SECOND ANNUAL WHITE HOUSE SCIENCE FAIR INCLUDES NASA OFFICIALS

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

“WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and other senior
agency officials joined President Obama in honoring student science
fair winners from across the country at the second annual White House
Science Fair today in the East Wing of the White House. The event
highlighted student achievement and excellence in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

In November 2009, the president announced his "Educate to Innovate"
campaign and emphasized the importance of encouraging students to
pursue STEM studies and careers. NASA has developed a wide variety of
education programs that use the inherent excitement of space
exploration and science to inspire students and generate interest in
STEM.

"Programs like this science fair help students develop critical skills
and get hands-on experience that will serve them and our nation well
in the future," Bolden said. "These talented students are tomorrow's
science leaders, and their skills will be critical to helping us make
an American economy built to last."

Joining Bolden at the event were NASA's Associate Administrator for
Education Leland Melvin and Associate Administrator for Science John
Grunsfeld. Both Melvin and Grunsfeld also are veteran space shuttle
astronauts who frequently use their flight experiences as catalysts
for engaging students' interest in space and science. NASA Chief
Technologist, Mason Peck, NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati, and
Paul Hertz, chief scientist for the agency's Science Mission
Directorate, also attended the fair and met with student honorees.

Among the winning science experiments displayed at the White House
today were two that related directly to NASA's mission, including
entries from a girls' rocket team and a FIRST Robotics alliance.

The "Young Women Rocketing to Nationals" team featured Janet and Ana
Karen Nieto of Presidio, Texas, who are members of the Presidio High
School Rocketry Team that competed as a national finalist in the Team
America Rocketry Challenge in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Gwynelle Condino,
a 7th grade student at Lucy Franco Middle School in Presidio, is the
team's leader this year.

"A Winning Robotics Alliance, with Astronauts Cheering Them On" team
was comprised of John Drake of Schaumburg, Ill., Sean Murphy of
Atascadero, Calif., and Eric Bakan of San Jose, Calif. They
represented the winning alliance of the 2011 FIRST Robotics
Competition Championship and were mentored by engineers at NASA's
Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Two other NASA-related education programs also were represented at
today's event.

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE),
is a hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and
education program where students, teachers and scientists worldwide
collaborate on investigations of the environment and the Earth
system. Participants work in close partnership with NASA and other
federal agencies.

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) was launched in
June 2010 by the National Center for Earth and Space Science
Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, LLC. Student teams in
grades 5-12 propose microgravity experiments for flight in a research
minilab that may be flown to the International Space Station. SSEP is
enabled through a space act agreement as part of the International
Space Station's use as a National Laboratory.”

