Competitors in the NASA Great Moonbuggy Race seem to mimic microgravity as they round a corner.

Going Moonbuggy

NASA announced the winners of the 18th annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race, and it was Puerto Rico’s year.

Teams representing Teodoro Aguilar Mora Vocational High School of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, snared the top two berths in the high school division and, for the second straight year, the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao held off all comers to win the college division.

The NASA competition challenges students around the world to build and race lightweight, human-powered buggies—demonstrating the same innovation and can-do spirit that put the first Apollo-era lunar rover on the moon four decades ago. More than 70 teams from 22 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, India, and Russia took part in the race, which encourages young people to reach for new heights in science, technology, engineering and math, and pursue careers in technical fields that will benefit NASA, the Nation, and all humankind. The race challenges students to tackle many of the same engineering challenges dealt with by Apollo-era lunar rover developers at Marshall Space Flight Center in the late 1960s. This year’s event celebrated the 40th anniversary of that feat, which culminated in the first use of a crewed lunar rover in July 1971.

Held in April 2011 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the event was organized by Marshall in partnership with the center, and major race sponsors included Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Jacobs Engineering ESTS Group.

“We’re thrilled to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar rover on the moon with the biggest moonbuggy race to date,” said Tammy Rowan, manager of Marshall’s Academic Affairs Office, which organizes the race. “The legacy of that marvelous NASA endeavor is alive and well in classrooms all over the Nation and the world, where it’s clear our young people dream as big as NASA does, and possess the creativity, know-how, and innovation to realize those dreams.”

 

Software developers participating in Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) #0 produced solutions used on the ground in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Marathon Innovation

Since its inception, NASA has demonstrated an unparalleled ability to tackle massively complex and ambitious goals to forward the human endeavor. NASA is constantly collaborating with partners, from governments and universities to corporations and individuals. Now NASA is supporting a collaborative effort to solve some of the toughest social and environmental challenges today.

Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) is a unique partnership between NASA, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and the World Bank dedicated to using technology to make the world a better place by building a volunteer community of innovation.

RHoK organizes hackathons—marathon hacking events with multiple global locations bringing together developers from all over the world to “hack” real-world problems. At every RHoK hackathon, the problem definitions are shared with the RHoK community, and the developers work their hacking magic to create open source software solutions that respond to those problems, make the world a safer place, and save lives. At the end of a 2-day marathon of hacking, a panel of experts will review each hack and the winners will walk away with prizes and the opportunity to see their applications put to use on the ground to respond to critical disaster risk challenges.

RHoK held its inaugural hackathon, RHoK #0, in Mountain View, California, in November 2009, resulting in software solutions that were used on the ground during the devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Chile in early 2010. The subsequent RHoK #1 and #2 took the initiative global. Hundreds of volunteers around the world collaborated for intense brainstorming, programming and coming up with important solutions to be implemented on the ground to lessen disaster risk and improve response where disasters strike.

The winning hack from the RHoK #1 Washington D.C. event, a visual tool to map landslide risk, is already being implemented by the World Bank in landslide-affected areas, and other hacks have been received interest and support from governments and risk management specialists worldwide.

Improving Safety in the Skies and on the Rails

Image courtesy of Marcel Marchon

From planes to trains, when you find something that works, stick with it.

That is why the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) at Ames Research Center is serving as a model to create a similar safety reporting system for the Federal Railroad Association.

The ASRS collects, analyzes and responds to voluntarily submitted aviation safety incident reports in order to lessen the likelihood of aviation accidents. During its 34-year history, the ASRS has been highly successful. Each year, the ASRS receives approximately 56,000 aviation safety reports from frontline aviation personnel, including pilots, air traffic controllers, dispatchers, mechanics, and flight attendants.

“The replication of the ASRS system in the railroad industry to provide assistance in realizing safety improvements is a welcome recognition of the success of ASRS and its numerous improvements to aviation safety,” said NASA ASRS director Linda Connell.

Amtrak recently joined the reporting program, along with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Union Pacific Railroad and the New Jersey Transit system.

“The ASRS was chosen to be the model for the new pilot because it has been a proven successful model,” said Karen Rae, deputy administrator of the Department of Transportation. “We’re addressing human factors to get accidents down to zero.”

A Phone Call Away

The Puerto Rico Telephone Company (PRTC) sought ways to quickly and accurately determine the location of mobile phone subscribers. Through a Space Act Agreement, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will provide PRTC with certain GPS reference and correction data, as well as technical support for the usage and implementation of advanced assisted GPS data products that will help the company in increasing public safety, fulfilling federally mandated enhanced 911 requirements, and enabling value-added location-based services.

