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

Showing posts with label Ames Research Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ames Research Center. Show all posts

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 General, USAF 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
Contents
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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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Thursday, November 13, 2008

NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image

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MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

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Pictures here as well.
http://www.moonviews.com/archives/2008/11/image_collection_from_a_garage.html
http://www.moonviews.com/archives/2008/11/image_collection_from_a_garage.html#more

Last time I was at NASA Ames Research Center I was told that
McDonald's restaurant was closed.
It looks like this is where they set up shop.

Image below: McMoons at NASA ARC - home of the Lunar Orbiter Image
Recovery Project (LOIRP) Credit: LOIRP/MOONVIEWS.COM
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2008/IMG_3115.m.jpg

Image below: ANother view of McMoons at NASA ARC - home of the Lunar
Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) Credit: LOIRP/MOONVIEWS.COM
http://images.spaceref.com/news/2008/IMG_2741.m.jpg


Thanks for looking up with me.


Larry Kellogg

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
RSS link: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/atom.xml
Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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In today's space news from SpaceRef:

-- NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=26919

"NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old image of Earth on
Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1
spacecraft took the iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar
surface in 1966. Using
refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA produced the
image at a much
higher resolution than was possible when it was originally taken. The
data may help the next
generation of explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon."

More information on the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP)
is available at
http://www.moonviews.com

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http://www.spaceref.com/video/video?id=138

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NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-291_Lunar_Orbiter_image.html

Nov. 13, 2008

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov

Kimberly Newton
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5026
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 08-291

NASA RESTORES HISTORIC LUNAR ORBITER IMAGE

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

In the late 1960s, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph
the surface of the moon and gain a better understanding of the lunar
environment in advance of the Apollo program. Data were recorded on
large magnetic tapes and transferred to photographic film for
scientific analysis. When these images were first retrieved from
lunar orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was available
because of the limited technology available.

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, located at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., is taking analog data from
original recorders used to store on tape and 1,500 of the original
tapes, converting the data into digital form, and reconstructing the
images. The restored image released Thursday confirms data from the
original tapes can be retrieved from the newly-restored tape drives
from the 1960s when combined with software from 2008.

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http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2008/08_99AR.html
Kimberly Newton
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-5026
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov

Grey Hautaluoma
Headquarters, Washington
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov
RELEASE : 08_99AR


Correction -- NASA Restores Historic Lunar Orbiter Image


MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA released a newly restored 42-year-old
image of Earth on Thursday. The Lunar Orbiter 1 spacecraft took the
iconic photograph of Earth rising above the lunar surface in 1966.
Using refurbished machinery and modern digital technology, NASA
produced the image at a much higher resolution than was possible when
it was originally taken. The data may help the next generation of
explorers as NASA prepares to return to the moon.

In the late 1960s, NASA sent five Lunar Orbiter missions to photograph
the surface of the moon and gain a better understanding of the lunar
environment in advance of the Apollo program. Data were recorded on
large magnetic tapes and transferred to photographic film for
scientific analysis. When these images were first retrieved from lunar
orbit, only a portion of their true resolution was available because
of the limited technology available.

The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project, located at NASA's Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., is taking analog data from
original recorders used to store on tape and 1,500 of the original
tapes, converting the data into digital form, and reconstructing the
images. The restored image released Thursday confirms data from the
original tapes can be retrieved from the newly-restored tape drives
from the 1960s when combined with software from 2008.

"I'm glad that we could offer our services to the project team and
play a part in the recovery of such an historic image of the moon,"
said Ames Director S. Pete Worden.

Future images will be made publically available when they are fully
processed and calibrated. The intent of this project is to facilitate,
wherever possible, the broadest dissemination and public use of these
images.

"It's a tremendous feeling to restore a 40-year-old image and know it
can be useful to future explorers," said Gregory Schmidt, deputy
director of the NASA Lunar Science Institute at Ames. "Now that we've
demonstrated the capability to retrieve images, our goal is to
complete the tape drives' restoration and move toward retrieving all
of the images on the remaining tapes," he added.

As the images are processed, they will be submitted to the Planetary
Data System, which NASA's Space Science Mission Directorate in
Washington sponsors in cooperation with NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The images also will be calibrated with
standard mapping coordinates from the U.S. Geological Survey's
Astrogeology Research Program in Flagstaff, Ariz.

NASA will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009 to map the
moon's surface. The restoration of the Lunar Orbiter images to high
quality images will provide the scientific community with a baseline
to measure and understand changes that have occurred on the moon since
the 1960s. These data could help mission planners assess the long-term
risk to lunar inhabitants from small meteor impacts and establish
longitude and latitude lines for lunar mapping.

"This effort was made possible by the vision and dedication of
Apollo-era NASA employees, independent researchers, and a true veteran
team of engineers and young students," said Dennis Wingo, the program
lead for the project.

NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate and Innovative
Partnerships Program Office in Washington provided initial funding for
the project. Engineering and logistics for the project team were
provided by Wingo of SkyCorp, Inc., Huntsville, Ala., with donated
services by Keith Cowing from SpaceRef Interactive, Inc., Reston, Va.,
under the auspices of Alliance of Commercial Enterprises and Education
for Space, and the NASA Lunar Science Institute.

To view the image and for more information about the Lunar Orbiter
Image Recovery Project, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/moonmars/features/LOIRP

and

http://www.moonviews.com

For more information about NASA's exploration program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

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

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