NEW NASA PUBLICATION SHOWS BENEFITS OF NASA TECH

The following excerpt is from the NASA website: "WASHINGTON -- NASA's Spinoff 2011 publication, now available online, reveals how the space agency's ingenuity and partnerships have saved thousands of lives, generated billions of dollars, and created thousands of American jobs. The latest edition of Spinoff records 44 journeys of NASA's most innovative technologies. It chronicles their origins in NASA missions and programs and their transfer to the public in the form of practical commercial products and benefits to society. "This year's Spinoff demonstrates once again how through productive and innovative partnerships, NASA's aerospace research brings real returns to the American people in the form of tangible products, services and new jobs," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "For 35 years, Spinoff has been the definitive resource for those who want to learn how space exploration benefits life on Earth." NASA spinoffs have proven benefits in health and medicine, transportation, public safety, consumer goods, energy and the environment, information technology, and industrial productivity, stimulating the economy and creating new jobs and businesses. In Spinoff 2011, readers can discover: - A new firefighting system, influenced by a NASA-derived rocket design that extinguishes fires more quickly than traditional systems, saving lives and property. - Software employing NASA-invented tools to help commercial airlines fly shorter routes and help save millions of gallons of fuel each year, reducing costs to airlines while benefiting the environment. - A fitness monitoring technology developed with the help of NASA expertise that, when fitted in a strap or shirt, can be used to measure and record vital signs. The technology is now in use to monitor the health of professional athletes and members of the armed services. - An emergency response software tool that can capture, analyze and combine data into maps, charts and other information essential to disaster managers responding to events such as wildfires, floods or Earthquakes. This technology can save millions of dollars in losses from disasters and, more importantly, can help save lives when tragedy strikes. This year's Spinoff includes a special section to celebrate the commercial technologies that resulted from NASA's 30-year Space Shuttle Program. Also featured are spinoffs that have come from the construction of the International Space Station and work aboard the orbiting outpost. An additional section discusses the potential benefits of NASA's future technology investments. "NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist has more than a thousand projects underway that will create new knowledge and capabilities, enabling NASA's future missions," NASA Chief Technologist Mason Peck said. "As these investments mature, we can expect new, exciting spinoff technologies transferring from NASA to the marketplace, providing real returns on our investments in innovation." Spinoff 2011 includes features about NASA's aeronautics and space research; award-winning technologies; diverse partnerships; and support for science, technology, engineering, and math education. The publication also provides reference and resource information about NASA. Spinoff 2011 is available online at: http://spinoff.nasa.gov An archive of Spinoff features and a searchable database of more than 1,750 NASA-derived technologies featured in past issues of the publication also are available at the Spinoff site."

STEPHEN COLBERT SUPPORTS NASA

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

“HAMPTON, Va. -- Stephen Colbert, host of the nightly 'The Colbert
Report,' said in a new NASA public service announcement released
today that he's always been a huge fan of space.

The talk show host tells his Colbert Nation -- and the world -- that
he now likes space even more "because NASA is doing great things on
the International Space Station (ISS)."

The completion of the ISS ushered in a new era of research and
discovery in a near gravity-free environment. Research on the orbital
laboratory is focused on four areas: human health and exploration;
basic life and physical sciences; earth and space science; and
technology development to enable future exploration.

Colbert specifically mentions the agency's work aboard the space
station to develop new vaccines to fight infectious and deadly
diseases, such as salmonella and pneumonia. As resistance toward
current antibiotics becomes more common, there is an increasing need
for alternative treatments.

The Comedy Central comedian has had a continuing interest in the ISS.
In 2009, when NASA asked the public to help name the station’s Node
3, Colbert urged his followers to submit the name "Colbert." The name
received the most entries and astronauts continue to exercise on the
most famous treadmill in the world, the Combined Operational
Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill or COLBERT, in the
station’s Tranquility module.”

NASA SPONSORS ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

“MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- NASA’s Ames Research Center, in conjunction
with NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist’s Emerging Space Office,
is continuing its support for the Space Frontier Foundation’s annual
Business Plan Competition by funding this year’s awards totaling
$110,000.

The Space Frontier Foundation Business Plan Competition will be held
during a three-day event at NASA Ames in July 2012. The NASA
supported Emerging Space Grand Prize will include an award of
$100,000 for the best business plan with the potential to contribute
to space development. NASA also is supporting a second prize of
$10,000.

“As NASA’s Silicon Valley center, we’re continuing our tradition of
supporting entrepreneurs and encouraging the venture capital
community to become familiar with the new opportunities that are
emerging in space,” said NASA Ames Research Center Director Pete
Worden. “Part of our role is to encourage economic growth and
development and at NASA, we look to build on some of the nation’s
strongest assets to do so – including our skilled technical
workforce, our commercial creativity and our entrepreneurial spirit.”

The Business Plan Competition is designed for new, independent
companies in the seed, start-up, or early growth stages. The
competition simulates the real-world process of entrepreneurs
soliciting for start-up funds from early stage investors and venture
capital firms.

The competition traditionally includes a review of business plan
submissions by space industry experts and investors and a ‘Boot Camp’
where the finalist teams will receive expert training in promoting
and developing business plans.

