Feb. 8, 2008 Vol. 48, No. 3 Spaceport News John F. Kennedy Space Center - America’s gateway to the universe www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/snews/spnews_toc.html NASA/Kim Shiflett After their arrival at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, space shuttle Atlantis’ crew members head to greet the media waiting for them. From left are Commander Steve Frick, Pilot Alan Poindexter, and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Hans Schlegel, Stanley Love and Leopold Eyharts. Eyharts and Schlegel represent the European Space Agency. STS-122 crew eager to start mission nauts will be working with Delivery of As of press time, the two long robot arms dur- launch of STS-122 was ing spacewalks in which Columbus lab scheduled for Feb. 7. two astronauts are outside For complete cover- the station, each move is highlights trip age and photos, go to highly choreographed and www.nasa.gov. carefully practiced. pace shuttle Atlan- For more about the It routinely takes space shuttle, go to tis’ 11-day mission months of rehearsal before www.nasa.gov/shuttle. Swill deliver a key the actual duties are car- component to continue ried out in space. constructing the Interna- marks the beginning of the As the lead on three tional Space Station. culmination of that work. spacewalks, Rex Walheim During the first of goes into space with a lot three spacewalks, The delivery of Co- of checklists. One of the astronauts will install the lumbus will be followed over the next two missions spacewalks will include Columbus laboratory on NASA/Amanda Diller the orbiting outpost. by components of the astronaut Stanley Love, Space shuttle Atlantis is revealed on Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Ken- Japan Aerospace Explora- who also will help Melvin The following day, nedy Space Center after the rotating service structure, or RSS, at left astronauts will enter the of the pad was rolled back. tion Agency’s module, with the space station’s European Space Agency’s called Kibo. robot arm. module for the first time, tory is Europe’s largest Atlantis will deliver ex- Astronaut Leland The crew also in- expanding the research contribution to the con- periments to be performed Melvin will operate the cludes European Space facilities of the station and struction of the station. in orbit. robot arm on the Interna- Agency astronauts Hans providing crew members The shuttle also will During the past year tional Space Station dur- Schlegel of Germany and scientists around deliver a new crew mem- and a half, solar arrays and ing the mission to move and Leopold Eyharts of the world the ability to ber and bring back another a connecting module have the Columbus laboratory France. conduct a variety of life, astronaut after a nearly been added for power out of Atlantis’ payload STS-122 is the 121st physical and materials sci- two-month mission. and to provide a pathway bay and attach it to the shuttle flight, the 29th ence experiments. In addition to the to new modules. But the station. flight for Atlantis and the The Columbus labora- Columbus module itself, mission of Atlantis’ crew Because the astro- 24th flight to the station. Page 2 SPACEPORT NEWS Feb. 8, 2008 New NASA badges arrive at Kennedy By Jennifer Wolfinger Staff Writer “With the kinds of cyber-terrorism ennedy Space occurring, we need to have Center Diretor capabilities to secure our information. KBill Parsons led This is one of the first steps the work force into the future of information pro- in achieving that.” tection when he received the new NASA security Bill Parsons, Kennedy Space Center Director badge Jan. 25 at the Visi- tors’ Record Center in the number. The new badges Aug. 27, 2004. Headquarters Building. have a computer chip In an effort to reduce Parsons and several holding an employee’s inefficiency, cost and risk other Kennedy leaders NASA/Jim Grossman digital certificate for to the federal government, received their new badges Kennedy Director Bill Parsons has his fingerprints checked by Officer authentication, but no this directive calls for within minutes of arriving Clayton Roberts of the Visitors’ Record Center. Parsons was among personal information. all government agencies at the badging office. By several NASA leaders who received the new badge. This new system deters to implement a uniform July, all 16,000 spaceport identity fraud, tampering, identification system. employees are projected cyber-terrorism occurring, information technology counterfeiting and terror- to be wearing their new we need to have capabili- systems using tools such ist exploitation. For more information, badges. Currently, the ties to secure our informa- as badge readers at each This effort is a direct go to http://hspd12. center has received 650 tion. This is one of the first desktop and certain build- response to a Homeland