National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA October 2005 NASA takes Google on journey into space NASA Ames Research Center, lo- ner will be the American public,” he mon desire to bring a universe of infor- cated in the heart of California's Silicon added. mation to people around the world,” Valley, and Mountain View-based “Google and NASA share a com- said Eric Schmidt, Google chief execu- tive officer. “Imagine having a wide se- lection of images from the Apollo space mission at your fingertips whenever you want it. That's just one small example of how this collaboration could help broaden technology's role in making the world a better place.” "I'm thrilled that NASA Ames Re- search Center and Google, two of our NASA photos by Dominic Hart region's and our nation's most valuable and innovative organizations, have formed a partnership,” said Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA -14th District). “As Silicon Valley continues to lead NASA Associate Administrator for Program Analysis and Evaluation Scott Pace (left), NASA Ames in developing technologies that will Center Director G. Scott Hubbard (center) and Google’s Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt during guide our nation's economy in the 21st the recent MOU signing event held at Ames. continued on page 9 Google Inc., on Sept. 28 announced plans to collaborate on a variety of technol- ogy-focused research-and-development activities that will couple some of Earth's most powerful technology resources. NASA and Google signed a memo- The announcement of randum of understanding (MOU) that the MOU between outlines plans for cooperation on a vari- NASA and Google drew a large number ety of areas, including large-scale data of local media to the management, massively distributed event. computing, bio-info-nano convergence, and encouragement of the entrepreneur- ial space industry. The MOU also high- lights plans for Google to develop up to one million square feet within the NASA Research Park at Moffett Field. “Our planned partnership presents Hubbard outlines Ames' strategies for an enormous range of potential benefits to the space program,” said Ames Cen- future during NASA's transformation ter Director G. Scott Hubbard. “Just a Over the past several weeks, Ames hands meeting held Oct. 12 in the main few examples are new sensors and ma- has made significant progress in meet- auditorium. “If we all work together, we terials from collaborations on bio-info- ing various challenges and changes as can get through this.” nano convergence, improved analysis NASA undergoes a major transforma- For the near term (Fiscal Year 2006 of engineering problems, as well as earth, tion to implement the Vision for Space and Fiscal Year 2007), Hubbard said life and space science discoveries from Exploration, according to Center Direc- Ames is focusing on reducing its over- supercomputing and data mining, and tor G. Scott Hubbard. head by 17 percent, maintaining an in- bringing entrepreneurs into the space “We've made a lot of progress, but vestment account for new bids and pro- program. While our joint efforts will we have a long way to go,” Hubbard posals for internal research and devel- told a capacity audience during an all- benefit both organizations, the real win- opment, reshaping its workforce, and continued on page 3 www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/astrogram/2005/05astrograms.html NASA Ames hosts Sally Ride science festival for girls More than 1,100 San Francisco Bay experiments, food and music. As- Area girls, their parents and their teach- tronaut Janice Foss (left photo, stand- ing at left of podium) who works at Ames as the Kepler science director in Code SSA , also spoke alongside Ride. "It's an honor for Ames to host this exciting festival. We are truly pleased to contrib- NASA photos by Astrid Terlep ute to Sally's quest to inspire young people, especially young girls, to get involved in science and engineering," said NASA Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard. "Women make up only 25 percent of the science, en- gineering and technology workforce," said Ride, founder of Sally Ride Sci- ers joined former NASA astronaut Sally Ride on a journey of scientific discovery on Oct. 2. bers of girls and young women NASA Ames hosted who are, or might become, inter- the Sally Ride Science ested in science, math and tech- Festival. The educa- nology. The company creates sci- tional event, designed ence experiences for girls that em- for girls in grades 5-8, power them, engage them and featured an inspirational encourage their interests. Current talk by Ride (above left programs include Sally Ride Sci- photo, standing at right ence Festivals, Sally Ride Science of podium), the first Camps, TOYchallenge, and the American woman to fly Sally Ride Science Club. in space; workshops For more information about given by female profes- the Sally Ride science festivals, sionals in fields ranging