What's Next For NASA?

"As a former astronaut and the current NASA Administrator, I'm here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success -- and failure is not an option."
Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator
National Press Club, July 1, 2011
› View Speech Video | › Speech Text (82 KB PDF)

The end of the space shuttle program does not mean the end of NASA, or even of NASA sending humans into space. NASA has a robust program of exploration, technology development and scientific research that will last for years to come. Here is what's next for NASA:

Exploration
NASA is designing and building the capabilities to send humans to explore the solar system, working toward a goal of landing humans on Mars. We will build the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, based on the design for the Orion capsule, with a capacity to take four astronauts on 21-day missions.

We will soon announce the design for the heavy-lift Space Launch System that will carry us out of low Earth orbit. We are developing the technologies we will need for human exploration of the solar system, including solar electric propulsion, refueling depots in orbit, radiation protection and high-reliability life support systems.

International Space Station
The International Space Station is the centerpiece of our human spaceflight activities in low Earth orbit. The ISS is fully staffed with a crew of six, and American astronauts will continue to live and work there in space 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Part of the U.S. portion of the station has been designated as a national laboratory, and NASA is committed to using this unique resource for scientific research.

The ISS is a test bed for exploration technologies such as autonomous refueling of spacecraft, advanced life support systems and human/robotic interfaces. Commercial companies are well on their way to providing cargo and crew flights to the ISS, allowing NASA to focus its attention on the next steps into our solar system.

Aeronautics
NASA is researching ways to design and build aircraft that are safer, more fuel-efficient, quieter, and environmentally responsible. We are also working to create traffic management systems that are safer, more efficient and more flexible. We are developing technologies that improve routing during flights and enable aircraft to climb to and descend from their cruising altitude without interruption.

We believe it is possible to build an aircraft that uses less fuel, gives off fewer emissions, and is quieter, and we are working on the technologies to create that aircraft. NASA is also part of the government team that is working to develop the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, to be in place by the year 2025. We will continue to validate new, complex aircraft and air traffic control systems to ensure that they meet extremely high safety levels.

Science
NASA is conducting an unprecedented array of missions that will seek new knowledge and understanding of Earth, the solar system and the universe. The Dawn spacecraft is making a year-long visit to the large asteroid Vesta to help us understand the earliest chapter of our solar system's history. The Juno spacecraft, launched in August 2011, will arrive at Jupiter in July 2016 to investigate the gas giant's origins, structure, and atmosphere. The September launch of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project is a critical first step in building a next-generation Earth-monitoring satellite system.

NASA returns to the moon to study the moon's gravity field and determine the structure of the lunar interior with the October launch of GRAIL. In November, we launch the Mars Science Laboratory named Curiosity on its journey to Mars to look for evidence of microbial life on the red planet. And in February 2012, we will launch the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array to search for black holes, map supernova explosions, and study the most extreme active galaxies.

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NASA Begins Testing of Next-Generation J-2X Rocket Engine

NASA conducted a combined chill test and 1.9-second ignition test July 14 of the next-generation J-2X rocket engine that could help carry humans beyond low-Earth orbit to deep space.

The test at John C. Stennis Space Center is the first in a series of tests that will be conducted on the J-2X engine, which is being developed for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. The ignition test on the A-2 Test Stand is the first of a series of firings over the next several months. Collected data will verify the engine functions as designed.

The J-2X engine uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as fuel, which can be mixed to generate 294,000 pounds of thrust to lift a spacecraft into low-Earth orbit or 242,000 pounds of thrust to power a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit into deep space. The engine is designed to start and restart in space.

For more information about the J-2X engine, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/j2x/

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NASA and Chevron Partner to Benefit the Energy Industry

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and Chevron Corporation in San Ramon, Calif., have announced a partnership to develop a range of advanced technologies that can be used in harsh environments, both on Earth and in space.

"We are proud that the same pool of talent that sends rovers to Mars, explores our universe and studies Earth's environment will help contribute advanced technology towards our energy future here on Earth," said JPL Director Charles Elachi.

Elachi and Paul Siegele, president of Chevron Energy Technology Company, met at JPL to kick off a partnership for Advanced Energy Technology Development. Under this partnership, JPL will assist in the demonstration, development and commercial deployment of a range of technologies that benefit from JPL's unique heritage in space exploration. These technologies include: valves to selectively control oil and gas flow from different geological formations in a well; single-phase pumping motors for continuous operation at the bottom of deep wells; sensors and electronics for downhole deployment; and integrated management systems for monitoring temperature, pressure and flow rates in deep wells and assessing the health of drilling operations.

This new collaboration will benefit NASA by further advancing technologies that could one day be used for exploring other planets, and will also promote commercialization of technologies developed for space exploration. The partnership will help Chevron develop its energy resources to enable a better energy future for all of us.

"NASA and JPL are highly acclaimed national treasures, and Chevron is proud to collaborate with them to unlock new energy potential," said John McDonald, Chevron's corporate vice president and chief technology officer. "This alliance is an opportunity to bridge public- and private-sector technology and research to discover oil and natural gas volumes that are found in deep remote reservoirs. In many ways, the research is akin to deep space exploration, making the missions of our two organizations highly complementary."

As NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system, JPL has a wide-ranging charter that also includes active programs in Earth science, astronomy and physics, and technology development. The demands of space missions provide the impetus to JPL scientists and engineers to push the boundaries of design and technology to achieve smaller size, better performance, and less power consumption in a cost-constrained environment. Many technologies developed at JPL, from hardware and software to materials, have direct applications right here on Earth.