In order to be eligible, competing companies should have technologies
or products that potentially could contribute to the expansion of
economic activity in space. Competition finalists will pitch their
business plans publicly and be judged by a panel of world-class
entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and finance professionals.

The Space Frontier Foundation is an organization dedicated to opening
the space frontier to human settlement as rapidly as possible. Its
goals include protecting Earth's fragile biosphere, creating a freer
and more prosperous life for each generation by using the unlimited
energy and material resources of space, and unleashing the power of
free enterprise to establish a permanent human presence in space.

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

For more information about the Space Frontier Foundation Business Plan
Competition and how to participate, visit:

http://newspacebpc.com

For more information about Space Frontier Foundation, visit:

http://spacefrontier.org”

ASTRONAUT APPLICATIONS ARE SECOND HIGHEST EVER

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

“HOUSTON -- More than 6,300 individuals applied to become a NASA
astronaut between Nov. 15, 2011 and Jan. 27, the second highest
number of applications ever received by the agency. After a thorough
selection process, which includes interviews and medical
examinations, nine to 15 people will be selected to become part of
the 21st astronaut class.

"This is a great time to join the NASA family," NASA Administrator
Charles Bolden said. "Our newest astronauts could launch aboard the
first commercial rockets to the space station the next generation of
scientists and engineers who will help us reach higher and create an
American economy that is built to last."


The Astronaut Selection Office staff will review the applications to
identify those meeting the minimum requirements. Next, an expanded
team, comprised mostly of active astronauts, will review those
applications to determine which ones are highly qualified. Those
individuals will be invited to Johnson Space Center for in-person
interviews and medical evaluations.

"We will be looking for people who really stand out," said Peggy
Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center
and chair of the Astronaut Selection Board. "Our team not only will
be looking at their academic background and professional
accomplishments but also at other elements of their personality and
character traits -- what types of hobbies they have or unique life
experiences. We want and need a mix of individuals and skills for
this next phase of human exploration."

NASA expects to announce a final selection of astronaut candidates in
the spring of 2013.

The selected astronaut candidates will have two years of initial
training. Subjects will include space station systems, Russian
language and spacewalking skills training. Those who complete the
training will be assigned technical duties within the Astronaut
Office at Johnson and, ultimately, missions.

Typically, the agency receives between 2,500 and 3,500 applicants for
astronaut vacancy announcements. The highest response occurred in
1978 with 8,000 applicants.”

SATURN AND THE LITTLE MOON DIONE

“Saturn and Dione appear askew in this Cassini spacecraft view, with the north poles rotated to the right, as if they were threaded along on the thin diagonal line of the planet's rings. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Dione (698 miles, or 1,123 kilometers across). North on Dione is up and rotated 20 degrees to the right. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from less than one degree above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 12, 2011. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 35,000 miles (57,000 kilometers) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 41 degrees. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.”

The above excerpt and picture are from the NASA website:

FIRST AMERICAN IN ORBIT, JOHN GLENN, TO HOST 50TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A TWEETUP

“CLEVELAND -- NASA's Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland will host
a special event on March 2 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of John
Glenn's first orbital flight by an American. NASA also will invite
100 people for a behind-the-scenes Tweetup at GRC in advance of the
celebration event.

The Tweetup activities begin at 7:30 a.m. EST with a tour of Glenn's
world-class flight research and ground test facilities that support
aeronautics and space exploration. Participants will speak with
scientists and engineers about technologies being investigated and
developed.

Following the tours, the Tweetup will move to downtown Cleveland for
the Glenn tribute event. "Celebrating John Glenn's Legacy: 50 years
of Americans in Orbit," will be held at 1 p.m. at Cleveland State
University's Wolstein Center. The program will include a video
tribute and remarks by Glenn and agency and political officials.
Tweetup participants also will meet astronaut Greg "Box" Johnson and
other special guests.

