The year 2012 is already behind us, but for many, some events will leave lasting imprints – both in the positive and negative ways. So what happened in 2012?

The world is not ending at least for now and let the new 2013 be full of more happiness, joy, and good news.

Image Courtesy : KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

The article What Happened in 2012: Fourteen Highlights appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Washington, U.S.A. —  NASA was named the best place to work in the federal government among large agencies in a survey released today by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization. This ranking, which reflects NASA’s highest results since this index was developed, makes clear that the agency’s work force is focused on carrying out the nation’s new and ambitious space program.

“The best workforce in the nation has made NASA the best place to work in federal government,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, who is accepting the award at a ceremony this morning in Washington, D.C. ”Our employees are carrying out the nation’s new strategic missions in space with heart-stopping landings on Mars, cutting-edge science and ground-breaking partnerships with American companies to resupplying the space station. They are truly leading in the innovation economy.”

The rankings are based on responses from nearly 700,000 federal workers. The Best Places to Work rankings are based on data from the Office of Personnel Management’s annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey conducted from April through June 2012 and additional survey data from nine agencies plus the Intelligence Community. This is the seventh edition of the Best Places to Work rankings since the first in 2003.

NASA’s Stennis Space Center was ranked second in the sub-agency component category.

During the past year, NASA’s employees continued to implement America’s ambitious space exploration program, landing the most sophisticated rover on the surface of Mars, carrying out the first-ever commercial mission to the International Space Station and advancing the systems needed to send humans deeper into space.

Just last week, NASA announced the next Mars rover mission and recently announced the first year-long crew stay on the International Space Station. As the agency continues developing the capabilities to explore the solar system and beyond, as well as understand our home planet and make life better here, workers with a wide range of skills and interests will be critical.

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

The article Which Federal Agency Is the Best Place to Work? appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Washington, U.S.A. — The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding the death of former test pilot and NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong, who died on August 25 at age 82.

“On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind’s first small step on a world beyond our own.

“Besides being one of America’s greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation.

“As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero.”

The following is a statement from Johnson Space Center director and former astronaut Mike Coats:

“The passing of Neil Armstrong has shocked all of us at the Johnson Space Center. The whole world knew Neil as the first man to step foot on the Moon, but to us he was a co-worker, a friend, and an outstanding spokesman for the Human Space Program. His quiet confidence and ability to perform under pressure set an example for all subsequent astronauts. Our role model will be missed.”

The following is a statement from Bob Behnken, chief, NASA Astronaut Office:

“Neil Armstrong was a very personal inspiration to all of us within the astronaut office. His historic step onto the Moon’s surface was the foundation for many of our personal dreams to become astronauts. The only thing that outshone his accomplishments was his humility about those accomplishments. We will miss him as a friend, mentor, explorer and ambassador for the American spirit of ingenuity.”

Additional information about Armstrong is available on the Web at:
http://www.nasa.gov 
http://www.neilarmstronginfo.com

The article NASA Releases Statements on Neil Armstrong’s Death appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Washington, U.S.A. — NASA’s Space Technology Program is turning science fiction into science fact. The program has selected 28 proposals for study under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program.

Eighteen of these advanced concept proposals were categorized as Phase I and 10 as Phase II. They were selected based on their potential to transform future aerospace missions, enable new capabilities, or significantly alter and improve current approaches to launching, building and operating aerospace systems.

The selected proposals include a broad range of imaginative concepts, including a submarine glider to explore the ice-covered ocean of Europa, an air purification system with no moving parts, and a system that could use in situ lunar regolith to autonomously build concrete structures on the moon.

“These selections represent the best and most creative new ideas for future technologies that have the potential to radically improve how NASA missions explore new frontiers,” said Michael Gazarik, director of NASA’s Space Technology Program at the agency’s headquarters in Washington.

“Through the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, NASA is taking the long-term view of technological investment and the advancement that is essential for accomplishing our missions. We are inventing the ways in which next-generation aircraft and spacecraft will change the world and inspiring Americans to take bold steps.”

NIAC Phase I awards of approximately $100,000 for one year enable proposers to explore basic feasibility and properties of a potential breakthrough concept. NIAC Phase II awards of as much as $500,000 for two years help further develop the most successful Phase I concepts and analyze their potential to enable new or radically improved future NASA missions and potential applications with benefits for industry and society.

