NASA ADMINISTRATOR THANKS CONGRESS FOR 2010 AUTHORIZATION ACT SUPPORT

NASA seems to be pleased with the recent Congressional vote.
Will have to wait and see what the President does with the approved compromise bill and where NASA goes from here.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
NASA ADMINISTRATOR THANKS CONGRESS FOR 2010 AUTHORIZATION ACT SUPPORT
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_10-238_Bolden_Auth_Statement.html

Sep. 29, 2010

David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 10-238

NASA ADMINISTRATOR THANKS CONGRESS FOR 2010 AUTHORIZATION ACT SUPPORT

WASHINGTON -- The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding Wednesday's action by the House of Representatives on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Authorization Act of 2010.

"We thank the Congress for their thoughtful deliberations about NASA's future over the past months. Both the House and the Senate provided insight, ideas and direction that were truly exemplary of the democratic process. It is clear that our space program inspires passion and dedication across party lines, and for that we are truly thankful.

"This important vote today in the House of Representatives on a comprehensive NASA authorization charts a vital new future for the course of human space exploration. We are grateful that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 received strong support in the House after its clearance in the Senate, and can now be sent on to the President for his signature.

snip
-------------------------------------

At least two are happy.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
Wed, 29 September, 2010
Garver, Bolden Urge Passage of NASA Authorization
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/100929-garver-bolden-nasa-authorization.html

WASHINGTON — After months of bipartisan wrangling on Capitol Hill over the future of NASA’s manned spaceflight program, the agency’s top two officials urged support for the Senate version of a three-year NASA authorization bill headed for a vote in the U.S. House this evening, even as a group of House lawmakers voiced strong opposition to the measure.

“We truly, truly believe that the time has come for us to have some clarifying direction,” NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said during a House aerospace caucus luncheon here Sept. 29, asserting the Senate measure, S. 3729, incorporates “the very best parts of the administration’s proposals,” including a top-line spending authorization of $19 billion in 2011, a call to increase funding for aeronautics and science, extending the international space station through at least 2020 and a sustained program of exploration beyond
low Earth orbit. “We encourage all of you to support a bold and vibrant future for NASA by supporting the authorization bill.”

snip
-------------------------------------

FYI - LRK -

-------------------------------------
Bill Summary & Status
111th Congress (2009 - 2010)
S.3729
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S3729:/

S.3729
Title: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010
Sponsor: Sen Rockefeller, John D., IV [WV] (introduced 8/5/2010)
Cosponsors (None)
Related Bills: H.R.5781
Latest Major Action: 9/29/2010 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 304 - 118 (Roll no. 561).
Senate Reports: 111-278
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp111:FLD010:@1%28sr278%29
                           Committee Reports 111th Congress
(2009-2010) Senate Report 111-278
Table of Contents

Beginning
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
BACKGROUND AND NEEDS
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
ESTIMATED COSTS
REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT
NUMBER OF PERSONS COVERED
ECONOMIC IMPACT
PRIVACY
PAPERWORK
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
TITLE I--AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS
TITLE II--POLICY, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES FOR HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT AND EXPLORATION
TITLE III--EXPANSION OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT BEYOND THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION AND LOW-EARTH ORBIT
TITLE IV--DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF COMMERCIAL CREW AND CARGO
TRANSPORTATION CAPABILITIES
TITLE V--CONTINUATION, SUPPORT, AND EVOLUTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
TITLE VI--SPACE SHUTTLE RETIREMENT AND TRANSITION
TITLE VII--EARTH SCIENCE
TITLE VIII--SPACE SCIENCE
TITLE IX--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE TECHOLOGY
TITLE X--EDUCATION
TITLE XI--RESCOPING AND REVITALIZING INSTITUTIONAL CAPABILITIES
TITLE XII--OTHER MATTERS
VOTES IN COMMITTEE
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

snip
-------------------------------------

More filler - pro - con -
- LRK -

-------------------------------------
NASA’s Senate Bill passes after dramatic debate and vote in Congress
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/09/nasas-senate-bill-passes-dramatic-debate-vote-congress/
September 30th, 2010 by Chris Bergin

Following a marathon day of debates and the extended wait for a recorded vote, the Senate Bill (S. 3729) has been passed by lawmakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. Modifying the heavily criticised path laid out by President Obama, Congress passed the bill which will allow for the ultimate transition towards commercial access to Low Earth Orbit, in tandem with NASA’s re-focused goals on exploration via a new HLV (Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle).