visit the Web at http:// from astrobiology to veterinary medi- ence™. "We are delighted to be work- www.sallyridefestivals.com/ cine; and an interactive street fair with ing with NASA Ames to give Silicon Valley area girls a chance to explore and develop their potential in science at an age when many begin to drift away from their natural interest." The festival is de- signed to encourage girls and young women to pursue ca- reers in math, science and engineering. Ride founded Sally Ride Science™ to support the large num- Astrogram 2 October 2005 Ames hosts university symposium STS-114 mission sented the results of their research. specialist visits Ames The symposium, entitled ‘Aligned research program symposium: progress and prospects’ kicked off with intro- ductions by Dr. Burney Le Boeuf, asso- ciate vice chancellor for research at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and by Dr. Steven Zornetzer, NASA Ames Deputy Director (Acting). It was followed by 10-minute pre- sentations by UC faculty in the general areas of aerospace, information tech- nology, biotechnology, robotics/sen- sors, space science and nanoscience. Dr. Burney Le Boeuf addressed the recent UARC symposium at Ames. NASA photos by Dominic Hart Steve Robinson, mission specialist on the latest On Oct. 12, Uni- space shuttle flight mission STS-114, visited versity of California Ames in October to meet with Ames Center professors who are Director G. Scott Hubbard and the Ames receiving funding return-to-flight teams. He is seen here speaking through the NASA to the RTF teams in the N201 auditorium. Ames University Af- filiated Research Center (UARC) pre- Hubbard outlines strategies for future during transformation continued from front page supporting the Vision for Space Explo- pulsion Labora- ration. In support of the Vision, Hubbard tory. announced several appointments to key Working positions at Ames, as well as several with the Jet Pro- appointments made by NASA Admin- pulsion Labora- istrator Michael Griffin to key positions tory and Kennedy at NASA Headquarters. Space Center, Hubbard told employees that Ames Ames will design, will play a key role in the development develop and man- of the space shuttle's replacement, the age the integrated Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). James systems health NASA photo by Tom Trower Reuther will lead a multi-center team management ca- comprised of representatives from pability for the Ames, Johnson Space Center and CEV's ground Kennedy Space Center to develop a ther- processing and mal protection system for the CEV. automation. The In addition, Ames will design, de- CEV command velop and implement the launch mis- module will be sions systems and the command-and- designed to be re- Ames Center Director G. Scott Hubbard addresses the audience during control capability for the CEV and the usable and will be the recent all hands meeting at Ames. new Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV). Ames refurbished after will be part of a team that includes rep- each flight. capability for the CLV. He said the CLV resentatives from Johnson Space Cen- Hubbard also noted that Ames will will be a much safer vehicle than the ter, Goddard Space Flight Center, have a major role in defining and de- space shuttle, and will have a 1/2000 Kennedy Space Center and the Jet Pro- signing the ascent abort/crew escape continued on back page Astrogram 3 October 2005 Cal Poly students help NASA reduce aircraft noise Thirteen aerospace engineering stu- "Preliminary results indicate that the this new task, doing most of the grunt dents from the California Polytechnic SNI approaches will concentrate the work and sharing an enthusiasm that State University at San Luis Obispo (Cal noise footprint into a narrow area," said you can only get from students," Hange Poly) spent a part of their summer on a John Zuk, NASA ESTOL vehicle sector added. lake. This is normal for many college manager at NASA Ames. "Involvement in this NASA research students, but this lake was the Roger's The tests also confirmed that the project has taken the students' class- Dry Lake located in California's Mojave Desert. The students were participating in the C-17 flight noise mitigation study, a NASA experiment that may one day make the world a quieter place. Currently, a house within an airport's flight path must have triple- pane windows, special doors and extra attic and wall insulation to keep aircraft noise out. Researchers from NASA Ames and Dryden Flight Research Center want to eliminate or at least reduce the need for these often-costly modifications. NASA photo by Tom Tschida of Dryden To do so, NASA, through the Ve- hicle System Program, is working to reduce the 'noise footprint' produced by aircraft. A key component of this plan is the development of extreme short-take- United States Air Force Test Center's C 17 Globemaster III aircraft with the aeronautics engineering team at Edwards Air Force Base.