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Feb. 24, 2014 Vol. 54, No. 4 News John F. - America’s gateway to the universe

Orion recovery tests done off Cali coast By Linda Herridge which to practice recovering the Hill, assistant deputy associate a dive to simulate ’s Spaceport News Orion crew module, one para- administrator for exploration descent through the chute and a forward bay cover, systems development at NASA and splashdown, as Johnson bout a hundred miles off which keeps Orion’s parachutes Headquarters in Washington. confirmed tracking and cleared the coast of San Diego, in A safe until being jettisoned, “The Orion testing work we do the airspace. Helicopters were the Pacific Ocean, a U.S. Navy just before the parachutes are is helping us work toward send- stationed in the air to observe ship’s well deck filled with needed. ing humans to deep space.” the “Orion capsule” during water as underway recovery operations began Feb. 18 on a During the testing, the tether Several of the objectives were descent, as they would be during test version of NASA’s Orion lines were unable to support accomplished before the remain- an actual retrieval mission. crew module, tethered inside, the tension caused by crew ing tests were called off. Mike Generale, the Orion to prepare for its first mission, module motion that was driven NASA and the U.S. Navy recovery operations manager Exploration Flight Test-1, in by wave turbulence in the well were able to successfully re- and test director at Kennedy September. deck of the ship. NASA and the cover the forward bay cover and Space Center, said the underway Building on the knowledge U.S. Navy called off the week’s parachute, and demonstrations recovery test allows GSDO gained from previous Orion re- remaining testing to allow engi- of the coordination required be- to verify recovery operations covery tests performed in calm neers to evaluate the next steps. tween the team onboard the ship and procedures, demonstrates waters near NASA’s Langley “Even though the testing and mission control in Houston capabilities and incorporates Research Center in Virginia, didn’t go as we had planned, were accomplished. partnership efforts with the U.S. the agency’s Ground Systems we’re learning lessons that will Controllers at Johnson Space Navy and Lockheed Martin. Development and Operations help us be better prepared to re- Center in Houston simulated “The next steps will be to (GSDO) Program began the trieve Orion after it travels more the launch and splash down incorporate lessons learned and next phase, seeking turbulent than 3,600 miles into space of the Orion capsule. An F-18 modify Orion recovery hard- water off the west coast in and comes home,” said Bill jet flew from 13,000 feet into ware,” Generale said.

NASA The Orion crew module is positioned on the deck of the USS San Diego in San Diego, Calif., for an underway recovery test in the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 18. For more information about Orion and how it will serve as NASA’s future exploration vehicle, click on the photo. Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS Feb. 24, 2014

Photos by NASA/Kim Shiflett Lockheed Martin Space Systems Deputy Program Manager for Orion, Larry Price, said Orion is on track for its landmark test flight later this year during his address at the February National Space Club Florida Committee meeting Feb. 11. Lockheed Martin preps Orion for EFT-1 By Linda Herridge been in space, more than 600 people have Orion for safe return from long- Spaceport News gone into space, but only 27 have gone duration, deep-space missions. beyond low- . “Our challenge is to do what is eco- n Orion spacecraft in development “We’re going to go explore. It’s like nomically possible so we can get to these to fly into space on a landmark flight A Lewis and Clark. It’s like the Louisiana missions as totally as possible. Congress test later this year is on track to make the Purchase,” Price said. has been extremely supportive of us. The historic mission, said Larry Price, Lockheed Recent accomplishments of the Orion SLS budget has been level for five years Martin Space Systems deputy program program include the Launch Abort Sys- with all of the turbulence that’s going on,” manager for Orion. tem test at White Sands Test Facility in Price said. “There’s an accumulation of a lot of work New Mexico; parachute tests in Yuma, “We’re building a machine to do what- that’s been coming together over the last five years,” Price said during a presentation Ariz.; Orion water impact tests at NASA’s ever the scientists determine we need to to the National Space Club Florida Commit- Langley Research Center in Virginia; Orion do,” Price said. “We’re going to go to 3,600 tee on Feb. 11. “Our spacecraft is coming recovery tests near Langley; heat shield miles high. Humans have not done this together in the Operations and Checkout work at NASA’s Ames Research Center in since Apollo.” Building at Kennedy Space Center. Orion Moffett Field, Calif.; fairing separation tests But for now, the first step to deep space includes suppliers from 45 states.” in Sunnyvale, Calif., and forward bay cover is EFT-1. Price said the team is focused on build- jettison tests in Denver, Colo. NASA has contracted with United Space ing an advanced spacecraft that can safely “We’ve been running software end- Alliance to launch EFT-1 aboard a Delta IV return a crew from long-duration missions to-end in the Orion integrated test lab in Heavy vehicle from Launch Complex 37 in deep space. Near term, Exploration Denver and at Kennedy for about a year, targeted for September of this year. During Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) in September will test and adding on more and more components Exploration Flight Test-1, an uncrewed designs and systems most critical to crew to the system so all of the software and spacecraft will travel 15 times farther than safety. Some of the top risks are heat shield hardware are operating in the loop like the International before re- performance, guidance and navigation, elec- flight,” Price said. turning to Earth at as fast as 20,000 tronics and protection from space radiation. Meanwhile, according to Price, Congress mph and temperatures above 4,000 degrees Price explained the scale of deep-space is strongly defending NASA and the work Fahrenheit to evaluate the spacecraft’s heat exploration. “In the 50 years that we’ve developing the System and shield and other systems.

