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 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. 

 

 

 

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.

"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."

 

 

PASADENA, Calif. -- Astronomers, including a NASA-funded team member, have discovered a new class of Jupiter-sized planets floating alone in the dark of space, away from the light of a star. The team believes these lone worlds were probably ejected from developing planetary systems. 

                     

The discovery is based on a joint Japan-New Zealand survey that scanned the center of the Milky Way galaxy during 2006 and 2007, revealing evidence for up to 10 free-floating planets roughly the mass of Jupiter. The isolated orbs, also known as orphan planets, are difficult to spot, and had gone undetected until now. The newfound planets are located at an average approximate distance of 10,000 to 20,000 light-years from Earth.

"Although free-floating planets have been predicted, they finally have been detected, holding major implications for planetary formation and evolution models," said Mario Perez, exoplanet program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 

The discovery indicates there are many more free-floating Jupiter-mass planets that can't be seen. The team estimates there are about twice as many of them as stars. In addition, these worlds are thought to be at least as common as planets that orbit stars. This would add up to hundreds of billions of lone planets in our Milky Way galaxy alone. 

"Our survey is like a population census," said David Bennett, a NASA and National Science Foundation-funded co-author of the study from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. "We sampled a portion of the galaxy, and based on these data, can estimate overall numbers in the galaxy."

The study, led by Takahiro Sumi from Osaka University in Japan, appears in the May 19 issue of the journal Nature. 

The survey is not sensitive to planets smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, but theories suggest lower-mass planets like Earth should be ejected from their stars more often. As a result, they are thought to be more common than free-floating Jupiters. 

Previous observations spotted a handful of free-floating, planet-like objects within star-forming clusters, with masses three times that of Jupiter. But scientists suspect the gaseous bodies form more like stars than planets. These small, dim orbs, called brown dwarfs, grow from collapsing balls of gas and dust, but lack the mass to ignite their nuclear fuel and shine with starlight. It is thought the smallest brown dwarfs are approximately the size of large planets. 

On the other hand, it is likely that some planets are ejected from their early, turbulent solar systems, due to close gravitational encounters with other planets or stars. Without a star to circle, these planets would move through the galaxy as our sun and other stars do, in stable orbits around the galaxy's center. The discovery of 10 free-floating Jupiters supports the ejection scenario, though it's possible both mechanisms are at play.

"If free-floating planets formed like stars, then we would have expected to see only one or two of them in our survey instead of 10," Bennett said. "Our results suggest that planetary systems often become unstable, with planets being kicked out from their places of birth." 

The observations cannot rule out the possibility that some of these planets may have very distant orbits around stars, but other research indicates Jupiter-mass planets in such distant orbits are rare.

The survey, the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA), is named in part after a giant wingless, extinct bird family from New Zealand called the moa. A 5.9-foot (1.8-meter) telescope at Mount John University Observatory in New Zealand is used to regularly scan the copious stars at the center of our galaxy for gravitational microlensing events. These occur when something, such as a star or planet, passes in front of another, more distant star. The passing body's gravity warps the light of the background star, causing it to magnify and brighten. Heftier passing bodies, like massive stars, will warp the light of the background star to a greater extent, resulting in brightening events that can last weeks. Small planet-size bodies will cause less of a distortion, and brighten a star for only a few days or less. 

A second microlensing survey group, the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE), contributed to this discovery using a 4.2-foot (1.3 meter) telescope in Chile. The OGLE group also observed many of the same events, and their observations independently confirmed the analysis of the MOA group.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,Calif., manages NASA's Exoplanet Exploration program office. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. 

More information about exoplanets and NASA's planet-finding program is at http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov.

Whitney Clavin 818-354-4673
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
whitney.clavin@jpl.nasa.gov

Trent Perrotto 202-358-0321
Headquarters, Washington
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Image above: Commander Mark Kelly and the STS-134 crew are welcomed aboard the International Space Station by the Expedition 27 crew. 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.

 

View annotated composite image The Short-term Prediction Research and Transition, or SPoRT, team has used satellite data from the North Alabama region to identify tornado damage from the April 27th super storm outbreak.

