National Aeronautics and Space Administration Volume 55 Number 6 July 2013 UP reaches altitude record By Jay Levine X-Press editor and Leslie Williams Dryden Public Affairs It was “up, up and away” June 21 when UP Aerospace Inc.’s SpaceLoft 7 suborbital rocket reached a record altitude for sounding rockets of 73.9 miles – more than 390,000 feet – after a NASA-funded launch from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, N.M. NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, which is managed by Dryden, funded the flight to carry five space-technology experiments and two sets of student experiments aboard the suborbital sounding rocket. “We are very happy with the successful launch of SpaceLoft 7 and look forward to future flights with UP Aerospace,” said Ron Young, Flight Opportunities Program manager at NASA Dryden. The Flight Opportunities Program is part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., manages the technology maturation and tracking for the program. The sub-orbital flight lasted nearly 15 minutes and provided a weightless environment for testing the experiments for 3.5 minutes. After a drag chute slowed the rocket’s descent and a parachute opened, the nose cone and payload bay landed as anticipated at a site about 320 miles downrange on the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The components were recovered and flown back to the launch site by an army helicopter within an hour of landing. At the launch site the payloads were removed from the nose cone and payload bay and returned to the researchers. “We successfully completed the flight and retrieved the section of the rocket carrying all the payloads,” said Dougal Maclise, NASA’s Flight Opportunities technology manager. “The payloads were removed from the rocket. We’re checking the data we collected to see how the flight went, and how the technologies functioned while they were in microgravity. We’ll report back in about four months.” The main objective of the Flight Opportunities Program is to aid the maturation of technology for future space and high-altitude missions that benefit NASA. Flying on suborbital launch vehicles in zero gravity, experimental technologies are briefly exposed to the space environment where these technologies are expected to operate. Researchers can then check their experiments to ensure they operated as expected. A second objective of the program is to foster the emerging commercial suborbital launch industry. Altitude record, page 12 Contributed / Heriberto Ibarra www.nasa.gov/ X-Press July 2013 Dream Chaser welcomed By Alan Brown Dryden Public Affairs NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden visited Dryden May 22, taking the opportunity to see the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser test vehicle that had arrived at the center a week earlier. Bolden, SNC’s Director of Flight Operations and former NASA astronaut Steve Lindsey and Patrick Stoliker, Dryden deputy director, outlined the coming ground and flight tests for the Dream Chaser to news media representatives gathered in a Dryden hangar. SNC is preparing the vehicle for tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests at Dryden. “I’m personally excited about having Dream Chaser here at Dryden,” Bolden told the assembled news media personnel, Sierra Nevada and NASA staff. “I can’t think of a better place to be testing a vehicle like this than bringing it ED13-0155-29 NASA/Tom Tschida right out here to the Edwards dry NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, left, Steve Lindsey, center, Director of Flight Operations for Sierra Nevada lake bed, which is very historic in its Corporation, and Dryden Deputy Director Patrick Stoliker, respond to reporter’s questions in front of Sierra Nevada’s own right,” he added. Dream Chaser flight test vehicle during a media briefing at Dryden. The testing is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program initiatives to develop safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from Dream Chaser tow tests go well the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit. It is one of three Sierra Nevada Corporation spacecraft being developed for that is putting its Dream Chaser role under the CCP program, the engineering test vehicle through others being Boeing’s CST-100 a series of ground tests at Dryden capsule and a crewed version of Space in preparation for upcoming Exploration Technologies’ (SpaceX) captive-carry and free-flight tests Dragon capsule. The Dream Chaser later this year. is the only one designed to make During two tow tests, a a soft airplane-style landing on a pickup truck pulled the Dream runway, similar to landings of the Chaser test vehicle on Dryden’s now-retired space shuttles. concrete taxiway to validate the “Ultimately, it’s going to be performance