The National Space Technology Applications Office (NSTA) has been established to develop a sustaining business base through expanded relations with non-NASA sponsors. NSTA develops collaborations with elements of the four national space sectors: military, intelligence, civil and commercial. Each of these sectors is responsible for specific development of partnerships that expand and enhance the NASA/JPL-Caltech technology base. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. Chevron explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and lubricants; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels.

The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist seek to transfer technology developed for space into the commercial marketplace, yielding economic benefits and quality of life improvements for people here on Earth.

More information about NASA is online at http://www.nasa.gov . More information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is online at http://www.nasa.gov/oct .
More information about JPL's Technology Transfer office is available at: http://www.ott.caltech.edu/ .

More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com .

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New Webb Telescope Technologies Already Helping Human Eyes

 Even while construction of the James Webb Space Telescope is underway on the most advanced infrared vision of any space observatory, its technologies are already proving useful to human eye health here on Earth.

"The Webb telescope program has enabled a number of improvements in measurement technology for astronomy, mirror fabrication, and measurement of human eyes, diagnosis of ocular diseases and potentially improved surgery," said Dr. Dan Neal, Research Fellow at Abbott Medical Optics Inc. in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Webb telescope will be the most scientifically powerful telescope NASA has ever built -- 100 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope. The Webb telescope will find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. It will also peer through dusty clouds to see stars and planets being born, connecting star formation in our own galaxy with the solar system.

"The advanced wavefront sensing technology developed for testing the Webb telescope's 18 primary mirrors led to the new applications in other areas," said Tony Hull of L3 Integrated Optical Systems Division-Tinsley Facility in Richmond, Calif., where the Webb's mirrors were recently polished to accuracies of less than one millionth of an inch.

"Wavefront sensing” is used to measure shape of the mirrors during fabrication and control the optics once the telescope is in orbit.

Ophthalmologists routinely use wavefront technology to measure aberrations of the eye. Those measurements help with diagnosis, research, characterization and planning treatment of eye health issues.

"The technology also provides more accurate eye measurements for people about to undergo Laser Refractive Surgery," Neal said. "To date 10-12 million eyes have been treated with Lasik procedures in the U.S. alone. As technology improves, so does the quality of these procedures."

A new "scanning and stitching" technology developed for the Webb telescope led to a number of innovative instrument concepts for more accurate measurement for contact lenses and intra-ocular lenses. Another benefit to eye health is that this technique can help "map" the topography of the eye more accurately.

Think of the surface of your eye as being as dented as the surface of the moon. Precise measurements of your eye's surface are helpful when assessing eyes for contact lenses. The scanning and stitching technology improvements have enabled eye doctors to get much more detailed information about the shape and "topography" of your eye, and do it in seconds rather than hours. Four patents have been issued as result of innovations driven by the Webb telescope program. "These tools are now used to align and build the next generation of measuring devices for human eyes," Neal said.

"The lasting impact of the Webb telescope may go beyond the vision of astronomers seeking to see the distant universe; the impact may be a better national technology base and better vision for people everywhere," Hull said.

NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program Office (IPPO) is making available wavefront sensing and adaptive optics technologies, procedures and lab equipment to private industry through its "Can you See it Now?" campaign. All of the technologies associated with the campaign are available for licensing and can be found at http://ipp.gsfc.nasa.gov/wavefront.

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Understanding Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

THRUSDAY, 1 SEPTEMBER 2011

Understanding Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Definition of ICT:

According to Eric Deeson, Harper Collins Publishers, Dictionary of Information Technology, Glasgow, UK, 1991
"Information Technology (IT) the handling of information by electric and electronic (and microelectronic) means."
Here includes handling the transfer. Processing, storage and access, IT special concern being the use of hardware and software for these tasks for the benefit of individual people and society as a whole "
From the above explanation: human needs in the pick up and move, process and process information in a social context that benefit themselves and society as a whole. How implication in order to benefit individually and society as a whole does not is defined more specifically.
Information Technology in the National Curriculum, England and Wales, 1995
"Information technology (IT) capability is characterized by an ability to use IT tools effectively an information source to Analyse, process the information present, and to model, measure the control external events.
This Involve:
· Using sourcxes information and IT tools to solve problems
Using it · tools and information source, sich as computer systems and software packages, to support learning in variety Contexts;
· Understanding the implication of IT for working life and society.
Should pupils be given opportunities, where Appropriate, to develop and apply IT Their capability in Their study of National Curriculum subjects. "
From the above explanation: there seems to be the reference potential of ICTs to be reached and the system of values ​​in work on daily life are going dibelajarkan, such as the value of what needs to be developed in a community social system with regard to the ability to use ICT
According to the National Education Indonesia Puskur th ... ..
a. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) includes two aspects, namely Information and Communications Technology.
i. Information Technology is to include all matters relating to process, use as aids, manipulation, and information management.
ii. Communication technology is all things relating to the use of assistive devices to process and transfer data from one device to another.
b. Information and Communication Technology is an equivalent integral containing the broader sense of all activities related to the processing, manipulation, management, and transfer / transfer of information between media
According sannai anatta, Jakarta Indonesia, 2004
Information and communication technology is a medium or tool in gaining knowledge of a person to other people.

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