There are 4 messages totalling 153 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. STS-125 MCC Status Report #18
2. CHICAGO NATIVE HELPING NASA RETURN TO THE MOON AND BEYOND
3. NASA GIVES SPACE STATION CREW 'GO' TO DRINK RECYCLED WATER
4. STS-125 MCC Status Report #19

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Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 03:08:09 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-125 MCC Status Report #18

STS-125 Report #18 Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - 3:30 a m CDT Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

As the voyage of the space shuttle Atlantis boldly continued this morning, the crew woke up at 3:03 a m CDT to the theme from the television series “Star Trek,” which was composed by Alexander Courage The song was played for the entire crew

At 9:26 a m , the crew will talk with members of the media at different NASA centers about the mission, the Hubble Telescope and the crew’s thoughts on being a part of this fifth and final servicing mission

At 11:06 a m , the crew will make a ship-to-ship call to their orbital neighbors, the crew of Expedition 19 on board the International Space Station

The crew will spend the balance of the day enjoying some off duty time as they prepare for Friday’s entry and landing

The crew is due to go to sleep at 6:01 p m The next status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s day or earlier if events warrant

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

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Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 10:36:33 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: CHICAGO NATIVE HELPING NASA RETURN TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

May 20, 2009

Debbie Nguyen Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

Report #J09-011

CHICAGO NATIVE HELPING NASA RETURN TO THE MOON AND BEYOND

HOUSTON – Nearly 40 years after watching the first men on the moon parade down Michigan Avenue, Chicago native Dr Rick Scheuring is helping send a new generation of explorers to the moon Today, the Ridgewood High School track and field alumnus is responsible for ensuring the health and safety of future moonwalkers for NASA’s Constellation Program

Constellation is building the spacecraft to carry astronauts to the International Space Station and return humans to the moon by 2020, as a stepping-stone to Mars and beyond America’s new space fleet that will launch after the shuttle retires includes the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Ares I and V rockets and the Altair lunar lander

Scheuring is Constellation’s lead for medical operations integration He was recently reunited with the three astronauts he witnessed decades earlier: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins The lessons they shared from their journey to the moon are helping Scheuring shape crew health and safety goals for future Constellation missions

“The Apollo 11 crew members I interviewed said to definitely make sure we put the crew members input first,” Scheuring said “Our generation of flight surgeons works really hard to make sure we do that ”

One example of the “crew first” philosophy is making sure that the Orion waste management area and galley aren’t close to each other In Apollo, those areas were about 12 inches apart Separating the areas provides a more sanitary environment for the astronauts

Scheuring’s focus hasn’t always been on space With his sights set on the Olympics, he earned an athletic scholarship to Eastern Illinois University and competed in the decathlon However, years of painful injuries forced him to turn in his track and field shoes for a career in medicine

After attending the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Scheuring started a family and sports medicine practice in Galena, Ill Soon after, he heard about an emerging medical discipline called aerospace medicine and realized he could finally combine his love for space with his medical career

During his aerospace medicine residency at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, the Sept 11 attacks prompted Scheuring to join the U S Army Reserve as a flight surgeon It was this experience that ultimately prepared him for his current role as an advocate for astronaut health and safety But he’s also a huge advocate for NASA and space exploration

“When I talk to people about NASA, some say it’s a waste of taxpayer dollars,” Scheuring said “To that I say the number one reason you need to support us is that space exploration makes life better on Earth Period ”

For photos and video of Scheuring along with more information on NASA’s Constellation Program, visit:

http://www nasa gov/constellation/stars

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

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Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 16:56:02 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA GIVES SPACE STATION CREW 'GO' TO DRINK RECYCLED WATER

May 20, 2009

Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Report #H09-096

NASA GIVES SPACE STATION CREW 'GO' TO DRINK RECYCLED WATER

HOUSTON -- NASA's Mission Control gave the Expedition 19 astronaut crew aboard the International Space Station a “go” to drink water that the station's new recycling system has purified