Photos by NASA/Kim Shiflett Members of the National Space Club Florida Committee and guests gathered for a luncheon Feb. 11 at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral. Feb. 24, 2014 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3

NASA On Feb. 12, the Kennedy Space Center Emergency Response Team presented Center Director Bob Cabana the trophy it won during the 2013 International SWAT Round-Up. Emergency Response Team earns top 5 in contest By Linda Herridge ‘it can never happen here.’ ” Spaceport News ERT members play a vital role in all of the day-to-day security opera- ennedy Space Center Direc- Ktor Bob Cabana is committed tions at Kennedy. They can handle to and makes safety at the center a anything from a traffic stop, to an top priority. As part of that com- active shooter to a terrorist threat, mitment, a well-trained Emergency and also assist with certain high- Response Team (ERT) protects the level VIP visits to the center. center’s workforce and assets 24 “We have an extensive training hours a day, seven days a week. regimen,” said an ERT member. Recently, the ERT placed in the “We train daily between operations. top five overall at the 2013 Interna- We train weekly at the end of our tional SWAT Roundup in Orlando, shifts. And we also cap it off with Fla. The competition featured more a yearly training exercise that lasts than 50 teams from Florida, the two weeks.” U.S. and other countries around the The ERT members recently world. completed intensive annual training During the competition, at the NASA Protective Services Kennedy’s eight-member team of security officers employed by Training Academy and other facili- Chenega Security Support and ties around the center to keep their Solutions, had the opportunity to competencies and skills current. A train with other teams, shared wide variety of assets were used information about past events during the training, including land and discussed best practices that vehicles, helicopters, abandoned could help other ERTs cope with facilities, special equipment and emergencies and provide more other resources. effective training environments. “ERT team members are chosen “This is the third year in a row based on their leadership abilities, that the ERT Team has finished in their ability to deal with stress, and the top five at the Swat Roundup,” their ability to overcome physical said Mark Borsi, the chief of secu- obstacles they may see day to day,” rity. “Their unprecedented success said an ERT training supervisor. in this tough and prestigious com- Another ERT team member said: petition demonstrates the teams’ consistent dedication to duty and “The professionalism of the ERT Team is paramount. We have people the rigors of staying prepared to NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis resolve security emergencies safely from various backgrounds ranging NASA Emergency Response Team (ERT) members toss a flash-bang and quickly. Tragedies at Fort from law enforcement to military. diversionary device during specialized training simulations at the Protective They’re all born leaders and they’re Services Training Academy at Kennedy Space Center as a helicopter hovers Hood, the Washington Navy Yard, above. The ERT members are wearing full protective gear and carrying and even , ready to put it on the line for Ken- nonlethal firearms for the training exercises in order to keep their skills cur- remind us of the error in believing, nedy’s employees.” rent. To watch the group in action, click on the photo. Page 4 SPACEPORT NEWS Feb. 24, 2014 ML strengthened for next generation By Anna Heiney “Ultimately, we’re modifying the mobile Spaceport News launcher to expand the exhaust opening from about 22 by 22 feet to approximately he mobile launcher that will support 64 by 32 feet,” said Mike Canicatti, mobile TNASA’s next heavy-lift , launcher construction manager. That means the powerful (SLS), rearranging one of the massive steel sup- is being bulked up in preparation for the port beams within the launcher’s platform, forces of liftoff. installing five newly fabricated pieces and The steel mobile launcher towers 405 relocating and modifying another piece. feet above its construction site in the heart “We broke the job into logical stages,” of Launch Complex 39 at NASA’s Kennedy Canicatti