“We’re excited to be launching Phase II, allowing the 2012 NIAC portfolio to feature an exciting combination of new ideas and continued development of last year’s Phase I concepts,” said Jay Falker, NIAC program executive at NASA Headquarters.

NASA solicited visionary, long-term concepts for technological maturation based on their potential value to NASA’s future space missions and operational needs. These projects were chosen through a peer-review process that evaluated their innovation and how technically viable they are. All are very early in development — 10 years or longer from use on a mission.

NASA’s early investment and partnership with creative scientists, engineers, and citizen inventors from across the nation will provide technological dividends and help maintain America’s leadership in the global technology economy.

The portfolio of diverse and innovative ideas selected for NIAC awards represent multiple technology areas, including power, propulsion, structures, and avionics, as identified in NASA’s Space Technology Roadmaps. The roadmaps provide technology paths needed to meet NASA’s strategic goals.

NIAC is part of NASA’s Space Technology Program, which is innovating, developing, testing, and flying hardware for use in NASA’s future missions. These competitively-awarded projects are creating new technological solutions for NASA and our nation’s future.

Image Courtesy of  nasa hq photo

The article NASA Selects 28 Technology Concepts for Study appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Houston, U.S.A. – NASA completed another successful test of the Orion crew vehicle’s parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the spacecraft’s orbital flight test in 2014. Orion will carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a safe re-entry and landing.

A C-17 plane dropped a test version of Orion from an altitude of 25,000 feet above the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona. This test was the second to use an Orion craft that mimics the full size and shape of the spacecraft.

Orion’s drogue chutes were deployed between 15,000 feet and 20,000 feet, followed by the pilot parachutes, which deployed the main landing parachutes. Orion descended about 25 feet per second, well below its maximum designed touchdown speed, when it landed on the desert floor.

“Across the country, NASA and industry are moving forward on the most advanced spacecraft ever designed, conducting drop and splashdown tests, preparing ground systems, designing software and computers and paving the way for the future of exploration,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters inWashington. “Today’s parachute test in Yuma is an important reminder of the progress being made on Orion and its ultimate mission — enabling NASA to meet the goal of sending humans to an asteroid and Mars.”

Orion parachutes have so-called reefing lines, which when cut by a pyrotechnic device, allow the parachute to open gradually, managing the initial amount of drag and force on the parachute. The main objective of the latest drop test was to determine how the entire system would respond if one of the reefing lines was cut prematurely, causing the three main parachutes to inflate too quickly.

Since 2007, the Orion program has conducted a vigorous parachute air and ground test program and provided the chutes for NASA’s successful pad abort test in 2010. All of the tests build an understanding of the chutes’ technical performance for eventual human-rated certification.

In 2014, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Exploration Flight Test-1. The spacecraft will travel 3,600 miles above Earth’s surface. This is 15 times farther than the International Space Station’s orbit and farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years. The main flight objective is to understand Orion’s heat shield performance at speeds generated during a return from deep space.

In 2017, Orion will be launched by NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.

Image Courtesy of  nasa hq photo

The article The New NASA Parachute Completes Another Test appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Washington, U.S.A. – NASA is seeking proposals from accredited U.S. universities focused on innovative, early-stage space technologies that will improve shielding from space radiation, spacecraft thermal management and optical systems.

Each of these technology areas requires dramatic improvements over existing capabilities for future science and human exploration missions. Early stage, or low technology readiness level (TRL) concepts, could mature into tools that solve the hard challenges facing future NASA missions. Researchers should propose unique, disruptive or transformational space technologies that address the specific topics described in this new solicitation.

“Both science and human deep space missions pose serious challenges that require new, innovative technological solutions,” said Space Technology Program Director Michael Gazarik at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Radiation, thermal management and optical systems were all identified in the National Research Council’s report on NASA Space Technology Roadmaps as priority research areas. This call seeks new ideas in these areas.”

Space radiation poses a known danger to the health of astronauts. NASA is seeking proposals in the area of active radiation shielding (such as “shields” of electromagnetic force fields surrounding a spacecraft to block incoming radiation) or new, multifunction materials that are superior to those that exist today are sought. NASA also is interested in new technologies for active monitoring and read-out of radiation levels astronauts receive during long space trips.