NASA's Terra satellite, part of the Earth Observing System of satellites, captured images of the damage path. An instrument aboard Terra called the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, or ASTER, was used to discern vegetation contrasts over the region.

"This is the first time ASTER data has been applied to such a massive outbreak of storms," said Gary Jedlovec, atmospheric scientist at Marshall Space Flight Center. "The usefulness of satellite information in providing improved accuracy along with damage assessment in severe weather events continues to evolve."

The tornado track signature observed by ASTER is seen as a disruption in the vegetation or other reflective surfaces over a region caused by tornado winds. Uprooted trees quickly stop the process of photosynthesis and change color -- this is easily detected by satellite.

However, detecting damage in areas outside of heavy forestland is challenging.

In Madison and Limestone counties much of the area scarred by the tornadoes are agricultural in nature. Fields are either pasture land or row crops -- therefore the effect of tornado winds is minimal and the mark on satellite imagery is suppressed.

While this indicates a limitation to the use of this particular image analysis for tornado track detection over primarily agricultural land use, the SPoRT team is exploring the use of temperature channels from ASTER to better identify damage marks on Earth's surface. Terra/ASTER is a joint activity between NASA's Science Mission Directorate Earth Science Division and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Terra is one of 14 NASA satellites that look at the Earth to study and understand changes in the Earth system and provide societal benefits.

The NASA image created by the Short-term Prediction and Research Transition or SPoRT project at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, using data provided courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, Japan’s Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, along with the Japan Research Observation System Organization.

Expedition 28/29 Flight Engineer Sergei Volkov responds to a question from a reporter during an Expedition 28/29 preflight press conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Q: Why did you want to be a cosmonaut?

• A: Very tough question. It wasn’t just a kid dream. Actually it wasn’t a kid dream, because my father was a cosmonaut and I was able to see all pros and cons of this job, and when I was a kid it was more minuses than plusses always busy, studying all day long, exams. That’s why as for kid, it was really a, I think, not scared but kids usually not too ready, or at least imagine that will studying all their life. I think it’s the worst case scenario for all kids.

So you saw all the work and none of the fun?

• Yes. That is why when I made a decision to become a cosmonaut it was sort of deep understanding that I can manage to do this job, and I wanted be useful to my country. That was one of the input, I wanted to be a cosmonaut, when I grew up and I thought, I’m a military pilot, why can’t I be a cosmonaut, it’s interesting job and I would like to participate.

Let me ask you, excuse me, a little bit about how you grew up and became a pilot, and start with your hometown. Tell me about where you grew up and what it was like there.

• I grew up in Star City because my father was a cosmonaut and in our house, 11-story building, only cosmonauts lived, all famous cosmonauts: Valentina Tereshkova, Alexei Leonov, Yuri Gagarin’s wife, and all this famous cosmonauts, and I was able to meet them and Leonov personally covered all kids because father was always somewhere in trips or trainings or in space. That’s why he was sort of our mentor in our house, and then, I finished school in Star City and then I graduated from Tambov Military School of Pilots, and then as an air force pilot I flew on air force base, and then was selected a cosmonaut.

What was it that got you interested in wanting to be a pilot?

• I always dreamed about to being a pilot since my first time I’ve been in a cockpit of the fighter, because originally my father was instructor of military school and when I was three years old he took me to the airfield, and while he flew with cadets his friends gave me a tour of the airfield and, of course, I was able to sit in the real fighter and that’s how the dreams appear and since that time I couldn’t imagine that I can be somebody [other] than the pilot.

But you did. As you said you went to college, to pilot school in the air force. Did you enjoy being an air force pilot?

• Yes. It was great this first solo flight and to be able to fly the airplane, is great.

What was it, as you were a pilot then, what was it that made you feel, perhaps I could be a cosmonaut, too, that made you want to, to apply to do that job? Especially since, as you said, you had seen the hard side of it as a boy?

• Maybe because the life of pilot wasn’t enough for me. I wanted something more to be able to fly a little bit higher.

So as a cosmonaut you have a job that, not unlike an air force pilot, does have a risk associated with it, but being a cosmonaut is a different kind of risk. So, Sergei, I wonder why you think that risk is worthwhile? What is it that we’re getting or what is it as people learn about, that makes it worth taking the risk for you?