said, explaining that much of the Space Center in Florida. While the structure structural work could be completed with itself is undergoing significant modifications basic information about the . “We to fit the new vehicle, additional work is just needed to know about how much the bringing new capabilities to the construction vehicle is going to weigh, its physical size site. and where the launcher will mount to it.” The SLS rocket will be capable of send- Prime contractor J.P. Donovan of ing humans to near-Earth asteroids, or Rockledge, Fla., is handling the work for other destinations. Its first flight test is slated this part of the project with support from for 2017, and efforts to prepare launch Midwest Steel of Detroit. Work under the NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis facilities and support equipment are in full current contract began in June 2013 with swing at Kennedy. The Ground Systems Modifications continue on the Mobile Launcher (ML) at the completion scheduled for December 2014. Mobile Launcher Park Site at Kennedy Space Center on Development and Operations Program Nearly all of the necessary demolition work Feb. 12. The ML will carry the SLS rocket and Orion space- (GSDO), based at Kennedy, manages the around the original exhaust opening already craft to 39B for its first mission, Exploration Mission-1, in 2017. project. is complete, clearing the way for structural Although the SLS vehicle still is in devel- changes. The construction site currently lacks any opment, there is enough information already The first piece was delivered to Kennedy data connectivity with the Launch Control available that the team could begin the time- on Tuesday, Jan. 28, on the back of a flatbed Center. Rather than wait until the launcher consuming work of updating the launcher’s truck. Measuring 25 by 65 feet, it spanned is moved to the VAB or the launch pad to structure. The primary goal is to reconfig- two traffic lanes during its move from begin verification and validation, techni- ure and strengthen it to accommodate the Rockledge, through Titusville, and finally to cians with Kennedy’s Information Manage- weight, size and thrust of the new rocket. the spaceport. ment and Communications Support contract Large pipes and related hardware for the are working to bring this capability to the launcher’s sound suppression water system construction site, allowing for much more also will be installed. A larger version testing before the launcher ever leaves the of the one used during the area. Program, the system will spray water across The flight test in 2017 will send an the surface of the platform and underneath uncrewed Orion spacecraft into . the vehicle to minimize the acoustic energy NASA’s asteroid initiative, which is part of generated during liftoff. Work also is in the agency’s proposed budget request for progress on the power, air conditioning, fiscal year 2014, will use SLS and Orion to sprinkler and fire alarm systems. send to study a small asteroid that In addition to the structural work on the will have been redirected robotically to a launcher, its construction zone north of the stable orbit near the . iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is Although the launcher and its com- being upgraded to allow more on-site test- ponents are large and heavy, the project ing capabilities. requires precision. Contractor URS Federal Technical Ser- “We have to make sure everything fits vices Inc. is increasing the capacity of the perfectly,” Canicatti said. “There are a lot of pipelines that deliver gaseous nitrogen and tight tolerances on this particular project, so helium to the area. Nitrogen gas helps keep if things shift just half an inch or a quarter the interior panels of the mobile launcher of an inch, we’ll say, ‘OK, what do we need dry and prevents build-up of toxic vapors, to do?’

NASA/Ben Smegelsky while helium, an inert gas, allows the team “But everything has gone smoothly,” Fog envelopes the top of the 405-foot-tall Mobile Launcher to safely check the integrity of liquid-hydro- he added. “Everything is on schedule, just at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 7. gen propellant lines and tanks. moving right along.” Feb. 24, 2014 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 5 Scenes Around Kennedy Space Center

