2011: a year of scientific discovery, technological
innovation, and new
destinations for exploration.
That was “This Year at NASA.”
2011 was a year of transition for human exploration
of space.
With the Dec. 23 arrival at the International
Space Station of the remaining
Expedition 30 crew members, the orbiting complex
continued along its new path
to full utilization as the world’s only
laboratory in microgravity.
The three new members of the Expedition 27
crew are busy making the International
Space Station their new home for the next
five months.
Flight engineers Alexander
Samokutyaev, Andrey Borisenko and Ron Garan
arrived at the station in their Soyuz
spacecraft following a successful journey
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan.
Cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Alexander Samokutyaev
conducted a six-hour
spacewalk to continue outfitting the Russian
segment of the International Space Station.
The Expedition 28 Flight Engineers also installed
laser communications equipment and
replaced experiments on the Zvezda service
module.
“Ron Garan flashing a big smile as he’s
extracted…”
The Soyuz spacecraft carrying NASA astronaut
Ron Garan and his fellow Expedition 28
flight engineers returned safely to Earth
with a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan.
The International Space Station Program Office
at the Johnson Space Center partnered
with the Glenn Research Center to highlight
the unique research opportunities offered
by
the world’s laboratory in microgravity.
Held in Cleveland at the Great Lakes Science
Center, this "Destination Station" forum noted
the accomplishments of the ISS National
Laboratory, and promoted future opportunities
for commercial, academic and
government research and technology development.
Full utilization of the ISS could only be
realized after the final flights of Discovery…
Endeavour… and Atlantis.
“Assembly Complete.”The last great contribution
of
many by the space shuttle in more than thirty
years of service to NASA and
humankind.
“Go for main engine start.
We have main engine start…
2-1, booster ignition, and the
final liftoff of Discovery; a tribute to the
dedication, hard work and pride of America’s
space shuttle team.
The shuttle has cleared the tower.”
In the late afternoon of Feb. 24, shuttle
Discovery took off on its final mission into
space,
to carry STS-133 crew members Commander Steven
Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe and
Mission Specialists Alvin Drew, Mike Barratt,
Steve Bowen and Nicole Stott to the
International Space Station.
This 35th shuttle mission to the ISS delivers
the Permanent
Multipurpose Module, the Express Logistics
Carrier 4, and Robonaut 2, the first
dexterous humanoid robot in space.
R2 will become a permanent station resident.
“Are you guys making him do chores up there
– washing the dishes or something or
does he have more exciting jobs?”
“He’s still in packing foam so we hope
to get him out shortly so it’s going to
be fun to see
how he works.”
“He’s still in packing foam?
Come on guys, he flew all that way and you
haven’t
unpacked him?”
“Yeah the poor guy has been in foam for
about four months … every once in a while
we
hear some scratching sounds from inside.”
“2, 1 and liftoff of the final launch of
Endeavour – expanding our knowledge, expanding
our lives in space.”
Space shuttle Endeavour lifted off Monday
from the Kennedy Space Center for the
International Space Station and STS-134.
Commander Mark Kelly and his five
crewmates began their mission with a picture-perfect
launch at 8:56 a.m.
Eastern.
Before a crowd of thousands, lead singer Bono
dedicated their award-winning hit
'Beautiful Day' to Kelly’s wife, Congresswoman
Gabby Giffords, who is recovering from a
gunshot wound, while Kelly enthusiastically
greeted the crowd and sent a heartwarming
message to his wife in a prerecorded message
from his time aboard the International
Space Station during mission STS-134.
: “Tell my wife I love her very much.
She knows.”
In a history making event from the Vatican,
Pope Benedict XVI spoke with the
Expedition 27 and STS-134 crews working on-orbit
aboard the International Space
Station.
-“From your excellent observation point,
how do you see the situation on Earth, do
you
see science phenomena to which we need to
be more attentive.”
Well your holiness, it’s a great honor to
speak with you, and you are right it really
is an
extraordinary advantage point we have up here,
on the one hand we can see how
indescribably beautiful the planet that we
have been given is, but on the other hand,
we
can really clearly so how fragile it is.”
Those newly-released images of a space shuttle
docked to the International Space
Station are the first taken from the perspective
of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
On May
23, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo
Nespoli took the pictures and video of the
ISS and Endeavour on STS-134.
Nespoli, along with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry
Kondratyev and NASA astronaut Cady Coleman
were aboard the Soyuz that had just
undocked from the station and was about to
carry them back to Earth.