On March 1, 1999, the Lewis Research Center was officially renamed the
NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field in recognition of
Glenn's contributions to science, space and the State of Ohio. As one
of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Glenn trained in 1960 at
Lewis in the Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility.

Today, the center's research and technology development work focuses
on air-breathing propulsion; communications; in-space propulsion and
cryogenic fluids management; power, energy storage and conversion;
materials and structures for extreme environments; and physical
sciences and biomedical technologies in space.

Tweetup registration opens at noon on Friday, Feb. 3, and closes at
noon on Monday, Feb. 6. NASA will select 100 total participants,
including Twitter followers and their guests, by lottery from those
who register online. Because Glenn is a government facility with
restricted access, the event is open only to U.S. citizens and legal
permanent residents.

For more NASA Tweetup information and to sign up, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/tweetup"

26 NEW PLANETS ANNOUNCED BY NASA'S KEPLER PROGRAM SCIENTISTS

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

NASA'S KEPLER ANNOUNCES 11 PLANETARY SYSTEMS HOSTING 26 PLANETS

"MOFFET FIELD, Calif. -- NASA's Kepler mission has discovered 11 new 
planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries 
nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of 
stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in 
front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better 
understand how planets form.

The planets orbit close to their host stars and range in size from 1.5 
times the radius of Earth to larger than Jupiter. Fifteen are between 
Earth and Neptune in size. Further observations will be required to 
determine which are rocky like Earth and which have thick gaseous 
atmospheres like Neptune. The planets orbit their host star once 
every six to 143 days. All are closer to their host star than Venus 
is to our sun.

"Prior to the Kepler mission, we knew of perhaps 500 exoplanets across 
the whole sky," said Doug Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA 
Headquarters in Washington. "Now, in just two years staring at a 
patch of sky not much bigger than your fist, Kepler has discovered 
more than 60 planets and more than 2,300 planet candidates. This 
tells us that our galaxy is positively loaded with planets of all 
sizes and orbits." 

Kepler identifies planet candidates by repeatedly measuring the change 
in brightness of more than 150,000 stars to detect when a planet 
passes in front of the star. That passage casts a small shadow toward 
Earth and the Kepler spacecraft.

Each of the new confirmed planetary systems contains two to five 
closely spaced transiting planets. In tightly packed planetary 
systems, the gravitational pull of the planets on each other causes 
some planets to accelerate and some to decelerate along their orbits. 
The acceleration causes the orbital period of each planet to change. 
Kepler detects this effect by measuring the changes, or so-called 
Transit Timing Variations (TTVs

Planetary systems with TTVs can be verified without requiring 
extensive ground-based observations, accelerating confirmation of 
planet candidates. The TTV detection technique also increases 
Kepler's ability to confirm planetary systems around fainter and more 
distant stars.

Five of the systems (Kepler-25, Kepler-27, Kepler-30, Kepler-31 and 
Kepler-33) contain a pair of planets where the inner planet orbits 
the star twice during each orbit of the outer planet. Four of the 
systems (Kepler-23, Kepler-24, Kepler-28 and Kepler-32) contain a 
pairing where the outer planet circles the star twice for every three 
times the inner planet orbits its star.

"These configurations help to amplify the gravitational interactions 
between the planets, similar to how my sons kick their legs on a 
swing at the right time to go higher," said Jason Steffen, the 
Brinson postdoctoral fellow at Fermilab Center for Particle 
Astrophysics in Batavia, Ill., and lead author of a paper confirming 
four of the systems.

Kepler-33, a star that is older and more massive than our sun, had the 
most planets. The system hosts five planets, ranging in size from 1.5 
to 5 times that of Earth. All of the planets are located closer to 
their star than any planet is to our sun.

