1 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,719 This Week At NASA… 2 00:00:09,719 --> 00:00:16,830 The STS-131 Crew and space shuttle Discovery continues their progress toward an April 5 3 00:00:16,830 --> 00:00:21,699 launch to the International Space Station. Discovery has been rolled out to Launch Pad 4 00:00:21,699 --> 00:00:28,910 39A, while the seven STS-131 astronauts participated in launch countdown dress rehearsal activities 5 00:00:28,910 --> 00:00:30,130 and other prelaunch training. 6 00:00:30,130 --> 00:00:34,440 “I’ve had two space launches and I’ve done three spacewalks, but I’m telling you 7 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:38,940 the rollout of the space shuttle Discovery the other night was one of the most spectacular 8 00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:40,370 things I’ve ever seen.” 9 00:00:40,370 --> 00:00:45,550 During their mission, Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick 10 00:00:45,550 --> 00:00:52,920 Mastracchio, Clay Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration 11 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:58,799 Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki will deliver a multi-purpose logistics module filled with 12 00:00:58,799 --> 00:01:03,179 science racks that will be transferred to the International Space Station’s laboratories. 13 00:01:03,179 --> 00:01:10,690 STS-131 is the 33rd shuttle mission to the station. 14 00:01:10,690 --> 00:01:16,960 The World Wind Java computer program developed at the Ames Research Center has earned NASA's 15 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:23,320 2009 Software of the Year Award. World-Wind is an open-source platform used to display 16 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:30,430 NASA and U.S. Geological Survey data on virtual 3-D globes of Earth and other planets. 17 00:01:30,430 --> 00:01:36,710 The user friendly program uses button or mouse controls to rotate, pan and zoom through models 18 00:01:36,710 --> 00:01:42,360 to engage the public to learn more about our planet and NASA technology. The displayed 19 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:47,500 information comes from satellites, aerial photography, and topographic and geographic 20 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:48,719 data. 21 00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:53,700 Software engineers also envision the program helping to better enable government, commercial 22 00:01:53,700 --> 00:01:59,100 enterprises, and individual developers build the applications they need for research and 23 00:01:59,100 --> 00:02:00,200 business. 24 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:05,729 Members of the software development team received medals during a special ceremony at the NASA 25 00:02:05,729 --> 00:02:12,290 Project Management Challenge Conference in Galveston, Texas. 26 00:02:12,290 --> 00:02:18,450 NASA is replacing an aging fleet of 230-foot-wide antennas used in the Deep Space Network with 27 00:02:18,450 --> 00:02:23,560 new "beam wave guide" antennas that enable the network to operate on several different 28 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:28,540 frequency bands within the same antenna. The replacement antennas are approximately half 29 00:02:28,540 --> 00:02:34,470 the size of the originals. The NASA Deep Space Network - or DSN - is an international network 30 00:02:34,470 --> 00:02:41,220 of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations 31 00:02:41,220 --> 00:02:46,340 for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected 32 00:02:46,340 --> 00:02:47,610 Earth-orbiting missions. 33 00:02:47,610 --> 00:02:56,950 In the first phase of the project, near Canberra, Australia, up to three 110 feet-wide antennas 34 00:02:56,950 --> 00:03:03,670 will be built. That work should be completed by 2018. The DSN currently consists of three 35 00:03:03,670 --> 00:03:08,930 deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the 36 00:03:08,930 --> 00:03:16,100 world: at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, 37 00:03:16,100 --> 00:03:21,030 Australia. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as the 38 00:03:21,030 --> 00:03:26,820 Earth rotates, and helps to make the DSN the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications 39 00:03:26,820 --> 00:03:32,400 system in the world. The antennas are more than 40 years old and show wear and tear from 40 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:38,450 constant use. The decision to begin construction came on the 50th anniversary of U.S. and Australian 41 00:03:38,450 --> 00:03:43,320 cooperation in space tracking operations. \h\h 42 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,770 Christopher DellaCorte, of the Glenn Research Center’s Tribology & Mechanical Components 43 00:03:47,770 --> 00:03:54,910 branch has received the 2009 Quality and Safety Achievement or Qasar Award for figuring out 44 00:03:54,910 --> 00:04:00,730 what caused severe degradation of a starboard solar array alpha rotary joint on the International 45 00:04:00,730 --> 00:04:02,290 Space Station. 