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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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