: “All three engines up and burning…
2-1- 0 and liftoff, the final liftoff of Atlantis.
On the
shoulders of the space shuttle, America will
continue the dream.
“
Space shuttle Atlantis lifted off from launch
pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on
July 8 to begin STS-135, the final mission
of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.
: “Landing gear down and locked.”
After more than 30 years, NASA’s shuttle
era has come to a close.
Atlantis made a picture-perfect, pre-dawn
landing at the Kennedy Space Center during
STS-135’s 200th orbit of Earth.
“Mission complete Houston.
After serving the world for over 30 years,
the space shuttle
which has earned its place in history has
come to a final stop.”
Brought safely home after 13 days of stocking
up the International Space Station for the
post-shuttle era was the STS-135 crew: Commander
Chris Ferguson…
Pilot Doug
Hurley… and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus…
and Rex Walheim.
In spaceflight history, the date “April
12” is special.
On that day in 1981, the first shuttle
mission, STS-1, began with the launch of Columbia
from the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.
Administrator Charles Bolden led a commemorative
program at Kennedy to honor the
space shuttle’s work force for its invaluable
contributions to space exploration over the
past 30 years.
“I want to thank each and every one of you,
and the many others in the shuttle work force
over the years for your significant contribution
to this tremendous American
accomplishment.
You’ve inspired a generation, helped make
the world a better place
and given us a road map for future space exploration.”
Bolden also announced the four locations at
which the orbiters Atlantis, Discovery,
Endeavour and Enterprise will spend their
retirement on permanent display.
With the shuttle retired, NASA and its commercial
partners continued development
of new ways to get astronauts and cargo to
the International Space Station.
This engine test, the successful test fire
of Aerojet Corporation’s AJ26 flight engine,
was
one of several events at which NASA senior
leaders showed support for their
commercial spaceflight partners.
“The whole NASA family is really proud whenever
we’re able to do something like this.
We work every day to try to reach new heights
because we look to reveal things that are
previously unknown so that we can make life
better here on earth.”
The AJ26 will power the first stage of Orbital
Sciences Corporation’s Taurus II space
launch vehicle.
NASA has partnered with Orbital through the
agency’s ongoing
Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
initiative.
Under COTS, Orbital is
scheduled to provide eight commercial cargo
flights to the International Space Station
beginning early next year.
NASA has awarded more than $269 million for
the continued development of
commercial transportation systems to carry
astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit.
Four U.S. companies, Blue Origin of Kent,
Wash., the Sierra Nevada Corporation,
Louisville, Colo., SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif.,
and the Boeing Company in Houston
received the awards in the second round of
NASA’s Commercial Crew Development, or
CCDev, effort.
: “So many people on both the government
and industry teams worked so very hard to
build this wonderful high-tech facility
Administrator Charles Bolden was joined by
Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland and
other dignitaries for the unveiling of the
Wallops Flight Facility’s new Horizontal
Rocket
Integration Facility, or HIF.”
“The genius of the private sector working
with government is going to lead the way in
commercial spacecraft to take cargo to the
space station so the space station can
continue the innovation and discovery, be
the national laboratory in the sky.
“Today I am happy to announce that the Boeing
company has settled Florida for its
commercial crew office”…clapping
A new partnership has been formed between
NASA and Space Florida to occupy, use
and modify the Kennedy Space Center's Orbiter
Processing Facility, OPF 3, the Space
Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility and
Processing Control Center.
The 15-year
use permit deal is the latest step Kennedy
is making in its transition from a historically
government-only launch complex to a multi-user
spaceport.
- Deputy Admin.
Lori Garver: “Kennedy and the entire space
coast have been
synonymous with NASA’s historic 30 year
shuttle program as well as America’s first
50
years in human space flight and the agreement
that we have reached today with
Spaceport Florida will help set-up an even
future.”
Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic
development agency, is leasing OPF-3
to the Boeing Company to manufacture and test
the company's Crew Space
Transportation spacecraft.
Development of the CST-100, a reusable capsule-shaped
spacecraft to transport up to seven people,
or a combination of people and cargo to
space, is expected to create as many as 550
jobs along the Space Coast.
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX,
is scheduled to launch its Dragon
spacecraft on its second Commercial Orbital
Transportation Services demonstration
flight in Feb. 2012.