Senate “Compromise” Bill:

The bill – to authorize the programs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for fiscal years 2011 through 2013 – provides $58 billion for NASA over that three year period. It was passed by a vote of 304 yeas, versus 118 nays, with 10 non voters.

Once the bill came up for debate late in the day on Wednesday, a string of lawmakers outlined their support for S. 3729, citing the need to protect the workforce from further widescale cuts, through to the more dramatic claims that President Obama was aiming to destroy manned space flight via his FY2011 budget proposal.

Only one voice was heard in opposition, when Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords took a large amount of the debating time to cite her strong opposition to passing the bill – which was expected following her previous stance, and continued calls to reject all bills which threatened to cancel the Constellation Program.

“This is a bad bill, this will do damage to NASA and should be voted down,” noted Rep. Giffords, before moving into a tirade against the content of the bill, claiming the provision for a HLV was for a vehicle that was designed by Senators, not NASA engineers.

snip
-------------------------------------

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
Congressional Compromise Nears: NASA’s Immediate Future Gains Clarity
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2010/09/congressional-compromise-nasas-future-clarity/

 September 28th, 2010 by Chris Gebhardt

NASA’s immediate future appears to be gaining some degree of clarity, at least as far as the House of Representatives and Senate are concerned. With the release of a compromise NASA Authorization bill for FY 2011 that aims to mend the differences between the original House and Senate versions of the Authorization Act, the United States Congress appears close to reaching consensus on NASA’s future before the start of the new Fiscal Year in the United States on Friday (October 1).

The Compromise Bill:

Since initially passing different NASA Authorization acts for FY 2011 in August 2010, the House of Representatives and the Senate appeared to be at impasse regarding the future of the premiere space agency.

Since, under U.S. law, both bills required reconciliation into one bill – approved then by the House and Senate – before being sent to the President’s desk for approval or veto, a compromise in the bicameral legislature was finally proposed and submitted for review by the House Committee on Science and Technology.

snip
==============================================================
FLOOR SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
http://majorityleader.gov/links_and_resources/whip_resources/dailyleader.cfm?pressReleaseID=4549
snip
Suspensions (6 Bills)

  1. Senate Amendments to H.R. 946 - Plain Language Act (Rep. Braley
- Oversight and Government Reform)
  2. H.R. 6162 - Coin Modernization, Oversight, and Continuity Act of
2010 (Rep. Watt - Financial Services)
  3. S. 3397 - Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010 (Sen.
Klobuchar - Energy and Commerce)
  4. S. 1132 - Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act Improvements Act
of 2010 (Sen. Leahy - Judiciary)
  5. Senate Amendment to H.R. 3219 - Veterans' Insurance and Health
Care Improvements Act (Rep. Filner - Veterans' Affairs)
  6. S. 3729 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Authorization Act of 2010 (Sen. Rockefeller - Science and Technology)
      http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:S3729:/

snip
==============================================================
NASA Watch
http://www.nasawatch.com/
snip
House Passes S. 3729
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/09/house-has-s-372.html

 By Keith Cowing on September 29, 2010 11:37 PM    21 Comments

House Floor Schedule for September 29, 2010

"S. 3729 - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010 (Sen. Rockefeller - Science and Technology)"

Current floor proceedings (live updates)

Keith's note: formal vote under way at 11:35 pm EDT. 289 yea votes
recorded - the bill passes no matter what.

Keith's note: 9:46 pm EDT the House just passed S. 3729 on a voice
vote. Rep. Giffords wants a paper vote.

