[meteorite-list] Media Invited To Simulated Asteroid Campout In Houston

[Ron Baalke]

Dec. 13, 2011

J.D. Harrington/Michael J. Braukus 
Headquarters, Washington                                
202-358-5241/1979 
j.d.harrington at nasa.gov/michael.j.braukus at nasa.gov 

Amiko Kauderer 
Johnson Space Center, Houston 
281-483-5111 
amiko.kauderer-1 at nasa.gov 


MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-248

MEDIA INVITED TO SIMULATED ASTEROID CAMPOUT IN HOUSTON

HOUSTON -- For three days this week, a small part of NASA's Johnson 
Space Center in Houston will simulate a human mission to an asteroid. 
Reporters are invited to observe what the mission might entail. 

As NASA continues plans to send humans to explore asteroids and other 
destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, a number of questions are being 
asked about how astronauts could live and work in space. NASA 
astronaut Mike Gernhardt and geologist Brent Garry of the Planetary 
Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz., will spend three days and two 
nights living inside the cabin of a prototype multi-mission Space 
Exploration Vehicle (SEV) answering some of those questions. 

Reporters may visit the test site at 10:30 a.m. CST on Thursday, Dec. 
15, during a simulated spacewalk in which a crew member will use a 
microgravity simulator. To attend contact Amiko Kauderer at 
amiko.kauderer-1 at nasa.gov by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. 
The public is invited to ask the crew questions via twitter 
@Desert_RATS; for a Twitterview the crew will participate in at 11 
a.m. on Friday, Dec. 16. Questions should be marked #SEV. 

Normally, the cabin of the SEV prototype is used atop a wheeled 
chassis, but wheels are of no use in the microgravity environment of 
an asteroid. Instead, the cabin would be used on a propelled sled 
allowing crew members to maneuver around the asteroid. 

To simulate such an environment, the SEV will be on an air-bearing 
floor allowing it to virtually float, much like an air hockey puck. 
The crew will see how the SEV handles in a simulated microgravity 
environment. 

The tests are part of NASA's Research and Technology Studies (RATS) 
program that will evaluate and provide data for future generations of 
SEV cabins. The test will be repeated in January with a different 
crew. Both tests will be used to develop a fully integrated RATS test 
at Johnson in August. 

This series of tests and will be used to evaluate existing tools that 
could be used to simulate spacewalks on an asteroid. The only time 
the crew will leave the SEV during the tests will be to perform 
simulated spacewalks. Test equipment and laboratories include: 

-- Johnson's virtual reality laboratory, also used to train astronauts 
for both space shuttle and International Space Station spacewalks 
-- A chair with thrusters previously used for testing the Manned 
Maneuvering Unit, a jet pack designed to allow astronauts to perform 
untethered spacewalks 
-- The Active Response Gravity Offload System, or ARGOS, a system that 
suspends astronauts in spacesuits from a beam and simulated different 
amounts of gravity. During the media event, a crew member will 
conduct a simulated spacewalk using ARGOS 

For information about the Desert RATS tests, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/desertrats 

For more information about the multi-mission Space Exploration 
Vehicle, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/SEV.html 

Follow Desert RATS via Twitter at: 

http://www.twitter.com/Desert_RATS 

-end-