Pending completion of final safety reviews,
testing and verification,
SpaceX might also send Dragon to rendezvous
with the International Space Station.
With travel to low Earth orbit covered commercially,
NASA is freed up to send
humans to explore new destinations beyond,
such as asteroids, the moon and,
eventually, Mars.
“The next chapter of America’s space exploration
story is being written today.”
Administrator Charlie Bolden was on Capitol
Hill for the announcement of NASA’s
selected design of its new Space Launch System.
(nat launch animation)
The new heavy-lift rocket will take NASA astronauts
farther into space than ever before.
The booster will be America’s most powerful
since the Saturn V rocket that carried
Apollo astronauts to the moon and will launch
humans to places no one has gone
before.
“We’ve got near earth asteroids to go
look at, possible visits to the moon, La Grangian
Point, higher earth orbit, geosynch orbit;
lots of opportunities out there, we just have
to
sort out what makes sense.”
: “The Space Coast is open for business.”
Administrator Charlie Bolden led members of
the media on a tour of NASA’s new
mobile launcher at the Kennedy Space Center.
Center Director Bob Cabana and other
Kennedy management joined Bolden to discuss
NASA’s Space Launch System.
The
SLS is the agency’s heavy-lift rocket.
This is one of three successful drop tests
of NASA’s next deep space exploration vehicle
conducted this summer at the Langley Research
Center’s new $1.7 million Hydro
Impact Basin.
“3 ..2…1…GO!”
Langley hosted an official ribbon-cutting
ceremony for the new facility that expands
the
center's capabilities to test and certify
future spacecrafts for water landings.
: “The Lander facility and the vast experience
of its Langley staff provide a perfect
combination to study the Orion Multi-Purpose
Crew Vehicle’s options for returning to
Earth.”
Assembly of the first J-2X, dubbed engine
ten thousand one, is in full swing at NASA’s
Stennis Space Center.
The J-2X engine is designed to be a highly
efficient and versatile
rocket engine and has the ideal performance
characteristics to power the upper-stage of
a heavy-lift launch vehicle.
And NASA conducted its latest test firing
of the J-2X rocket engine.
The next-
generation engine will help propel Orion beyond
low Earth orbit.
This test is to give
engineers a better understanding of start
and shutdown procedures, and the
performance of modifications made since previous
test firings.
2011 was another banner year for science.
Four new NASA missions were
launched, and contributions by seasoned stalwarts
of science exploration added
to our understanding of life here on Earth
– and what lies beyond.
“These photos have been already a great
revelation to the team about what the surface
is like; we did not imagine the detail that
we’re seeing.”
Newly-captured, full-frame images of the asteroid
Vesta were unveiled by the Dawn
mission team at a Jet Propulsion Laboratory
news conference.
“Vesta is much larger than the state of
California and it is has some very exciting
geomorphological and composition features
that you’ll be hearing about and will shed
some light on how our solar system actually
was formed.”
The Dawn spacecraft was successfully inserted
into the giant asteroid’s orbit several
weeks ago and has since begun collecting scientific
data.
“And lift off of the Atlas V with Juno on
a trek to Jupiter.”
The wait is over, and launch teams are celebrating
the successful liftoff of the Juno
spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center as
it begins a five-year cruise to the planet
Jupiter to investigate the planet’s structure,
atmosphere and magnetosphere.
It will also provide detailed images of Jupiter’s
surface and capture the first high-
resolution views of its poles.
“We’re on our way, and at this point the
spacecraft’s out, it’s open; the solar
arrays are
open; we’re flowing our electricity through
the veins of Juno.”
These dark, finger-like features extending
down some Martian slopes could be flowing
water occurring during the warmest months
on the planet Mars.
NASA’s Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter, has been repeatedly
tracking and observing seasonal changes
in these recurring patterns in Mars’ southern
hemisphere.
“We have followed the water and we have
found repeated and predictable evidence
suggesting water flowing on Mars.”
This discovery, which was discussed at a press
briefing held at NASA headquarters,
could be vital to continued studies on whether
life could exist on the Red Planet.
According to scientists the flow of liquid
briny water is the best explanation, thus
far, for
these dark lineations which spread down some
Martian slopes during late spring through
summer, fade in winter, and then return during
the next spring.
“3-2-1-zero, and liftoff of the Delta 2
with GRAIL; journey to the center of the Moon.”
A Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station in Florida has sent the
twin GRAIL spacecraft on their way to the
moon.
