NASA Ames and a group of local universities led by the University of California at Santa Cruz are in discussions about the development of a major new campus at Moffett Field to conduct space travel research, the Mountain View Voice reports.
“UCSC, Santa Clara University, the Foothill-De Anza College District and Carnegie Melon University have all signed a letter of intent with NASA Ames, with all of them seeking a major presence in the NASA Research Park planned for Moffett.
“‘It’s an agreement to hold open discussions between us and NASA to see if we can arrive at a plan that will allow us to implement a vision for the research park,’ said Bill Berry, managing director of UCSC’s Affiliated Research Center.”
NASA PRESS RELEASE
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and m2mi Corp., Moffett Field, Calif., announced Thursday they are taking a revolutionary step forward in improving telecommunications and networking from space.
Under the terms of a cooperative research and development agreement, only the third in NASA’s history, NASA Ames and m2mi will work together to develop very small satellites, called nanosats, for the commercialization of space.
“NASA wants to work with companies to develop a new economy in space,” said NASA Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden. “m2mi has great technology that fits excellently with our goals, while enhancing the commercial use of NASA-developed technologies.”
Nanosatellites are small satellites weighing between 11 and 110 pounds. A large number of these satellites, called a constellation, will be placed in low Earth orbit for the new telecommunications and networking system.
Continue reading ‘NASA Ames Partners with M2MI for Nanosat Development’
CNET’s Daniel Terdiman has an interesting interview with Pete Worden. The NASA Ames director spoke about astrobiology, global warming, world peace and other matters during a Yuri’s Night celebration held at the space center on Saturday.
Worden has some nice things to say about Yuri’s Night, which he sees as essential to getting younger people excited about space exploration. He also discusses possible expansion of the center’s partnership with Google and California’s universities.
However, the rest of the interview is disappointing. Terdiman throws some softball questions at Worden about the agency’s work on global warming and whether Ames can be “a center of research into peace.” The Ames director hits these pitches clear out of the park and right into the San Francisco Bay.
Continue reading ‘Peter Worden Speaks About Yuri’s Night, Astrobiology and World Peace’
NASA PRESS RELEASE
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — Thirty-eight years ago, NASA launched the Apollo 13 mission to the moon. Today, NASA launches the new Lunar Science Institute to lead the agency’s research activities for future missions to the moon related to NASA’s exploration goals.
Managed by NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., the NASA Lunar Science Institute is modeled after the successful NASA Astrobiology Institute, also managed by Ames, and features teams of scientists across the country collaborating in lunar science and future lunar exploration.
“This is an exciting day for NASA as we unveil our new Lunar Science Institute,” said Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden. “This dynamic virtual institute is now the center for lunar science, not only for the United States, but also for the world and will bring together some of the best and brightest scientists to help lead NASA’s future missions to the moon.”
Continue reading ‘NASA Lunar Science Institute Opens at Ames’
Yuri’s Night - the global celebration of the first human spaceflight - will take place this Saturday, April 12, in at least 162 locations around the world. Parties and events will be held in 49 nations and on all seven continents. There’s even an event planned for the virtual world Second Life.
To find a celebration near you, check out the Yuri’s Night website. There are numerous events planned all over North America and Europe. I helped to organize the event in Los Angeles last year at the Griffith Observatory. This year Yuri’s Night LA involves a VIP reception and a party, both hosted by Cinespace in Hollywood.
For those in the San Francisco Bay Area, definitely check out the celebration at NASA Ames Research Center. Last year’s event - held in a giant NASA hanger - featured music, dancers, and Ames Director Pete Worden dressed as Gandolf the wizard. I attended this celebration last year and it was very cool.
This year’s Ames celebration has been extended to 12 hours, running from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. It will feature:
- talks by Will Wright and Stewart Brand;
- art and sculpture by The Flaming Lotus Girls and Michael Christian;
- live acrobatic and modern dance performances by Capacitor;
- a musical performance by Amon Tobin; and,
- the debut of the new band Telstar, featuring Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead.
NASA Ames Director Pete Worden was in London, Ontario this week, talking to a group of physics students and faculty at the University of Western Ontario. He predicted that NASA would put astronauts back on the moon by 2020 but that private companies might get there first.
“It’s NASA’s unstated policy that the moon is available for economic activity,” the paper quotes Worden as saying in response to a question about the legal regime for developing the moon.
The London Free Press has the full story.
The results of the 2007 NASA Cultural Survey have been published, and it does not paint an especially good picture of the credibility of the agency’s management under Administrator Mike Griffin.
Only 51 percent of the 5,408 employees who responded to the survey answered “Yes” to the statement: “I can rely on management to be honest.” When broken down by field center, only 36 percent of employees surveyed at Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., found management to be honest. This was followed by NASA Glenn in Cleveland (39 percent) and NASA Headquarters in Washington (46 percent). The highest figure was at Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston (62 percent).
Continue reading ‘NASA Cultural Survey: Only Half of Employees Believe Management is Honest’
InsideBayArea.com has a report on the Zero-G flights that began operating out of Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif. on February 16.
The news site reports that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his fiancee Jennifer Siebel were aboard the inaugural flight as the guests of a client that chartered the plane. The 90-minute flights, which fly weightless parabolas, cost about $3,500 per person.
The Las Vegas-based company plans to fly out of Moffett on a regular basis under a new agreement with NASA Ames. The next Zero-G flight in Mountain View is scheduled for July 12.