Current space technology for thermal management of fuels in space is limited. NASA is seeking early-stage technologies to improve ways spacecraft fuel tanks and in-space filling stations store cryogenic (very low temperature) propellants, such as hydrogen, over long periods of time and distances. NASA also is seeking novel, low-TRL heat rejection technologies which operate reliably and efficiently over a wide range of thermal conditions.

The next generation of lightweight mirrors and telescopes requires advanced optical systems. NASA is seeking advancement of early-stage active wavefront sensing and control system technologies that enable deployable, large aperture space-based observatories; technologies which enable cost-effective development of grazing-incidence optical systems; and novel techniques to focus and detect X-ray photons and other high-energy particles.

NASA expects to make approximately 10 awards this fall, based on the merit of proposals received. The awards will be made for one year, with an additional year of research possible. The typical annual award value is expected to be approximately $250,000.

Image Courtesy of  NASA

The article NASA Seeks Innovators for New Space Technology appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

NASA has renamed its newest Earth-observing satellite in honor of the late Verner E. Suomi, a meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin who is recognized widely as “the father of satellite meteorology.” The announcement was made Jan. 24 at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in New Orleans.

NASA launched the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, on Oct. 28, 2011, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NPP was renamed Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi NPP. The satellite is the first designed to collect critical data to improve short-term weather forecasts and increase understanding of long-term climate change.

“Verner Suomi’s many scientific and engineering contributions were fundamental to our current ability to learn about Earth’s weather and climate from space,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “Suomi NPP not only will extend more than four decades of NASA satellite observations of our planet, it also will usher in a new era of climate change discovery and weather forecasting.”

The Suomi NPP mission is a bridge between NASA’s Earth Observing System satellites to the next-generation Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program. JPSS is the civilian component of the former National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), which was reorganized by the Obama Administration in 2010.

“The new name now accurately describes the mission,” said Michael Freilich, director of the Earth Science Division in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Suomi NPP will advance our scientific knowledge of Earth and improve the lives of Americans by enabling more accurate forecasts of weather, ocean conditions and the terrestrial biosphere. The mission is the product of a partnership between NASA, NOAA, the Department of Defense, the private sector and academic researchers.”

Verner Suomi pioneered remote sensing of Earth from satellites in polar orbits a few hundred miles above the surface with Explorer 7 in 1959, and geostationary orbits thousands of miles high with ATS-1 in 1966.

He was best known for his invention of the “spin-scan” camera which enabled geostationary weather satellites to continuously image Earth, yielding the satellite pictures commonly used on television weather broadcasts. He also was involved in planning interplanetary spacecraft missions to Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Suomi spent nearly his entire career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where in 1965 he founded the university’s Space Science and Engineering Center with funding from NASA. The center is known for Earth-observing satellite research and development. In 1964, Suomi served as chief scientist of the U.S. Weather Bureau for one year. He received the National Medal of Science in 1977. He died in 1995 at the age of 79.

“It is fitting that such an important and innovative partnership pays tribute to a pioneer like Verner Suomi,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “Suomi NPP is an extremely important mission for NOAA. Its advanced instruments will improve our weather forecasts and understanding of the climate and pave the way for JPSS, our next generation of weather satellites.”

Suomi NPP currently is in its initial checkout phase before starting regular observations with all of its five instruments. Commissioning activities are expected to be completed by March. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Suomi NPP mission for the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The JPSS program provides the satellite ground system and NOAA provides operational support.

The article NASA Renames Earth-Observing Mission, Honoring Satellite Pioneer appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

NASA’s mission of discovery and exploration will be showcased in a custom-produced Internet music radio station that is crafted specifically to speak the language of tech-savvy young adults.

Third Rock – America’s Space Station launched with a New Rock/Indie/Alternative format on Monday, December 12. The station is being developed and operated at no cost to the government through a Space Act Agreement. Third Rock can be reached from NASA’s home page, www.nasa.gov, and will soon be available through NASA iPhone and Droid mobile applications.

“NASA constantly is looking for new and innovative ways to engage the public and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said David Weaver, associate administrator for the Office of Communications at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We have led the way in innovative uses of new media and this is another example of how the agency is taking advantage of these important communication tools.”

NASA is collaborating with Houston-based RFC Media to launch the station.

