NASA on Friday marked the passing of those who gave their all in the name of space exploration during a wreath-laying service at the base of the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex. The service was part of the agency's Day of Remembrance on Jan. 29.

The national memorial to lost members of the NASA family is etched with the names of 24 people who perished during missions or in training since the American space effort began.

"President John F. Kennedy characterized this as the most hazardous, dangerous and the greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked," said Bob Cabana, NASA Kennedy Space Center's director and a former astronaut. "But it's not an adventure without risk. The explorers throughout history have put themselves at risk for the never-ending quest for knowledge that drives us all."

Surrounded by former astronauts, NASA workers and space enthusiasts, Cabana spoke of the rewards that have come from the sacrifice of those memorialized on the monument.

"We've had our setbacks over the years, but we've always come back stronger, rededicating ourselves to achieving our goal in the safest manner possible," he said.

The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that funds math and science scholarships, built the memorial in 1991. It has since been designated by Congress as a national memorial.

Cabana was joined in the wreath-laying by Janet Petro, Kennedy's deputy director, and Mark Nappi, United Space Alliance vice president for Launch and Recovery Systems.

The crew members who died in the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, the Challenger explosion in 1986 and Columbia's break-up during re-entry in 2003, are included on the memorial. All three accidents occurred during the last week of January or early February of their respective years.

Others memorialized include test pilots for the X-15 and F-104, as well as four astronauts who were killed while flying T-38s. Another died in a commercial plane crash while on NASA business.

Cabana, who called the astronauts "some of the finest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing," said the most fitting tribute to their sacrifice is to continue their goals of space exploration safely.

"So as we pause today to remember the sacrifice of those on this mirror, let's rededicate ourselves to safely achieving our goals as we transition to a new era of space exploration," he said. "This is an exciting time and we honor those who have gone before us by continuing our quest for knowledge in this greatest adventure of all time."

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Prometheus displayed its pockmarked, irregular surface for NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Jan. 27, 2010.

Prometheus is one of Saturn's innermost moons. It orbits the gas-giant at a distance of 139,353 kilometers (85,590 miles) and is 86 kilometers (53 miles) across at its widest point. The porous, icy-bodied world was originally discovered by images taken by Voyager 1 back in 1980. You could say this latest "egg-cellent" view has the Cassini science team licking their chops at the thought of future Prometheus images.

This raw, unprocessed image of Prometheus [pro-MEE-thee-us] , taken in visible light, was obtained by Cassini's narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 36,000 kilometers (23,000 miles).

The Cassini Equinox Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. For more information about the Cassini Equinox Mission visit: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

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Today's students will be designing tomorrow's aircraft, and NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Student Competition gives them a head start.

Each year, the competition challenges students to research a particular real-world issue in aeronautics and to develop their own solutions to the problem.

Past participants in NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Student Competition said the experience was a rewarding one that helped them learn more about aeronautics and encouraged them to improve their approaches to research and creative problem-solving.

In the 2008-2009 competition, students were challenged to develop ideas for making commercial supersonic air transportation available by 2020. Contest participants did so by examining obstacles to supersonic transportation and proposing solutions. In an additional challenge, some students submitted designs for a small supersonic airliner.

The top U.S. individual winner won a $1,000 cash prize, and members of the top U.S. team split $1,500. International students were not eligible for cash prizes but received an engraved trophy. All participants received a NASA certificate and free student versions of two engineering software programs.

Edric San Miguel was the first-place winner in the U.S. individual category for his design concept, "The Silent Airliner." When he entered, San Miguel was a junior at the Norfolk Technical Center in Norfolk, Va.

San Miguel is a student in Norfolk Public Schools' NORSTAR Gifted Program, which promotes scientific research, robotics, inventions and innovations. He first entered the program after being told about it by his teacher, Joy Young, during his sophomore year.

"That year, I entered the competition as an individual and placed second in the U.S. individual awards category," he said. "I tied with a senior from Arizona. Last year, I decided that I would take on the next challenge of the contest as a high school junior. That is when I placed first place in the entire high school division."

The aeronautics contest is just one way San Miguel has been involved with NASA. During the summer, he participated in the NASA Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars project. "Through this program, I worked as an intern at NASA Langley's Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate and Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch," he said. He continued working as an intern through the fall session as a part-time intern. He plans to participate in the aeronautics contest again.

"The biggest thing I got out of this contest is the internship," he said. "Through this internship, I was able to work with NASA engineers and experience what aeronautical engineers do. I was able to make new friends with my fellow interns, establish contacts with engineers, and enter the pipeline into working for NASA."