Mission Control radioed the news to the crew Wednesday, following a report from the Water Recovery System team that station program managers approved The decision is an important milestone in the development of the station's environmental and life support systems, which will begin supporting six-person crews at the end of May

Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata celebrated the decision with a toast in the Destiny laboratory

“This has been the stuff of science fiction Everybody's talked about recycling water in a closed loop system, but nobody's ever done it before Here we are today with the first round of recycled water,” said Barratt “We're really happy for this day and for the team that put this together This is the kind of technology that will get us to the moon and further ”

“This is an important milestone in the development of the space station,” said Kirk Shireman, International Space Station deputy program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston “This system will reduce the amount of water we must launch to the station once the shuttle retires and also test out a key technology required for sending humans on long duration missions to the moon and Mars ” Space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission delivered the Water Recovery System to the station in November 2008 Mission Specialist Don Pettit and Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke installed the equipment before Endeavour's departure The system has been processing urine into purified water since shuttle Discovery's STS-119 crew delivered and installed a replacement Urine Processing Assembly in March The system is tied into the station's Waste and Hygiene Compartment toilet and recovers and recycles moisture from the station's atmosphere

The crews of STS-126, Expedition 18 and STS-119 returned samples of the recycled water to Earth A total of 5 28 gallons (20 liters) of recycled water were tested for purity at the Water and Microbiology Laboratories at Johnson A special Space Station Program Control Board meeting on April 27 reviewed the analysis, which showed contaminants were well below established limits, and concurred that the water is safe and healthy to drink Mission managers elected to postpone consumption until a sticky check valve in the Urine Processing Assembly was removed May 18

Space station crews will monitor the purity of the recycled water with on-board equipment and periodically send down samples for testing on Earth

Video of the Expedition 19 crew toast will air on NASA Television's Video File For streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For more information about the space station and the new recycling system, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov with the following command in the body of your e-mail message: "unsubscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) or from another account, besides the account used to subscribe: "unsubscribe hsfnews youremail@yourdomain com" (no quotes)

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Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 17:53:17 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: STS-125 MCC Status Report #19

STS-125 Report #19 5 p m CDT Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Mission Control Center, Houston, Texas

The space shuttle Atlantis crew enjoyed a day off, answered reporters’ questions and chatted with colleagues on the International Space Station today They’ll switch gears on Thursday and get ready for landing

Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Greg Johnson and Mission Specialists Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel fielded questions for about 40 minutes from reporters at NASA centers before lunch

After lunch, the crew had a chance to talk with Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station during a ship-to-ship call as the two vehicles circled the Earth in different orbits Later in the day, the station crew toasted the first use of the station’s new water recycling system with fellow astronauts, engineers, flight controllers and program officials on the ground

The Hubble Space Telescope servicing crew will turn their attention to landing tomorrow, stowing gear that has been used over the course of 10 days in orbit and five spacewalks They’ll also check the reaction control system thrusters and flight control systems that will be used to control their reentry and descent through the atmosphere

Mission managers completed their review of the late inspection of the shuttle’s wing leading edge and nosecap heat shield, and cleared the entire thermal protection system for safe entry Landing is scheduled for 9:01 a m CDT Friday at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, weather permitting

The crew is due to go to sleep at 6:01 p m The next status report will be issued after the crew awakens at 2:01 a m , or earlier if events warrant

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NASA Johnson Space Center Mission Status Reports and other information are available automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message to listserv@listserver jsc nasa gov In the body of the message (not the subject line) users should type "subscribe hsfnews" (no quotes) This will add the e-mail address that sent the subscribe message to the news release distribution list The system will reply with a confirmation via e-mail of each subscription Once you have subscribed you will receive future news releases via e-mail

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End of HSFNEWS Digest - 20 May 2009 to 21 May 2009 (#2009-53)

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