• I think the curiosity of mankind, that we want something unknown. Like 500 years ago, humankind wanted to know what the other side of the ocean is, and it was a very risky project and then we decided that probably we can fly; let’s fly higher. And now we’re flying space station, and still it’s not enough for us, we want to know what’s beyond. And I think there could be many answers on this question from very simple—because we are curious and we want to know what is beyond—and the complicated answer that we can stay longer, all time on our world and in Earth, and we need to somehow reach other planets because it’s always interesting for us. It’s not from the destination, but what was always the key point, try to find something, doesn’t matter when it happened, try to find something. Five hundred years ago it was spices, gold; right now, we don’t know what to expect when we reach Mars surface, we don’t know what we may expect from flying beyond the solar system, but we always wanted to know and I think its inspiring us and we continue to fly, even if it’s a really risky job.

Sergei, you are a member of the International Space Station’s Expedition 28 and 29 crews. Please give me a summary of the goals of your flight and tell me what your main responsibilities are going to be on this mission.

• The main goals, I think, pretty the same as most of the crew does. It’s launch from Kazakhstan, and I’m going to be commander of Soyuz vehicle, S27, and then docking with International Space Station. Then we are ready to dock with three progresses that will be during our increment, one Russian EVA, potentially another EVA from Russian side, and at least one American EVA, and of course we are looking forward to see shuttle guys with us flying 10 days and landing according to schedule in middle of November. That’s a main milestone of our expeditions.

And between you’ll be doing a lot of science work and maintenance work on board the station.

• Absolutely.

Now you spent almost 200 days in space on your first flight, when you were the commander of Expedition 17 three years ago. How has that experience helped you as you’ve trained for this mission?

• It helps a lot because now I understand what I really need to know. It’s like when you are in school you can imagine what you will need from your background. For right now I know I need to focus myself or maybe focus all my crew members, Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa, we can discuss not in theory but I can share my experience with them we flew together with Mike 10 days on board the station, and we know each other well and at least we know how to settle our life better.

What are you looking forward to about getting to spend another six months on board the space station?

• First of all it’s my job to fly to space, and of course doing what you need to do is a great feeling. As a professional I’m looking forward to do EVA from Russian side. I’m going to support as arm operator American EVA, and it’s also very exciting task for me because I’ve trained a lot for this and I think we’ll manage success. That’s probably the two most exciting things that I am looking forward to.

Well let me get you to tell us about the place we’re talking about. Describe the International Space Station as it exists today, with all the different laboratories and modules and robotics that are there.

• International Space Station, it’s huge I would say, space building. When you just can see it—and you can see it actually from five kilometers perfectly well when the sun is rising—and you can’t imagine, or can’t believe, that this miracle was built by people, by humans. Then your closer you can see all those modules and nodes. It was done practically during our Expedition 17, but still some new modules appeared, and now it’s, a very good house to live in and a great place to work. We have everything we need, we have equipment for the experiments, we have scientists who support us and provide those experiments to us, and the station’s great.

Well, let’s start by talking about the experiments ’cause now you’re going to a station where you’re going to have six crew members and several laboratories to take advantage of, so there’s a lot more science that is being done these days…

• Absolutely.

…than Expedition 17. A lot of this is designed to find out how people can live and work in space.

• I agree with you.

Tell me about a few of those kinds of experiments that you and your crewmates are going to be involved in.

• Expedition 28 Flight Engineer and Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum (center) and Flight Engineers Sergei Volkov (left) and Satoshi Furukawa are pictured during a cake-cutting ceremony in the Jake Garn Simulation and Training Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• One of the newest experiments from the Russian side, it’s sort of following previous it’s, the main problem is bone [mass loss] and now we have the piece of bones with us and we will manage to see the actual degradation of the calcium from the bones, it’s not only a problem for the cosmonauts and astronauts but for many of people who live on Earth. I think it’s very valuable to have another result and maybe find the cure from this disease because, that’s the newest one that we didn’t perform before. And, of course, the benefits of the station, that you continue experiments for a long period of time, and a lot of experiments will just continue, some of them I’ve already done before during my expedition, now it’s just a sequence of those experiments, and it’s going to Plazmennyi Kristall [Plasma Crystal] and it’s going to be a lot of research of human body, what we can do, we need to know, and how we going to live on Mars and beyond, and that’s a great source to have this data is from astronauts and cosmonauts flying International Space Station.