San Miguel hopes to attend Virginia Tech and major in aerospace engineering and minor in business management.

Second place in the individual category went to Andrew Andraka, who was a sophomore at Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, R.I., at the time he designed his entry, "Next-Generation Supersonic Airliner."

"I learned about this contest two years ago when my dad pointed it out, noting it was a topic where I could write all I wanted about airplanes," he said. "The first essay I wrote was 'The Next Generation DC-3,' where I designed a hybrid aircraft encompassing a canard wing setup, coupled with a Custer Channel wing. I received an honorable mention for my essay, so I decided I would try again with the 'Next Generation Supersonic Airliner.'"

Participating in the contest, Andraka said, was both a good learning experience and an enjoyable opportunity. "I learned a lot more about airline design and the thought process entailed to devise original concepts," he said. "It also gave me a good excuse to expand my library of aviation resources."

Andraka said that after majoring in aerospace engineering, he hopes to start an aircraft research and manufacturing company, specializing in light-sport aircraft and general aviation aircraft. He is working on flight training and hopes to be a private pilot with multiple endorsements before graduating college.

Jason Jong and Ziang Xie, of Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Calif., won first place in the U.S. team category of the contest. Jong, a junior at the time of the entry, and Xie, then a senior, named their design concept "The Lazarus T1."

"I had never participated in the NASA aeronautics competition nor any other NASA related or funded opportunities before entering the aeronautics competition," Jong said. "I don't quite remember, but I believe I was simply clicking around on NASA's Web site and came across the 'student contests' section for high schoolers. From the list, I saw the aeronautics contest, described as an aircraft design contest. At the time, I was an incoming sophomore. From about seventh-grade, I have had a lot of enthusiasm with airplanes, reading books, and searching the Web, so naturally, the contest was something I really really gravitated towards. I made a goal to enter, but unfortunately I waited until my junior year before I organized the completion of the project.

"The most rewarding aspect of entering this contest was the openness in creativity the contest allowed to designers," Jong said. "Though I have seen many plane designs through photos online, it was not until I entered this competition that I began piecing together feasible airplane designs of my own and developing my own imagination, like a precursor to actual aerospace engineering. It really brought a sense of creativity that I find rewarding, considering what we were able to accomplish."

Jong is currently applying to colleges. "My intended major is physics, which I have always liked," he said. "However, engineering seems a likely major for me as well, as my dad is a civil engineer. I'm keeping my options open for now. And, if I don't get into college, the Air Force sounds like a mighty fun place to go too!"

Xie heard about the contest through Jong. "I had never participated in this or any other NASA-affiliated contest before, with the exception of a regional Science Bowl competition at JPL (NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory), and at first I was hesitant about entering with my minimal knowledge," he said. "I gradually became more interested in the contest, however, as my teammate described how our submission would address issues with supersonic flight. We decided Jason would handle most of the basic design components, and I would work on creating a CAD model of our plane as well as help research technological advances, which might make supersonic flight more plausible in the future.

"The Fundamental Aeronautics competition piqued my interest in aeronautics and also helped me learn how to collaborate with a teammate in writing a design proposal," Xie said. "Most importantly, I learned how to quickly research and become more knowledgeable about a specific field."

Xie is currently attending UC Berkeley, majoring in electrical engineering and computer science.

Related Resources
Amphibious Tiltrotor Design Competition (2009-2010) →
Subsonic Rotorcraft and Green Aviation Competitions (2010-2011) →
Aeronautics Competition Winners 2009 →
Designing a Faster Future
NASA Education

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Sixteen days after last visiting Saturn's largest moon, NASA's Cassini spacecraft returns for another look-see of the cloud-shrouded moon - this time from on high. The flyby on Thursday, Jan. 28, referred to as "T-66" in the hollowed halls of Cassini operations, will place the spacecraft within 7,490 kilometers (4,654 miles) above the surface during time of closest approach.

While this latest close approach places Cassini more than 6,400 kilometers (3,970 miles) higher above Titan's surface than the Jan. 12 flyby, it should not considered of lesser scientific value. Instead, this high-altitude encounter will provide an opportunity for some of the spacecraft's instruments to gain another unique perspective on this crepuscular world.

During T-66, the Imaging Science Subsystem is set to acquire high-resolution observations during and after closest-approach, covering territory from the trailing hemisphere at high southern latitudes northeast to near-equatorial Adiri. On the inbound leg, the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer will have the opportunity to do one stellar occultation. (A stellar occultation occurs when an intervening body -- in this case Titan -- blocks the light from a star). Thursday's stellar occultation should allow the Cassini science team to further constrain the composition and the spectral properties of Titan's atmosphere.

