NASA Watch

Using Cadavers To Test Orion

kcowing — 2008-07-18T23:39:51-05:00

NASA's Use of Human Cadavers In Testing the Design of the Orion Spacecraft, SpaceRef

"I recently learned that NASA has made some limited use of human cadavers in testing during the development of the Orion spacecraft. Now, on first blush, this might sound somewhat macabre. In fact, it is more common than you might expect. There is also a practical reason for using this approach.

Let me start by providing the statement that the NASA Public Affairs Office provided me with today in response to an inquiry I made regarding the use of human cadavers in the Orion program: ..."

NASA used cadavers in Orion landing tests, Houston Chronicle

"Personnel working under contract for NASA used cadavers in tests to develop landing systems, spacesuits and seats in the new Orion moonship, space agency officials said Friday. Three human bodies were used in the tests at Ohio State University Medical Center last summer and fall."

NASA: getting more macabre, Nature

"Yesterday it was wee, well today the testing phase for the Orion spacecraft, that will take the place of the space shuttle, has taken a more sinister turn."

Sirius/XM Merger Update

kcowing — 2008-07-18T13:31:18-05:00

Satellite radio saga takes unexpected turn, AP

"Adelstein, the potential deciding vote, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he would support Sirius Satellite Radio Inc.'s $3.1 billion buyout of XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. if the companies agree to a six-year price cap and make one-quarter of their satellite capacity available for public interest and minority programming, plus other conditions."

Today's Video: Earth As Alien World

kcowing — 2008-07-18T00:04:05-05:00

NASA's Deep Impact Films Earth as an Alien World

"NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft has created a video of the moon transiting (passing in front of) Earth as seen from the spacecraft's point of view 31 million miles away. Scientists are using the video to develop techniques to study alien worlds. "Making a video of Earth from so far away helps the search for other life-bearing planets in the Universe by giving insights into how a distant, Earth-like alien world would appear to us," said University of Maryland astronomer Michael A'Hearn, principal investigator for the Deep Impact extended mission, called EPOXI."

Video below

Culberson Wants to Overhaul NASA

kcowing — 2008-07-17T22:00:08-05:00

Culberson weighing legislation for NASA overhaul, Houston Chronicle

"Two days after telling an online town hall meeting that NASA had "failed us miserably" and "wastes a vast amount of money," Houston Rep. John Culberson said Thursday he was weighing legislation to overhaul the structure of the space agency responsible for about 20,000 Houston-area jobs. Culberson, a blunt-spoken conservative from a heavily Republican westside district, said his proposal would slash NASA headquarter's bureaucracy and enable scientists and engineers to rekindle visionary space exploration."

Editor's note: You can Twitter Rep. Culbertson here

GSFC Has a New Center Director

kcowing — 2008-07-17T18:25:16-05:00

NASA Names Strain New Goddard Space Flight Center Director

"NASA Administrator Michael Griffin on Thursday announced that Rob Strain will be the next center director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Strain is currently the head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Md. He will assume his duties as center director on Aug. 4."

NASA OIG on STI Review

kcowing — 2008-07-17T15:26:50-05:00

NASA OIG: Actions Needed to Ensure Scientific and Technical Information is Adequately Reviewed at GSFC, JSC, LaRC, and MSFC

"Although we could not specifically validate the authors' level of awareness, none of the four Centers had active programs designed to educate new employees or to periodically brief existing employees about the STI review requirement. The effectiveness of NASA's STI review process could be improved if STI authors are timely notified of the results of the STI review and if NASA took steps to ensure STI authors are aware of their responsibilities under NPR 2200.2B. Those actions would remove uncertainty from the process and further reduce NASA's risk of inappropriately releasing restricted or sensitive STI."

HOA on ISS

kcowing — 2008-07-17T15:05:41-05:00

Heads of Agency International Space Station Joint Statement

"The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met at European Space Agency (ESA) Headquarters in Paris on July 17, 2008, to review ISS cooperation. As part of their discussions, they noted the significantly expanded capability that the ISS now provides for on-orbit research and technology development activities and as an engineering test bed for flight systems and operations that are critical to future space exploration initiatives. These activities improve the quality of life on Earth by expanding the frontiers of human knowledge."

