November 16, 2009 – 11:05 am
When space shuttle Atlantis makes the next trip to the International Space Station, it will carry experiments and hardware designed, fabricated and tested at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.
- This mission is a utility logistics support mission and will deliver 14 tons of important spare parts, science experiments and other items in its middeck and payload bay. Among the spare parts is a Plasma Contactor Unit (PCU). Within the PCU is a Glenn designed and fabricated Hollow Cathode Assembly.
- The next segment of the Materials International Space Station Experiment, called MISSE-7, will also be aboard this shuttle mission. In addition to several Glenn experiments and sensors, MISSE-7 includes Glenn’s Communications Interface Box that provides a bridge between the active experiments and the space station for telemetry and command data. MISSE-7, developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, also includes the Forward Technology Solar Cell Experiment-II for which the Navy and Glenn are co-investigators.
- Included in the cargo of STS-129 are special glass test tubes that space station crew members will use in a Glenn-designed heat transfer experiment. The constrained vapor bubble experiment is expected to provide data that may increase the efficiency of heat pipes.
Read the full NASA Glenn press release, “Mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis Has Ohio Connections,” at the NASA Glenn website.
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October 22, 2009 – 3:18 pm
Reporters are invited to several events for the upcoming Ares I-X flight test at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. The test launch and flight is a critical milestone in the development of NASA’s Constellation Program that will take astronauts further into space.
Briefings featuring Glenn’s work in building and shipping the Ares I-X Upper Stage Simulator for integration into the Ares I-X rocket will be held for employees on Monday, October 26 at:
- 9 a.m. in the Engineering Building at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio
- 1 p.m. in the Administration Building Auditorium at Lewis Field
Media are also invited to view live NASA TV coverage of the Ares I-X launch in the Visitor Center at Lewis Field and at the same location at Plum Brook listed above. Ares I-X is now scheduled to lift off between 8 a.m. and noon on October 27. In the event the launch is postponed, the same launch viewing opportunities are offered on October 28 and 29. For launch updates, visit Ares I-X Flight Test.
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October 22, 2009 – 1:48 pm
NASA first awarded Jorge A. Jimenez a summer internship in 2007, and today he finds himself amongst Glenn Research Center’s high-performing summer interns. Recently, Jimenez was inducted into the newly unveiled NASA Student Ambassadors Virtual Community program.
Jimenez, a Motivating Undergraduates in Science and Technology, or MUST intern, worked on the Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Project. His responsibilities included developing the instrumentation and improving software for monitoring pilots’ cognitive state by tracking changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin concentrations at various regions of the brain. The project forms part of a larger effort by NASA to improve aeronautic safety by preventing accidents that may arise because of pilot fatigue or distraction.
“The most exciting part of my research has been the opportunity to build and work with a team of truly brilliant individuals,” said Jimenez. “I consider my relationships with the people I work with to be amongst my most treasured assets, and I invest in them as much and often as I can.”
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April 18, 2009 – 12:26 pm
- An artist’s concept of a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) bus at the hydrogen fueling station located in downtown Cleveland at the Great Lakes Science Center. The fueling station will generate hydrogen from Lake Erie water for use in a RTA bus powered by fuel cells.
The press release, “NASA Leads Team in Establishing a Renewable Hydrogen Fueling Station,” was released on April 16, 2009. It covers GRC’s work in leading a team of industry and university partners in demonstrating a prototype of a commercial hydrogen fueling station that uses wind and solar power to produce hydrogen from water.
Excerpt of press release, 09-014:
CLEVELAND — NASA’s Glenn Research Center is leading a team of industry and university partners in demonstrating a prototype of a commercial hydrogen fueling station that uses wind and solar power to produce hydrogen from water. This initial installation will produce hydrogen from Lake Erie water to fuel a mass transit bus powered by fuel cells.
The demonstration, featuring a unique, high-capacity electrolyzer that separates water into its elemental components of hydrogen and oxygen, is part of an economic development program in the Cleveland area. Local workers will design and build the electrolyzer using commercially available components.
The Glenn-led collaboration will customize the electrolyzer for the prototype fueling station, and design the circuitry needed to use renewable energy sources to power the electrolyzer and fueling station.
“The project is more than a key technology demonstration,” said project team member Valerie Lyons, chief of Glenn’s Power and In-Space Propulsion Division. “It will be a great educational tool for the public and will serve as a catalyst to inspire new ideas and initiatives that can generate many new jobs and manufacturing opportunities in Ohio.”
Read the entire press release here.
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