A Study in Safety

The results of a 10-month study by 30 NASA engineers of possible electronic causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles was released in February 2011 by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) contributed to a study on the possible electronic causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles.

“NASA found no evidence that a malfunction in electronics caused large unintended accelerations,” said Michael Kirsch, principal engineer and team lead of the study from the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) based at Langley Research Center.

At the request of Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began the study in March 2010 and asked NASA engineers with expertise in electronic and software systems to look into consumer claims that electronic systems may have played a role in reports of unintended acceleration.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood thanked NASA and other DOT engineers saying, “We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota’s electronics systems, and the verdict is in.”

Two mechanical safety defects were identified by NHTSA more than a year ago: “sticking” accelerator pedals and a design flaw that enabled accelerator pedals to become trapped by floor mats. These are the only known causes for the reported unintended acceleration incidents. Toyota recalled nearly 8 million vehicles in the United States for these two defects.

Kirsch went on to say that, “NASA and NHTSA engineers stood side by side in this study to try to find the root cause of the problem. We have a strong team including some of the best electronics and software experts in NASA.”

The NESC team included NASA software experts in California to NASA hardware and systems engineers in Maryland who examined computer controlled electronic systems, electromagnetic interference, and software to determine if these systems played a role in incidents of unintended acceleration.

The NESC was established in 2003 in response to the Space Shuttle Columbia accident with a goal to enable complex problem solving using experts from anywhere in the world. This approach allows the best engineers in their respective disciplines to apply their expertise to tough technical problems. To date, the NESC has engaged in approximately 400 independent technical assessments. Recently, the NESC provided support to the trapped miners in Chile by developing suggested design requirements for the rescue system.

NASA astronaut Steve Robinson (right) and an Etsy employee get crafty during judging for the Space Craft contest. Image courtesy of Etsy

Space-Crafty

NASA and Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade and vintage goods, partnered to launch “Space Craft,” a contest where entrants shared original handmade items and works of art inspired by NASA and NASA’s programs. The contest helped inform Etsy’s 5.9 million members, 96 percent of whom are women, most under age 35, about the Agency’s present and future exploration plans.

“The contest reaches an important audience NASA would like to better engage to help share the excitement that is America’s Space Program,” said Doug Comstock, director of the Innovative Partnerships Office in NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The winning entry was the “Northstar Table” designed by Colleen and Eric Whiteley of Brooklyn, New York.

Global Hawk Proves its Worth

In late 2010, NASA wrapped two missions that demonstrated the capabilities of one of the Agency’s newest Earth science tools: the Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.

The Global Hawk and its array of science instruments are monitored and controlled by pilots and scientists from the Global Hawk Operations Center at Dryden Flight Research Center. Built by Northrop Grumman, NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft were originally flown in the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Two test models were transferred from the U.S. Air Force to NASA in 2007, and a third was transferred in 2009. Northrop Grumman and Dryden signed a Space Act Agreement to re-fit and maintain three Global Hawks for use in high-altitude, long-duration Earth science missions.

NASA’s Global Hawk aircraft demonstrated its effectiveness as a platform for scientific research during two recent science missions.

The Global Hawk Pacific (GloPac) mission completed four science flights, including a 28.6-hour flight to the Arctic and a 24-hour flight between the Gulf of Alaska and the tropics.

“The GloPac mission showed that the Global Hawk aircraft is a revolutionary tool for Earth science research,” said co-mission scientist Paul Newman from Goddard Space Flight Center. “The Global Hawk has now proven to be a science platform that can fly to altitudes of 65,000 feet for long-duration flights approaching 30 hours.”

During GloPac, mission scientists collected observations of cloud structures, Asian dust, and stratospheric air masses that had moved down from the North Pole. The Global Hawk was also able to make observations that will be used to validate atmospheric observations from the Aura and CALIPSO satellites, part of NASA’s “A-train” of environmental monitoring satellites.

The GloPac mission included more than 130 researchers and technicians from Goddard; NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Ames Research Center; and Dryden; as well as NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory; Northrop Grumman; the University of California, Santa Cruz; Droplet Measurement Technologies of Boulder, Colorado; and the University of Denver.

NASA also completed one of its largest hurricane research efforts ever with help from the Global Hawk: the Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) experiment. The initiative was designed to answer some of the most fundamental yet still unanswered questions of hurricane science: What ultimately causes hurricanes to form? Why do some tropical depressions become strong hurricanes, while others dissipate? What causes the rapid strengthening often seen in hurricanes?

