Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Welcome to NASA Ames Research Center

Time passes quickly and it has been a number of years since I supported some of the missions that were happening at the NASA Ames Research Center and I thought I would see what the World Wide Web might show was going on now.

NASA missions and budgets have changed over the years and the various centers have had to adjust their priorities. 

Back in 2005 when I was still copying Pioneer 10 Master Data Records for another look at the Pioneer Anomaly, the hall posters had changed with many of the Pioneer Mission photos already removed. There seemed to be a hollow echo to my steps.
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A STUDY OF THE PIONEER ANOMALY: NEW DATA AND OBJECTIVES FOR NEW INVESTIGATION
Read More: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218271806008218
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What is Ames doing today, here in 2013?
- LRK -

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Welcome to NASA Ames Research Center

Maps

Poster Presentations

Volunteer Internship Program

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Wikipedia has quick summary of Ames history. 

What was may not be what is now. Some Wind tunnels have shut down and some on going missions have had management responsibilities adjusted. 

A look at the public-private partner relationships will give a hint as to what other adjustments are being made. The Navy and Air Force are gone so no more military exchange and McDonald's is now McMoons. :-)

Google is there and so is their Boeing 767-200.
- LRK - 

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Ames Research Center

The Ames Research Center (ARC), is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) major research center in Moffett Field in California's Silicon Valley. Named after Joseph Sweetman Ames and founded on December 20, 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laboratory, ARC became part of NASA in 1958 as part of the turnover from the dissolutionof NACA, having now (at the last estimate) over $3.0 billion in capital equipment, 2,300 research personnel and a $600 million annual budget.
Ames was founded to engage in wind-tunnel research on the aerodynamics of propeller-driven aircraft; however its role has developed to encompass spaceflight and information technology. Ames plays a role in many of NASA missions in support of America's space and aeronautics programs. It provides leadership in astrobiology; small satellites; robotic lunar exploration; the search for habitable planets;supercomputing; intelligent/adaptive systems; advanced thermal protection; and airborne astronomy. Ames also develops tools for a safer, more efficient national airspace and unique partnerships benefiting NASA’s mission. The center's director is Dr. Simon P. "Pete" Worden (Brigadier GeneralUSAF retired).
The organisation is mission center for several key current missions ( Kepler Mission, the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)) and a major contributor to the '"new exploration focus'"[1] as a participant in the Orion crew exploration vehicle and Ares I crew launch vehicle projects
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NASA Ames on YouTube.
- LRK -

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NASA Ames Research Center
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The New Look for Ames at the NASA Gov portal.
- LRK -

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Ames Research Center
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Areas of Ames Ingenuity

Entry systems: Safely delivering spacecraft to Earth & other celestial bodies
Supercomputing: Enabling NASA's advanced modeling and simulation
NextGen air transportation: Transforming the way we fly
Airborne science: Examining our own world & beyond from the sky
Low-cost missions: Enabling high value science to low Earth orbit & the moon
Biology & astrobiology: Understanding life on Earth -- and in space
Exoplanets: Finding worlds beyond our own
Autonomy & robotics: Complementing humans in space
Lunar science: Rediscovering our moon
Human factors: Advancing human-technology interaction for NASA missions
Wind tunnels: Testing on the ground before you take to the sky

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Another big change is the NASA Research Park which is under development.
- LRK -

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NASA Research Park

History of NASA Research Park
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Following the closure of Moffett Field as a military base in 1994, NASA Ames acquired stewardship for the navy property. NASA Ames, with the nearby communities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale, developed an award winning re-use plan to transform part of the former Naval Air Station into a world class R & D center dedicated to serving the goals of the nation's space program.

In 2002 NASA Research Park began collaborative partnerships with academia, industry and non-profits to stimulate innovation and education in science and research disciplines critical to space exploration. NASA Ames strategic partnering in key areas, including astrobiology, information technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology, will create a dynamic, integrated research community that provides R&D leadership into the 21st century.
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While I was at Ames I sometimes wondered what would be the company name on my badge. Bendix Field Engineering was bought by Allied/Signal while supporting the Pioneer Missions. A brief break at the end of Pioneer and back with Orbital Sciences Corp. for Lunar Prospector mission. Then support of SOFIA with Orbital and Lockheed/Martin and wearing Lockeed badge but paid by Orbital. Then there were rumors that we might be Stanford University, or De Anza College, or, ..., but money was tight and just laid off. No problem, just come in on a visitor pass to complete MDR copying. :-)

There are those at Ames that are still interested in sending robots to the Moon and some are competing for the Google Lunar X Prize.
The Google Lunar X PRIZE at five: can it still be won?
Moon Express Hires Veteran Space Industry Team

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IRIS 

Thanks for joining us. Please visit www.nasa.gov for the IRIS Launch
6 days ago by NASAtelevision
Ames Research Center is NASA's center in Silicon Valley, California. We enable exploration through selected development of innovative technologies and interdisciplinary scientific discovery.
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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