Nasa Holds Open Source Conference in California

DENVER — NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr., participated Monday in a Space Act Agreement signing ceremony at the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver to promote the commercialization of technology developed for the space program.

NASA’s agreement with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) created a Technology Acceleration Program and Regional Innovation Cluster for Aerospace and Clean Energy. A manufacturing park focused on rapid new product development and production will be developed to assist growing Colorado businesses.

“This park will use Colorado’s existing competitive strengths to boost economic growth while creating new jobs and products for aerospace and energy industries,” Garver said. “NASA is pleased to collaborate on new technology developments like the one being created through the Colorado Technology Acceleration Program and Regional Innovation Cluster.”

Under the agreement, small and mid-sized businesses will have direct access to a NASA “innovation ambassador,” an agency expert who can identify NASA and partner technologies ready for commercialization. The ambassador will conduct forums to drive partnerships among NASA
and Colorado businesses and help identify businesses that can benefit from commercialization technical assistance.

“The new agreement with NASA is a perfect fit for Colorado because it will enhance our leading aerospace industry and growing high-tech business and research sectors,” Ritter said. “Most importantly, this will bring high-tech jobs to our state. Colorado is a hub for innovation and continues to attract the best and the brightest workers. Congratulations to CAMT and NASA for making this historic agreement.”

The Technology Acceleration Program will allow companies to work with NASA and expedite product development from an average of five years to as little as 18 months. New products will get to market more quickly, and new high tech jobs will be created.

“Aerospace and energy are the fastest growing industries in Colorado, sharing the same supply base and similar workforce needs,” said Elaine Thorndike, chief executive officer of CAMT. “Through regional innovation clusters, public and private sectors can work together to increase business opportunities, technical assistance programs and market penetration for aerospace and clean energy manufacturing strength.”

The NASA-CAMT partnership will provide technical assistance and identify gaps in commercialization and scouting services to help companies looking for space-developed technologies and services. It will help companies bridge the gap between prototype design, manufacturing and commercialization, while identifying commercial applications for NASA technologies.

Innovation is necessary to expand the U.S. economy and ensure competitiveness in a global economy. Many new, innovative technologies are developed by small and mid-sized businesses that do not have a robust, in-house product development capability and lack commercialization resources.

Through the agreement, NASA joins the state of Colorado, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory and CAMT in a pathfinder collaboration to promote innovation and global competitiveness in the new energy economy.

CAMT is a statewide manufacturing assistance center dedicated to increasing the competitiveness of Colorado manufacturers. The association is the state affiliate of the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

HAMPTON, Va. — NASA has selected the Unisys Corp. in Reston, Va., to provide simulation and aircraft technical services for the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

The cost-plus-fixed-fee award is valued at $48.5 million over a three-year base period with one two-year option.

Unisys will provide simulation-related hardware and software technology support services, including analysis, development, verification, validation, operations, maintenance, modification and systems integration for Langley flight simulation facilities and research aircraft systems.

HOUSTON — The next three crew members to live and work aboard the International Space Station will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. CST on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Questions will be taken from participating NASA centers.

NASA astronaut Ron Garan and crewmates, Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrey Borisenko, will participate in individual round-robin interviews, in person or by phone, following the news conference. The crew also will participate in a photo opportunity for reporters at Johnson.

U.S. and foreign media representatives planning to attend the briefing or participate in the round-robin interviews must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 24.

Garan, Samokutyaev and Borisenko are three of the six crew members for Expedition 27 and 28. The trio is scheduled to launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 29 (March 30 Kazakhstan time). They will join Expedition 27 NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli and Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev who will stay aboard the station until mid-May.

On June 1, NASA’s Mike Fossum, Japan’s Satoshi Furukawa and Russia’s Sergei Volkov will join Garan, Samokutyaev and Borisenko to complete the Expedition 28 crew.

HOUSTON — NASA plans live television coverage of the launch, grapple and berthing of the second unpiloted Japanese cargo ship that will deliver more than four tons of food and supplies to the International Space Station.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is scheduled to launch an H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan at 12:29 a.m. CST (3:29 p.m. Japan time) on Thursday, Jan. 20. The launch vehicle will send the Kounotori2 H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV2) orbit on a week-long rendezvous with the station. “Kounotori” is the Japanese word for white stork, emblematic of delivering happiness and joy.

On Jan. 27, Expedition 26 Flight Engineers Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli will command the station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, to reach out, grapple Kounotori2, and attach it to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module.

In the following days, a pallet loaded with spare station parts will be extracted from a slot in the cargo ship and attached to an experiment platform outside the Japanese Kibo module. Other cargo will be transferred internally to the station.

The cargo vehicle will be filled with trash, detached from the station and sent to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of March.

NASA Television’s programming schedule for HTV2 events includes (all times CST):

Thursday, Jan. 20:

12 a.m. — Launch coverage, anchored from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, begins. Launch is scheduled at 12:29 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 27:

5 a.m. — Grapple coverage, anchored from Johnson, begins. The grapple of HTV2 is scheduled at 5:44 a.m.

8 a.m. — Berthing coverage, anchored from Johnson, begins. The attachment should be complete at approximately 10 a.m.