NASA Hosts Bay Area Girl Scouts "When I Grow Up..." Career Day

Ruth Dasso Marlaire

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – News media are invited to observe about a thousand Girl Scouts from across Northern California for a career development event focused on non-traditional themes, including science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and NASA-related careers. The event is a morning and afternoon session from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. PST, Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011 at NASA’s Ames Research Center.

The Ames Women’s Influence Network (WIN) and the Girl Scouts of Northern California are collaborating to help girls ages 5 through18 decide what they want to be when they grow up. As part of the “When I Grow Up…” annual Girl Scout event, professional organizations are committed to engaging girls in STEM careers and opportunities.

Girls will participate in interactive activities relating to aerospace, environmental engineering, marine biology, technology, and astronomy. They will be given the opportunity to conduct experiments in a simulated wind tunnel, examine lunar rocks, identify creatures that live in the San Francisco Bay, and dabble in rocket science.

Participants will explore career options with scientists, engineers, and researchers representing a wide variety of fields at Ames and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenters will include professionals and college students from many local corporations and organizations. The girls also will have the opportunity to attend career and college panels featuring women professionals and college students.

In addition, the Space Cookies Robotics Team, an all-girls international award-winning team sponsored by NASA, and Girl Scout Lego Robotic teams will demonstrate their robots.

The event will occur at the Ames Training and Conference Center, bldg. 3, located in the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field. To reach NASA Ames, take U.S. Highway 101 to the Moffett Field, NASA Parkway exit and drive east on Moffett Boulevard towards the main gate.

For more information about NASA Ames, visit http://www.arc.nasa.gov/.

For more information about Ames’ Women’s Influence Network (WIN), visit http://www.eo.arc.nasa.gov/win.html.

For more information about the Girl Scouts of Northern California, visit http://www.girlscoutsnorcal.org.

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NASA TV to Show Russian Space Station Cargo Ship Arrival

Stephanie Schierholz

Headquarters, Washington                                        

 

Kelly Humphries

Johnson Space Center, Houston

HOUSTON -- The residents of the International Space Station will receive a second shipment of food, fuel and supplies this week. NASA Television will provide a live broadcast of the Russian cargo ship's arrival Saturday, Jan. 29.

Expedition 26 Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineers Cady Coleman, Páolo Néspoli, Alexander Kaleri, Oleg Skripochka and Dmitry Kondratyev will be standing by as the 41st unpiloted Russian Progress resupply craft automatically berths to the Pirs docking compartment at 8:40 p.m. CST. NASA TV coverage of the new Progress' arrival at the station will begin at 8 p.m.

The cargo ship is carrying three tons of supplies for the six crew members. It is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:31 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 27 (7:31 a.m. Baikonur time on Jan. 28). NASA TV will not provide coverage of the launch.

The shipment is set to arrive on the heels of the Jan. 27 rendezvous and arrival of the Kounotori2 H-II Transfer Vehicle 2 developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, Johannes Kepler, that is carrying additional supplies for the station is set to launch Feb. 15 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.

For more information about these three upcoming cargo missions for the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

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NASA's Hubble Finds Most Distant Galaxy Candidate Ever Seen in Universe

Trent J. Perrotto

Headquarters, Washington                                   

 

Ray Villard

Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers have pushed NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to its limits by finding what is likely to be the most distant object ever seen in the universe. The object's light traveled 13.2 billion years to reach Hubble, roughly 150 million years longer than the previous record holder. The age of the universe is approximately 13.7 billion years.

The tiny, dim object is a compact galaxy of blue stars that existed 480 million years after the big bang. More than 100 such mini-galaxies would be needed to make up our Milky Way. The new research offers surprising evidence that the rate of star birth in the early universe grew dramatically, increasing by about a factor of 10 from 480 million years to 650 million years after the big bang.

"NASA continues to reach for new heights, and this latest Hubble discovery will deepen our understanding of the universe and benefit generations to come,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was the pilot of the space shuttle mission that carried Hubble to orbit. “We could only dream when we launched Hubble more than 20 years ago that it would have the ability to make these types of groundbreaking discoveries and rewrite textbooks.”

Astronomers don't know exactly when the first stars appeared in the universe, but every step farther from Earth takes them deeper into the early formative years when stars and galaxies began to emerge in the aftermath of the big bang.