“Today’s 4G audience craves new music and enjoys finding it,” said Pat Fant, RFC Media co-founder and chief operating officer. ”We’ve pulled out the best songs and the deepest tracks from a full spectrum of rock artists across many styles and decades. NASA features and news items are embedded throughout the programming alongside greetings by celebrity artists.”

Third Rock also will help partner companies fill high-tech job openings in the engineering, science, and IT fields. In addition to the NASA Web Portal, the station will be available online in the future at the radio tab of Apple’s iTunes and other sites.

“No one knows more about discovering new rock than NASA,” said Cruze, RFC Media co-founder and president. ”Exciting new music is being discovered online through specialty sites, like Third Rock-America’s Space Station, where listeners will hear about great new artists way before their friends hear of them.”

To listen to Third Rock, visit: http://www.rfcmedia.com/thirdrockradio/ 

The article NASA Introduces New Radio Station appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The Drake equation is a probability law which estimates the abundance of intelligent life in our Galaxy, the Milky Way. It is quite simple in appearance, and anyone can play with the variables in order to make their own personal estimate.

The variables encountered in the equation include the proportion of intelligent to non-intelligent life; the proportion of stars which would be capable of sustaining life in their environment to those who cannot; the number of planets a star is probable to have existing in this habitable zone, if the star were to harbour planets.

Although the scientific results of this equation are in great debate, it was developed by Prof. Frank Drake in order to open discussion on the topic for the famous meeting at the Green Bank radio observatory in 1961.

Current estimates ranging from the opinions of pessimists to optimists, are of the order of it being next to impossible to communicate with other lifeforms in our Galaxy, to a possible ten different alien civilisations who are currently in the same positions as us with appropiate technology who could be trying to communicate with us and others like us.

Hence the popularity of the SETI project (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The equation brings many interesting topics to light such as how long intelligent civilisations may continue on living, with most estimates being of short duration. One hypothesise is that once nuclear power is developed by a civilisation, they will quickly destroy themselves through their new technology.

To date there have been 684 confirmed planets discovered orbiting a total number of 474 stars other than our Sun. With thousands more proposed from the Kepler mission awaiting comfirmation. More recently the Kepler mission has discovered the first planet known to be orbiting two stars.

The techniques involved in detecting these extra-solar (i.e. orbiting other stars than our Sun) objects favor the discovery of larger, more massive planets which have a more visible influence on their parent star. The techniques follow principles as simple as; does the parent star wobble?

If so, by how much and then knowing the distance to the parent star we can calculate the mass of the orbiting planet and orbital period, which in turn would give us the distance between the parent star and planet, using Kepler’s third law. This technique follows the principles of astrometry (basically astronomical geometry).

Then from analyzing the richness of the chemical environment of such systems through spectroscopy it is possible to say if at least one component of this system would be capable of sustaining life. Unfortunately, due to the large number of complexities which arise in the observational and analysis stages no one can say for sure if these planets are currently harbours of life.

However, all is not lost as we know already that our solar system contains life on a small out of the way planet amicably called Earth. So would it be possible for other lumps of rock in our Galaxy to host complex biological species? It is of popular opinion that yes, it is possible but due to the harsh environments in which they may exist they may not of had the possibility to evolve beyond microbial stages of evolution.

For example, if we ignore Mars for a minute and concentrate on the more probable hosts, the Gaililean satelites orbiting our local failed star Jupiter or Saturn’s Titan are good bets. It was initially thought that light was a neccessary ingredient for life to come into being. That was until the discovery of strange looking creatures living in the depths of our deepest darkest oceans close to hydrothermal vents.

This would lead a reasonable mind to believe that Europa, Ganymede or Titan may be hosts to such creatures thanks to their water ice crusts encasing their volcanic prone H2O oceans. How could we detect such life? Well as we know from studies of biological creatures back home we create a chemical diversity in our atmosphere which wouldn’t exist if we did not.

So we could look for gases such as methane trapped in ice crystals such as Clathrate Hydrates on the surface of these near by objects, with techniques such as infra-red reflection spectroscopy.

An exo-planet nicknamed ‘Snow White’ has been found to have a partially water ice surface with a possible light methane atmosphere. So in conclusion, no life has been currently detected aside from on planet Earth and it will prove difficult to find, but, we are off to a good start.

The article The Scientific Search for Intelligent Life in The Universe appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.