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Google Execs Page, Brin, and Schmidt Offered $33 Million To NASA For Hangar To Cover Their 8 Private Jets

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:11:09 +0000

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) executives Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmdit offered $33 million to refurbish NASA’s Hangar One. As a result, the three executives would essentially be leasing the space from NASA to park eight of their private jets in there. Page, Brin, and Schmidt made the offer through their H211 airplane operations company this past September. NASA has not accepted the offer as of yet.

“We understand the interest and historic nature of the facility” stated NASA spokesperson Bob Jacobs. “We have to weigh that against the reality of constrained resources and use.”

If NASA agrees, then NASA would replace the outer panels of Hangar One. The outer panels have been removed since it was discovered that they contained lead paint and asbestos. NASA would remain the owner of the building and they would have the right to rent out areas of Hangar One that was not being used. Google would be able to use two-thirds of Hangar One’s floor space to park their 8 jets.

Hangar One was built in the 1930′s. Hangar One covers 8 acres and the height of the building is 198 feet. The Hangar was intended to house military airships. The building is so tall that fog is known to form in the upper levels of the facility.

[Mercury News]

NASA To Crash International Space Station Harmlessly Into Pacific Ocean In 2020

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 17:02:30 +0000

The United States, Russia, and their partners have decided that they will allow the International Space Station (ISS) to sink into the Pacific ocean at the end of it’s life cycle after 2020 since it would be considered junk at that point.

“After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it’s too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish,” stated the deputy head of Roskosmos space agency Vitaly Davydov.

Junk in space is becoming an increasing problem. Last month in a rare incident, a piece of space debris narrowly missed the space station that forced a six member crew to run to their rescue craft.

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits 220 miles above the Earth. The ISS is a solid platform for scientific experiments that brings together space agencies from the U.S., Europe, Russia, Canada, and Japan. The ISS was launched in 1998 and was initially only expected to stay up in space for 15 years. But an agreement was made to keep it up there until 2020. The International Space Station will follow the foot-steps of the Russia Mir space station, which was sank into the Pacific Ocean in 2001 after 15 years of service.

Earlier this month NASA announced the last space shuttle launch as part of a program to develop a new technology for launching astronauts into space. Currently the Russian system is left as the sole means for delivering astronauts to the ISS. Russia is currently developing a new space to replace the Soyuz capsule, which is single-use.

Tests of the ship will begin after 2015 when it will have multi-use. Russia will be competing with the U.S. in developing the next-generation of space ships.

Currently it remains unclear whether mankind will need a replacement for the ISS to orbit close to Earth. “Lots of our tasks are still linked to circumterrestrial space,” said Davydov. Davydov added that a new space station could be used as a base for building complexes for deeper space exploration.

“I cannot rule out that it will be used to put together, create the complexes that in the future will fly to the Moon and Mars,” said Davydov. He added that “a serious exploration” couldn’t be done without manned flights.

[Discovery]

Space Shuttle: The Complete Missions [VIDEO]

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:40:02 +0000

The Space Shuttle is a launch system and orbital spacecraft that is operated by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) over the last thirty years (1981-2011). The Space Shuttle completed 135 missions. The Space Shuttle Atlantis performed the 135th launch. The Space Shuttle fleet delivered the Hubble Space Telescope, the International Space Station, and many satellites. Two of the shuttles were lost as part of the program, the Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. Nature.com put together a re-cap of all 135 missions in the video above.

NASA Invests $75 Million Into SpaceX

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 01:25:29 +0000

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has invested $75 million into Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). SpaceX is led by CEO Elon Musk. NASA is investing in SpaceX as part of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) effort. NASA’s CCDev2 effort is to accelerate the availability of space transportation to their crew as they get prepare to retire the Space Shuttle. [socaltech]

NASA Builds A Human Shuttle [VIDEO]

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:40:39 +0000

In the timelapse video above, you will see NASA Kennedy Space Center employees assembling an aerial photo outside of the Vehicle Assembly Building. The event was organized in honor of the Space Shuttle Program’s 30 year celeration. This video was uploaded 5 days ago and has surpassed over 120,000 views, making it viral.

NASA Selects A Board To Investigate $424 Million Glory Rocket Mistake

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:13:18 +0000

Last week the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a nine-story rocket named Glory. Glory was carrying a satellite, which had a purpose of observing how aerosol affects the Earth’s climate. Glory did not reach orbit and fell back to Earth instead.