Is just the fact that you’re there and living in that environment is really one big experiment in itself?

• I would say, it’s part of the experiment but for the scientists it’s not enough just to send people somewhere, they stay in weightlessness, have fun, and then successfully return. We need to do a lot of tasks to succeed in all these experiments and from each side we have thousands, and 24 hours is not enough for us right now.

Are there other life sciences experiments that are going to be new for you this time?

• I don’t think so. Most of the experiments are just like continuing of previous experiments.

I guess then there is some value in getting data from the same subject again a second time?

• Absolutely, and all the same subject do the same experiment, what had happened when you did it like two years ago. Now with your knowledge, your experience, and analysis from the ground, you may see the improvement my expectation is to see some improvement in some experiments.

Now there are a lot of other kinds of science besides the human life sciences that you and your crewmates will be doing. You will be the operators of experiments. Give me a sense of the different kinds of research work that you guys will be doing on board the station this time.

• Studying the radiation in space and actually on the Earth, it’s a problem. We sort of know how to prevent our bodies from these extremely dangerous rays but to be able to analyze the data, to collect this data without any safety layers like ozone layer or atmosphere, the space station is a perfect place. Of course, Earth science, Earth observation targets, we not just observe the events that had happened during our flight like volcano erupture or maybe the results of earthquake, but you can see how the people ruin the world, their home here, and this is also very valuable because when you stay inside of the woods, you can’t imagine how huge this forest is or how huge the damage or impact of the human beings is. But from space, when you can see at the same time like 10,000 kilometers square, you can imagine how harmful we are.

You also mentioned a moment ago that you have like physics research, the plasma crystal experiment, there’s biological research other kinds of science that you’re doing, too.

• Of course, growing some plants, it’s going to be one of our tasks we have a small greenhouse it can’t provide food for us but at least for the scientists they can make their, again, studying of these products, how well they are, were grown, and will we be able to maybe have fresh food when you fly far[ther] than 400 kilometers above the Earth.

Now, along with all the science work that you guys will do, you are responsible for taking care to make sure that the station is operating properly as well. Give me a sense of the other kinds of maintenance work that a space station crew member is responsible for.

• According to my previous experience you train to react on all failures and you are ready to perform R&R [remove and replace] for some equipment, but nobody can tell you for sure to be ready that this device will have failure, or you need backup. That is why have scheduled maintenance because everything unfortunately that man can build get the expiration date. We need perform the replacement without any failures of equipment. but you probably have heard some issues with Electrons right now; I hope that we do manage to repair it or change the tank. So far I can’t see any issues that we have.

One of the first highlights that will come on your schedule will be the final visit from a space shuttle mission, and STS-135 is going include a spacewalk for Mike Fossum and Ron Garan. Usually it’s shuttle crew members who go outside during these spacewalks; why are station crew members going outside during a shuttle visit?

• I maybe because Mike and Ron already done EVAs and they perform three EVAs during their flight, STS-124, during my mission, and to have, it’s always benefit have two experienced crew member who already performed EVA and the other reason I think because there are going to be only four crew members [on the shuttle] instead of six, and probably guys need somebody else in that some other specialists deal with autonomous flight and then docking phase, and to have this source of two very well experienced astronauts on board the station and not to use this resource, I think it’s not good.

Well, and you mentioned a moment ago that you’re going to be involved in this spacewalk as an operator of the robotic arm. So tell us about what tasks there are scheduled for this EVA.

• There are three main tasks on this EVA. First, very important put the failed ammonia pump from the truss to the payload bay and then they need to take a new fluid experiment from the shuttle bay and install it on the truss. Those two tasks are very big and long, and the third task is repairment of external camera that’s installed on one of the truss.

So for your arm operations, I take it, you’re going to be maneuvering your crewmates around outside.

• That’s my expectation, yeah. Somebody will stand on the end effector and I will fly him from one structure to another structure.

