NASA Langley Forecast

HAMPTON, Va., May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being released today by NASA:

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NASA THRILLS STUDENTS AT KINGS DOMINION EDUCATION DAY
NASA Langley employees will travel to Kings Dominion for Education Day on Friday, May 6. Visitors will be invited to experience what it might be like to live and work in space. They can prepare for the journey by playing games, answering basic questions on NASA technology and even win a prize. All can explore how roller coasters are similar to NASA's Launch Abort System and will be encouraged to ride "Intimidator 305" to get a brief glimpse of g-forces similar to what astronauts experience during a shuttle launch. Finally, visitors can make their own Post Card from Space. Do it all with NASA at Kings Dominion Education Day.
For more information, contact Amy Johnson at 757-864-7022 or [email protected].

NASA BRINGS SPACE EXPLORATION DOWN TO EARTH AT HOMEARAMA
NASA Langley will outfit the Space Exploration House featured at the Tidewater Builders Association Spring Homearama 2011 in Virginia Beach, May 28 – June 12. The house will highlight technologies made available by NASA research, including "aero gel," a high tech insulation used by astronauts to keep warm in subzero temperatures. Dozens of NASA technologies and products used by private industry will be on display.
For more information, contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786 or [email protected].

STUDENTS INVADE NASA LANGLEY
Hundreds of students will arrive at NASA Langley this summer to participate in the many internships and educational programs the center offers. High school to graduate students will work side-by-side with NASA engineers and mentors to get hands-on experience that will prepare them for a career in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Additionally, NASA Langley will continue its Summer of Innovation program. The NASA program, launched last summer, supports President Obama's Educate to Innovate campaign for excellence in STEM, and is a way for NASA to use its out-of-this-world missions and technology programs to boost summer learning, particularly for underrepresented youth.
For more information, contact Amy Johnson at 757-864-7022 or [email protected].

NASA GETS READY TO MAKE A SPLASH
Construction is complete on a new facility at NASA Langley that will be used to certify space vehicles for water landings. The 115-ft (35m) long and 20-ft (6.1m) deep Hydro Impact Basin is located at the west end of Langley's historic Landing and Impact Research Facility, also known as the Gantry. A facility demonstration event is tentatively scheduled for this August.
For more information, contact Amy Johnson at 757-864-7022 or [email protected].

SPACE SHUTTLES TO TAKE LAST FLIGHTS
Space shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis are set to lift off on their last voyages over the next few months. NASA Langley engineers participate on damage assessment and impact dynamics teams during shuttle missions. Endeavour's STS-134 mission will feature a new spacecraft docking technology, developed in part by NASA Langley. Media are invited to join employees here on Center to watch as NASA concludes 30 years of shuttle launches.
For more information, contact Kathy Barnstorff at 757-864-9886 or [email protected].

TEST SUBJECTS GET AN EARFUL OF SONIC BOOMS
One of the hurdles to commercial supersonic flight is the sonic boom. NASA Langley has constructed an "interior effects room," complete with two walls of speakers, that is able to reproduce a simulated sonic boom. The idea is to better measure human responses to sonic booms that are experienced indoors and develop a sort of index that would define "acceptable" boom characteristics.
For more information, contact Kathy Barnstorff at 757-864-9886 or [email protected].

NASA 360 IS NOW ON Hulu.com (http://www.hulu.com/nasa-360)
The award-winning, NASA-produced television show "NASA 360" is now available online.  This popular online video service has 15 episodes of the NASA Langley-based program that showcases how NASA technologies contribute to our daily lives. Future shows will feature some of NASA's missions to other planets, how NASA aeronautics will change future flight, and a profile of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
For more information, contact Kathy Barnstorff at 757-864-9886 or [email protected].

EARTH-OBSERVING SATELLITE PREPPED FOR SPACE STATION
After nine years in a clean room, an instrument that studies the Earth's atmosphere and protective ozone layer has been returned to service. NASA's Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III-ISS (SAGE III-ISS) will measure ozone, water vapor and aerosols in the atmosphere when it is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) three years from now. The instrument is scheduled for launch in 2014 on a SpaceX rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Currently, SAGE III-ISS is being prepped for the mission.
Contact Michael Finneran at (757) 864-6110 or [email protected]

SPEAKER SERIES
Daytime presentations to employees at NASA Langley are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center. Media are invited to interview speakers at a news conference at 1:15 p.m. prior to the talk. The public is invited to similar free presentations at 7:30 at Virginia Air and Space Center, Hampton.
For more information, contact Chris Rink at 757-864-6786 or [email protected].

June 7 – "Tigers, Spiders and Raptors: One Test Pilot's Story"
Former Lockheed Martin chief test pilot for the F-22 Advanced Tactical Fighter, Alfred "Paul" Metz, presents "Tigers, Spiders and Raptors: One Test Pilot's Story." Metz, a retired military and civilian test pilot, has more than 7,000 hours and more than 37 years of experience flying 70 aircraft types including the F-86, F-105, F-4, F-5, F-15, F-20, YF-23 and F-22.

July 12 – "Drifting on Alien Worlds: Exploring the Skies and Weather of Other Worlds"
Popular writer, artist and lecturer Michael Carroll explores the bizarre weather of alien worlds, from the blistering hurricane-force winds of Venus to the gentle methane rain showers of Saturn's moon Titan. Late-breaking scientific discoveries from spacecraft, observatories and laboratories reveal the mysteries of weather across the solar system.

SOURCE NASA