NASA Announces Event for Social Media Followers at RBSP Launch

John Yembrick/Jason Townsend

Headquarters, Washington                          

202-358-0359

john.yembrick@nasa.gov / jason.c.townsend@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- NASA invites its social media followers to a two-day NASA Social on Aug. 22-23, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the launch of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission.

NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. This event is expected to culminate in the launch of the twin RBSP spacecraft, currently targeted for 4:08 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 23 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Registration for the NASA Social opens at noon Thursday, July 5, and closes at noon Monday, July 9. Fifty participants will be selected from online registrations. Because portions of this event may take place in restricted areas, registration is limited to U.S. citizens.

Participants will have unique behind the scenes experiences with NASA, which they are encouraged to share with others through their favorite social networks. Guests will view the launch, tour facilities at Kennedy, speak with representatives from NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory, view the RBSP launch pad, meet fellow space enthusiasts who are active on social media and meet members of NASA's launch services and social media teams.

The RBSP mission uses two identical spacecraft built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Designed for a two-year primary science mission in orbit around Earth, RBSP will provide insight into our planet's radiation belts and help scientists predict changes in this critical region of space.

For more information on the NASA Social and to register, visit http://www.nasa.gov/social.

To find all the ways to connect and collaborate with NASA, visit http://www.nasa.gov/connect.

To learn more about RBSP, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp.

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International Media Accreditation Now Open for NASA’s RBSP Launch

Joshua Buck / Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100 / 202-358-1726

jbuck@nasa.gov / dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

 

George Diller

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

321-867-2468

george.h.diller@nasa.gov

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Media accreditation is open for the launch of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:08 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 23, aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The two-year RBSP mission will help scientists develop an understanding of Earth's Van Allen radiation belts and related regions that pose hazards to human and robotic explorers.

International news media who want to cover the RBSP launch must apply for accreditation by 5 p.m., July 18. NASA and the U.S. Air Force require international media to apply for accreditation at least 30 days in advance of the scheduled launch. U.S. media also may begin their application process at this time. All news media must use the online accreditation system at https://media.ksc.nasa.gov/.

International media are required to provide their full legal name, date of birth, nationality, passport number and media affiliation. Two forms of legal identification are required upon arrival at Kennedy. At least one form must be legal photo identification, such as a passport or driver license.

International media with questions about accreditation should contact:

Jennifer Horner

NASA Public Affairs Office

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

321-867-6598 or 321-867-2468

jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov

RBSP will use twin probes to explore space weather -- changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- that can disable satellites, create power grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will allow researchers to understand fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe.

The RBSP is part of NASA's Living with a Star Program, which is managed by the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., built the pair of RBSP spacecraft and will manage the mission for NASA. The Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for launch management. United Launch Alliance is the provider of the Atlas V launch service.

For more information about the RBSP mission, visit http:www.nasa.gov/rbsp.

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Air Force Officials Announce Milestone Atlas V Launch

By Amaani Lyle

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2012 – As part of the Defense Department’s ongoing efforts to maintain assured, affordable access to space through 2030, the Atlas V rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral today, Air Force officials said.

“This is an exciting time for the U.S. space launch community, said Scott Correll, the program’s executive officer. “From today’s successful launch of the 50th EELV to the recent success of Space X’s support to NASA with their Falcon 9 it's clear the commercial space transportation industry is making notable strides.”

The EELV program replaced the existing fleet of launch systems with two families of launch vehicles -- the Boeing Delta IV and Lockheed Martin Atlas V -- built and operated by the DOD’s prime contractor, United Launch Alliance, Correll said.

An official from the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base explained that the Atlas V is a critical part of a spectrum of government missions.

“Atlas V launches space-based infrared systems, global positioning systems, the defense meteorological satellite program, and the advanced extremely-high frequency system satellites,” said Air Force Col. Bob Hodgkiss, director of the launch systems directorate. “I’m pleased to report that this year we have also already launched the wideband global sat-com IV aboard a Delta IV, and the Navy’s mobile user objective system satellite 1 aboard Atlas V.”

Because of considerable program costs, which can run as high as several billion dollars per launch, quality assurance and the development of a competitive market are paramount, Air Force officials said.