The two spacecraft will fly in tandem orbits
around the moon for several months to
measure its gravity field in unprecedented
detail from crust to core.
The mission also will
answer longstanding questions about the moon
and provide scientists with a better
understanding of how Earth and other rocky
planets in the solar system formed.
On November 26th -- at 10:02 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time, NASA’s Mars Science
Laboratory Curiosity rover launched aboard
a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in
Florida.
MSL is scheduled to reach the Red
Planet next August at a site known as Gale
Crater.
Curiosity rover’s ten instruments will
investigate whether that area of Mars could
ever have sustained microbial life.
Also sent aloft was the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft,
roaring off the launch pad at
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
From its polar orbit of the Earth, the NASA-
built Aquarius, the spacecraft’s primary
instrument, will analyze the oceans for their
comparative levels of salinity, or the waters’
saltiness, a major factor in the flow of
currents that, ultimately, affect climate.
The nation's newest Earth-observing satellite
has begun its mission.
The National Polar-
orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite
System Preparatory Project, or NPP, was
launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California, heralding a new era of climate
change science and weather forecasting for
the United States.
Data from NPP will enable the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration to
continue issuing accurate forecasts and provide
advance warning for severe weather.
For the first time, NASA-funded researchers
have created a complete map showing the
speed and direction ice flows throughout Antarctica.
The animation demonstrates how
ice is naturally transported from the continent’s
deep interior region to the coast.
The
colors represent the speed of the ice flow
with red and purple areas flowing fastest.
The
map was created using integrated radar observations
from a consortium of international
satellites.
Observing the map will give scientists not
only a better understanding of how
ice sheets flow, but also better insight on
how they might respond to climate change and
contribute to sea levels in the future.
Several craft in NASA’S fleet of Earth Observing
Satellites have captured these images
of severe flooding along the Mississippi River
Basin.
So far, nearly 3 million acres in
Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, have
been affected by severe springtime rains.
The Mississippi River Basin is third largest
in the world, and managing floods in this
area has been a challenge for more than a
century.
More than 34 years after its launch, NASA's
Voyager 1 spacecraft has entered a new
region between our solar system and interstellar
space.
Data it’s obtained over the last
year suggest this new region is a kind of
cosmic purgatory, where the solar wind is
calm,
our solar system's magnetic field piles up,
and higher-energy particles appear to leak
from our solar system into interstellar space.
Although Voyager 1 is about 11 billion miles
from the sun, it has yet to cross one major,
space-faring threshold.
“We’re very close to the edge of interstellar
space now.
Unfortunately, our models are
not accurate enough to tell us how close.
So, it could be a few more months or it could
be a few more years.
But Voyager One is moving out a billion miles
every three years,
so we shouldn’t have too long to wait to
find out what’s outside.”
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered
what astronomers believe is the most
distant object ever seen in the universe.
The dim object is a tiny, compact galaxy of
blue
stars that existed 13.2 billion years ago,
roughly 150 million years farther back in
time
than the previous record holder.
The age of the universe is 13.7 billion years.
The tiny galaxy, so small that more than a
hundred similarly-sized galaxies would be
needed to make up our Milky Way galaxy, was
discovered by Hubble’s Wide Field
Camera 3, installed in 2009 during the last
space shuttle servicing mission to the
telescope.
“This is the first time we're really pinpointing
when these black holes were really forming
and growing.”
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate conducted
two news conferences to update the
media on progress and developments in the
Chandra X-Ray Observatory and
MESSENGER missions.
The first of the two provided a look at new
pictures and data
collected by Chandra.
Black holes are the last evolutionary stage
in the lifetimes of stars that were once at
least
10 to 15 times as massive as our own sun.
These cold remnants are extremely dense,
exerting a gravitational pull so strong that
nothing, not even light, can escape their
grasp.
At a press conference held at NASA Ames Research
Center, the Kepler team
announced the discovery of its first confirmed
planet in the "habitable zone" or the region
around a star where liquid water could exist
on a planet’s surface.
Named Kepler-22b,
the planet is about 2.4 times the radius of
the Earth and orbits a sun-like star about
600
light years away between the constellations
of Cygnus and Lyra.
“Well, certainly the thing that’s most
exciting to me is the fact, that finally after
looking at
all these candidates, spending all this effort,
that we can confirm a planet, in the
habitable zone that’s nearly Earth size.
