NASA’s Space Technology Program is calling for proposals to develop miniaturized electrospray propulsion technologies that could revolutionize small satellite propulsion systems.

U.S. organizations, including NASA centers and other government agencies; federally funded research and development centers; educational institutions; industry and nonprofit organizations can submit their ideas for miniaturized electrospray propulsion technologies that could help provide an efficient means of providing thrust for spacecraft.

The complete NRA solicitation and specific details of NRA Appendix D (including proposal due dates) are accessible via the NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES) (http://nspires.nasaprs.com), under Open Solicitations for NRA NNL12A3001N.

The deadline for the submission of the Notice Of Intent is March 06, 2013  and for the Phase I proposals is April 10, 2013 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time.

Theme: WHY SPACE?

Video can focus on ANY ASPECT of why space is important to humanity.

Open to ALL Rice Students.  $1000 in Prizes!

Winning videos will be screened at the RSI-Scientia Conference: Space Exploration and Human Imagination. They will also be featured on the RSI website.

ALL DETAILS AND CONTEST RULES

SAVE THE DATE:

Thurday, March 21
7:00 pm
Duncan Hall, McMurtry Auditorium
Rice University
Reception at 6:30 pm

The Baker Institute is now accepting applications for our Moscow Summer Intern Program. Students may be interested in attending this year’s student workshop “Space Development: Theory and Practice” at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. You will find more information about the program and the applications (attached) at:

http://www.bakerinstitute.org/students/moscow-summer-intern-program

MIT Enterprise Forum of Texas and MIT Club of South Texas Flagship Program presents

The Mars Curiosity Rover
with Dr. Eileen Stansbery from NASA Johnson Space Center co-sponsored by the Rice Space Institute.

WHEN: Wednesday February 20 2013. 5:00pm – reception, 6:00pm – presentation

WHERE: McMurtry Auditorium, Duncan Hall, Rice University

DETAILS: MITEF Special Lecture

ABSTRACT
The NASA/JPL radioisotope powered Mars Scientific Laboratory successfully landed on Mars on August 5, 2012, after a flawless but very complicated descent. With an array of new sophisticated instruments, it is the most ambitious exploration to date of the Red Planet to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes; in other words, to determine the planet’s habitability. Dr. Eileen K. Stansbery, Director of Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science NASA Johnson Space Center, will discuss the travels, investigations, and results of the Curiosity Rover on Mars — Give way to your curiosity and join us as we learn about this fascinating journey of discovery!

NASA’s Space Technology Program is looking for visionary advanced concepts. This year’s annual call for NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program (NIAC) is seeking proposals for revolutionary concepts with the potential to transform future aerospace missions. Proposed concepts should enable new missions or significantly improve current approaches to achieve aerospace objectives. The full text of the solicitation is available on the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com under the menu listing “Open Solicitations” or you may directly access the solicitation web page at the following NIAC NRA link.

“Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us”

Donald Yeomans, Ph.D., NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Wednesday, January 16, 6:30 p.m.

Of all the natural disasters that could befall us, only an Earth impact by a large comet or asteroid has the potential to end civilization in a single blow. Dr. Donald Yeomans introduces us to the science of near-Earth objects—and the ongoing quest to find them before they find us. Yeomans will explain how early collisions delivered the ingredients that made life on Earth possible, caused catastrophe that killed off the dinosaurs, and even spurred our own evolution, but how future collisions threaten all life on Earth. Learn of today’s efforts to find, track, and study comets and asteroids, and how these near-Earth objects could someday be mined for precious natural resources like water and oxygen and serve as stepping-stones for space exploration.

Yeomans is a Senior Research Fellow with the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology. Following the lecture, he will sign copies of his new book Near Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us.

Click here to purchase tickets in advance: http://store.hmns.org/Selection.aspx?sch=452012.

On the morning of Nov. 14, 2012 (Australia time), about an hour after sunrise, the Moon passed directly in front of the sun. People from around the world converged on the coast of northeast Australia.

NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak has a rating scheme for natural wonders. “On a scale of 1 to 10,” he says, “total eclipses are a million.”  Even the reef itself was momentarily forgotten by onlookers as the Moon’s cool shadow swept across the beach and the ghostly tendrils of the solar corona surrounded the black lunar disk.

View a time lapse video of the total solar eclipse:   http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/

Two members of the team that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars this summer visited Rice University on November 1. Ravi Prakash, descent and landing engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and Bobak Ferdowsi — aka “Mohawk Guy” — the mission’s activity lead and flight director, discussed their experiences and the science behind the high-profile Curiosity, which landed on the red planet on Aug. 5 in a risky multi-stage maneuver that was billed by NASA as “Seven Minutes of Terror.”

http://youtu.be/o2IiATREYDM

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters has released a solicitation, entitled NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) – Fall 2013, on October 10, 2012. The solicitation is available by opening the NASA Research Opportunities home page at http://nspires.nasaprs.com/, selecting “Solicitations,” then selecting “Open Solicitations,” and, finally, selecting the solicitation number “NSTRF13.”

NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) seeks to sponsor U.S. citizen and permanent resident graduate student researchers who show significant potential to contribute to NASA’s goal of creating innovative new space technologies for our Nation’s science, exploration and economic future.

This call for graduate student fellowship applications, entitled NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships (NSTRF) – Fall 2013 (NSTRF13), solicits applications from individuals pursuing or planning to pursue master’s (e.g., M.S.) or doctoral (e.g., Ph.D.) degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at accredited U.S. universities. This call is open to students pursuing advanced degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The goal of NSTRF is to provide the Nation with a pipeline of highly skilled researchers and technologists to improve America’s technological competitiveness. NASA Space Technology Fellows will perform innovative space technology research while building the skills necessary to become future technological leaders.

http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method=init&solId={67565659-36F8-8888-A19E-6DC271DA6ED5}&path=open