Keith's note: 9:03 pm EDT the House just began debate on S. 3729

NASA Administrator Calls Congressional Vote an Important Step Forward
in Space Exploration

"We are on the verge of an historic vote in the House of Representatives on a comprehensive NASA authorization bill that is expected to chart the future course of human space flight for years to come. I am hopeful that S. 3729 -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2010-- will receive strong support in the House and be sent onto the President for his signature." Continue reading House Passes S. 3729.
http://nasawatch.com/archives/2010/09/house-has-s-372.html#more
snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

NASA'S Lunar Spacecraft Completes Exploration Mission Phase

Until we send humans or robots to the lunar surface, this will have to do.
Hopefully we will have students that will use the data to devise new missions.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
NASA'S Lunar Spacecraft Completes Exploration Mission Phase
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/sep/HQ_10-223_LRO_Success.html

Sep. 15, 2010

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Nancy Neal Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0039
nancy.n.jones@nasa.gov


RELEASE: 10-223

NASA'S LUNAR SPACECRAFT COMPLETES EXPLORATION MISSION PHASE

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, will
complete the exploration phase of its mission on Sept. 16, after a
number of successes that transformed our understanding of Earth's
nearest neighbor.

LRO completed a one-year exploration mission in a polar orbit
approximately 31 miles above the moon's surface. It produced a
comprehensive map of the lunar surface in unprecedented detail;
searched for resources and safe landing sites for potential future
missions to the moon; and measured lunar temperatures and radiation
levels.

The mission is turning its attention from exploration objectives to
scientific research, as program management moves from NASA's
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to the Science Mission
Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.

"LRO has been an outstanding success. The spacecraft has performed
brilliantly," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator of the
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "LRO's science and
engineering teams achieved all of the mission's objectives, and the
incredible data LRO gathered will provide discoveries about the moon
for years to come."

The LRO team will continue to send data gathered during the last year
to the Planetary Data System, which archives and distributes
scientific information from NASA planetary missions, astronomical
observations and laboratory measurements.

By the time LRO achieves full mission success in March, and its data
is processed and released to the scientific community, it will have
sent more information to the Planetary Data System than all other
previous planetary missions combined. During its new phase of
discovery, LRO will continue to map the moon for two to four more
years.

"The official start of LRO's science phase should write a new and
intriguing chapter in lunar research," said Ed Weiler, associate
administrator for the Science Mission Directorate. "This mission is
one more asset added to NASA's vast science portfolio."

The spacecraft launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
carrying a suite of seven instruments on June 18, 2009. LRO formally
began its detailed survey of the moon in September 2009.

Results from the mission include: new observations of the Apollo
landing sites; indications that permanently shadowed and nearby
regions may harbor water and hydrogen; observations that large areas
in the permanently shadowed regions are colder than Pluto; detailed
information about lunar terrain; and the first evidence of a globally
distributed population of thrust faults that indicates the moon has
recently contracted and may still be shrinking.

LRO also took high resolution pictures of the Lunokhod 1 rover that
had been lost for almost 40 years. The rover, which carries a
retroreflector, was located to within approximately 150 feet. The
accurate position data enabled researchers on Earth to bounce laser
signals off the retroreflector for the first time ever. The
retroreflector is providing important new information about the
position and motion of the moon.

LRO also supported the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite
impact, a companion mission sent to determine if the moon's poles
harbor water ice, by helping to select a promising impact site. LRO
observed both the expanding plume that arose after the impact and the
evolving temperature at the site.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., built and
manages LRO for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. The
Institute for Space Research in Moscow provides the neutron detector
aboard the spacecraft. For more information about LRO, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/lro

-end-

-------------------------------------------

It is easy to forget how close the Moon is to Earth.
It is easy to forget how close the Moon is to Earth.
It is easy to forget how close the Moon is to Earth.

Don't you think we should go there and do this and that?
It is easy to forget how close the Moon is to Earth.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc-20100916_earth.html

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/482574main_20100916_1b.jpg
As LRO orbits the Moon every two hours sending down a stream of
science data, it is easy to forget how close the Moon is to the Earth.
The average distance between the two heavenly bodies is just 384,399
km (238,854 miles). Check your airline frequent flyer totals, perhaps
you have already flown the distance to the Moon and back on a single
airline! Contrast the current image with the NAC view  taken last
June, which revealed much of central Asia.

