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Saturday Space Sight: Hubble Sees a Horsehead of a Different Color

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on May 11, 2013 at 7:20 am {no comments}

Astronomers have used NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to photograph the iconic Horsehead Nebula in a new, infrared light to mark the 23rd anniversary of the famous observatory’s launch aboard the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990.

Looking like an apparition rising from whitecaps of interstellar foam, the iconic Horsehead Nebula has graced astronomy books ever since its discovery more than a century ago. The nebula is a favorite target for amateur and professional astronomers. It is shadowy in optical light. It appears transparent and ethereal when seen at infrared wavelengths. The rich tapestry of the Horsehead Nebula pops out against the backdrop of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies that easily are visible in infrared light.

Hubble has been producing ground-breaking science for two decades.

During that time, it has benefited from a slew of upgrades from space shuttle missions, including the 2009 addition of a new imaging workhorse, the high-resolution Wide Field Camera 3 that took the new portrait of the Horsehead.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team

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Space Domain Vital To National Defense

Filed under Education & Culture, Space by jtozer on May 10, 2013 at 7:24 am {no comments}

(Photo graphic by Jessica L. Tozer)

A senior defense official told Congress it is critical for the Defense Department to develop and implement space programs and policies to maintain U.S. space advantages in a perpetually changing environment.

Douglas L. Loverro, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on strategic forces regarding the fiscal year 2014 budget proposal for military space programs.

“[It's a] basic reality that space remains vital to our national security,” he said. “But the evolving strategic environment increasingly challenges U.S. space advantages — advantages that both our warfighters and our adversaries have come to appreciate.”

As space becomes more congested, competitive and contested, Loverro said, the department must formulate programs and policies that will secure those advantages for years to come.

But reality, he added, is juxtaposed with providing these capabilities in an environment with increasingly restrained budgets.

Loverro said the growing challenges of budgeting, in addition to increasing external threats, compels the department to think and act differently.

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Lasers Bring New Urgency to Electric Power Research

Filed under Technology by jtozer on May 9, 2013 at 7:00 am {no comments}

In the wake of the recent announcement that laser weapons will be put on U.S. Navy ships, the need for reliable, high-voltage shipboard power has become a matter of national security, officials said at the Electric Ship Technologies Symposium outside Washington, D.C.

(Graphic photo by Jessica L. Tozer)

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored event featured some of the world’s top scientists and engineers in power systems, who agree that a new era in electric power is within sight.

“The work being done in this area is vital,” said Dr. Thomas Killion, who heads ONR’s Office of Transition. “As the upcoming deployment of a shipboard laser weapon reminds us, we need power generation and power management systems with greater-than-ever capabilities, but from devices that are smaller than ever.”

Earlier this month, Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert announced that for the first time a laser weapon system (LaWS) will be placed onboard a deployed ship, USS Ponce, for testing in the Persian Gulf in 2014.

The announcement underscored the need for accessible high-power electric generation, capable of meeting the substantial demands that will be needed to power laser systems and other high-power weapon systems.

As the technology advances, and faced with rising and unpredictable fossil fuel costs, the Navy’s next-generation surface combatant ship will leverage electric ship technologies in its design. While electric ships already exist, design characteristics of a combatant ship are more complex with regard to weight, speed, maneuverability—and now, directed energy weapons.

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Well Hello There, Mars Rover

Filed under Featured, Robots, Space by jtozer on May 8, 2013 at 7:59 am {no comments}

There comes a time in every SciFi enthusiast’s life when you realize that you need to interview a robot in space.

It had to be done.

Now, I’ve interviewed a space robot before. I had a rousing conversation with Robonaut on Twitter last year. That was pretty fantastic, but it left me wanting to know more. I mean, these robots give me a glimpse into a life in space. Something that, barring an alien abduction, I won’t actually get to experience.

O hai there! (Photo Courtesy of The Mars Curiosity Rover Twitter profile)

So imagine my glee when I heard that the Mars Curiosity Rover had some time to answer some of my questions regarding life outside of this atmosphere.

I mean seriously. I think I might have actually shrieked a little.

For those of you who don’t know, the Curiosity Rover is pretty much a robot celebrity. She has over 1.3 million followers on Twitter, and over 500,000 followers on Facebook. Curiosity is a pretty big deal. And there’s a reason for that. Well several, really.

Curiosity is humanity’s extension on a foreign planet. She’s designed to help us better understand life, the universe and everything. And she does. With cleverness, scientific brilliance, and some witty, concise tweets, she brings us a little closer to our own Solar System. And what’s great is the work that the Curiosity Rover is doing is something that affects not just the science community. It affects us all.

Hey, even the DoD is involved in our reach toward the stars.

The Department of Defense has had a role in aerospace exploration for decades, and they’re still dedicated to it. Budget restraints and all. Recently senior Defense Department officials testified before Congress highlighting the activities the department has undertaken to save an estimated $1 billion and provide a balanced national security space program.

Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Garretson, the Division Chief for Air Force Irregular Warfare Strategy, Plans and Policy (and previously the Chief of Future Science and Technology Exploration for Air Force Strategic Planning) says humanity needs a billion year plan for space exploration.

Douglas L. Loverro, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, recently told Congress it is critical for the Defense Department to develop and implement space programs and policies to maintain U.S. space advantages in a perpetually changing environment.

From military satellites, to lasers, to GPS innovation and more, the advancements that are made in the aerospace industry benefit more than just us stargazers. The work that is being done is helping to shape the future of the human race.

Because when it comes down to it, space matters.