GRIP featured the debut of the Global Hawk drone in a hurricane research capacity. The unmanned plane’s flight range gave scientists the ability to directly observe a hurricane as it changed over time and distance in a way that conventional planes and satellites have not done before.

As GRIP progressed, Global Hawk pilots, based remotely at Dryden, grew more comfortable with the drone’s capability at 60,000 feet and over a hurricane. The Global Hawk made a 25-hour flight that included 20 passes over the eye of Tropical Storm Karl as it was emerging into a hurricane—precisely the type of formation and storm development that scientists hoped to capture during GRIP.

“None of our other planes can do that,” said GRIP project manager Marilyn Vasques, of Ames.

With the flight portion of the campaign ended, scientists will soon move on to analyzing the data they have gathered. Scientists who worked on GRIP and many others will likely mine this cache for years to come. These observations could provide insights with great value to science, which is still trying to fully understand hurricanes, and to society, which could eventually benefit from more accurate forecasts of storm strength and development.

Innovation and International Development

NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have agreed to expand their joint efforts to overcome international development challenges such as food security, climate change, and energy and environmental management.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden (right) and Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator, finalize a partnership that will lead to the application of NASA technologies to sustainable development challenges on Earth.

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Rajiv Shah, USAID administrator, signed a 5-year memorandum of understanding in April 2011 at NASA Headquarters. The agreement formalizes ongoing agency collaborations that use Earth science data to address developmental challenges and to assist in disaster mitigation and humanitarian responses. The agreement also encourages NASA and USAID to apply geospatial technologies to solve development challenges affecting the United States and developing countries.

“Technologies for NASA missions have long improved life here on Earth. Together with USAID, we’ll meet even more sustainable development challenges here on the ground, solving problems for the world community,” Bolden said. “As we explore space, we’ll also be exploring solutions to important health, nutritional, and safety challenges in developing countries.”

USAID is the lead Federal development agency implementing U.S. development efforts through field-based programs and projects around the world. NASA has broad experience with Earth science research, development of Earth science information products, and technology applications.

“Through our partnership with NASA, we can apply the latest cutting-edge technology to deliver meaningful results for people in developing countries in areas like health, food security, and water,” Shah said. “It’s a prime example of our efforts to use the power of science and technology to tackle today’s pressing development challenges.”

Since 2003, NASA and USAID have worked together building and expanding the SERVIR program. SERVIR integrates satellite observations, ground-based data, and forecast models to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improving response to natural disasters in Central America, the Caribbean, East Africa, and the Himalayan region of Asia.

The agencies also collaborate on the LAUNCH program, which supports science and technology innovators in the nonprofit and private sectors. The program’s goal is improving innovations to achieve greater impact on sustainability issues. NASA, USAID, the Department of State, and Nike Inc. formed LAUNCH to identify and support innovative approaches to global challenges through a series of forums.

The inaugural event, LAUNCH: Water, was held at Kennedy Space Center in March 2010. There innovators presented transformative ideas, technology, and research that addressed water sustainability challenges. Also in 2010, LAUNCH: Health focused on innovations in nutrition, exercise, and health care. LAUNCH: Energy took place in late 2011.

The program has proved a showcase for a host of cutting-edge innovations, including the Bioneedle, a biodegradable needle filled with vaccine that dissolves in the body, providing essential inoculation without requiring needle disposal or cold chain storage. Another innovator developed a novel agricultural irrigation technology. Licensed by DuPont, the system is currently being used to grow plants in the African desert by desalinating well water. Other LAUNCH-supported innovations include a new, cost-effective method to safely remove arsenic from drinking water; a low-cost eye-test device that attaches to a cell phone; a handheld device that analyzes blood drops for fast diagnosis of various diseases; and a cellphone/microscope combination for detecting parasites in water.

“LAUNCH represents a focused effort to accelerate innovations that can touch thousands and thousands of lives,” said Doug Comstock, director of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Office.

For their efforts, LAUNCH lead Diane Powell, of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist, and her team were named finalists for the 2011 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America “Science and Environmental Medal,” presented to honor federal employees for significant contributions to the Nation related to science and the environment.

In addition to SERVIR and LAUNCH, NASA and USAID have agreed to explore how efforts promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education can be advanced through joint support of programs such as Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE). GLOBE is a worldwide primary and secondary school-based science and education program funded by NASA and other U.S. agencies.

Providing clean water to communities in need is one area which the NASA/USAID partnership will address through the use of innovative technology.