Although this latest flyby is dubbed "T66," planning changes early in the orbital tour made this the 67th targeted flyby of Titan. T66 is the 22nd Titan encounter in Cassini's Solstice Mission.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter. The Huygens probe, built and managed by the European Space Agency, was bolted to Cassini and rode along during its nearly seven-year journey to Saturn, before being released for its descent through Titan's atmosphere.

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Astronomers studying two exploding stars, or supernovae, have found evidence the blasts received an extra boost from newborn black holes. The supernovae were found to emit jets of particles traveling at more than half the speed of light.

Previously, the only catastrophic events known to produce such high-speed jets were gamma-ray bursts, the universe's most luminous explosions. Supernovae and the most common type of gamma-ray bursts occur when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel and collapse. A neutron star or black hole forms at the star's core, triggering a massive explosion that destroys the rest of the star.

"The explosion dynamics in typical supernovae limit the speed of the expanding matter to about three percent the speed of light," explained Chryssa Kouveliotou, an astrophysicst at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., co-author of one of the new studies. "Yet, in these new objects, we're tracking gas moving some 20 times faster than this."

The new results, published in this week's edition of the journal Nature, used observations from several space and ground-based observatories, including NASA's SWIFT satellite.

The astronomers discovered the ultrafast debris by studying two supernovae at radio wavelengths using numerous facilities, including the National Science Foundation's Very Large Array in Socorro, N.M., and the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. One team used the real-time operating mode of the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network, an international collaboration of radio telescopes, to rapidly analyze data.

"In every respect, these objects look like gamma-ray bursts -- except that they produced no gamma rays," said Alicia Soderberg at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.

Soderberg led a team that studied SN 2009bb, a supernova discovered in March 2009. It exploded in the spiral galaxy NGC 3278, located about 130 million light-years away.

The other object is SN 2007gr, which was first detected in August 2007 in the spiral galaxy NGC 1058, some 35 million light-years away. The study team, which included Kouveliotou and Alexander van der Horst, a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow in Huntsville, was led by Zsolt Paragi at the Netherlands-based Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry in Europe.

The researchers searched for gamma-ray signals associated with the supernovae using archived records in the Gamma-Ray Burst Coordination Network located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The project distributes and archives observations of gamma-ray bursts by NASA's Swift spacecraft, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and many others. However, no bursts coincided with the supernovae.

Unlike typical core-collapse supernovae, the stars that produce gamma-ray bursts possess what astronomers call a "central engine" -- likely a nascent black hole -- that drives particle jets clocked at more than 99 percent the speed of light.

By contrast, the fastest outflows detected from SN 2009bb reached 85 percent the speed of light and SN 2007gr reached more than 60 percent of light speed.

"These observations are the first to show some supernovae are powered by a central engine," Soderberg said. "These new radio techniques now give us a way to find explosions that resemble gamma-ray bursts without relying on detections from gamma-ray satellites."

Perhaps as few as one out of every 10,000 supernovae produce gamma rays that we detect as a gamma-ray burst. In some cases, the star's jets may not be angled in a way to produce a detectable burst. In others, the energy of the jets may not be enough to allow them to overcome the overlying bulk of the star.

"We've now found evidence for the unsung crowd of supernovae -- those with relatively dim and mildly relativistic jets that only can be detected nearby," Kouveliotou said. "These likely represent most of the population."

For more information, images and animations about this discovery, visit:

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The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-P is proceeding through more checks in preparation for its launch, which is no earlier than March 1.

The GOES-P spacecraft continues being processed at the Astrotech Facility in Titusville, Fla. The Imager, Sounder and Solar X-Ray Imager have completed cleaning and inspections. The optical port covers have been successfully installed. Those covers are one of the last mechanisms to be deployed once GOES-P gets into orbit.

GOES-P is the latest weather satellite developed by NASA to aid the nation's meteorologists and climate scientists. GOES satellites provide the familiar weather pictures seen on United States television newscasts every day. GOES provides nearly continuous imaging and sounding, which allows forecasters to better measure changes in atmospheric temperature and moisture distributions, which increase the accuracy of their forecasts. GOES environmental information is used for a host of applications, including weather monitoring and prediction models.

Along with the instruments GOES-P will carry, it also contains seven appendages and mechanisms that are stowed for launch and later deployed during transfer orbit or at various phases of on-orbit testing. Those deployable mechanisms and appendages are: Aft omni antenna; Deployable aft blanket (DAB); Solar array; X-ray positioner (XRP); Magnetometer boom; Instrument radiant cooler covers; and the optical port covers.