of the spacecraft’s commercial capabilities getting us to nose skid, brakes, tires and low-Earth orbit,” Bolden added. “I’m other systems. The company has really anxious to help Sierra Nevada, performed the tests at 10 and Boeing and SpaceX get on with the 20 mph and is working toward competition to determine who’s 40 and 60 mph tests in late July. going to carry our astronaut crews.” Range and taxi tow tests are The administrator notedstandard for winged vehicles that ED13-0164-64 NASA/Ken Ulbrich that if funding for NASA’s touch down on a runway to prove Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser test vehicle is towed down a Commercial Crew Program is cut, the overall spacecraft handling post-landing. Dryden taxiway to prepare for upcoming captive-carry and free-flight tests. Dream Chaser, page 12 X-Press July 2013 Stuber fondly remembered News By Jay Levine engineering. He was hired “He was proud to work for NASA X-Press editor at Dryden in January. and we were proud to have him,” A standing room He had a thirst for Richards said. at NASA only crowd of knowledge and to be Chris Kostyk said Stuber had, Dryden employees challenged that kept his “ability, potential and character and met June 17 to mentors busy during his would have been one of the best Sweet is remember Alex years as a student employee. engineers at the center.” Stuber, who was Tom Horn, chief of the Matt Moholt, a close friend described as an Aerostructures branch, said of Stuber, described him as “a new CIO exceptionally Stuber was always ready genuinely good person. He was Larry N. Sweet is NASA’s new capable engineer to help and take on new over so much that my kids would chief information officer. Sweet who had a great Alex Stuber challenges including a time ask, ‘Where’s Alex?’ if he wasn’t joined the agency in 1987 at the sense of humor and when, “he helped a mentor there.” Johnson Space Center, Houston, a brilliant smile. He died June 14 at with a complicated algorithm that Stuber’s family attended the where he served as supervisor age 25 from injuries he received in a was in a language he didn’t know. memorial including his dad Chuck, and manager for more than 26 traffic accident a day earlier. He strived for excellence with his mom Janet and his sister Andie. years. Since February 2007, Dryden Director David McBride humility and he learned from his Chuck Stuber thanked the Sweet has been Johnson’s said people are connected like kin mistakes.” Dryden community for the chief information officer and because of the center’s size and Stuber also was selected as a outpouring of love and support for information resources director. geography and “Alex made a big NASA Student Ambassador. In a the man who was not only his son, As NASA CIO, Sweet began impact on his family here.” profile on the Student Ambassador but also his best friend. leading the agency’s information Stuber’s Dryden career began Virtual Community, he said he “We are here to celebrate his life technology efforts and with a student internship through planned, “to encourage others to rather than focus on the events of capabilities on June 30. He is the Aeronautics Research Mission consider a career path (in NASA) the past several days. He was an responsible for ensuring NASA’s Directorate in 2009. He returned as that will benefit not only themselves, intelligent, fun kid and a good information assets match up an Undergraduate Student Research but also the country and the world. athlete. He was loving, caring, with federal policies, procedures Program student the next year and Encouraging the study of STEM personable and a passionate snow and legislation. then was selected as part of the (science, technology, engineering skier,” he said. As NASA’s top IT official, Pathways program the past several and mathematics) fields is essential The Stuber family had traveled Sweet also will manage a number years. He received a Dryden peer to continuing the technological together all over the U.S., Europe, of other major IT efforts, award in 2011 for his work. advances seen today, and it will be Japan and a recent graduation including the Information In December, Stuber completed integral in solving the problems present – a trek to climb Mount Technology Infrastructure his master’s degree in aerospace encountered in the future.” Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, Integration Program, or engineering from North Carolina Lance Richards, acting Education and an African wildlife safari. I3P, which consolidates and State University, the same university Office director, said Stuber was a The last words exchanged by integrates NASA’s IT services to where he earned undergraduate bright, hard-working guy with a father and son are the only ones that enable collaboration and reduce degrees in aerospace and mechanical beaming smile.