WASHINGTON - NASA has announced opportunities to test emerging technologies during flights on an airplane that simulates the weightless conditions of space. The technologies should have potential use in future NASA projects, support future exploration systems, or improve air and space vehicle capabilities.

NASA's Facilitated Access to the Space Environment for Technology, or FAST, program helps emerging technologies mature through testing in a reduced gravity environment. In order to prepare technologies for space applications it is important to demonstrate that they work in a zero-gravity environment.

This unique testing environment is provided by an aircraft flying repeated parabolic, or bowl-shaped, flight paths that create brief periods of zero gravity. The aircraft also can simulate reduced gravity levels similar to those on the surface of the moon or Mars.

Testing opportunities are being offered to U.S. federal, state and local government entities. Private U.S. organizations, including commercial firms, non-profits and academic institutions also are eligible. Through a partnership agreement, NASA will provide free flight time for the tests, while project teams will be responsible for all other expenses.

Proposals are due by Monday, April 19, 2010. Technology demonstration flights will occur in September 2010 from Ellington Field in Houston. NASA expects to select approximately 15 to 20 projects for the test flights.

In September 2009, the FAST program provided reduced-gravity testing opportunities for 19 technology projects conducted by private businesses, government laboratories and universities. Information about those projects and teams is available on the FAST program Web site.

NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington manages the FAST program. The Reduced Gravity Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston provides test management for the flights. NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland is providing technical and administrative assistance to the FAST program.

For more information about FAST including a link to the opportunity announcement, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ipp/innovation_incubator/FAST/index.html

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

Source: NASA

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WASHINGTON - NASA's International Space Station Program has won the 2009 Collier Trophy, which is considered the top award in aviation. The National Aeronautic Association in Washington bestows the award annually to recognize the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America.

The association says it selected the station "for the design, development, and assembly of the of the world's largest spacecraft, an orbiting laboratory that promises new discoveries for mankind and sets new standards for international cooperation in space."

"We are very proud to receive the Collier Trophy," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "This prestigious award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of thousands of people around the world. With our intention to extend station operations to at least 2020, there are limitless possibilities for science and technological breakthroughs."

The station is a joint project of NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency. The orbiting laboratory is nearing completion and will mark the tenth anniversary of a continuous human presence in orbit later this year.

"We're honored to be recognized for our past achievements for building and operating the space station, and we're excited about the future," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate. "There's a new era ahead of potential groundbreaking scientific research aboard the station."

Congress designated the space station a national laboratory in 2005. The station provides a research platform that takes advantage of the microgravity conditions 220 miles above Earth's surface across a wide variety of fields. These include human life sciences, biological science, human physiology, physical and materials science, and Earth and space science.

After completion of assembly later this year, the station's crew and its U.S., European, Japanese and Russian laboratory facilities will expand the pace of space-based research to unprecedented levels. Nearly 150 experiments are under way on the station. More than 400 experiments have been conducted since research began nine years ago. These experiments already are leading to advances in the fight against food poisoning, new methods for delivering medicine to cancer cells and the development of more capable engines and materials for use on Earth and in space.

Supporting an international crew of six, the station has a mass of almost 800,000 pounds and a habitable volume of more than 12,000 cubic feet. It is approximately the size of a five-bedroom home. The station uses state-of-the-art systems to generate solar electricity, recycle nearly 85 percent of its water and generate much of its own oxygen. Nearly 190 people have visited the station, which is supporting its 22nd resident crew.

The award will be formally presented to the International Space Station Program team on May 13. The trophy is named for Robert J. Collier, a publisher who commissioned it in 1910 with the intent to encourage the U.S. aviation community to strive for excellence and achievement in aeronautic development.

For more information about the Collier Trophy, visit: http://www.naa.aero/html/awards/index.cfm?cmsid=62

For more information about the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

Source: NASA

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Washington, DC - The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the captain of Colgan Air flight 3407 inappropriately responded to the activation of the stick shaker, which led to an aerodynamic stall from which the airplane did not recover.

In a report adopted on Feb 2 in a public Board meeting in Washington, additional flight crew failures were noted as causal to the accident. On February 12, 2009, a Colgan Air, Inc., Bombardier DHC-8-400, N200WQ, operating as Continental Connection flight 3407, was on an instrument approach to Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, Buffalo, New York, when it crashed into a residence in Clarence Center, New York, about 5 nautical miles northeast of the airport. The 2 pilots, 2 flight attendants, and 45 passengers aboard the airplane were killed, one person on the ground was killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The flight was a 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 121 scheduled passenger flight from Newark, New Jersey. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The report states that, when the stick shaker activated to warn the flight crew of an impending aerodynamic stall, the captain should have responded correctly to the situation by pushing forward on the control column. However, the captain inappropriately pulled aft on the control column and placed the airplane into an accelerated aerodynamic stall.

Contributing to the cause of the accident were the crewmembers' failure to recognize the position of the low-speed cue on their flight displays, which indicated that the stick shaker was about to activate, and their failure to adhere to sterile cockpit procedures. Other contributing factors were the captain's failure to effectively manage the flight and Colgan Air's inadequate procedures for airspeed selection and management during approaches in icing conditions.

As a result of this accident investigation, the Safety Board issued recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding strategies to prevent flight crew monitoring failures, pilot professionalism, fatigue, remedial training, pilot records, stall training, and airspeed selection procedures. Additional recommendations address FAA's oversight and use of safety alerts for operators to transmit safety-critical information, flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) programs, use of personal portable electronic devices on the flight deck, and weather information provided to pilots.

At last week's meeting, the Board announced that two issues that had been encountered in the Colgan Air investigation would be studied at greater length in proceedings later this year. The Board will hold a public forum this Spring exploring pilot and air traffic control high standards. This accident was one in a series of incidents investigated by the Board in recent years - including a mid-air collision over the Hudson River that raised questions of air traffic control vigilance, and the Northwest Airlines incident last year where the airliner overflew its destination airport in Minneapolis because the pilots were distracted by non-flying activities - that have involved air transportation professionals deviating from expected levels of performance.

In addition, this Fall the Board will hold a public forum on code sharing, the practice of airlines marketing their services to the public while using other companies to actually perform the transportation. For example, this accident occurred on a Continental Connection flight, although the transportation was provided by Colgan Air.

A summary of the findings of the Board's report are available on the NTSB's website at: http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/2010/AAR1001.htm.

Source: NTSB

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