HSFNEWS Digest - 18 Apr 2012 to 19 Apr 2012 (#2012-36)

From: "[NASA REPORTS]" <list.admin@aus-city.com>

Date: April 19th 2012

There are 3 messages totalling 135 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

NASA BRINGS WONDER OF SPACE STATION TO NORTH CAROLINA
NASA CONTINUES ORION PARACHUTE TESTING FOR FUTURE TEST FLIGHT
NASA AWARDS AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT CONTRACT

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:48:57 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA BRINGS WONDER OF SPACE STATION TO NORTH CAROLINA

April 18, 2012

William Jeffs / Jennifer Knotts Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Report #JO12-005

NASA BRINGS WONDER OF SPACE STATION TO NORTH CAROLINA

HOUSTON ï¿½ Media opportunities are available in Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville, N C , as NASA shares the accomplishments, promise and opportunities for research aboard the International Space Station in North Carolina

The agency will showcase its newest station exhibit, ï¿½Destination: Station,ï¿½ a multimedia experience thatï¿½s free with admission at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh The exhibit will be open to the public from April 28 through May 19

There will be a live television event with astronauts aboard the International Space Station on April 25 at Neal Middle School in Durham During the activities, which begin at 10 a m EDT, students will ask Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineer Don Pettit about the progress of their mission In addition, NASA astronaut Nancy Currie will deliver a presentation on living in space Currie currently serves as principal engineer for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center and will be available for interviews before the event Reporters are asked to check in at 9:30 a m to pick up media packets and conduct interviews To participate, contact Jeff Nash at 919-560-2602

A Twitter Town Hall will be held from 5-7 p m April 26 at North Carolina State University NASA astronaut Bill McArthur will discuss his experience as Expedition 12 commander and International Space Station science officer from September 2005 through April 2006 Currie, who teaches at NC State, will attend as well

At the Twitter Town Hall, NASA fans and followers can ask questions and receive answers from McArthur and Currie Audiences may learn about the wonders of the space station and how it improves life on Earth Use the hash tag #DS_RTP to tweet questions in advance For information, visit: www engr ncsu edu under "Events "

McArthur and NASA Associate International Space Station Program Scientist Tara Ruttley will discuss scientific experiments that have been conducted aboard the station and how results of those investigations are affecting life on Earth during a panel discussion from 1-4:30 p m April 27 at the Archie K Davis Conference Center/Research Triangle Park Headquarters (12 Davis Drive, RTP, N C ) To participate, contact Tina Valdecanas at 919-549-8181

The Durham Bulls host the Indianapolis Indians on April 27, and McArthur will be on hand to throw out the first pitch The game begins at 7:05 p m

McArthur will discuss his time and research aboard the space station April 28 at Duke University The event will begin at 2 p m in Love Auditorium in the Levine Science Research Center on West Campus This event is free and open to the public For more information, contact Lindsey Naylor at 919-668-1967

McArthur will visit soldiers and talk to students during a stop at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville on April 30 This event will be open to the media and those at Fort Bragg, but not to the general public The event begins at 8:30 a m

McArthur will deliver a presentation to students at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics on April 30 The event begins at 4:30 p m For more information, contact Aaron Plourde at 919-416-2872

For more about Destination: Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/destinationstation

For more about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

For biographies of the astronauts, visit:

http://www jsc nasa gov/Bios/

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Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:54:18 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA CONTINUES ORION PARACHUTE TESTING FOR FUTURE TEST FLIGHT

April 17, 2012

Josh Byerly Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Report #H12-119

NASA CONTINUES ORION PARACHUTE TESTING FOR FUTURE TEST FLIGHT

HOUSTON -- NASA today successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the Arizona desert in preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight test, Exploration Flight Test -1, in 2014 Orion will carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a safe re-entry and landing

A C-130 plane dropped a dart-shaped test vehicle with a simulated Orion parachute compartment from an altitude of 25,000 feet above the U S Army's Yuma Proving Grounds Orion's drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet, followed by the pilot parachutes, which then deployed the main landing parachutes The test vehicle landed on the desert floor at a speed of almost 25 feet per second, well below the maximum designed touchdown speed of the spacecraft

This particular drop test had two primary objectives The first determined how the entire system would respond if one of the three main parachutes inflated too quickly, which occurs if a reefing stage, which helps the parachutes open gradually, is skipped The second objective was to validate the drogue parachute design by testing at a high dynamic pressure that closely mimicked the environments expected for Exploration Flight Test-1 This test flight, scheduled for 2014, is designed to test a number of Orion's systems, including the avionics, navigation and thermal protection systems and will send Orion more than 3,000 miles into space

Since 2007, the Orion program has conducted a vigorous parachute air and ground test program and provided the chutes for NASA's successful pad abort test in 2010 The tests improve understanding about the chutes' technical performance for eventual human-rated certification The next parachute test will be conducted this summer

For more about Orion, visit:

http://www nasa gov/orion

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Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:54:35 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA AWARDS AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT CONTRACT

April 18, 2012

Nicole Cloutier Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #C12-108

NASA AWARDS AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS SUPPORT CONTRACT

HOUSTON -- NASA has selected DynCorp International LLC of Ft Worth, Texas, to provide aircraft maintenance and operational support services under a contract potentially worth $176 9 million

DynCorp will perform the work at Ellington Field at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston; NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va ; NASA facilities in El Paso, Texas, and Edwards Air Force Base, Calif ; and other locations worldwide as required

The services will include support for flight operations, maintenance, repairs and alterations to aircraft, component parts and support equipment and engineering services Additional services include spaceflight readiness training, airborne research and development and flight test support The major sub-contractor is GeoControl Systems of Houston

The $46 6 million base contract begins June 1 for one year and four months It is a fixed-price-award-fee/cost-plus-award-fee contract There are two two-year option periods available The first, with a value of $70 1 million, may be exercised to extend through September 2015 The second, with a value of $60 2 million, may be exercised to extend through May 2017

For information about NASA and other agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

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End of HSFNEWS Digest - 18 Apr 2012 to 19 Apr 2012 (#2012-36)

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