline dispatchers. They use FACET technology to do real-time operations planning by combining live air traffic data from FAA radar systems and weather data from the National Weather Service to create a real-time big picture of what's happening in the air. With that information, airspace system operators can reroute flights around congested airspace and severe weather to maintain safety and minimize delay.

This is one big picture that's having a big impact on air travel.

 

 

Image above: Commander Mark Kelly (left) and Mission Specialist Mike Fincke aboard space shuttle Endeavour talk to students at Mesa Verde Elementary School in Tucson, Ariz. Photo credit: NASA TV

The crew members for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Gregory H. Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff, Andrew Feustel and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori.

During the 16-day mission, Endeavour and its crew will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for Dextre.

Greg Chamitoff plays chess on the International Space Station in 2008. Photo Credit: NASA


After a brief postponement due to some electrical problems on the space shuttle Endeavour, the latest Earth vs. Space chess match is now under way, and you can post your suggestions on how to beat NASA astronauts Greg Chamitoff and Greg H. Johnson on Facebook and follow the match there or on Twitter.

Chamitoff and Johnson launched on a mission to the International Space Station on Monday, and have only two weeks to complete this match, so the action should be as fast and furious as the busy mission to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer allows. They’re teaming up for this chess match challenge to the people of Earth.

NASA and the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) hosted the first Earth vs. space match in 2008 when Chamitoff lived aboard the International Space Station. The public won that match thanks to help from chess champions at Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash.

"Chess is a great game that challenges the mind and helps young people develop critical thinking skills that will serve them well in math, science, and all aspects of their future careers," Chamitoff said.

He and Johnson will play the game during their 14-day space shuttle flight to the International Space Station. The USCF will facilitate the match on its website at:


At the site, the public can suggest or vote on a chess move. The USCF will decide how to respond to the astronauts' moves. NASA and USCF will use Twitter and Facebook to notify participants about the status of the game and when to vote on moves.

Chamitoff, who will conduct two spacewalks during the shuttle mission, is a chess aficionado. He took a chess set when he launched to the space station in May 2008, and brought it back when he returned home in November 2008. He will be taking a different chess set for this trip.

"We hope to do better in this Earth vs. space match," Chamitoff said. "But, I have to admit it will be a challenge because we have an extremely busy flight ahead of us."

Updates on the chess match will be posted on the USCF Twitter and Facebook sites, Chamitoff's Twitter account and the International Space Station's official Facebook page:

http://twitter.com/chessmagnet

"This is a moon rock and it's on our kitchen table. This rock encapsulates all of the optimism and unlimited potential that Americans had at the time. It made me believe that anything is possible. I wanted kids of this generation to have this experience. So, although it wasn't easy -- I borrowed a Moon Rock from NASA."
--Debra Sea in "Moon Rock"

In 1970, Debra Sea and her brothers, David and William, admire a Moon Rock from Apollo 11 as it sits atop their kitchen table.
Credit: Sea Family
To view the film, "Moon Rock," by Debra Sea, please visit:
moonrockthemovie.com/movie.html
The sample that sat before Debra and two of her younger brothers in 1970 returned to Earth from Apollo 11. And it landed on her kitchen table by way of her father, Duane Sea, a former a NASA science demonstrator, also known as a Spacemobiler.

Duane and his Spacemobile traveled to schools across the Mid-West, reaching more than 400,000 students. In the summer, Debra and her siblings would go along for the ride.

"Like everyone else, we were wildly optimistic about the future of space science," Debra said.

At age 10, her Moon Rock experience was documented with a photograph, which was labeled as "Moon Rock" in her family album. So, it was only natural that her film would also be labeled as "Moon Rock."

"It was always a story I wanted to tell," said Debra. "The timing was perfect."

Perfect because she was a working on her Master's of Fine Arts (MFA) at the University of North Carolina Greensboro when she chose "Moon Rock" as her Master Production film project. She was one of three students chosen to receive a 2011 Carole Fielding Student Grants awarded by the University Film and Video Association.

For her thesis film, "Moon Rock," Debra Sea borrowed a Moon Rock from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
But Debra quickly learned that borrowing a Moon Rock from NASA was no easy task.

After six months and a great deal of determination, her Lunar Sample Application was approved. For pick-up, she was referred to NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., because it was in her outreach region.

The larger, display Moon Rocks are considered a national treasure that cannot be shipped, only hand carried. With possession, comes a strict set of guidelines. It must be kept in sight or in a safe. It can't be kept in a motel room overnight. And don't touch the Lucite without gloves, because the oil from skin can damage and cloud the Lucite.

"We were like old friends," Debra said of the Moon Rock. Except this was a different rock -- from Apollo 14. And this time, she was responsible for it. That was quite the burden for Debra, who constantly worried about the rock, much like a mother worries for her child.

Meghan Guethe, Langley's exhibits manager, helped Debra through the process. She understood and appreciated Debra's desire to keep it safe. "Everything is priced when it is sent out with an exhibit," Guethe said. "We cannot price these."

In the summer, Debra Sea and her brothers would travel in a Spacemobile driven by their father Duane, a former NASA Science demonstrator, also known as a Spacemobiler.
Credit: Sea Family
It took a lot of planning to prepare the invaluable Moon Rock's trip to three classrooms at Wadena-Deer Creek, a K-12 school in Minnesota, where Debra's brother David teaches. She created a contingency plan for each airport.

And when she and her film assistant Adrienne Ostberg, a first-year MFA student, had their last flight canceled, they rotated staying with the rock in a private, locked room, purposed for nursing moms.

Their "baby" was a Moon Rock, which was enclosed in a Lucite pyramid. The 115-gram rock had its own carrying case and a small brass plate on the case reads, "IF FOUND, RETURN TO -- NASA, JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058."

Duane accompanied her to the school. And despite the fact that he hadn't worked for NASA in 40 years, he smoothly converted back into his Spacemobiler ways.

"Have you ever driven a nail with a banana?" Duane asked the students after dipping one into a container of liquid nitrogen and freezing it solid.

As the banana proved to have the power of a hammer, the looks of authentic amazement and surprise on the student's faces spoke powerfully. And so did their questions.

This Moon Rock, from Apollo 14, visited three classes at Wadena-Deer Creek, a K-12 school in Minnesota, where Debra's brother David teaches.
Credit: NASA/Sean Smith
"Is this a magic trick?" a student asked.

"No, magic. Just science" Duane replied.

"He had such a presence," Debra said of her father.

The Moon Rock temporarily abolished his presence. The students put gloves on and one-by-one touched the pyramid and gazed into the rock that had traveled some 238,857 miles (384,403 km) back to Earth 40 years prior.

"Everyone wanted to touch it, like a relic," Debra said of the students, and even airport security personnel that help her to guard it from harm.

But the contact that truly mattered was that of the students.

"I keep hearing that kids are different today than they were years ago. I just don't buy that," Duane said. "Kids are kids. The same eager faces that you see in front of you today are the same that I saw in front of me 40 years ago."

Debra and two of her brothers recreated the "Moon Rock" photo, and the moment that sparked their own sense of wonder. It seemingly had a great affect on them as each studied and works in a science-related field.

Whether Science or magic, their Moon Rock experience was afforded to a new generation. And now, it's up to them to decide what to do with it.

"I see incredible optimism and potential in these kids. And after bringing the Moon Rock home, I feel really hopeful about the future," Debra said. "I still believe that anything is possible. And I know I always will."