NASA News: NASA Selects Four Universities For 2012 X-Hab Innovation Challenge
WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected four universities to design habitatand science concepts that could be used by future deep space
explorers. The teams will participate in the second eXploration
Habitat (X-Hab) Academic Innovation Challenge led by NASA and the
National Space Grant Foundation.
The teams are from Oklahoma State University; University of Maryland,
College Park; Ohio State University; and University of Bridgeport,
Conn. The undergraduate students will design, manufacture, assemble
and test their concepts and hardware. A panel of engineers and
scientists will assess their progress at each stage of the
competition. The National Space Grant Foundation will fund the cost
of the teams' design development and their participation in testing
next summer at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.
"This is an amazing opportunity for students to get hands-on
experience in fields ranging from engineering and science to business
management," said Doug Craig, strategic analysis manager for analog
systems at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Last year's competition
proved to be intense, demonstrating the creativity, dedication, and
technical excellence of the team members."
The 2012 X-Hab challenge will look at volume, geometry and
habitability of a deep space habitat and technologies for plant
growth and geo-science sample handling. The challenge is a
participatory exploration effort designed to encourage studies in
spaceflight-related engineering and architecture disciplines. NASA is
committed to training and developing a highly skilled scientific,
engineering and technical workforce for the future.
NASA's Exploration Mission Directorate, Directorate Integration Office
via the Habitat Demonstration Unit Project, is sponsoring the
challenge. NASA is dedicated to supporting research that enables
sustained and affordable human and robotic exploration. This
educational challenge contributes to the agency's efforts to train
and develop a highly skilled scientific, engineering and technical
workforce for the future. For more information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
For more information about the Habitation Development Unit Project, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
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NASA Tests Future Deep Space Vehicle For Water Landings
HAMPTON, Va. -- As NASA closes the chapter on the Space ShuttleProgram, a new era of exploration vehicles is beginning to take off.
Testing began this month at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton,
Va., in the new Hydro Impact Basin to certify the Orion Multi-Purpose
Crew Vehicle (MPCV) for water landings. The Orion MPCV will carry
astronauts into space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain
the crew during space travel and ensure safe re-entry and landing.
Engineers have dropped a 22,000-pound MPCV mockup into the basin. The
test item is similar in size and shape to MPCV, but is more rigid so
it can withstand multiple drops. Each test has a different drop
velocity to represent the MPCV's possible entry conditions during
water landings.
The last of three drop tests to verify the new facility is scheduled
for the end of this month.
Testing will resume in September with a slightly modified test article
that is more representative of the actual MPCV.
The new Hydro Impact Basin is 115 long, 90 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
It is located at the west end of Langley's historic Landing and
Impact Research Facility, or Gantry, where Apollo astronauts trained
for moon walks.
For images and video of the tests, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/
To follow the progress of the Orion MPCV on social networking sites, visit:
http://www.facebook.com/
http://twitter.com/nasampcv
http://www.youtube.com/user/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the Orion MPCV program
for the agency. For more information about the program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
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NASA IT Summit Reaches For "Stellar" Results
WASHINGTON -- NASA is gearing up for a conference in San Franciscothat aims to improve the quality of Information Technology (IT) at
the agency, while drawing on the expertise and innovative spirit of
California's Silicon Valley.
The second NASA IT Summit will take place Aug. 15-17 at San
Francisco's Marriott Marquis Hotel. The theme of this year's event
is, "Making IT Stellar at NASA." NASA's Chief Information Officer
(CIO) Linda Cureton will host the event.
The summit will feature some of the biggest companies in the computer
world, speeches from leading IT thinkers, and a strong education
component aimed at getting American teens excited about science,
technology, engineering and math. The next generation of explorers at
the summit will learn about NASA internships and scholarships;
participate in hands-on science activities; meet with tech experts;
and view demonstrations by major IT vendors.
During the conference, NASA's Office of the CIO will host a luncheon
titled, "Pearls of Wisdom: Our Braided Lives," in support of a White
House initiative to meet the challenges faced by U.S. women and
girls. At the event, women from NASA, business, industry, federal
agencies and academia will meet with female high school students to
foster mentoring relationships.
Students also can attend the panel discussion titled, "Education
Blast-Off," with former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, who now is the
agency's associate administrator for Education, and Vernice Armour,
the first African-American female combat pilot.
Social media will be integral to the event. Many sessions will be live
streamed on the Web.
On Twitter, follow NASA's CIO at: http://twitter.com/nasacio, and the
#nasait hashtag for summit updates. For further information, contact
Karen Harper at 202-358-1807 or karen.l.harper@nasa.gov.
To register, visit:
http://www.regonline.com/
For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Information
Officer, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ocio
Following the summit on Aug. 17, TEDxNASA@SiliconValley 2011 will take
place at the same venue. It is free and open to the public, but
requires separate registration. To learn more, register and view the
TEDxNASA webstream, visit:
http://tedxnasa.com
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