Scientists don't know yet if Kepler-22b has
a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid
composition, but its discovery is a step closer
to finding Earth-like planets.
NASA's aeronautical innovators continued in
2011 to lay the foundation for the
future of flight by exploring new ways to
manage air traffic, build more fuel-
efficient and environmentally friendly airliners,
and ensure aviation's outstanding
safety record.
Airplane passengers and people living near
airports are all too familiar with the noise
associated with air travel.
After years of work and research with partners
in industry and
academia, NASA has developed a noise-reduction
technology called chevrons.
Chevrons, the sawtooth pattern on this jet
engine’s trailing edges, can significantly
reduce the noise caused by commercial jet
airplanes.
It's not every day that a Marine V-22 Osprey
lands at a convention center parking lot.
The tilt-rotor made a special appearance at
the American Helicopter Society forum in
Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The annual event is where the who's who in
rotorcraft
research and technology meet to showcase the
latest in vertical flight.
Among the
presentations – 31 papers from s researchers
at NASA's Langley, Ames and Glenn
Research Centers.
The Ames Research Center recently completed
a series of tests that may help take
some of the loudness out of sonic booms and
allow supersonic aircraft to fly over land.
Inside Ames’ 9-foot by 7-foot supersonic
wind tunnel, fans or compressors moved air
over a sleek new aircraft design at speeds
replicating flying conditions.
Tests like these
help researchers understand the forces acting
on a real aircraft and its impact, like the
creation of a sonic boom, on the surrounding
atmosphere.
NASA also broke new ground in how it reaches
out to the next generation of
space enthusiasts, winning kudos for its successful
use of the Web, Facebook,
Twitter and other, popular social media.
A group of fifty-five science and space enthusiasts
who follow the NASA Ames twitter
account were invited to NASA Ames Research
Center to participate in an event called
a “Tweet-up.”
These tweeps, or people who use twitter, were
given a rare opportunity to tour the labs
at NASA Ames, listen to presentations and
get answers to their questions from
researchers who work at the Center.
“Social networking is really critical.
As we move forward as a country, this is an
increasing way that the public, particularly
the interested public, can actually participate
and ride with us as we do the wonderful things
we do at NASA.”
Elmo Monster, one of the most popular characters
on public television, brought a film
crew from Sesame Street to the Kennedy Space
Center to talk with NASA experts like
Leland Melvin, astronaut and NASA’s Associate
Administrator for Education.
“And here’s the external tank, the big
orange tank, this falls back into the ocean
and
burns up.
“Really?”
He also participated in a tweet-up with Astro-Mike,
aka, Mike Massimino and Astro-
Wheels, the handle for astronaut Doug Wheelock.
: “Elmo did you touch anything?”
“Elmo did not touch nothing.”
(laughter)
Once again, NASA has been recognized for several
of the world’s best Internet sites by
winning two Webby Awards.
NASA.gov received its third consecutive People's
Voice
Award for best government Website, and NASA's
Global Climate Change site, last
year's People's Voice Award winner for science,
captured this year’s Judges' Award for
best science site.
Created in 1996, the Webby Award honors excellence
in online
technology and creativity.
“It’s an honor to be here … I’ve always
dreamed of coming to watch rocket leave the
planet.”
Helping Melvin tout the importance of inspiring
our youth about STEM-based careers
was entertainer Will.i.am of the musical group,
The Black Eyed Peas.
An avid fan of
robotics, will and Melvin were interviewed
by TV stations and networks throughout North
America.
“When you think about tomorrow and the people
who are going to be leading the way—
it’s the youth that we have right now.”
NASA continued its mission to promote student
education in science, technology,
engineering, and math – disciplines so vital
to the future of NASA and our nation.
Teen-agers around the world are ramping up
their engineering skills with the start of
the
2011 FIRST Robotics competition.
High school teams from southeast Virginia
filed into the Virginia Air and Space Center
in
Hampton January 8 to learn this year’s challenge.
They watched as speakers, and a live
broadcast on NASA TV, unveiled the requirements
for Logomotion: build a robot and
mini-bot that can move and climb.
The excitement and inspiration of space exploration
was the subject of a special forum
held in New York to celebrate Women’s History
Month.
NASA's Deputy Administrator
Lori Garver, and Associate Administrator for
Education and former astronaut Leland
Melvin attended the event at the Stephen Weiss
Studio in Greenwich Village and met
with 200 young women from middle and high
schools in the city.
