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.

- end -

Electron Switch Between Molecules

The development of new organic batteries--lightweight energy storage devices that work without the need for toxic heavy metals--has a brighter future now that chemists have discovered a new way to pass electrons back and forth between two molecules. In this illustration, an assembled set of different molecules meet, exchange electrons and then disassemble because chloride ions--represented here as green spheres--are present. If these chloride ions are removed, the entire process can be reversed.

More About This Image

The research was led by University of Texas at Austin chemists Christopher Bielawski and Jonathan Sessler, with additional support from graduate student Jung Su Park, who grew crystals of the two molecules.

When molecules meet, they often form new compounds by exchanging electrons. In some cases, the electron transfer process creates one molecule with a positive charge and one molecule with a negative charge. Molecules with opposite charges are attracted to each other and can combine to form something new.

In their research, the chemists created two molecules that could meet and exchange electrons but not unite to form a new compound. The molecules were "spring-loaded" to push apart after interacting with each other. "After electron transfer occurs, two positively charged molecules are formed which are repelled by each other, much like magnets held in a certain way will repel each other. We also installed a chemical switch that allowed the electron transfer process to proceed in the opposite direction," said Bielawski.

Not only does this system give important clues for making an efficient organic battery, but, Bielawski says, understanding the electron transfer processes in these molecules provides a way to design organic materials for storing electrical energy that could then be retrieved for later use.

To read more about this research, see the UT news story Electron Switch Between Molecules Points Way to New High-Powered Organic Batteries. [Portions of this research (i.e., X-ray diffractometer) were supported by National Science Foundation grants CHE 07-49571 and CHE 07-41973.]

(Date of Image: September 2010)

Credit: Jung Su Park; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, The University of Texas at Austin

Researchers Unveil Robot Jellyfish Built on Nanotechnology

Researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Tech have created an undersea vehicle inspired by the common jellyfish that runs on renewable energy and could be used in ocean rescue and surveillance missions.

In a study published this week in Smart Materials and Structures , scientists created a robotic jellyfish, dubbed Robojelly, that feeds off hydrogen and oxygen gases found in water.

“We’ve created an underwater robot that doesn’t need batteries or electricity,” said Dr. Yonas Tadesse, assistant professor of mechanical engineering  at UT Dallas and lead author of the study. “The only waste released as it travels is more water.”

Engineers and scientists have increasingly turned to nature for inspiration when creating new technologies. The simple yet powerful movement of the moon jellyfish made it an appealing animal to simulate.

The Robojelly consists of two bell-like structures made of silicone that fold like an umbrella. Connecting the umbrella are muscles that contract to move.

In this study, researchers upgraded the original, battery-powered Robojelly to be self-powered. They did that through a combination of high-tech materials, including artificial muscles that contract when heated.

These muscles are made of a nickel-titanium alloy wrapped in carbon nanotubes, coated with platinum and housed in a pipe. As the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen encounters the platinum, heat and water vapor are created. That heat causes a contraction that moves the muscles of the device, pumping out the water and starting the cycle again.

“It could stay underwater and refuel itself while it is performing surveillance,” Tadesse said.

In addition to military surveillance, Tadesse said, the device could be used to detect pollutants in water.

Tadesse said the next step would be refining the legs of the devices to move independently, allowing the Robojelly to travel in more than one direction.

Dr. Ray Baughman , the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry and director of the Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute at UT Dallas, was an author of the study. The research was a collaboration between researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Virginia Tech, including Dr. Shashank Priya, the study’s senior author.

The study was funded by the Office of Naval Research.

Media Invited to Simulation of Asteroid Mission

J.D. Harrington / Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington

Brandi Dean

Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON – An astronaut and geologist will camp out in a prototype Space Exploration Vehicle this week to simulate an asteroid mission at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Astronaut Al Drew and geologist Jose M. Hurtado of the University of Texas in El Paso will spend three days and two nights living inside the Space Exploration Vehicle, or SEV's, cabin.

Media representatives interested in seeing part of the simulation at 2:30 p.m. CST Thursday, Jan. 19, must contact Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

The public is invited to ask the crew questions via Twitter @Desert_RATS for a Twitterview the crew will participate in at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20. Questions should be marked #SEV. RATS stands for Research and Technology Studies.

The SEV will be placed on an air-bearing floor to allow it to virtually float, much the way a hockey puck floats on an air hockey table. This will allow the crew to see how the SEV would handle in a microgravity environment and evaluate the view from the vehicle's windows.

During the media opportunity, one crew member will be conducting a simulated spacewalk in the virtual reality laboratory as the other assists from inside the SEV. Journalists also will be able to see the rover moving on the air-bearing floor as the crew simulates driving it in microgravity.

For information about the RATS tests, visit http://www.nasa.gov/desertrats.

For more information about the SEV, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/SEV.html.

Follow the RATS via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Desert_RATS.

- end -

University of Texas-led Team Discovers Unusual Multi-Planet System with NASA's Kepler Spacecraft

A team of researchers led by Bill Cochran, senior research scientist with the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and co-investigator on NASA's Kepler Mission, used data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft to discover an unusual multiple-planet system containing a super-Earth and two Neptune-sized planets orbiting in resonance with each other. The findings were announced today in Nantes, France, at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division of Planetary Science and the European Planetary Science Conference. The research will be published in a special Kepler issue of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series in November.

Image Credit: Tim Jones/McDonald Obs./UT-Austin

For more information visit http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/news/releases/2011/1004.html .