Mars Needs Urine Samples Too

kcowing — 2008-07-17T13:25:47-05:00

Phoenix landing: Coping with Mars time, Nature

"In the toilets at the Science Operations Center, there are bags containing vials and plastic jugs. A sign above the bags warns: "Do not throw these away!" It is part of an experiment within an experiment. Phoenix scientists are going to sample Mars' ice; Walter Sipes is going to sample the Phoenix scientists' urine -- as a way of assessing their body clocks."

NASA/ESA Exploration Concepts

kcowing — 2008-07-17T00:01:04-05:00

The NASA-ESA Comparative Architecture Assessment

"In January 2008, NASA and ESA agreed to conduct a comparative architecture assessment to determine if their respective lunar architecture concepts could complement, augment, or enhance the exploration plans of the other. From January through March representatives from NASA and ESA engaged in a series of joint, qualitative assessments of potential ESA capabilities as applied to NASA's architecture concepts. Initial findings from these assessments, with respect to each potential ESA category under study, are as follows:"

Video and Live Webcams from Devon Island

kcowing — 2008-07-17T00:00:49-05:00

Editor's note: Three live webcams are now online at the Haughton-Mars Project Research Station on Devon Island: Webcam 1 |Webcam 2 | Webcam 3

Today's video: Charles Cockell from Open University talks about polar geomicrobiology at Trinity Lake on Devon Island (below)

Houston, Someone With E928.0 is Barfing

kcowing — 2008-07-17T00:00:09-05:00

Injured By a Spacecraft? There's a Diagnostic Code for That, Wall Street Journal

"ICD (International Classification of Diseases) codes are the basic international health codes that exist for just about everything (as this spaceship thing suggests). They're used both for billing purposes and for tracking trends in public health."

MRO and Phoenix Continue to Discover

kcowing — 2008-07-16T23:04:31-05:00

New Findings Show Diverse, Wet Environments on Ancient Mars

"Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the potential to support life, according to two new studies based on data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and other instruments on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). One study, published in the July 17 issue of Nature, shows that vast regions of the ancient highlands of Mars--which cover about half the planet--contain clay minerals, which can form only in the presence of water."

NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to Begin Rasping Frozen Layer
Phoenix Mars Lander Rasps Frozen Layer, Collects Sample

EVA Preps ISS for Russian Module

kcowing — 2008-07-16T21:51:34-05:00

ISS Is Prepared For Russian Module, Aviation Week

"The two Russian crewmembers of International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 17 have installed a docking target and made other preparations for the arrival of a new pressurized module next summer in the second spacewalk of their mission."

War Stories

kcowing — 2008-07-16T14:54:40-05:00

Wayne Hale's NASA Blog: Old Flight Director War Stories

"Right now, by popular demand, I thought I'd tell a story about what happened to me when I was a brand new shuttle Flight Director. It sorta ties into some of last week's blog and I promise it won't be pithy or pontificate . . . It was a DoD flight, we still can't talk about the payload or what we accomplished, but it was my first flight and it was a high inclination flight when most of the early shuttle flights had been low inclination. High inclination means the orbit goes further north and south than usual, "inclination" being the technical term for the angle at which the orbit crosses the equator which is equivalent to the highest latitude (north or south) that the orbit reaches."

Internal NASA Orion Update

kcowing — 2008-07-16T12:40:32-05:00

NASA Internal Presentation: CxMPR, Orion Project Office, 2 July 2008

NASA moon capsule running late, full of problems, AP (via Newsweek)

"The 117-page report, posted Wednesday at nasawatch.com, shows an $80 million cost overrun this year for just one motor and a dozen different technical problems that the space agency put in the top risk zone, meaning the problems are considered severe. The report put the program's financial performance in that category. Technical problems included software that may not be developed on time, the heat shield, a dangerous level of shaking during launch, and a hard-to-open hatch door. The report also said NASA's plans would shortchange astronauts' daily water needs, giving them only two liters a day when medical experts say they need at least 2.5 liters."