NASA News: Engineering Tests Leading The Way For NASA's Next Neemo Mission
HOUSTON -- To determine how best to explore asteroids in the future,NASA scientists and engineers are taking their experiments underwater
in the 15th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission
Operations, or NEEMO.
This year's NEEMO expedition, which will include the usual compliment
of astronauts and engineers, is slated for October. Since this is the
first mission to simulate a trip to an asteroid, there's a lot of
work to do before the mission can start. To prepare, engineers have
journeyed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Aquarius Underwater Laboratory near Key Largo, Fla., to work through
some of the concepts that will be tested in the fall.
"Even experts don't know what the surface of an asteroid is going to
be like," said NEEMO Project Manager Bill Todd. "There may be
asteroids that we don't even know about yet that we'll be visiting.
So we're figuring out the best way to do that."
NEEMO 15 will investigate three aspects of a mission to an asteroid:
how to anchor to the surface; how to move around; and how best to
collect data. Unlike the moon or Mars, an asteroid would have little,
if any, gravity to hold astronauts or vehicles, so an anchor would be
necessary. NEEMO 15 will evaluate different anchoring methods and how
to connect the multiple anchors to form pathways. The aquanauts and
engineers will study whether it's more efficient to join the anchors
in a straight line or set them up similar to the spokes of a wagon wheel.
Starting Tuesday, May 10, engineers and scientists will begin work to
ensure they're prepared for rigorous testing of these concepts in
October. During these preliminary tests, they will work on the ocean
floor, but will not stay inside the Aquarius. This allows
participants to come to the surface and retool equipment if necessary.
For more information on NEEMO, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/neemo
For more information on NASA analogs, missions that simulate
conditions on other planetary bodies, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/
Six NASA Astronauts - Including D.C. Native - Available For Interviews
WASHINGTON -- The astronauts who flew aboard space shuttle Discovery'slast flight will visit NASA Headquarters in Washington on Tuesday,
May 10. They will give a presentation about their 13-day mission at
11 a.m. EDT and will be available for media interviews from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The STS-133 crew consists of Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe,
mission specialists Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, Steve Bowen and Michael
Barratt. Drew was born in the District of Columbia and graduated from
the city's Gonzaga College High School.
The crew will share mission highlights with agency employees, their
families and reporters in the NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb
Auditorium, located at 300 E Street SW. The presentation will air
live on NASA Television. Reporters must call 202-358-1100 to attend
the presentation or to schedule an interview.
STS-133 was the last mission for the longest-serving veteran of NASA's
space shuttle fleet. Since 1984, Discovery flew 39 missions, spent
365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles.
Discovery and its crew delivered to the International Space Station
the Permanent Multipurpose Module, or PMM, which was converted from
the multipurpose logistics module Leonardo. The PMM can host
experiments in fluid physics, materials science, biology,
biotechnology and other areas.
STS-133 also brought critical spare components and the Express
Logistics Carrier 4 to the International Space Station. Robonaut 2,
or R2, became the first human-like robot in space and a permanent
resident of the station. The mission's two spacewalks assisted in
outfitting the station and completed a variety of other tasks
designed to upgrade station systems.
For more information about the STS-133 crew members and their mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_
For more information about the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For NASA TV schedule information and links to streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
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