46 00:04:02,290 --> 00:04:06,711 The repair alleviated the need to launch a massive replacement rotary joint to space 47 00:04:06,711 --> 00:04:11,840 station and enabled full operation of the solar arrays supplying primary power to space 48 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:13,790 station modules and experiments. 49 00:04:13,790 --> 00:04:20,320 The QASAR recognizes individual government and contractor employees who have shown exemplary 50 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,950 performance in contributing to the quality and/or safety of products, services, processes, 51 00:04:25,950 --> 00:04:32,280 or management programs and activities. DellaCorte’s knowledge, skill and dedication played a major 52 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:37,850 role in overcoming a malfunction that would have limited the capability aboard the complex. 53 00:04:37,850 --> 00:04:44,570 His efforts have been referred to as the largest lube job in space. 54 00:04:44,570 --> 00:04:49,620 Teachers became students while participating in the second annual NASA Science, Technology, 55 00:04:49,620 --> 00:04:55,470 Engineering, and Mathematics -- STEM -- Educators, Workshops held this year in Charlotte, N.C. 56 00:04:55,470 --> 00:05:00,600 The 40-session workshop provided elementary, middle and high school teachers with creative 57 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:05,940 hands-on ways to incorporate NASA content into their classrooms. The workshops are specifically 58 00:05:05,940 --> 00:05:10,250 designed to give teachers tangible resources for immediate use in classrooms. 59 00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:17,190 The three-day event culminated with a guest appearance from Astronaut Leland Melvin, who 60 00:05:17,190 --> 00:05:21,930 spoke to an audience of hundreds of middle school students at the NASA Sponsored Central 61 00:05:21,930 --> 00:05:24,880 Intercollegiate Athletic Association Education Day. 62 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:28,340 “It’s all about you today, because you are the future.” 63 00:05:28,340 --> 00:05:36,240 The CIAA is an athletic conference made up of\heleven historically African-American institutions 64 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,990 of higher education and is the nation's oldest black athletic conference. 65 00:05:40,990 --> 00:05:46,889 Melvin the son of teachers is the co-manager of NASA's Educator Astronaut Program. In that 66 00:05:46,889 --> 00:05:51,230 role he travels across the country helping teachers get students excited about careers 67 00:05:51,230 --> 00:05:59,430 in mathematics, science and technology and the role they play in space exploration. 68 00:05:59,430 --> 00:06:04,380 The NASA supported “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” Robotics 69 00:06:04,380 --> 00:06:09,630 program began its 19th year with regional competitions like this one held in Washington, 70 00:06:09,630 --> 00:06:15,980 D.C. FIRST is a nationwide competition that teams young people with professionals to solve 71 00:06:15,980 --> 00:06:18,550 engineering design problems in a competitive way. 72 00:06:18,550 --> 00:06:25,950 “You can always learn from things so a better way to, you know, complete the task at hand.” 73 00:06:25,950 --> 00:06:31,510 Each year First Robotics creates a new contest that gives kids the chance to build a robot 74 00:06:31,510 --> 00:06:36,480 using skill sets they may later use to become scientists, engineers, or inventors. 75 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,590 “I expect to learn things that I didn’t know before and use it to apply to a career 76 00:06:41,590 --> 00:06:43,889 that I want to choose which is engineering.” 77 00:06:43,889 --> 00:06:49,590 This year’s competition is called “Breakaway” where student teams will compete on a 27-by-54-foot 78 00:06:49,590 --> 00:07:01,870 field with bumps, attempting to earn points by collecting soccer balls in goals. 79 00:07:01,870 --> 00:07:07,870 More than 1,800 teams will compete in forty-three regional events in the U.S., Canada, and Israel 80 00:07:07,870 --> 00:07:14,010 all leading up to the Championship in Atlanta, April 15-17. 81 00:07:14,010 --> 00:07:15,910 And that’s This Week at NASA!