But don’t just take my word for it…

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Top Tech: Solar Blankets

Filed under Energy, Top Technology by jtozer on May 7, 2013 at 7:33 am {no comments}

The Top Tech series highlights the latest and greatest federal laboratory inventions that are available for transfer to business partners. Want to suggest an invention? Email us at science@dma.mil.

Flexible solar blanket of aSi solar cells. (photo provided by the Naval Research Laboratory)

Technology: High Power Flexible Solar Blankets

Agency: Naval Research Laboratory

What is better than a warm blanket on a cold night? How about a blanket that can produce energy by soaking up rays from the sun? We’re talking about the Naval Research Laboratory’s high power flexible solar blankets (or Blanket 2.0 I like to call it). The common comforter is getting an upgrade.

What is it?

It’s like a blanket on solar steroids. NRL is developing photovoltaics (solar cells) that combine high power output with lightweight and flexibility. It works by using crystalline, high efficiency multi-junction solar cells, which are lifted off the growth substrate and laid down onto a lightweight, flexible blankets. This forms a blanket with potentially three TIMES the power output of current technologies.

What does that mean?

This is, essentially, how we create portable solar panels.

Think about some of the advantages this blanket can have, starting with convenience. Being able to transport a regenerating power source that doesn’t weigh a ton is awesome. Also, given the particular environment with which troops tend to find themselves, using the natural resource of the sun just makes sense. It’s also eco-friendly, which means these blankets are in keeping with the Department of Defense’s going green initiative. They’re also more cost effective, since they’re designed to be used over and over again and they can recharge equipment in the field.

Truthfully, people in general could benefit from this technology. (more…)

First GPS NAVSTAR Satellite Goes on Display

Filed under Education & Culture, Scientific Military History, Technology by jtozer on May 6, 2013 at 7:13 am {no comments}

As of April 2013, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum began to examine the cultural and technological history of precise timekeeping and navigation at sea, in the air, and in space, and the impact of satellite navigation on our everyday lives. The exhibit, TIME and NAVIGATION, will explore ‘how revolutions in timekeeping over three centuries have influenced how we find our way.’

Originally designated TIMATION-IV, Navigation Technology Satellite-2 (NTS-2) was NRL’s final navigation satellite. The NRL navigation satellite successfully prepared the way for the GPS constellation with NTS-2 being the first satellite of the initial demonstration constellation of GPS satellites known as NAVSTAR.
(Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

On display, NTS-2 is the first satellite completely designed and built by NRL under GPS Joint Program funding—a working model was launched June 23, 1977, aboard an Atlas E/F rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The first of a four-satellite constellation, NTS-2 was configured to demonstrate instantaneous navigation positioning.

The effect of relativity on the onboard cesium atomic clocks were measured and corrected so that a GPS receiver on Earth could observe that the rate of GPS time was the same as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The clock frequency stability specification of two parts per 10¹³was met.

NTS-2 was the first demonstration satellite in the NAVSTAR GPS constellation managed by the NAVSTAR GPS Joint Program Office at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.

Exploiting space-based systems of geodesy, navigation, and timing, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) research physicist, Roger Easton, laid the foundation for modern day global positioning systems — GPS.

Proving that a system using a passive ranging technique, combined with highly accurate [atomic] clocks, Easton developed the basis for a new and revolutionary navigation system with three-dimensional coverage (longitude, latitude, and altitude) around the globe.

Sponsored in 1964 by the Naval Air Systems Command, Easton tested his concepts of time-navigation, dubbed TIMATION, executing the development and launch of the TIMATION satellite in 1967.

With the deployment of three additional experimental satellites, TIMATION II in 1969; the first satellite to fly two rubidium standards, Navigation Technology Satellite (NTS-I) in 1974; and the first satellite to fly two cesium atomic frequency standards in a 12-hour GPS orbit, NTS-2, in 1977, Easton had unequivocally proven the practicality and unprecedented accuracy of satellite-based atomic clocks.

Using time measurements from NTS-2, Einstein’s theory of relativity was demonstrated, resulting in the need for a relativistic offset correction that remains in use by every satellite in the GPS constellation.

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Improving The Science Of Decision Making

Filed under Education & Culture by jtozer on May 5, 2013 at 7:37 am {no comments}

Defense Department personnel pride themselves on their decision-making ability, but Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman believes there are ways to systematically improve and help remove biases from the process.

Kahneman presented his opinions during the “New Ideas @ OSD” seminar in the Pentagon this morning. Former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig moderated the discussion.

Defense leaders literally make life-or-death decisions. They decide how to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money. They decide how best to approach leaders in other countries and how to best implement programs and policies.

Kahneman received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 and wrote the New York Times bestseller “Thinking, Fast and Slow.” He said there are three elements in making decisions: options, judgments and evidence. The judgments and evidence feed into providing options, which constitute the crux of decision making.

Stressing the need for quality control in the process, Kahneman urged that defense leaders be aware of the role their biases play.

“Institutions in general can be viewed as factories that produce decisions,” he said. “When there is a production line, there is a need for something called quality control.”

He suggested a quality control checklist for decision making.

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Saturday Space Sight: Solar Electric Propulsion System

Filed under Photos, Space by jtozer on May 4, 2013 at 7:38 am {no comments}

Using advanced Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) technologies is an essential part of future missions into deep space with larger payloads.

The use of robotics and advanced SEP technologies like this concept of an SEP-based spacecraft during NASA mission to find, rendezvous, capture and relocate an asteroid to a stable point in the lunar vicinity offers more mission flexibility than would be possible if a crewed mission went all the way to the asteroid.

NASA’s asteroid initiative, announced as part of the President’s FY2014 budget request, integrates the best of NASA’s science, technology, and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America’s brightest scientists and engineers.

It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered SEP and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

Image Credit: Analytical Mechanics Associates

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