NASA'S Chief Technologist To Attend UTEP Space Tech Center Opening

David E. Steitz

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1730

david.steitz@nasa.gov

 

Veronique Masterson

The University of Texas El Paso

915-747-7503

vjmasterson@utep.edu

WASHINGTON -- NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck will join officials from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), along with state and local leaders, for the official opening of the Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (cSETR) and the NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Education Laboratory at 12:30 p.m. EDT (10:30 a.m. MDT), Thursday, Sept. 6. The opening will take place in the foyer of the university's engineering building.

The NASA-funded cSETR conducts analytical, experimental and computational research in energy and propulsion engineering. With a particular focus on green propulsion, cSETR will conduct research and testing of technologies in relevant environments, space structures, clean power generation, solar energy and carbon dioxide management studies.

Peck also will kick off the UTEP Centennial Lecture Series at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2:30 p.m. MDT), in the university's Undergraduate Learning Center, room 126, as the first presenter for the academic year. In 2014, UTEP will celebrate its 100th anniversary. Leading up to that milestone, the Centennial Lecture Series brings in speakers to provide perspective on a broad range of contemporary topics that impact society, culture and lives.

Journalists are invited to attend both events. Peck and participating officials will be available to speak with reporters following the opening ceremony, as well as for photo opportunities and tours of the labs.

Journalists wanting to attend Thursday's events should reply to Veronique Masterson of UTEP University Communications at vjmasterson@utep.edu or by phone at 915-747-7503 by 7 p.m. EDT (5 p.m. MDT), Wednesday, Sept. 5, for accreditation.

For more information about UTEP's Center for Space Exploration Technology Research, visit http://research.utep.edu/csetr.

As NASA's Chief Technologist, Peck serves as the principal advisor and advocate on matters concerning agency-wide technology policy and programs. As the chief technology advocate, he helps communicate how NASA technologies benefit space missions and the day-to-day lives of Americans. Peck's office coordinates, tracks and integrates technology investments across the agency and works to infuse innovative discoveries into future missions. Peck's complete biography is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/oct.

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Houston Workshop Marks Key Step in Planning Future Mars Missions

Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1726

dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- A recent workshop conducted for NASA by the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, marked a key step in the agency's effort to forge a new Mars strategy in the coming decades. A report that summarizes the wide range of cutting-edge science, technology and mission concepts discussed is available online.

Held in Houston June 12-14 and attended by scientists and engineers worldwide, the meeting was held to seek ideas, concepts and capabilities to address critical challenge areas in exploring the Red Planet. Discussions provided information for reformulating NASA's Mars Exploration Program (MEP) to be responsive to high-priority science goals and the challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.

Participants identified a number of possible approaches to missions that can be flown to Mars in the coming decade that would make progress toward returning Martian samples -- a top priority of the Planetary Science Decadal Survey -- and make significant advances in scientific understanding of the planet, developing key technologies and advancing knowledge necessary for human exploration on and around Mars.

NASA's Mars Program Planning Group (MPPG), tasked with developing options for a reformulated MEP, will consider the workshop inputs in addition to budgetary, programmatic, scientific and technical constraints.

"Scientists and engineers came together to present their most creative ideas for exploring Mars," said John Grunsfeld, an astronaut, astrophysicist and associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Great ideas come from challenging the best and brightest and igniting their passion and determination to succeed."

The MPPG reports to Grunsfeld, who chairs the agency-wide Mars reformulation effort along with William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati and Chief Technologist Mason Peck. The official draft MPPG report is expected to be delivered to NASA for review at the end of the summer.

Concepts put forth tapped into significant benefits that could be gained from technology investments by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and Office of the Chief Technologist. The participants also stressed the importance of establishing international collaboration early in the planning process and sustaining it throughout future missions.

"Future Mars exploration missions will require new concepts and technologies," said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA's Space Technology Program. "There were many innovative and transformational concepts presented at the workshop. With continued investments in cutting-edge technology, these will lead to increased capability, reduced mission risk and lower mission costs."

Workshop attendance included almost 200 scientists, engineers and graduate students from academia, NASA centers, federal laboratories, industry, and international partner organizations. More than 1,600 people participated online as the workshop proceedings were streamed live on the Internet.

"The LPI workshop provided a broad set of ideas for Mars exploration, including synergies between science, human exploration and technology development," Gerstenmaier said. "The number of workshop participants demonstrates the broad interest in Mars exploration."

The workshop provided a forum for broad community input on near-term mission concepts. Ideas for longer-term activities will be used to inform program architecture planning beyond the early 2020s. Workshop results represent individual perspectives from members of the scientific and technical community.

"The scientific and technical community has given us quite a range of ideas to consider in reformulating the Mars Exploration Program," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters. "Many concepts presented are highly relevant to the challenges the MPPG must address."

