The doors to the White Room, which provide entry to space shuttle Atlantis' crew compartment, is seen here at the end of the access arm walkway on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
NASA's Partners Meet Milestones For Developing Future Commercial Spacecraft
J.D. Harrington/Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
WASHINGTON -- NASA's industry partners have met all their initial milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities to reduce the gap in U.S. human spaceflight capability.
NASA posted its first status report on the agency's Commercial Crew Development 2 (CCDev2) program to its website. The report highlights the progress and accomplishments for the agency's commercial spaceflight development efforts. Designed to be a bi-monthly report, it is targeted toward the interested layperson and other non-technical stakeholders in order to keep them informed of our achievements.
"We're only 60 days into CCDev 2, and their progress is right on schedule," said Phil McAlister, NASA's acting director, commercial spaceflight development.
NASA's Commercial Crew Development program is investing financial and technical resources to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate safe, reliable, and cost-effective space transportation capabilities.
For the report and more information about CCDev2, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial.
Atlantis and Crew Prepared for July 8 Liftoff
Launch pad technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are in the process of closing out space shuttle Atlantis' payload bay in preparation for liftoff from Launch Pad 39A on July 8 at 11:26 a.m. EDT. The bay's doors are expected to be closed for flight today.
This follows yesterday's day-long Flight Readiness Review at which senior NASA and contractor managers confirmed that Atlantis is ready for this last shuttle flight to supply the International Space Station.
"This flight is incredibly important. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory for space station," said Bill Gerstenmaier, assistant administrator for space operations, following yesterday's review.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
NASA Sets Launch Date For Final Space Shuttle Mission
Stephanie Schierholz
Headquarters, Washington
Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Atlantis' Commander Chris Ferguson and his three crewmates are scheduled to begin a 12-day mission to the International Space Station with a launch at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-135 mission is the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program.
The launch date was announced Tuesday at the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle and station's equipment, support systems and personnel are ready.
Atlantis' STS-135 mission will deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module filled with supplies and spare parts to sustain space station operations after the shuttles are retired.
The mission also will fly the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel satellites in space - even satellites not designed to be serviced. The crew also will return an ammonia pump that recently failed on the station. Engineers want to understand why the pump failed and improve designs for future spacecraft.
The crew consists of Commander Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim. They are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy on Monday, July 4, for final launch preparations. STS-135 is the 135th shuttle mission, Atlantis' 33rd flight and the 37th shuttle mission to the station.
For more information about the STS-135 mission, visit http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle.
For more information about the space station, visit http://www.nasa.gov/station.
Managers Say Atlantis is "Go" for Launch
After the day-long Flight Readiness Review at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, senior NASA and contractor managers voted unanimously to set space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 launch date as July 8 at 11:26 a.m. EDT.
NASA Television will air a news conference at 3:30 p.m. to discuss the meeting and preparations for Atlantis' mission to the International Space Station. Participants will include Bill Gerstenmaier, assistant administrator for space operations, Mike Moses, Space Shuttle Program launch integration manager and Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director.
Psychology Course Prepares Military Providers for Deployment Concerns
By Julie Weckerlein and Robyn Mincher, DCoE Strategic Communications
From www.dcoe.health.mil
During the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) course, “Topics in Deployment Psychology,” a panel of five military mental health care providers spoke about their recent deployment. The discussion raised an important question on self-care while deployed: how can a provider stay mentally fit while addressing the psychological health of troops?
For Capt. (Dr.) Tracy Mayfield, a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Air Force deployed to northeast Afghanistan, she found company with the base’s working dog.
“I had to take time out from being a psychologist to have ‘me time’ and relax,” said Mayfield, who was the forward operating base psychologist for about a thousand troops. “Every Sunday, I’d take the dog for a walk. I’m a pet lover, and it really helped.”
CDP is part of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a component center of Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). The course, held at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence from June 7 to June 16, 2011, offered an overview of deployment issues facing service members, their families and providers, geared toward uniformed behavioral health providers from all branches of the military.
Along with the panel, the course started its second week June 13, 2011, with presentations highlighting sexual assault prevention and response, provider self-care and ethical issues in deployment settings.
Retired Lt. Col. Nate Galbreath’s presentation on sexual assault focused on topics such as encouraging bystander intervention to stop assaults, using sexual assault response coordinators when faced with a situation, psychological injury caused by trauma and the potential for the under-reporting of cases.
Dr. David Riggs, CDP executive director, posed ethical questions for students to engage in healthy discussion, raising issues such as dual relationships with service members, managing multiple relationships when supporting many troops at once, and being prepared to cope with cases a psychologist might not be trained in, especially when they are the only mental health support on base.
“Deployed psychologists are expected to diagnose and deal with whatever shows up,” said Riggs. “If you encounter a situation you are not trained to handle, you will have to find ways to learn as much as you can or consult with others who know more than you. You are ethically bound to be as knowledgeable as you can in all areas of deployment mental health.”
Other presentations led by CDP experts throughout the week included ”Cognitive Processing Therapy,” by Laura Copland; “Identification and the Prevention and Treatment of Suicidal Behavior,” by Dr. Augusto Ruiz; and “Prolonged Exposure Therapy,” by Drs. Paula Domenici, William Brim and Riggs.
As the course came to a close, Riggs reflected on the significant impact it had on military providers being deployed.
“This course works to prepare uniformed psychologists for the various psychological health issues they may need to deal with throughout the deployment cycle and issues that might arise among service members and their families. First-hand accounts from recently deployed providers during the course’s panels shed personal light into these issues,” said Riggs. “Military providers leave the course with a pool of knowledge they can tap into to address all kinds of situations while deployed.”
NASA Online Videos Provide New Approach To Teach Science To Public
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
WASHINGTON -- NASA's new video series offers the public a fast and fun way to learn about scientific discoveries and facts about Earth, the solar system and beyond.
Called "ScienceCasts," the videos are created by an astrophysicist and a team of agency narrators and videographers. The videos are posted online every Thursday afternoon at approximately 4 p.m. EDT. The format is designed to increase understanding of the world of science through simple, clear presentations.
"If you want entertaining, yet very informative, these videos are for you," said Ruth Netting, manager for communications and public engagement in NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
Future episodes will focus on citizen science research; the search for new galaxies; how to watch this summer's Perseid meteor shower; and the causes of recent wild weather events in the United States.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate seeks new knowledge and understanding of Earth, the sun, solar system and the universe. The directorate also constantly looks for inventive ways to reach out to the public via museums, classrooms, science centers and home schools.
To view the latest science videos online, visit http://www.youtube.com/user/scienceatnasa.
For a complete list of ScienceCast episodes, visit http://sciencecasts.nasa.gov.
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