“Since the Air Force must by law self-indemnify, we do a very rigorous evaluation of the physical, electrical and radio frequency interfaces between the rocket, the satellite and the ground systems,” Hodgkiss said of the process to determine flight readiness. “My team is the government’s insurance policy, so we need to be sure we have the highest probability of success in one of the riskiest activities the Air Force does.”

On the business side of the program, Hodgkiss said, the program’s primary users, the Air Force, NASA, and the National Reconnaissance Office are developing strategies to infuse competition into space launch as a cost reduction measure.

“We are balancing the commitment we will make to ULA with the potential to reintroduce competition to the program when one or more commercial launch companies have demonstrated to the Air Force they are reliable launch providers,” the colonel said.

Correll asserts that certifying new entrants will potentially enable competition, thereby lowering costs and creating innovation in government payloads such as communications, navigation, weather satellites, and science and national security missions.

“The framework offers multiple paths to on-ramp potential new entrants and part of this strategy requires an entrant to demonstrate at least one launch of a vehicle configured as an EELV class national security space launch,” he said.

ULA's next launch and the NRO’s next mission, the Delta IV NROL-15, is scheduled for June 28.

“Our soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and intelligence community are dependent upon the warfighting capabilities we enable,” Correll said. “Our priority and focus remain mission success first while controlling costs in this constrained fiduciary environment.”

NASA Commercial Crew Partner Boeing Meets Software Milestone

Trent J. Perrotto      

Headquarters, Washington           

202-358-0321

trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

 

Candrea Thomas      

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.      

321-867-2468

candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

 

Susan Wells

The Boeing Co.

321-264-8580

susan.h.wells@boeing.com

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Boeing Company has successfully completed a new milestone in the development of software that will operate its Crew Space Transportation (CST) spacecraft. The company is one of NASA's partners developing commercial crew transportation capabilities to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station.

With the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of its software on May 18, the company now has completed more than 40 milestones under partnerships supporting NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

"When it comes to designing a spacecraft safe enough to transport humans, software is as important as the hardware," said Ed Mango, CCP manager. "Boeing has made an excellent effort to take safety into consideration while developing critical software components of its spacecraft."

Boeing's CST-100 is designed to be a reusable, capsule-shaped spacecraft, capable of transporting up to seven people or a combination of people and cargo. It is compatible with a variety of expendable launch vehicles. Boeing has selected United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket for initial CST-100 test flights.

Software is essential to all operational aspects of the spacecraft, including launch, orbital maneuvering, docking with and separating from the space station, re-entry and landing. The testing is part of a NASA-funded Space Act Agreement under the second round of the agency's commercial crew development (CCDev2) activities, which could eventually lead toward human spaceflight certification of the CST-100.

The Boeing team is on schedule to complete its remaining CCDev2 milestones in the next few months, including an orbital maneuvering/attitude control engine hot fire test that will provide additional data on significant elements of the spacecraft design.

All of NASA's industry partners, including Boeing, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities.

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew.

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Dream Chaser

The Dream Chaser model with its Atlas V launch vehicle is undergoing final preparations at the Aerospace Composite Model Development Section's workshop for buffet tests at the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA Langley. The scale model is being tested as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development program to regain the American capability to launch astronauts safely to the International Space Station. The lifting body reusable spacecraft would carry as many as seven astronauts to the space station. Sierra Nevada Space Systems is developing the craft under a Space Act Agreement with NASA.

With the help of hundreds of pressure transducers, engineers from Sierra Nevada Corporation, the United Launch Alliance and NASA Langley will look at the pressure fluctuations the model and launch vehicle stack experience during the critical ascent to orbit, especially at transonic speeds. Shock-waves form on launch vehicles as they approach the speed of sound and may result in regions of highly unsteady flow. Within these regions of the Dream Chaser and launch vehicle, the resulting buffet forces and high frequency acoustic noise must be clearly understood as part of the vehicle design process. Transonic wind-tunnel testing of large, highly instrumented scale models is the only method of determining the buffet environments of launch vehicles with complex shapes.

Image Credit: NASA EDGE/Ron Beard