ksc.nasa.gov. For badges. More than a steps in achieving that,” ings. For higher-risk areas Security presidential questions or feedback, third of those have been Parsons said. and systems, a “two-fac- directive for federal send an e-mail to encoded and are already The new badge sup- tor” system will be used employees and contrac- kschspd12team@ being distributed. ports a secured electronic which requires a badge tors, signed by President ksc.nasa.gov. “With the kinds of process to gain access to and personal identification George W. Bush on Space Center welcomes dozens of diplomats By Steve Siceloff the shuttle for its upcom- highlight of the day at Staff Writer ing mission to the space Kennedy, Noghes said. station. “How different teams he gateway to space turned into “The research and the of the world can work the gateway to science that is available together is very comfort- T here is incredible,” said ing, very encouraging,” America for ambassadors from 45 nations who vis- Gilles Noghes, ambassa- he said. ited Kennedy Space Cen- dor of Monaco. NASA’s Kelvin ter Jan. 31 during the first The diplomatic corps Manning, who is leading stop of a tour series that in Washington is one of development of NASA’s is expected to show off the largest in the world, new Orion spacecraft for the unique features of the with embassies, missions the Constellation Program United States. and consulates from all at Kennedy, helped brief over the planet. Asked NASA/Kim Shiflett the ambassadors. Dozens of diplomats A group of diplomats enjoys the sights of the Kennedy Space Center from nations across all what they’d like to see in Visitor Complex. Ambassadors from 45 nations visited Kennedy. “I think people are continents except Antarc- America, the community mostly taken aback by tica watched as techni- backed tours of space and The State Department space station. the enormity of it all,” cians readied the Japanese science centers. Kennedy said the visit to Kennedy “Collaboration in he said. “The hardware “Kibo” laboratory for was a natural starting was one of the largest such technology projects speaks for itself.” launch to the International point, said Ambassador tours ever undertaken by bodes well for mankind,” And at least one of Space Station. They also Nancy Brinker, the U.S. the diplomatic corps. said Ambassador Mark the diplomats wasn’t saw NASA and contrac- chief of protocol. Dazzled by the space Micele of Malta. content to just see the tor employees, received “The trip is a chance hardware and the scope The Space Station spacecraft pieces head- an up-close look at space to engage people person- of NASA’s technologi- Processing Facility, filled ing into orbit; Papua shuttle Discovery in its ally and experience our cal reach, the dignitaries with hardware from Eu- New Guinea’s Ambas- hangar and viewed Atlan- country,” she said. “After said they were equally rope, Japan and Canada, sador, Evan Paki, said he tis on Launch Pad 39A all, America is not just impressed by the interna- along with NASA’s own wanted to make a trip to as technicians prepared Washington.” tional commitment of the station segments, was a Mars himself. Feb. 8, 2008 SPACEPORT NEWS Page 3 NASA/George Shelton NASA honors the crew of Columbia on the five-year anniversary with a ceremony Feb. 1 at the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Speakers included, from left, G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization; Luther Richardson, winner of the 2007 Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award; William Readdy, former space shuttle commander; Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for space operations; Eileen Collins, former astronaut; Bill Parsons, Kennedy Space Center director; and Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of commander Rick Husband. NASA commemorates Columbia loss By Tanya Nguyen which they tucked into build upon our past and Staff Writer the white fence surround- prepare for our future. And crowd of people ing the memorial after the our fallen heroes will live from around the ceremony ended. in every small step we world gathered Former astronaut take.” A Eileen Collins, who Feb. 1 at the Space Mir- Anita Pantano, who ror Memorial to honor commanded the first works for Space Gateway the seven astronauts of shuttle mission following Support, kept her head space shuttle Columbia’s Columbia in 2005, said down as she clasped three STS-107 mission on the the tragedy was not in vain roses. fifth anniversary of the because it showed NASA “I’m always thinking accident. there were lots of lessons of the seven astronauts,” The courtyard at the to be learned. In honoring she said through tears. memorial at Kennedy their lives, she stressed the The public lined the Space Center’s Visitor importance of continued rails at the memorial to Complex echoed with space exploration.