The Moon is a spectacular sight in the nighttime sky. Now imagine the
Earth from the Moon, four times larger, a delicate blue, and it does
not rise nor set. To astronauts, the Earth is a constant companion, at
least on the nearside. Of course, on the farside you can never see the
Earth.

snip
-------------------------------------------

Let us send something intelligent to the Moon.
If not me, then something that can see for me.
Something that will help others see what some politicians fail to see.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
http://tinyurl.com/2ax2hdz
As seen at http://www.kurzweilai.net/

New supercomputer on a chip ‘sees’ well enough to drive a car someday
September 16, 2010 by Amara D. Angelica

Eugenio Culurciello of Yale’s School of Engineering & Applied Science
has developed a supercomputer based on the ventral pathway of the
mammalian visual system. Dubbed NeuFlow, the system mimicks the visual
system’s neural network to quickly interpret the world around it.

The system uses complex vision algorithms developed by Yann LeCun at
New York University to run large neural networks for synthetic vision
applications. One idea — the one Culurciello and LeCun are focusing on
— is a system that would allow cars to drive themselves. In order to
be able to recognize the various objects encountered on the road—such
as other cars, people, stoplights, sidewalks, and the road
itself—NeuFlow processes tens of megapixel images in real time.

snip
http://www.kurzweilai.net/
-------------------------------------------

Maybe someone would like to print me up a 3D igloo made from regolith cement.
- LRK -

-------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/technology/14print.html?pagewanted=1&tntemail0=y&_r=4&emc=tnt
3-D Printing Spurs a Manufacturing Revolution
By ASHLEE VANCE
Published: September 13, 2010

---------
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/technology/14print.html?_r=3&pagewanted=2&tntemail0=y&emc=tnt
snip
But Contour Crafting, based in Los Angeles, has pushed 3-D printing
technology to its limits.
----
http://www.contourcrafting.org/
    Html version http://craft.usc.edu/CC/modem.html
    Shockwave  http://craft.usc.edu/CC/Welcome_files/contourcrafting.html
      *Requires broadband connection and the Shockwave media player
- which it would seem I don't have installed. LRK
----
Based on research done by Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, an engineering
professor at the University of Southern California, Contour Crafting
has created a giant 3-D printing device for building houses. The
start-up company is seeking money to commercialize a machine capable
of building an entire house in one go using a machine that fits on the
back of a tractor-trailer.

The 3-D printing wave has caught the attention of some of the world’s
biggest technology companies. Hewlett-Packard, the largest
paper-printer maker, has started reselling 3-D printing machines made
by Stratasys. And Google uses the CADspan software from LGM to help
people using its SketchUp design software turn their creations into
3-D printable objects.
snip
---------

-------------------------------------------

Just think how hard it would be to work in the vacuum of the Moon,
and just think how much fun it would be to figure out how to do so. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html
Media Briefing on Latest Results from LRO

NASA is hosting a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday,
September 16, to discuss compelling new research results from NASA's
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission.

Supporting information can be found here.

› Read the related media advisory
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/releases/2010/10-080.html

Five Things to Know about LRO

   * LRO is leading NASA’s way back to the moon.
   * The primary objective of LRO is to conduct investigations that
prepare for future lunar exploration. Specifically LRO will scout for
safe and compelling landing sites, locate potential resources (with
special attention to the possibility of water ice) and characterize
the effects of prolonged exposure to the lunar radiation environment.
In addition to its exploration mission, LRO will also return rich
scientific data that will help us to better understand the moon’s
topography and composition.
   * Seven scientific instruments outfit LRO. These instruments will
return lunar imagery, topography, temperature measurements and more.
   * Launched along with LRO was the Lunar CRater Observation and
Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), a partner mission that will search for
water ice on the moon.
   * In response to LRO's "Send Your Name to the Moon" initiative,
the spacecraft carries a microchip with nearly 1.6 million names
submitted by the public. Click here to view a photo of the microchip
containing the names as engineers prepare to install it on the
spacecraft.

snip
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

NASA SCIENTISTS TALK ABOUT ASTEROIDS PASSING NEAR EARTH WEDNESDAY

Discover Sunday, see it Wednesday, not much of a lead time.
Glad they aren't so big.
Glad they aren't on a collision course.
- LRK -

==========================================
Sep. 07, 2010

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

DC Agle
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-9011
agle@jpl.nasa.gov


MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-128

NASA SCIENTISTS TALK ABOUT ASTEROIDS PASSING NEAR EARTH WEDNESDAY

WASHINGTON -- Two asteroids will pass within the moon's distance from
Earth on Wednesday, Sept. 8. NASA scientists will be available for
satellite interviews Tuesday, Sept. 7, and Wednesday morning to
discuss these near- Earth objects.

The Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Ariz., discovered both objects on
Sunday, Sept. 5. The Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass.,
reviewed the observations and determined the preliminary orbits. The
center's personnel concluded both objects would pass within the
distance of the moon to Earth, approximately 240,000 miles. The
asteroids should be visible with moderate-sized amateur telescopes.

Neither asteroid will hit Earth. Asteroid 2010 RX30 is estimated to be
approximately 32 to 65 feet in size and will pass within
approximately 154,000 miles of Earth at 5:51 a.m. EDT Wednesday. The
second object, 2010 RF12, estimated to be 20 to 46 feet in size, will
pass within approximately 49,000 miles at 5:12 p.m. EDT.

NASA scientists are available for interviews about the asteroids via
NASA Television, Skype or telephone. TV producers can call
818-393-5467 to schedule afternoon interviews and 202-358-1726 to
schedule morning interviews. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and
streaming video information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov

-end-


To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
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To remove your address from the list, send a message to:
hqnews-unsubscribe@mediaservices.nasa.gov
==========================================
Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
Comments accepted here - http://lunar-update.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
==============================================================
==============================================================

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

==============================================================

To The Moon - well send in the Avatar - the robots - the game simulation

Since we don't seem to be in any hurry to send humans back to the Moon for real, I have been spending my time in my own dreams of human like robots that can think and are intelligent.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------

http://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Life-Overview-Christopher-Langton/dp/0262121891
Artificial Life: An Overview [Hardcover]
Christopher G. Langton (Editor)

Product Description
Artificial life, a field that seeks to increase the role of synthesis in the study of biological phenomena, has great potential, both for unlocking the secrets of life and for raising a host of disturbing issues -- scientific and technical as well as philosophical and ethical. This book brings together a series of overview articles that appeared in the first three issues of the groundbreaking journal Artificial Life, along with a new introduction by Christopher Langton, Editor-in-Chief of Artificial Life, founder of the discipline, and Director of the Artificial Life Program at the Santa Fe Institute.

snip
-----------------------------------------

You may have watched the movie AVATAR (2009) and wondered what it would be like to be able to put yourself into an immersion chamber and experience what a synthetic life form would experience.  Could we do the same for sending a NON Human to the Moon, since sending Human Humans seems to be questionable?
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------
http://www.fandango.com/avatar2009_103067/movieoverview
 Avatar (2009)
 Opened December 18, 2009 | Runtime:2 hr. 30 min.

AVATAR takes us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on an epic adventure, ultimately fighting to save the alien world he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of “Titanic,” first  conceived the film 15 years ago, when the means to realize his vision did not exist yet.  Now, after four years of production, AVATAR, a live action film with a new generation of special effects, delivers a fully immersive cinematic experience of a new kind, where the revolutionary technology invented to make the film disappears into the emotion of the characters and the sweep of the story.

snip
-----------------------------------------

It looks like we will have to rely on satellite lunar orbiters to show us the Moon and hopefully at least some rovers on the lunar surface to begin to let us know more about our  nearest neighbor in space. Sending real live, thinking intelligent explorers there seems to be a long way off and I don't have that much time to wait.  I hope our Congress makes up its mind soon as to how we will proceed.  In the mean time I guess we will be at the mercy of simulations.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------
http://www.moonbasealphagame.com/
Do you have what it takes ...

In ‘Moonbase Alpha’, players will step into the role of an exploration team member and will be immersed in a futuristic 3D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment. Available resources include an interactive  command center, a lunar rover, mobile robotic repair units and a fully stocked equipment shed.