You look like you’re going to, look forward to that.

• Absolutely.

What else is on the timeline for this flight—what other sort of work will be done during STS-135’s visit?

• Because it’s the last flight and all participants of ISS program would like to bring as much spare parts as possible, the shuttle will be full by the equipment and food and needed stuff. That is why it’s a lot of transportation work we will unload the shuttle and we’ll, I’m pretty sure that we will fill with some failed equipment and trash.

And the last opportunity to bring things back home…

• Yes, yes…

…large things back home…

• Yes, absolutely.

…like the pump module. Because this flight of Atlantis is the last mission in the Space Shuttle Program, what are your thoughts, Sergei, about the space shuttle’s place in the history of human spaceflight and the role that it’s played in building this space station?

• I think thanks to this machine, we manage to build the space station, because all trusses, all modules from American side were delivered by the shuttle and were assembled by shuttle crew or some ISS crew members who flew with the shuttle crew members. I think that’s the biggest plus of utilizing the shuttle and I think almost 80% of success to building of International Space Station is built on shuttle wings.

Well, just a couple of weeks after Atlantis departs the current schedule calls for you and Alexander Samokutyaev to do a spacewalk out of the Russian segment of the space station. Tell me what’s on the plan for this EVA.

• Because we continue to build Russian part of station, there were two modules new modules, appeared previous year, MRM [Mini Research Module] 2 and MRM 1, and the Docking Compartment [Pirs] is relatively old. That’s why we need to reorganize some equipment that was installed on surface of Docking Compartment. One is a Strela, and we will uninstall one of the Strelas from Docking Compartment and bring to the MRM 2. That’s also the biggest task, probably takes like one hour and a half. Then installation new experiment for communication and we’ll try laser communication, and that’s also the milestone of our EVA usual tasks is install new experiments and take just experiments that we need to take from the surface of station and move them back. That’s the main goal.

Bring back samples…

• Samples and new task just recently appeared. It’s this small Sputnik that was built by the students of Moscow University, and we will just fly it….

You’re going to release the satellite?

• …and it will translate some information voices of famous people that kind of experiment.

Nice. Now there’s a possibility that there will be a second Russian spacewalk during your increment, correct? What’s the plan there?

• Because it’s possibility, we just discuss this, and we didn’t have any training on it, that’s why I can’t tell you about the second EVA so far.

But it is a thing that all crew members have to do they have to train for spacewalks just in case they come up.

• Absolutely, and there is the basic training it’s not only on Russian side but American side, we have basic training like everybody who going to fly as a International Space Station crew member supposed to know how to do the EVA. That’s one of our tasks.

There’s also a plan for some new cargo ships that have been developed on the American side under NASA’s Commercial orbiter Transportation, Orbital Transportation Services program, that have test flights that are coming up later on this year. Tell me about those vehicles and what work you or your crewmates, you have to do to get the station ready for that.

• Expedition 28/29 Flight Engineer Sergei Volkov participates in an emergency scenario training session in an International Space Station mock-up/trainer in the Space Vehicle Mock-up Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• I know that Mike and Satoshi trained for catching free-flying objects and it’s great to have a new vehicle, always great to see something new that’s flying, potentially can dock to the station, and because of the shuttle retirement we need another vehicles, not only Progress, and ATVs [Automated Transfer Vehicles] also good, HTV [H-II Transfer Vehicle], but I think it’s great that each country participant will have the cargo vehicle with their plusses and minuses.

So there’s a, a chance you may get to see a brand new kind of vehicle at the station.

• Yeah, it would be great to see a new vehicle.

You’ve got commercial cargo ships that are just, that’s just one way that spaceflight has changed in its first 50 years since Gagarin’s flight—have gone from one man in a tiny capsule to this giant space building, as you described it. Where do you think human space exploration will be 50 years from now? How is the International Space Station getting us ready for that?

• Hard to tell. We are so dependent on government money it depends on how much money the budget will provide us, and we need to believe that at least have the moon base on surface—this is my dream, actually, to spend at least one month on surface of the moon and do some work there. Maybe Mars; who knows? It’s hard to tell right now. I don’t want to just dream, or imagine; I’m a professional, and what I can tell based on my knowledge what is going on in the program.