NASA will land its most advanced rover, Curiosity, on the surface of Mars in August. This mobile science laboratory will assess whether the past or present environment on Mars could support life. In 2013, NASA will launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter, the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.

To view LPI's report, workshop presentation videos, and compilation of the abstracts, visit http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/marsconcepts2012/.

For updates on NASA's Mars Program replanning process, visit http://www.nasa.gov/offices/marsplanning/home/index.html.

For more information about NASA's Mars Exploration Program, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mars.

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Garver To Attend NASA $1.5 Million Robot Competition June 16

David E. Steitz

Headquarters, Washington                                   

202-358-1730

david.steitz@nasa.gov

 

Janet L. Anderson

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.

256-544-0034

janet.l.anderson@nasa.gov

 

Tom Bradley

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass.

860-967-5357

tbradleypr@yahoo.com

 

WASHINGTON -- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck will be on hand Saturday, June 16, at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) as six teams of engineers from across the country compete for agency-funded prize of $1.5 million. Garver will join congressional and local officials during opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. EDT on the campus of WPI in Worcester, Mass.

Media wanting to attend the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge should contact Tom Bradley of WPI at 860-967-5357 or tbradleypr@yahoo.com for media credentials. Garver's remarks also will be available via live streaming video on the agency's web at

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-hq.

Part of NASA's Centennial Challenges prize competitions, the Sample Return Robot challenge, is to design and develop the next generation of autonomous robots to explore the landscapes of other worlds. Competing teams are required to build an autonomous robotic system that will locate and collect a set of specific objects from a large area and return the "planetary samples" to the starting zone.

During the first phase of the competition, a robot must autonomously navigate and retrieve a pre-cached sample within 15 minutes. Teams will compete for portions of a $50,000 total prize purse, with a maximum winning value of $5,000 per team.

In the second phase, a robot must autonomously navigate and retrieve pre-cached samples, as well as other, more difficult samples distributed over the roving area within two hours. Teams will compete for as much as $1.5 million during this phase, with awards depending on the amount of points scored and number of successful competing finalists.

NASA uses prize competitions to establish important technical challenges without having to specify the approach that is most likely to succeed, while only paying for successful results. These competitions increase the number and diversity of individuals, organizations and teams that are addressing a particular problem or challenge of national or international significance. These challenges stimulate private sector investment many times greater than the cash value of the prize. The Centennial Challenges are part of NASA's Space Technology Program. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/challenges.

WPI is the first university selected as host and manager for one of NASA's Centennial Challenges Programs. For more information about WPI and the TouchTomorrow learning events the university is hosting in conjunction with the robot competition, visit http://www.wpi.edu and http://touchtomorrow.wpi.edu.

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"What Is NASA, Alex?" New Trebek Video Promotes NASA In Your Life

David E. Steitz

Headquarters, Washington     

202-358-1730

david.steitz@nasa.gov

WASHINGTON -- The king of quiz shows, Alex Trebek, is helping answer the question, "How does NASA affect our daily lives?" The host of the long-running syndicated program "Jeopardy" is featured in a new public service announcement released Wednesday.

In the video, Trebek points out that much of the technologies we rely on in our daily lives come from those developed by NASA for space exploration. The video will air on NASA Television and the agency's website.

The new video was announced by NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck during a NASA-Cleveland "Adopt a City" manufacturing initiative event in Cleveland.

"It's an honor to add Alex Trebek to our list of space technology spinoff supporters. As NASA partners today with small manufacturers in Ohio to solve tough technical problems with their products, there's potential for NASA technology to help improve everything from better household fans to stronger ceramics for dentistry," said Peck. "NASA technologies work for us here on Earth, solving everyday problems -- saving lives, creating jobs and making our lives better."

At the event, NASA, the City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the Manufacturing Advocacy & Growth Network (MAGNET) also announced nine small and medium-sized Ohio manufacturers that will receive NASA assistance to solve technical problems with new or existing products.

NASA is committed to providing 400 hours of technical assistance from its science and engineering work force to offer potential solutions to the selected companies for specific technical challenges they are facing with a new or existing product. In addition to access to NASA experts, the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are making $450,000 in low interest rate loans available to the companies to help with costs associated with participation in the program.

This initiative is part of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy "Strong Cities, Strong Communities" effort with this partnership developed as a local "Adopt a City" program.

With the new video, Trebek joins the ranks of celebrities such as musicians Will.i.am and Norah Jones, and comedian Stephen Colbert who have recently partnered with the agency to tell audiences how NASA-related technology, or spinoffs, benefit life today on Earth.

To view the Trebek video and other public service announcements, visit http://www.nasa.gov/psa.

For hundreds of examples of NASA spinoff technologies and innovations adapted for use in our everyday lives, visit http://spinoff.nasa.gov.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov.

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