August 4, 2013

Hadfield's Son Counters Dad's Social Media Critic (Source: Evan Hadfield's Blog)
This morning I read an article clearly written with one purpose in mind: Create a controversy around Chris Hadfield’s time in space, and attach his success to a deep-seated distrust of government and social media. Obviously, being so closely involved in Dad’s success in space (having helped him set up twitter, and working closely with him every day to help spread his message of science, achievement, and personal dedication to the world at large), I was quite inflamed when I read the article. Once I calmed down a bit, however, I realized that the only way to really comment on it was to provide the facts. Click here. (8/4)

First Manned Mission to Jupiter's Moon Will Be Crowd-Researched (Source: Motherboard)
Like so many great leaps for mankind, getting a human to one of Jupiter’s moons must begin with a small step. And Objective Europa is aiming to do exactly that. A small team—architects, futurist designers, private space pioneers and even Jacques Cousteau's son, Pierre Yves Cousteau—is beginning the planning stage to send human beings on a one-way trip to the Jovian moon Europa. Click here. (8/4)

NASA Needs to Make Some Quick Decisions (Source: Florida Today)
The United States’ human spaceflight program, and the future of the Kennedy Space Center, hinge on decisions that need to be made very soon. Three jump out as the most important: 1) Will the U.S. extend ISS operations beyond 2020?; 2) Where are NASA astronauts going next?; and 3) Is the U.S. committed to private innovation in human flights? Click here. (8/4)

Grassley Shows NASA's Vikings How Wasting Money Is Done (Source: Motherboard)
A U.S. Senator has asked NASA's Administrator to investigate whether a picture of NASA employees dressed as Vikings constitutes a misuse of government funding and employee time. Ved Chirayath, a Stanford graduate student, won two Stanford grants $4,400 to combine his interests in photography and science. The product, Physics in Vogue, is an exhibition featuring images that explore “profound contemporary physics discoveries.”

Chirayath started working at NASA’s Ames developing CubeSats. The work reminded him of Viking explorers who traveled further and saw more in smaller ships than anyone who had gone before them. Chirayath felt like he and his colleagues were space Vikings and he was inspired to photograph his team in Viking gear.

The obvious irony is that Grassley’s inquiry cost taxpayer money as it was done during business hours, meaning it cost time as well. It’s such a colossal waste of time over something that probably gave Ames and the CubeSats project some publicity the agency can’t afford in light of NASA’s consistently dwindling funding for outreach and education. (8/4)

Dead-Star Crashes May Spark Mysterious Cosmic Explosions (Source: Space.com)
Cataclysmic crashes involving black holes and ultradense neutron stars may explain the briefest of the most powerful explosions in the universe, scientists say. NASA scientists are calling the new type of short, but intense, cosmic collision and conflagration a "kilonova," an explosion so powerful it is 1,000 times stronger than a typical star explosion, called a nova. Such events have long been predicted by astronomers, but never seen until now, researchers said. (8/3)

Commercial Spaceflight Industry Panel at North Carolina Aerospace Conference (Source: NCMBC)
The North Carolina Aerospace Supplier Conference on Aug. 15 will provide opportunities for North Carolina companies to interact with Aerospace prime contractors, as they identify their defense and commercial aerospace projects and needs. Senator Richard Burr will open the conference with the North Carolina Aerospace Alliance (NCAA), the North Carolina Military Business Center (NCMBC) and the North Carolina Department of Commerce serving as co-hosts.

A Commercial Spaceflight Industry Panel will be featured, focusing on how the space industry provides fundamental benefits to the state's economy through: 1) scientific, commercial, military and government platforms (satellites, space stations, rockets, suborbital and orbital transportation), and 2) space industry companies that buy the products and services of non-space companies. Click here. (8/1)

Colorado Steps Up Space Industry Recruitment (Source: Parabolic Arc)
A group, of Colorado aerospace leaders, is hitting the road to seek additional suppliers and subcontractors as well as develop critical partnerships and dialog on opportunities in the space industry. The inaugural Aerospace Business Development Road Trip is set to roll August 5-9 and is hosted by the Colorado Space Business Roundtable (CSBR), a networking organization of large- and small-aerospace companies. (8/3)

KSC Visitor Complex Offers Public Viewing of Nighttime Delta 4 Launch (Source: KSCVC)
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex guests can enjoy viewing a dramatic nighttime launch when a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket lifts off from SLC-37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday, Aug. 7. The launch window is from 8:29 p.m. to 9:18 p.m. Viewing the launch from the Visitor Complex is included in regular admission and features live mission control commentary. Guests are encouraged to bring folding chairs to the viewing area. (8/2)

Sarah Brightman's Dreamchaser Airs on PBS Beginning Aug. 3 (Source: Playbill)
The television special, developed specifically for PBS, takes as its theme the futuristic space vision of Brightman's Dreamchaser World Tour. The singing actress will be part of a future orbital spaceflight mission to the International Space Station. Brightman will be part of a three-person crew travelling to the ISS on board a Soyuz rocket. (8/3)