NASA News: NASA Creates Human Exploration And Operations Directorate
WASHINGTON -- NASA has announced the creation of the Human Exploration
and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate. The new organization, which
combines the Space Operations and Exploration Systems mission
directorates, will focus on International Space Station operations
and human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
"America is opening a bold new chapter in human space exploration,"
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "By combining the resources
of Space Operations and Exploration Systems, and creating the Human
Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, we are recommitting
ourselves to American leadership in space for years to come."
The new organization combines the talents, skills and experiences of
the two previous directorates. It more fully integrates the operation
of NASA's in-space assets and current capabilities with planning for
the agency's future, including the size and type of the work force,
facilities and contracts.
While the transition and personnel assignments will take several weeks
to finalize, the HEO Mission Directorate already is supporting space
station operations. The directorate also will manage commercial crew
and cargo developmental programs; construction of the Orion
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, a spacecraft designed to travel beyond
low Earth orbit; development of a new heavy lift rocket, known as the
Space Launch System; and other programs within the directorates.
Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier will head the new
organization. He previously served as the associate administrator for
Space Operations.
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
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NASA Awards Grants To Four Universities To Improve Stem Programs
WASHINGTON -- NASA has awarded grants to four universities and their
partner institutions that serve large numbers of minority and
underrepresented students to strengthen programs in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The grants total approximately $600,000 and are provided through
NASA's Curriculum Improvement Partnership Award for the Integration
of Research (CIPAIR) project.
Scientists and educators from the academic community, private
industry, the National Science Foundation and NASA selected the
awardees after reviewing proposals. The four institutions and their
partners will receive one-year funding of about $150,000 for up to
three years, based on performance and availability of funds.
The selected institutions and their partners are:
-- California State University, San Bernardino, and College of the
Desert in Palm Desert, Calif.
-- Fond Du Lac Tribal College in Cloquet, Minn.
-- Rust College in Holly Springs, Miss., and Mid-South Community
College in West Memphis, Ark.
-- Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, N.M.
These awards continue NASA's commitment of achieving a broad-based,
competitive aerospace research and technology development capability
among the nation's historically black colleges and universities,
tribal colleges and universities, and Hispanic and other
minority-serving institutions. CIPAIR is managed for NASA by the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
NASA invests in projects that will build, sustain, and provide a
skilled, knowledgeable and diverse work force to meet the agency and
the country's emerging needs. For more information about CIPAIR, visit:
http://go.nasa.gov/n1mJMc
For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education
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NASA Holds It Summit In San Francisco Aug. 15-17
WASHINGTON -- More than 1,700 people have signed up to attend NASA'ssecond annual IT Summit. It will feature technology leaders from
government, the private sector and academia. The event will take
place at the Marriott Marquis in San Francisco on Monday, Aug. 15 -
Wednesday, Aug. 17.
Keynote and featured speakers' presentations will be streamed live
online in conjunction with a chat forum. Participants can join an
online discussion via phone and talk with presenters and other
participants in the chat forum, which will not be streamed. You can
view the NASA IT Summit remote engagement schedule, select sessions
and register at:
http://open.nasa.gov/itsummit
Speakers will cover topics including security, open government, future
work force, and the role of IT in space science and exploration. The
keynote speakers include:
-- Tim Campos, CIO, Facebook, Palo Alto, Calif.
-- Andy Jassy, senior vice president for Web services, Amazon.com,
Seattle
-- LaVerne Council, corporate vice president and chief information
officer, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, N.J.
-- Lynn Tilton, CEO, Patriarch Partners LLC, New York
-- Kaplan Mobray, author, motivational speaker, career and life coach
To highlight one of the summit's tracks, "Tomorrow's Work Force,"
NASA's Associate Administrator for Education and former astronaut
Leland Melvin will address more than 200 high school students. These
students also will get hands-on technology demonstrations and meet
with private industry representatives to encourage enthusiasm for
science, technology, engineering and math programs.
To schedule interviews at the conference with NASA participants,
reporters should contact Eldora Valentine at
eldora.valentine-1@nasa.gov. One-on-one interviews will be available
with NASA Chief Information Officer Linda Cureton, Deputy CIO Deborah
Diaz and Melvin.
For more information and to stay updated on various summit activities,
follow NASA's CIO on Twitter and the #nasait hashtag:
http://twitter.com/nasacio
For more information about the summit, including the full agenda, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/offices/
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