"These observations provide us with our best insights yet into the earlier primeval objects that have yet to be found," said Rychard Bouwens of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Bouwens and Illingworth report the discovery in the Jan. 27 issue of the British science journal Nature.

This observation was made with the Wide Field Camera 3 starting just a few months after it was installed in the observatory in May 2009, during the last NASA space shuttle servicing mission to Hubble. After more than a year of detailed observations and analysis, the object was positively identified in the camera's Hubble Ultra Deep Field-Infrared data taken in the late summers of 2009 and 2010.

The object appears as a faint dot of starlight in the Hubble exposures. It is too young and too small to have the familiar spiral shape that is characteristic of galaxies in the local universe. Although its individual stars can't be resolved by Hubble, the evidence suggests this is a compact galaxy of hot stars formed more than 100-to-200 million years earlier from gas trapped in a pocket of dark matter.

"We're peering into an era where big changes are afoot," said Garth Illingworth of the University of California at Santa Cruz. "The rapid rate at which the star birth is changing tells us if we go a little further back in time we're going to see even more dramatic changes, closer to when the first galaxies were just starting to form."

The proto-galaxy is only visible at the farthest infrared wavelengths observable by Hubble. Observations of earlier times, when the first stars and galaxies were forming, will require Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The hypothesized hierarchical growth of galaxies -- from stellar clumps to majestic spirals and ellipticals -- didn't become evident until the Hubble deep field exposures. The first 500 million years of the universe's existence, from a z of 1000 to 10, is the missing chapter in the hierarchical growth of galaxies. It's not clear how the universe assembled structure out of a darkening, cooling fireball of the big bang. As with a developing embryo, astronomers know there must have been an early period of rapid changes that would set the initial conditions to make the universe of galaxies what it is today.

"After 20 years of opening our eyes to the universe around us, Hubble continues to awe and surprise astronomers," said Jon Morse, NASA's Astrophysics Division director at the agency's headquarters in Washington. "It now offers a tantalizing look at the very edge of the known universe -- a frontier NASA strives to explore."

Hubble is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington.

For more information about Hubble, visit http://www.nasa.gov/hubble.

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Modifications to Tank to be Completed Thursday

Science Technicians in NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building are expected to wrap up all modification work on space shuttle Discovery’s external fuel tank stringers on Thursday, Jan. 27. Teams are working on foam spraying and trimming operations. This will support Discovery’s scheduled rollout back to Launch Pad 39A on Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. EST.

‪At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the STS-133 crew is conducting an integrated ascent simulation today in the motion base simulator.

Mars' Apollo 1 Hills

An image taken from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's PanCam at the spacecraft's landing site shows the nearby hills named after the crew of Apollo 1--Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee. The crew perished in flash fire during a launch pad test of the spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center on Jan. 27, 1967. "Grissom Hill" is located 4.7 miles to the southwest of the rover Spirit's landing site. "White Hill" is 7 miles to the northwest and "Chaffee Hill" is 8.9 miles to the south-southwest.

Image Credit: NASA
This article was sponsored by Forensic Science Books.

NASA Media Accreditation For Next Space Shuttle Flight Ends Feb. 11

Joshua Buck

Headquarters, Washington     

WASHINGTON -- The deadline for media accreditation for the February space shuttle launch to the International Space station ends on Feb. 11. Shuttle Discovery and six astronauts are targeted to launch on the STS-133 mission on Feb. 24 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Reporters must apply for credentials to attend the launch or cover the mission from other NASA centers. To be accredited, reporters must work for verifiable newsgathering organizations. No substitutions of credentials are allowed at any NASA facility.

The 11-day mission will be the 35th flight to the station and the 39th and final scheduled flight for Discovery. The mission will deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module; the Express Logistics Carrier 4, an external platform that holds large equipment; and critical spare components for the station. Discovery also will deliver Robonaut 2, or R2, to become a permanent resident of the station as the first human-like robot in space.

NASA's Office of Protective Services has changed its policy for processing foreign nationals. All journalists who are lawful permanent U.S. residents, have dual U.S. citizenship or are U.S. citizens representing international media outlets will have their credential applications processed in the same way as U.S. citizens who represent domestic media.

Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries include those with which the U.S. has no diplomatic relations, countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, those under U.S. sanction or embargo and countries associated with proliferation concerns.

Contact the accrediting NASA center for details. Journalists should confirm accreditation before traveling.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

Accreditation for the STS-133 mission badges remains open. Mission badges previously issued for Discovery's first launch attempt in November 2010 are valid.

Reporters applying for credentials at Kennedy should submit requests via the Web at https://media.ksc.nasa.gov.

Reporters must use work e-mail addresses, not personal accounts, when applying. Applicants will receive confirmation via e-mail when accreditation approved.

Accredited media representatives with mission badges will have access to Kennedy from launch through the end of the mission. The application deadline for mission badges is Feb. 11 for all reporters requesting credentials. Reporters with special logistic requests for Kennedy, such as space for satellite trucks, trailers, electrical connections or workspace, must contact Laurel Lichtenberger by Feb. 11 at  laurel.a.lichtenberger@nasa.gov.

Wireless Internet access is available at Kennedy's news center. Workspace in the news center and the news center annex is provided on a first-come basis, limited to one space per organization. To set up temporary telephone, fax, ISDN or network lines, media representatives must arrange with BellSouth at 800-213-4988. Reporters must have an assigned seat in the Kennedy newsroom prior to setting up lines.

To obtain an assigned seat, contact Patricia Christian at: patricia.christian-1@nasa.gov.

Journalists must have a public affairs escort to all other areas of Kennedy except the Launch Complex 39 cafeteria.

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

Reporters may obtain credentials for NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston by calling the center's newsroom at 281-483-5111 or by presenting STS-133 mission credentials from Kennedy.

Media representatives planning to cover the mission only from Johnson need to apply for credentials only at the center. The application deadline for mission badges is Feb. 11 for all reporters requesting credentials.

Journalists covering the mission from Johnson using Kennedy credentials must contact the center's newsroom by Feb. 11 to arrange workspace, phone lines and other logistics.

Johnson is responsible for credentialing media if the shuttle lands at NASA's White Sands Space Harbor, N.M. If a landing is imminent at White Sands, Johnson will arrange credentials.

DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER

Notice for a shuttle landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards Air Force Base in California could be short. Domestic media outlets should consider accrediting Los Angeles-based personnel who could travel quickly to Dryden.

Deadlines for submitting Dryden accreditation requests are Jan. 28 for non-U.S. media, regardless of citizenship, and March 1 for U.S. media who are U.S. citizens or who have permanent residency status.

For Dryden media credentials, U.S. citizens representing domestic media outlets must provide their full name, date of birth, place of birth, media organization, driver's license number with the name of the issuing state, and the last six digits of their social security number.

In addition to the above requirements, foreign media representatives, regardless of citizenship, must provide data including their citizenship, visa or passport number and its expiration date. Foreign nationals representing either domestic or foreign media who have permanent residency status must provide their alien registration number and expiration date.

Journalists should e-mail requests to: DrydenPAO@nasa.gov.

Requests must include a phone number and business e-mail address for follow-up contact. Journalists who previously requested credentials for this mission will not need to do so again.

NASA PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS:

Kennedy Space Center: Allard Beutel, 321-867-2468, allard.beutel@nasa.gov  

Johnson Space Center: Kylie Clem, 281-483-5111, kylie.s.clem@nasa.gov  

Dryden Flight Research Center: Leslie Williams, 661-276-3893, leslie.a.williams@nasa.gov

For information about the International Space Station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.

For information about the STS-133 mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

This article was sponsored by Police Technology.

Young Achievers

From left, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Associate Director for Science Carl Wieman; NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver; Billings, Montana, Central Catholic High School student Mikayla Nelson; Phoenix, Arizona, South Mountain Community College student Diego Vasquez; Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Dr. John P. Holdren; sixteen-year-old high school junior from Richardson, Texas, Amy Chyao; West Philadelphia High School student Brandon Ford; and, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden pose for a group photo at the New Executive Office Building, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011, in Washington. The students are all young achievers in science and technology and will be amongst other guests seated in the First Lady’s Box in the U.S. Capitol during the President’s State of the Union Address.

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls