NASA Awards Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor Contract

NASA has awarded a contract to the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics for the development of the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor, or TSIS, a key instrument for the future National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, known as NPOESS.
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The total estimated value of the cost, no-fee contract is approximately $42 million.
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The contractor will be responsible for the design, engineering analyses, hardware and software development, fabrication, integration, algorithm development, test, evaluation and support for integration of the instrument with the NPOESS spacecraft.
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The sensor will continue key climate measurements of solar irradiance that contribute to determining the Earth's energy balance and understanding how Earth's climate responds to solar variability.
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The sensor will fly on the NPOESS, C1 mission.
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NASA is developing the TSIS Flight Model 1 under a reimbursable agreement with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
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NPOESS is a joint program to develop the next generation of polar-orbiting operational environmental satellites that form the basis for weather forecasting, and is co-funded by NOAA and the Department of Defense, with NASA as a technology provider.
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The NPOESS program is managed by the interagency Integrated Program Office.
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NOAA funds the instrument while NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the acquisition of the instrument for NOAA.
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NASA
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http://lasp.colorado.edu/

NASA Names College Winners In Supersonic Design Contest

Eight college students have summer jobs at NASA this year, thanks to their participation in a contest to design a supersonic airliner.
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College students from the U.S., Japan and India researched technology and created concepts for a supersonic passenger jet as part of a competition sponsored by the Fundamental Aeronautics Program in NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
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The participants were challenged to design a small supersonic airliner and submit a research paper limited to 25 pages.
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Designs had to be efficient, environmentally friendly, low sonic boom commercial aircraft that could be ready for initial service by 2020.
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A team of undergraduates from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., and a team of graduate students from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta tied for first place in the U.S. division.
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A University of Tokyo undergraduate team won top honors in the non-U.S. category. Six participants receiving internships were selected from the award-winning teams.
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All eight recipients are engineering or management students and were selected based on their resumes, grade point averages and application letters.
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The students are serving their internships at three NASA centers: Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.; and the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
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"We use these competitions to generate excitement for aeronautics and the engineering behind aviation," said Peter Coen, principal investigator of the Supersonics Project at Langley.
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"I was pleased by the number and diversity of the entries we received.
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And I was impressed by the quality and innovative thinking demonstrated in the designs."
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This year's competition also fostered an unusual collaboration across the country and two continents.
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Four students, one from Florida, another from California and two from Australia, worked together over the Internet to design an airliner.
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Three of the four had met last year as a result of the contest.
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The team tied for second place with an undergraduate team from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
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An undergraduate team from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology in Gujarat, India won second place in the international division.
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A group of NASA engineers reviewed the entries.
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The judges based their scores on how well students addressed all aspects of the problem they chose to discuss.
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The judges used the following criteria: innovation and creativity; discussion of feasibility; a brief review of pertinent literature; and a baseline comparison with the relevant current technology, system or design.
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Winning participants received prizes, including up to $5,000, and will be invited to a student forum sponsored by NASA.
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Students were also eligible for 24 summer internships.
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Only U.S. citizens may be awarded cash prizes or NASA-funded internships.
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Non-U.S. teams will receive an engraved trophy.
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All participants also will receive a NASA certificate.
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For a list of winners of the contest and information about the interns, visit:

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http://www.aeronautics.nasa.gov/competition_winners_college.htm

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WASHINGTON
NASA

NASA Announces Climate Change Education Funding Opportunity

NASA has announced a new funding opportunity that could result in the award of cooperative agreements for projects designed to educate students, teachers and lifelong learners about global climate change.
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Proposals for Global Climate Change Education:
Research Experiences, Teaching and Learning are expected to leverage NASA's unique contributions in climate and Earth system science to enhance students' academic experiences and improve educators' abilities to engage and stimulate their students.
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A particular emphasis is placed on providing opportunities for students to investigate the climate system using NASA Earth observation data and NASA Earth system models.
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Notices of Intent to propose to this announcement are strongly encouraged and due by July 2. Full proposals are due Aug. 3.
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The anticipated total amount of funds available for new awards is approximately $8 million.
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This funding opportunity supports NASA's goal to engage students in the critical disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
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Proposals that offer innovative approaches for using NASA resources in support of elementary, secondary, undergraduate and lifelong teaching and learning are sought.
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Proposals will be accepted under three funding categories:
- Improving teacher competency for global climate change education
- Using NASA Earth system data and models to strengthen teaching and learning about global climate change
- Enabling global climate change science research experiences for undergraduate or community college students and pre- or in-service teachers, including those in nontraditional teacher licensure programs
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Proposals will be accepted from higher education institutions, state agencies, local agencies, or federally recognized tribal government agencies; public school districts; and nonprofit organizations.
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NASA centers, federal agencies, federally funded research and development centers, education-related companies, and other institutions may apply through partnership with a qualifying lead organization.
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This is the second competitive announcement for NASA's Global Climate Change Education project, which was initiated in fiscal year 2008.
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For detailed information about the opportunity, click on "Open Solicitations" and look for "Global Climate Change Education (GGCE):
Research Experiences, Teaching & Learning" or solicitation NNL09ZB1005C at:

http://nspires.nasaprs.com/

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Washington
NASA

'Dark earth' and its carbon-holding powers

Should we be squirreling away carbon in charcoal?
Wikipedia/Romary
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Biochar is based on terra preta, or dark earth — a mixture of bone, manure and charcoal that was first used in the pre-Columbian era to enhance the infertile soil of the central Amazon basin.
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Some of the charcoal has remained in the soil for thousands of years, leading scientists to believe that it could be used elsewhere as a long-term carbon store.
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Johannes Lehmann, a soil scientist at Cornell University, New York, and colleagues, calculate that half of the estimated six billion tonnes of carbon in agricultural, forestry and animal waste could be turned into biochar.
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And for every tonne of biochar, a third of a tonne of biofuel by-product could be produced.
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Some advocates are developing industrial-scale microwaves to produce biochar but critics are concerned that developing a market for biochar could encourage the destruction of tropical rainforests — while others question whether the carbon would really remain in the soil for such long periods.
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Lehmann admits biochar is "not a silver bullet" and that no technology could compensate for the current level of emissions.
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But biochar could help, he says.

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Link to full article in Nature Reports Climate Change

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Nature Reports Climate Change
SciDev