NASA said that a protective shell on top of the rocket did not separate and the failed mission ended up costing $424 million. That includes research and development. This is the second time that the Taurus XL rocket made by Orbital Sciences Corp. failed NASA. NASA has selected a board to investigate the March 4 launch of the Glory spacecraft. The board members include:

- Bradley C. Flick, director of the Research and Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center
- LeRoy E. Cain, deputy manager, Space Shuttle Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston
- Daniel Dorney, supervisory aerospace engineer, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
- Todd Hinkel, lead, Johnson Space Center Pyrotechnics Group Stacey Nakamura, chair, Johnson Space Center Safety and Engineering Review Panel
- Air Force Capt. Benjamin Califf, deputy chief, Space Launch Section, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, N.M.
- Barbara Kanki, research psychologist, NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
- Christopher Nagy, safety and mission assurance manager at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

These board members will gather information and find out the cause of failure. You can read more about Glory at:
http://www.nasa.gov/glory

NASA Signs HP Contract Worth $2.5 Billion

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:11:12 +0000

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) signed a contract with NASA that is valued at $2.5 billion. The $2.5 billion contract is good for the next 10 years. “It’s basically everything that’s plugged into the wall that’s IT,” stated NASA spokesman Michael Sweigart. “This contract combines some services on a number of different contracts across the agency.”

Although Lockheed Martin Corporation provides most of NASA’s services, this agreement does not include computer networks and data centers. “Our team is disappointed that NASA selected another solution,” said Lockheed spokeswoman Sheila Collins. “We submitted a ‘best-value’ solution based on our knowledge of the program and our understanding of NASA’s mission. We continue to serve NASA on other contracts.”

[Bloomberg]

Neil Armstrong Reveals Why He And Buzz Stayed Within 100 Yards Of The Lunar Landing On The Moon

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 06:28:04 +0000

Earlier this month, Robert Krulwich of NPR wondered out loud about why Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stayed within 100 yards of the lunar lander when they were the first people to walk on the moon. Armstrong answered the question himself. It turns out that he and Buzz suits were not sure how well their suits would work while on the moon. Being within 100 yards of the lander ensured that NASA could observe them on camera. Armstrong admitted that at one point he did go beyond 100 yards to observe interior crater walls. Below is his response:

We were operating in a near perfect vacuum with the temperature well above 200 degrees Fahrenheit with the local gravity only one sixth that of Earth. That combination cannot be duplicated here on Earth, but we tried as best we could to test our equipment for those conditions. For example, because normal air conditioning is inadequate for lunar conditions, we were required to use cold water to cool the interior of our suits. We did not have any data to tell us how long the small water tank in our backpacks would suffice. NASA officials limited our surface working time to 2 and 3/4 hours on that first surface exploration to assure that we would not expire of hyperthermia.

There was great uncertainty about how well we would be able to walk in our cumbersome pressurized suit. My colleague demonstrated a variety of techniques in view of the television camera that I had installed in a position predetermined to be in the optimum spot for coverage of all of our activities. Preflight planners wanted us to stay in TV range so that they could learn from our results how they could best plan for future missions.

And below is where he admitted leaving beyond the allotted distance:

I candidly admit that I knowingly and deliberately left the planned working area out of TV coverage to examine and photograph the interior crater walls for possible bedrock exposure or other useful information. I felt the potential gain was worth the risk.

[BoingBoing]

Foursquare Adds A NASA Badge

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 07:18:58 +0000

Geolocation check-in service Foursquare has added a badge for NASA. Expedition 25 commander Douglas H. Wheelock is the first human to use Foursquare from space. Doug check in from the International Space Station and had unlocked the NASA Explorer Badge on Foursquare. JESS3 and NASA have put together space-related places and made a badge available on Foursquare if you check in from theme. You can find the NASA Foursquare page here: http://www.foursquare.com/nasa. [Foursquare Blog]

Douglas Wheelock Sends Out Interesting Twitpics From Space

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:07:44 +0000

Douglas Wheelock is one of the most interesting Twitter users. Wheelock is a NASA Astronaut that studied engineering at Georgia Tech. From outer space, Wheelock sends out some very interesting Twitpics. He sent out the picture above when writing: “Hurricane Earl is gathering some serious strength. It is incredible what a difference a day makes when you’re deal.” If you’re not following @Astro_Wheels on Twitter yet, I highly recommend that you do.