BEST

NASA/Kim Shiflett Barbara Harrison, retired vice president of Lakeland, Fla., Regional Medical Cancer Center, was the keynote speaker for Kennedy Space Center’s annual African-American History NASA/Kim Shiflett Month celebration on Feb. 21. She spoke of her philosophy of lifelong learning with priories One of four new emergency egress vehicles, called Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protection that focused on advancement in education and excellence associated with a strong work (MRAP) vehicles, left, sits near a space shuttle-era M-113 vehicle at the Maintenance and ethic. The event was hosted by the spaceport’s Black Employee Strategy Team (BEST) and Operations Facility at Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 13. The new vehicles replace the included presentation of four college scholarships. M-113 vehicles that were used during the . Health & Safety Days inspire workers to take the next step While the 2014 Health & Safety The Health & Wellness Fair on Days official program events and ac- Feb. 19 was a great success with tivities end Feb. 28, there’s still time to more than 1,200 employees attend- take part in the many activities offered. ing and more than 25 vendors and This month, Kennedy directorates organizations providing information. and contractor organizations are con- More than 500 Kennedy employees ducting 52 separate events consisting are participating in the eight-week of more than 110 hours of health- and President’s Active Lifestyle Award wellness-related activities and classes/ (PALA+) Challenge. The participa- training for the entire workforce (civil tion level this year is five times the service and contractor). participation level of prior years. Page 6 SPACEPORT NEWS Feb. 24, 2014 Telemetry fix preserves TDRS-L launch By Anna Heiney which is called an umbilical, real and that we were talking Spaceport News or RF radio signal,” said Alex about the same exact anomaly,” Biamonte, a telemetry engineer Clinger said. iftoff of NASA’s latest with NASA’s Launch Services Clinger proposed a solu- Tracking and Data Re- L Program. tion: Go back to the hard line lay aboard a United “A few minutes before through the remainder of the Launch Alliance V rocket launch, we want to switch to countdown, and then manu- was delayed unexpectedly with RF, or the radio signal teleme- ally switch to RF at T-0. The only minutes remaining before try, because that’s what’s going LSP team, relying on experi- the opened on to be used when it lifts off the ence gathered through years of Jan. 23. pad,” Biamonte explained, “but successful launches, had the Engineers with the agency’s with RF, we do encounter data flexibility to make this real-time drops, or interference on the call. James Wood, NASA chief (LSP) and QinetiQ North radio signal.” engineer for LSP, agreed to the America kept the liftoff on This posed a problem dur- plan, preserving the launch op- track with quick troubleshoot- ing the TDRS-L countdown portunity. ing when a problem with because telemetry from the Tuan Doan, a NASA commu- periodic dropouts in telemetry spacecraft was embedded in nications engineer for Launch from the vehicle threatened to the rocket’s telemetry stream. Services, was serving as the stop the launch. As the information flowed from mission operations director in “Telemetry is basically Launch Complex 41 into Han- Hangar AE’s Mission Direc- another word for telemetrics. gar AE, data from the satellite tors Center during the TDRS- It’s measuring things at a dis- was extracted from it and sent L countdown and joined the tance,” explained QinetiQ lead to the spacecraft community. discussion on one of the launch telemetry engineer Tim Clinger. Periodic drops in the rocket team’s communications chan- “Much in the same way a doc- telemetry meant the spacecraft nels. tor would measure the vitals of data would stop briefly, too. “There was a call to hold a patient, we measure the vitals The countdown had gone at T-4 minutes, and all the of a rocket during the launch smoothly throughout the eve- team -- launch team members countdown.” ning, and clocks were holding from United Launch Alliance,

While a rocket is on the at the T-4 minute mark. The spacecraft personnel, as well as NASA launch pad, the vehicle itself rocket was fueled and ready to NASA -- got on the Anomaly The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and its spacecraft payload send fly at 9:05 p.m. EST, the open- Net to come up with a resolu- lifts off Jan. 23 carrying NASA’s Tracking information to the Telemetry ing of a 40-minute launch win- tion to avoid a delay or even a and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-L) space- Lab, located inside historic craft. To watch a video of the telemetry solu- dow. With seconds remaining scrub of the launch,” Doan said. tion, click on the photo. Hangar AE on Florida’s Cape until the countdown was set to NASA and ULA manag- Canaveral Air Force Station. resume, the hold was extended ers quickly agreed to the plan, reached T-0 and the Atlas V Engineers monitor the data so the team could work on the and the spacecraft community began its climb into space, coming in and ensure it is sent telemetry issue. polled its members to ensure Clinger performed the switch immediately to the vehicle and “A first order response, they were willing to go forward to RF telemetry with the spacecraft teams so they can when we heard of the dropouts, with the proposed solution. The click of a mouse. monitor their systems’ health. was we wanted to correlate new launch time was 9:33 p.m., “We made the switch, it was “The telemetry data comes the spacecraft dropouts to the 12 minutes before the launch flawless, on time, and no data in from the launch vehicle dropouts we saw on the launch window would close. was lost to either party,” he either through a hard line, vehicle, to prove that they were When countdown clocks said.

NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis Tuan Doan is a communications engineer for NASA’s Tim Clinger, who made the proposed solution, is the lead Alex Biamonte is a telemetry engineer for NASA’s Launch Launch Services Program. telemetry engineer for QinetiQ. Services Program. Feb. 24, 2014 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 7 Beyond Earth: marks 55 years By Bob Granath also is the objective of the upcoming first Spaceport News flight of Orion as NASA continues plans to explore. ASA’s commitment to exploration The spacecraft is designed to take astro- Nbeyond low-Earth orbit is continuing nauts beyond low-Earth orbit to deep space. with plans to launch the Orion spacecraft on When boosted by NASA’s Space Launch Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) in Sep- System (SLS), an advanced heavy-lift tember 2014. Since its formation in 1958, launch vehicle under development, Orion one of the agency’s core missions has been will provide the capability to transport as- to discover what lies beyond. The fledgling tronauts to destinations such as an asteroid space agency’s first successful mission past and Mars. Earth orbit was Pioneer 4, 55 years ago. NASA/Jet Laboratory-Caltech For EFT-1, plans call for the Lockheed Just two months after its inception, Technicians wearing clean-room attire inspect the Martin-built Orion to launch atop a United NASA planned two attempts to fly by the Pioneer 3 probe before shipping it to Cape Canaveral Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket moon and return data about cosmic radia- in late 1958. Like its sister spacecraft, Pioneer 4, was designed to measure the intensity of the Earth’s and moon’s from Space Launch Complex 37-B at Cape tion in the Earth and lunar environments. radiation and test long-range communication systems. Canaveral. The planned two-orbit mission Developed at the Jet Propulsion Labora- will send Orion farther into space than any tory in Pasadena, Calif., the conical-shaped known as the Van Allen Radiation Belts. human vehicle since the Apollo Pioneer 3 and 4 spacecraft were small University of Iowa and 17 mission in December 1972. by today’s standards, weighing just 13.2 professor Dr. , for whom The test will feature a 3,671-mile-high pounds, and measuring 1.67 feet in length the energetic charged particle layers are apogee on the second orbit and a high- and 9 inches in diameter at the base. named, developed the instruments for the energy re-entry at 20,000 mph. This will Pioneer 3 lifted off on Dec. 6, 1958, atop satellite. simulate the conditions that are expected as an Army Ballistic Missile Agency Juno On the second attempt, on March 3, Orion returns from deep space destinations. II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force 1959, Pioneer 4 successfully lifted off After splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, Station’s Launch Complex 5. However, from Launch Complex 5 and became the U.S. Navy crews will recover the Orion depletion of propellant caused the first stage first American spacecraft to escape Earth’s spacecraft. Data gathered from EFT-1 will engine to shut down 3.7 seconds premature- gravity. be analyzed in the agency’s Critical Design ly, preventing the spacecraft from reaching The Soviet Union’s was the Review in April 2015. the necessary to break free of the first probe to do so on Jan. 2, 1959. It was Earth’s gravity. designed to impact the moon, but due to an Although Pioneer 3 did not achieve incorrectly timed upper-stage burn dur- escape , it reached an altitude of ing launch, Luna 1 missed the moon but 63 miles and discovered a second radiation became the first spacecraft to enter orbit belt around Earth. America’s first satellite, around the . , was launched Jan. 31, 1958, and Pioneer 4 made its closest approach to made the initial discovery of what became the moon on the second day of the mission, passing within 37,000 miles of the lunar surface. The payload included two Geiger counters, similar to those developed by Van Allen for Explorer 1, and a camera trigger mechanism as a test for future photographic missions. While the spacecraft did fly past the moon, the camera sensor failed to trigger because its fly-by was at a greater than originally planned due to a trajectory error. Pioneer 4 did provide extensive and valuable data on radiation and the track- ing of space objects. Contact was lost from NASA file/1959 Pioneer 4’s tiny radio on March 6, 1959, Dr. , director of the U.S. Army Ballistic after 82 hours of transmissions and 655,000 Missile Agency’s Development Operations Division at the miles of travel. It was the farthest tracking NASA file/1959 Redstone Arsenal, left, John Casani of the Jet Propulsion distance for a human-made object at the The Juno II rocket lifts off March 3, 1959, successfully Laboratory, center, and Dr. James Van Allen, professor of boosting the Pioneer 4 spacecraft. It was America’s first Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa, inspect time. spacecraft to escape Earth’s gravity and passed within components of the Pioneer 4 spacecraft March 1, 1959. Learning more about travel beyond Earth 37,000 miles of the lunar surface. Page 8 SPACEPORT NEWS Feb. 24.2014 Looking up and ahead . . . NASA Employees of the Month: February * All times are Eastern

