There are 2 messages totalling 94 lines in this issue

Topics of the day:

1. MEDIA INVITED TO NASA'S NEWEST COMMUNICATIONS-DELAY TESTS
2. NASA'S UNDERSEA MISSION SUBMERGES IN THE ATLANTIC

Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:48:33 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: MEDIA INVITED TO NASA'S NEWEST COMMUNICATIONS-DELAY TESTS

June 11, 2012

Brandi Dean Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #M12-111

MEDIA INVITED TO NASA'S NEWEST COMMUNICATIONS-DELAY TESTS

HOUSTON -- NASA is preparing to move exploration beyond Earth's orbit, but communication delays will change how the agency conducts its missions Reporters can see for themselves how NASA is planning for that change through NASA's newest test project, the Autonomous Mission Operations (AMO) Journalists are invited to watch the simulations at 3 p m CDT Thursday, June 14 at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston

NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, which currently are in development, will move humans farther away from low Earth orbit than ever before These greater distances will cause communications delays to increase Tasks that once were the responsibility of flight controllers in mission control will shift to the crews aboard Orion AMO will investigate various ways astronauts and flight controllers can work through this challenge

Reporters will meet members of one of the crews involved in the test and their support team They also will tour the Deep Space Habitat, which is being used for the simulation, and the supporting control room To participate in the activities, reporters should contact Brandi Dean at brandi k dean@nasa gov by 5 p m Wednesday, June 13

The tests will simulate the return from a 30-day exploration of a near-Earth asteroid, which is part of a larger 386-day mission Crews consisting of one astronaut and three flight controllers will perform simulated tasks under varying time delays -- 1 2 seconds, 50 seconds and 5 minutes, one way -- that impede to differing degrees real-time conversations with mission control They will communicate through and evaluate the effectiveness of voice, text and video messages; written questionnaires; and computer timeline tools The results should help identify the best communications tools for future exploration missions

The AMO project is part of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program consisting of small projects aimed at rapidly developing and demonstrating prototype systems for future human spaceflight missions Projects in the program will help reduce risk, lower cost and test concepts for future human missions beyond Earth orbit

For updates on testing and interviews with members of the Autonomous Mission Operations research team, visit:

http://www facebook com/NASA AMO

For more information on Advanced Exploration Systems and Autonomous Mission Operations, visit:

http://www nasa gov/directorates/heo/aes/index html

#

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)

Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 17:51:07 -0500 From: info@JSC NASA GOV Subject: NASA'S UNDERSEA MISSION SUBMERGES IN THE ATLANTIC

June 11, 2012

Brandi Dean Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

Joshua Buck Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1100

Report #H12-194

NASA'S UNDERSEA MISSION SUBMERGES IN THE ATLANTIC

HOUSTON -- An international crew of aquanauts is settling into its home on the ocean floor, where the team will spend 12 days testing concepts for a potential asteroid mission The expedition is the 16th excursion of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) The crew of four began its mission in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Aquarius Reef Base undersea research habitat off the coast of Key Largo, Fla , at 11:04 a m EDT Monday

NEEMO sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius lab, 63 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean The laboratory is located in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary For NASA, Aquarius provides a convincing simulation to space exploration, and NEEMO crew members experience some of the same tasks and challenges under water that they would in space

The NEEMO 16 mission will focus on three areas related to asteroid missions The crew of aquanauts will investigate communication delays, restraint and translation techniques, and optimum crew size

The isolation and microgravity environment of the ocean floor allows the NEEMO 16 crew to study and test concepts for how future exploration of asteroids might be conducted NASA's Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket, which currently are in development, will allow people to begin exploring beyond the boundaries of Earth's orbit The first human mission to an asteroid is planned for 2025

NEEMO 16 Commander Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger of NASA will be joined by European Space Agency astronaut Timothy Peake; Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui; and Steven W Squyres, Goldwin Smith professor of astronomy at Cornell University and chairman of the NASA Advisory Council Squyres also was a member of NEEMO 15

The NEEMO crew members will be chronicling their mission using several social media outlets, blogs and live video streams from the crews' helmets, the air lock and outside the habitat For additional information on the mission and links to the various ways to connect with NEEMO, visit:

http://www nasa gov/neemo

The NEEMO mission is sponsored by NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems Program, which is made up of small projects aimed at rapidly developing and demonstrating prototype systems for future human spaceflight missions Projects that are part of the program will help reduce risk, lower cost and test concepts for future human missions beyond Earth's orbit

For more information on Advanced Exploration Systems and Autonomous Mission Operations, visit:

http://www nasa gov/directorates/heo/aes/index html

#

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)

End of HSFNEWS Digest - 9 Jun 2012 to 12 Jun 2012 (#2012-60)

The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription:

You are subscribed to the following list: [list_name]

using the following email: example@example.com

You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL:

https://aus-city com/cgi-bin/dada/mail cgi/u/NASA_REPORTS/example/example com/

If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism

You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen:

<[program_url]/list/[list]>

If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at:

<mailto:[list_owner_email]>

The following physical address is associated with this mailing list:

[physical_address]