These seven mechanisms are put into operation after the Delta IV rocket deploys GOES-P into space. Here's the order of how they work: Shortly after separation from the launch vehicle on day one of Launch and Orbit Raising (LOR), the Aft omni and DAB are deployed. At about the twelfth day, once geosynchronous orbit is achieved, the solar array is deployed. The solar array powers GOES-P in orbit. At around day 13 or 14 the XRP is released, followed by the magnetometer boom. By around day 17 in orbit, the instrument optical port covers are deployed at the end of Bus In-Orbit Testing (IOT). Finally, after about 30 days in orbit the radiant cooler covers are deployed.

Two solid rocket boosters were installed on Jan. 15, 2010, on the Delta IV Launch Vehicle that will carry GOES-P into space. GOES-P was transferred to its fueling stand on Monday, January 18. The L-35 Countdown Launch Procedure (CLP) Rehearsal was successfully completed on January 19, and the next day, the Propulsion System Valve Driver Functional Testing was completed. Now, Propulsion System Pressurization and Leak Checks are in progress in preparation for fueling operations.

The Eastern Range has approved the GOES-P new launch date of March 1, 2010.

NASA contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-P spacecraft. NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida supported the launch in an advisory role. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost-reimbursable basis.

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This view from the navigation camera near the top of the mast on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the tracks left by the rover as it drove southward and backward, dragging its inoperable right-front wheel, to the location where the rover broke through a crust in April 2009 and became embedded in soft sand.

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After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful.

The venerable robot's primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter. If Spirit survives, it will continue conducting significant new science from its final location. The rover's mission could continue for several months to years.

"Spirit is not dead; it has just entered another phase of its long life," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We told the world last year that attempts to set the beloved robot free may not be successful. It looks like Spirit's current location on Mars will be its final resting place."

Ten months ago, as Spirit was driving south beside the western edge of a low plateau called Home Plate, its wheels broke through a crusty surface and churned into soft sand hidden underneath.

After Spirit became embedded, the rover team crafted plans for trying to get the six-wheeled vehicle free using its five functioning wheels – the sixth wheel quit working in 2006, limiting Spirit's mobility. The planning included experiments with a test rover in a sandbox at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., plus analysis, modeling and reviews. In November, another wheel quit working, making a difficult situation even worse.

Recent drives have yielded the best results since Spirit became embedded. However, the coming winter mandates a change in strategy. It is mid-autumn at the solar-powered robot's home on Mars. Winter will begin in May. Solar energy is declining and expected to become insufficient to power further driving by mid-February. The rover team plans to use those remaining potential drives for improving the rover's tilt. Spirit currently tilts slightly toward the south. The winter sun stays in the northern sky, so decreasing the southward tilt would boost the amount of sunshine on the rover's solar panels.

"We need to lift the rear of the rover, or the left side of the rover, or both," said Ashley Stroupe, a rover driver at JPL. "Lifting the rear wheels out of their ruts by driving backward and slightly uphill will help. If necessary, we can try to lower the front right of the rover by attempting to drop the right-front wheel into a rut or dig it into a hole."

At its current angle, Spirit probably would not have enough power to keep communicating with Earth through the Martian winter. Even a few degrees of improvement in tilt might make enough difference to enable communication every few days.

"Getting through the winter will all come down to temperature and how cold the rover electronics will get," said John Callas, project manager at JPL for Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. "Every bit of energy produced by Spirit's solar arrays will go into keeping the rover's critical electronics warm, either by having the electronics on or by turning on essential heaters."

Even in a stationary state, Spirit continues scientific research.

"There's a class of science we can do only with a stationary vehicle that we had put off during the years of driving," said Steve Squyres, a researcher at Cornell University and principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity. "Degraded mobility does not mean the mission ends abruptly. Instead, it lets us transition to stationary science."

One stationary experiment Spirit has begun studies tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the planet's core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion with an accuracy of a few inches.

"If the final scientific feather in Spirit's cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful -- it's so different from the other knowledge we've gained from Spirit," said Squyres.

Tools on Spirit's robotic arm can study variations in the composition of nearby soil, which has been affected by water. Stationary science also includes watching how wind moves soil particles and monitoring the Martian atmosphere.

Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004. They have been exploring for six years, far surpassing their original 90-day mission. Opportunity currently is driving toward a large crater called Endeavor and continues to make scientific discoveries. It has driven approximately 12 miles and returned more than 133,000 images.

JPL manages the rovers for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/rovers .

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