This 'First Person Explorer' serious game includes both a single player capability and LAN or internet multiplayer gameplay for up to six active players on a team. Selectable maps will be available for specific player numbers (e.g., 2 player map, 4 player map, etc.).  Each of these maps is represented and tracked individually within the game’s leader boards.

snip
-----------------------------------------
http://store.steampowered.com/app/39000/
http://www.gamingbits.com/general-gaming-news-bits/nasas-moonbase-alpha-game-launches-on-steam-today-gameplay-preview/

A Popular Mechanics review of the program is not too supportive.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/video-games/why-nasas-new-video-game-completely-misses-the-point
Why NASA's New Video Game Completely Misses the Point
August 3, 2010 3:30 PM

There is a scene in last year's first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,  that puts you in the pressurized boots of an astronaut. While hitched to the outside of the International Space Station, you're asked by mission control to provide visual confirmation of an ICBM arcing through low Earth orbit. The sequence ends as abruptly as it begins, with the station blown to pieces, and you, the astronaut, sent tumbling into space. It's a bizarre and thrilling minute of doomed gameplay.

If only NASA's own astronaut simulator, Moonbase Alpha, was so brutish and short. Distributed for free online (via the Steam network) and developed in partnership with America's Army, the PC game is set on a lunar outpost in 2025. After a meteor strike disables the expedition's life-support systems, one or more players set out with tools, robots and rovers to get oxygen flowing again. It's a race against the clock—25 minutes, to be precise.
  

It's also excruciatingly boring, not to mention ill-timed. This past April, after hearing the recommendations of an independent panel on the future of human spaceflight, the Obama administration pulled the plug on a new manned mission to the moon. "We've been there before. Buzz has been there before," President Obama said during a speech on April 15 at the John F. Kennedy Center in Florida, referring to Buzz Aldrin, who attended the event. "There's a lot more of space to explore, and a lot more to learn when we do."

What Obama didn't mention was that Aldrin was one of the most vocal critics of NASA's return trip to the moon, advising instead a robot-only lunar presence for the United States, while concentrating on manned expeditions to Mars and its moons. Even those experts in favor of a lunar outpost saw it as little more than a logistical necessity—a place to mine for fuel and launch missions into deep space.

snip
-----------------------------------------
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1657/1

For you who would prefer to go to Mars, well we have a lot of data on Mars now and you can explore on your own.
- LRK -

-----------------------------------------
http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/welcome
 NASA Be A Martian - Welcome

Age of Virtual Exploration & the Human-Robotic Partnership

I want to be a Martian Citizen. >  Account Set Up
I just want to look around. > Anonymous Tourist Visa
I am a Martian Citizen.

This site was created under a Memorandum of Understanding between NASA/JPL-Caltech and Microsoft.
snip
-----------------------------------------

OK, forgive me, but I am going back to my reading and day dreaming.

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
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http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/robots/4344855

Robonaut2 Shows Real Workplace Potential For Humanoid Robots GM and NASA unveil the latest upgrades to the torso-bot, Robonaut2 (R2). The new R2 shows off impressive design, flexes complex abilities and, finally, brings real-world job skills—in the factory or at the space station—to the humanoid bot. 

By Erik Sofge
February 4, 2010 12:00 AM

For all the attention they get, humanoid robots tend to be a pretty shallow bunch. Honda's Asimo  dances, shakes hands, and occasionally serves tea. Toyota's series of Partner Robots can play musical instruments and guide visitors around one of the carmaker's facilities in Japan. A range of less famous models in labs  round the world grab headlines by gripping objects without destroying them, or walking a few steps without tipping onto their extremely expensive heads.  Humanoid bots are the celebrities of the robot world.

Which is why the unveiling this morning of Robonaut2—or R2—a collaboration between General Motor and NASA's Johnson Space Center, is such a milestone. R2 is the direct descendant of Robonaut, a humanoid model designed by NASA to assist astronauts during spacewalks (or extravehicular activities; EVAs, as the agency calls them), planetary exploration or any mission that could use an extra pair of dextrous hands. NASA intentionally avoided the complex, expensive business of two-legged mobility, instead fitting the robot with a single leg, designed to fit into the foot-restraints used by astronauts during EVAs. The robot could also be mounted, Centaur-like, on a wheeled platform. Robonaut never made it into space, but starting in 2007, General Motors embedded a team of their engineers with the existing Robonaut team at Johnson Space Center in Houston, to help design the robot's successor. GM also provided funding for the project, a move that, given NASA's current budgetary reshuffling, could be visionary in hindsight.