“NASA is a wonderful place that is making
a difference in people’s lives every day.
Our
satellites look back on the planet to help
us learn what’s happening with our own planet
so that we can have a more secure future.
Co-sponsored by fashion designer Donna Karan's
Urban Zen Foundation and the
Foundation for Advancing Women Now, founded
by singer Mary J. Blige, the event
encouraged the students to consider careers
in the STEM fields of science, technology,
engineering and math.
NASA spinoffs are the subject of two new Public
Service Announcements airing on
NASA TV.
“Speaking of space technology, did you know
that space is hidden all around you?”
The first features Elf 6409EF from Sony Pictures
new film, “Arthur Christmas.”
Our
animated protagonist illustrates how NASA-developed
space technologies are making
our lives better here on Earth.
“Hi, I’m Norah Jones … and I’m Piers
Sellers.
And, Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Norah
Jones teams up with astronaut Piers
Sellers on the second PSA. Jones and Sellers
recorded their message in the NASA TV
studio in Washington.
NASA’s 2011 included remembrances of milestones
past, among them: the 50th
anniversary of the flight of the first American
in space, Alan Shepard…
“The first time we ever put anybody into
space, and Al was a great person to represent
us on that.”
“He was outstanding and he deserved it.”
“We were always proud of him.”
“Roger, Two G.”
…the tenth anniversary of 9-11 and the unique
perspective then offered us by
NASA astronaut and Expedition 3 commander,
Frank Culbertson, aboard the
International Space Station…
“I realized our country was under attack.
I was, ironically, half-way through a Tom
Clancy novel about a similar situation, at
the time, and it almost put me inside the
novel
which was a very strange feeling.
And then once I saw it out the window, and
we took
video as the second tower was collapsing,
I didn’t know exactly what was happening,
but I knew it was really bad because there
was a big cloud of debris covering Manhattan.
That’s when it really became painful, because
it was like seeing a wound in the side of
your country.”
…and, as marked by the award of the Congressional
Gold Medal, the contributions
of John Glenn and the crew of Apollo 11.
“Thank you all very, very much.
We must consider ourselves among the most
fortunate
of all generations, for we have lived at a
time when the dream became a reality.
When
we finally could travel above the atmosphere
around the earth, where we could establish
laboratories in space and do research, and
for the very first time in history, leave
human
footprints on some place other than Earth.”
“The Apollo 11 crew is honored to receive
the Congressional Gold Medal and accept on
behalf of our fellow Apollo teammates – all
of those who’ve played a role in expanding
the human presence outward from earth.
But 2011 also established new milestones for
our future, including: NASA’s Green
Flight Challenge produced the world’s most
fuel-efficient aircraft.
In the skies above Santa Rosa, Calif., three
flight teams competed in the CAFÉ Green
Flight Challenge for the title of most fuel-efficient
aircraft in the world.
The NASA-
provided purse for this accomplishment -- $1.65
million, the largest aviation prize ever
offered.
The challenge: to fly 200 miles in less than
two hours, using less than one
gallon of fuel per occupant, or an equivalent
amount of electricity.
The appeal to our next generation of explorers
with a new, NASA-powered radio
channel on the Internet…
“Welcome to Third Rock – Radio – powered
with NASA”
“We focus on S.T.E.M., and we’ve all learned
that STEM is the science and technology
and engineering and math, to remind young
adults that a career in that direction is
a
great way to have a wonderful life – possibly
end up with a career at NASA.”
And, the non-profit Center for the Advancement
of Science in Space, CASIS, was
selected by NASA to manage the U.S. national
laboratory aboard the International
Space Station – and all the promise of new
discoveries it holds for the benefit of all
humankind.
Located in the Space Life Sciences Laboratory
at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
the independent, nonprofit research management
organization will help ensure the
station’s unique capabilities are available
to the broadest possible cross-section of
the
U.S. scientific, technological and industrial
communities.
And on that note provided by Cady Coleman
and Jethro Tull founder Ian
Anderson, we say goodbye to 2011
From understanding our Earth, to new clues
about possible life elsewhere.
From fostering life-changing research in space,
to sharing our vision of the future
with those destined to journey there.
From the end of one monumental mission, to
the beginning of a new era in the
human exploration of our solar system.
That was “This Year @NASA!”
For more on these and other stories, log onto:
www.nasa.gov.
May your exploration of 2012 be happy, healthy,
and full of wonder and discovery.
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