Feb. 27 Mission: Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory Launch Vehicle: H-IIA Launch Site: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Tanegashima Space Center, Tanegashima Island, Japan Launch Time: 1:07 to 3:07 p.m. Description: GPM is an international satellite mission led by NASA and JAXA to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide.

March 16 Mission: SpaceX 3 Commercial Resupply Services Flight Launch Vehicle: Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Pad: Space Launch Complex 40 NASA/Kevin O’Connell Launch Time: 4:42 a.m. Employees of the Month for February are, from left, Jose R. Camacho, ISS and Spacecraft Description: SpaceX 3 will be the third commercial resupply mission to the Processing (Employee of the Quarter); Mecca D. Murphy, Chief Financial Office; Wade ISS by Technologies (SpaceX). T. Graves, Launch Services Program; David R. Wallace, Center Operations; and Peter A. Taddie, Safety and Mission Assurance. Not pictured are Dawn A. Feick, Chief Council; To watch a NASA launch online, go to http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. Kenneth L. Harding, Ground Processing; Lowell I. Spaulding, Engineering and Technology; and William C. Manley, Engineering and Technology. NuSTAR reveals how stars explode NASA News Report pearing in the Feb. 20 issue of Nature. ne of the biggest mysteries Some 55 members of the in astronomy, how stars O KSC-based Launch Services blow up in supernova explo- Program, or LSP, joined the sions, finally is being unrav- eled with the help of NASA’s Orbital launch team on a June Nuclear Spectroscopic Tele- 13, 2012, flight to Kwajalein scope Array (NuSTAR). Atoll in the Marshall Islands The high-energy X-ray in the western Pacific Ocean to observatory has created the first oversee the Pegasus/NuSTAR map of radioactive material in a flight. A team at Kennedy also supernova remnant. The results, played a part in the operation. from a remnant named Cas- NuSTAR is the first tele- siopeia A (Cas A), reveal how scope capable of producing shock waves likely rip apart maps of radioactive elements massive dying stars. in supernova remnants. In this NASA/JPL-Caltech/CXC/SAO “Stars are spherical balls of case, the element is titani- This is the first map of radioactivity in a supernova remnant, the blown-out bits and pieces gas, and so you might think that um-44, which has an unstable of a massive star that exploded. The blue color shows radioactive material mapped in high- when they end their lives and nucleus produced at the heart of energy X-rays using NuSTAR. explode, that explosion would the exploding star. look like a uniform ball ex- The latest findings strongly John F. Kennedy Space Center panding out with great power,” suggest the exploding star liter- said Fiona Harrison, the princi- ally sloshed around, re-energiz- pal investigator of NuSTAR at ing the stalled shock wave and Spaceport News the California Institute of Tech- allowing the star to finally blast Spaceport News is an official publication of the Kennedy Space Center. Contributions are nology (Caltech) in Pasadena. off its outer layers. welcome and should be submitted three weeks before publication to Public Affairs, IMCS-440. KSC-Spaceport-News@mail..gov. “Our new results show how the “This is why we built Email submissions can be sent to NuSTAR,” said Paul Hertz, Managing editor ...... Chris Hummel explosion’s heart, or engine, Editor ...... Frank Ochoa-Gonzales is distorted, possibly because director of NASA’s astrophys- Assistant editor ...... Linda Herridge the inner regions literally slosh ics division in Washington, “to Copy editor ...... Kay Grinter around before detonating.” discover things we never knew Editorial support provided by Abacus Technology Corp. Writers Group. NASA at KSC on the Web, at http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy Harrison is a co-author of a -- and did not expect -- about SP-2014-02-048-KSC • NASA Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs paper about the results ap- the high-energy universe.”