So why, exactly, would an embattled automaker devote its dwindling resources to a robot designed to clamber around spacecraft or motor across other planets? For the same reason GM has always been interested in robots: to build cars. "We had a common agenda with NASA," says Allen Taub, vice president of global research and development at GM. "They wanted to make a robot that could work next to an astronaut," he says. "The question we wanted to answer was, 'How do I make a robot so it can work with operators, without all of the safety precautions and cages?'" As they go through their automated routines, industrial assembly bots are inherently dangerous to be around. And according to Taub, installing cages and other safety measures often costs more than the robot itself. "This robot can be going through its paces, and if you just hold your hand up, it hits your hand and stops," he says

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http://www.pars3c.com/2010/07/11/review-moonbase-alpha/
Review: Moonbase Alpha
July 11, 2010  Elizabeth Howell

All that’s missing from this lunar experience is that gunpowder-smell of regolith the Apollo astronauts reported when they returned to their spacecraft.

Moonbase Alpha is a game created by Learning Technologies, an educational-technology incubator within NASA. (There is apparently no relation to the Space:1999 Moonbase Alpha.)

The aim of the program is to complement science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in the schools and present NASA’s work in a way that engages with young people. LT is also making forays into Second Life and creating another game, Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond.

What’s astounding is the amount of stuff Moonbase gets right about landing on the lunar surface. Astronauts have that same floaty-falling walk you’re used to seeing in the Apollo missions. There’s a fierce glare when staring straight at the sun, and the dust covers everything from the rovers to the astronauts. The mission is to restore the oxygen flow at a NASA lunar outpost after a meteor strike heavily damages the base. Single players or teams of up to six people can work on solving the problem using rovers, wrenches, welders and some spare tools loaded in an equipment shack on the moon.

There’s a competitive mode if you feel like challenging yourself to complete the repair in 25 minutes; after two tries in non-competitive mode I knew I was nowhere near beating the mark. My first attempt ran 90 minutes as I fumbled around the base, tangling robots in hoses and occasionally getting lost. My second was a more respectable 38.

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http://www.hobbyspace.com/Simulators/index.html
Space Simulators
Like being there...

A space simulator can be as simple as a spacecraft simulation program running on your PC or as elaborate as a detailed, full scale hardware simulation of a shuttle cockpit.

Or perhaps it's a large scale group simulation carried out over the internet in which the participants play different roles, e.g. mission controllers or astronauts, in carrying out a mission scenario such as launching a satellite from the shuttle.

This section provides links and descriptions of all sorts of web resources related to both software and hardware space simulations.

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http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Life-Make-Steve-Grand/dp/0674011139/  [Paperback]
http://www.amazon.com/Creation-Life-Make-Steve-Grand/dp/0674006542/  [Hardcover]
Creation: Life and How to Make It
Steve Grand

Amazon.com Review
Though its title brings to mind the hubris of Frankenstein, Steve
Grand's Creation: Life and How to Make It is just humble enough to
keep its readers hooked. Best known as the developer of the Creatures
series of artificial-life software, Grand has quite a following among
devotees of playful complexity.

The book ranges from deep ruminations on the nature of life and mind
(artificial and biological) to fairly concrete advice for future
creators, and his writing is just as elegant and compelling as his
software. Sometimes his cleverness gets the best of him, but for the
most part, his wordplay is used to serve his ideas, which are
thought-provoking even for readers who have no intention of creating
life.

Many will be surprised at the strength of Grand's antireductionism,
but he makes his case vigorously and may win a few converts to the
emergent-phenomena camp. Creation is essential reading for those of us
who want to think through the consequences of our actions before we
imitate Frankenstein's mistake. --Rob Lightner

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http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/category/artificial-life/page/4/
http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/category/artificial-life/page/3/
http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/category/artificial-life/page/2/
http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/category/artificial-life/
http://stevegrand.wordpress.com/

Steve Grand's Blog
Artificial Life in Real Life

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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