How is what you’re doing on the International Space Station helping prepare for those possibilities?

• As we mentioned before the human research experiment that provides data, how the human body will react on the long weightlessness will we be able to go out of the capsule after landing to Mars surface, and what you need to do, maybe what kind of pills we need to use or maybe what kind of physical exercise we need to perform to be ready not just to lay around the capsule and see the red sky and red sand but to be able to perform some tasks on the surface of Mars. I think the International Space Station is the best source of this information.

Artist's concept of Dawn NASA's Dawn spacecraft, illustrated in this artist's concept, is propelled by ion engines. Image credit: NASA/JPL

› Journal entry on approach phase

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA's Dawn spacecraft has reached its official approach phase to the asteroid Vesta and will begin using cameras for the first time to aid navigation for an expected July 16 orbital encounter. The large asteroid is known as a protoplanet – a celestial body that almost formed into a planet.

At the start of this three-month final approach to this massive body in the asteroid belt, Dawn is 1.21 million kilometers (752,000 miles) from Vesta, or about three times the distance between Earth and the moon. During the approach phase, the spacecraft's main activity will be thrusting with a special, hyper-efficient ion engine that uses electricity to ionize and accelerate xenon. The 12-inch-wide ion thrusters provide less thrust than conventional engines, but will provide propulsion for years during the mission and provide far greater capability to change velocity.

"We feel a little like Columbus approaching the shores of the New World," said Christopher Russell, Dawn principal investigator, based at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA). "The Dawn team can't wait to start mapping this Terra Incognita."

Dawn previously navigated by measuring the radio signal between the spacecraft and Earth, and used other methods that did not involve Vesta. But as the spacecraft closes in on its target, navigation requires more precise measurements. By analyzing where Vesta appears relative to stars, navigators will pin down its location and enable engineers to refine the spacecraft's trajectory. Using its ion engine to match Vesta's orbit around the sun, the spacecraft will spiral gently into orbit around the asteroid. When Dawn gets approximately 16,000 kilometers (9,900 miles) from Vesta, the asteroid's gravity will capture the spacecraft in orbit.

"After more than three-and-a-half years of interplanetary travel, we are finally closing in on our first destination," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's chief engineer, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "We're not there yet, but Dawn will soon bring into focus an entire world that has been, for most of the two centuries scientists have been studying it, little more than a pinpoint of light."

Scientists will search the framing camera images for possible moons around Vesta. None of the images from ground-based and Earth-orbiting telescopes have seen any moons, but Dawn will give scientists much more detailed images to determine whether small objects have gone undiscovered.

The gamma ray and neutron detector instrument also will gather information on cosmic rays during the approach phase, providing a baseline for comparison when Dawn is much closer to Vesta. Simultaneously, Dawn's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer will take early measurements to ensure it is calibrated and ready when the spacecraft enters orbit around Vesta.

Dawn's odyssey, which will take it on a journey of 4.8-billion kilometers (3-billion miles), began on Sept. 27, 2007, with its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It will stay in orbit around Vesta for one year. After another long cruise phase, Dawn will arrive at its second destination, an even more massive body in the asteroid belt, called Ceres, in 2015.

These two icons of the asteroid belt will help scientists unlock the secrets of our solar system's early history. The mission will compare and contrast the two giant bodies, which were shaped by different forces. Dawn's science instrument suite will measure surface composition, topography and texture. In addition, the Dawn spacecraft will measure the tug of gravity from Vesta and Ceres to learn more about their internal structures.

The Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of SMD's Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., designed and built the Dawn spacecraft. 

The framing cameras have been developed and built under the leadership of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau in Germany, with significant contributions by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin, and in coordination with the Institute of Computer and Communication Network Engineering in Braunschweig. The framing camera project is funded by NASA, the Max Planck Society and DLR.

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena.

For more information about Dawn, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/dawn and http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov

To learn more about Dawn's approach phase, read the latest Dawn Journal at http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/2011/05/dawn-begins-its-vesta-phase/

Jia-Rui C. Cook 818-354-0850

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

jia-rui.c.cook@jpl.nasa.gov