The properties of a star provide clues for planet detection. The 
decrease in the star's brightness and duration of a planet transit, 
combined with the properties of its host star, present a recognizable 
signature. When astronomers detect planet candidates that exhibit 
similar signatures around the same star, the likelihood of any of 
these planet candidates being a false positive is very low.

"The approach used to verify the Kepler-33 planets shows the overall 
reliability is quite high," said Jack Lissauer, planetary scientist 
at NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and lead 
author of the paper on Kepler-33. "This is a validation by 
multiplicity." 

These discoveries are published in four different papers in the 
Astrophysical Journal and the Monthly Notices of the Royal 
Astronomical Society. 

Ames manages Kepler's ground system development, mission operations 
and science data analysis. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 
Pasadena, Calif., managed the Kepler mission's development." 

THE ORION SPACE VEHICLE

01/24/2012 12:00 AM EST

The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), or Orion, being assembled and tested at Lockheed Martin's Vertical Testing Facility in Colorado. Drawing from more than 50 years of spaceflight research and development, Orion is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation's space program for decades to come. As the flagship of our nation's next-generation space fleet, Orion will push the envelope of human spaceflight far beyond low Earth orbit. Orion may resemble its Apollo-era predecessors, but its technology and capability are light years apart. Orion features dozens of technology advancements and innovations that have been incorporated into the spacecraft's subsystem and component design. A test version of the Orion spacecraft makes a stop at the Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City today, giving residents the chance to see a full scale test version of the vehicle that will take humans into deep space. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin

The above excerpt and picture are from the NASA website:

NASA'S J-2X ENGINE HAS POWER PACK TESTED

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

NASA'S J-2X ENGINE KICKS OFF 2012 WITH POWERPACK TESTING

"BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- A new series of tests on the engine that will 
help carry humans to deep space will begin next week at NASA’s 
Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The tests on the J-2X 
engine bring NASA one step closer to the first human-rated liquid 
oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine to be developed in 40 years.

Tests will focus on the powerpack for the J-2X. This highly efficient 
and versatile advanced rocket engine is being designed to power the 
upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift launch 
vehicle capable of missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The powerpack 
comprises components on the top portion of the engine, including the 
gas generator, oxygen and fuel turbopumps, and related ducts and 
valves that bring the propellants together to create combustion and 
generate thrust.

"The J-2X upper stage engine is vital to achieving the full launch 
capability of the heavy-lift Space Launch System," said William 
Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for the Human 
Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. "The testing today 
will help insure that a key propulsion element is ready to support 
exploration across the solar system." 

About a dozen powerpack tests of varying lengths are slated now 
through summer at Stennis’ A-1 Test Stand. By separating the engine 
components -- the thrust chamber assembly, including the main 
combustion chamber, main injector and nozzle -- engineers can more 
easily push the various components to operate over a wide range of 
conditions to ensure the parts’ integrity, demonstrate the safety 
margin and better understand how the turbopumps operate. 

"By varying the pressures, temperatures and flow rates, the powerpack 
test series will evaluate the full range of operating conditions of 
the engine components," said Tom Byrd, J-2X engine lead in the SLS 
Liquid Engines Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 
Huntsville, Ala. "This will enable us to verify the components' 
design and validate our analytical models against performance data, 
as well as ensure structural stability and verify the combustion 
stability of the gas generator."

This is the second powerpack test series for J-2X. The powerpack 1A 
was tested in 2008 with J-2S engine turbomachinery originally 
developed for the Apollo Program. Engineers tested these heritage 
components to obtain data to help them modify the design of the 
turbomachinery to meet the higher performance requirements of the 
J-2X engine. 

"The test engineers on the A-1 test team are excited and ready to 
begin another phase of testing which will provide critical data in 
support of the Space Launch System," said Gary Benton, J-2X engine 
testing project manager at Stennis.

J-2X is being developed for Marshall by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of 
Canoga Park, Calif."

APOLLO 1 CREW REMEMBERED

The crew of the Apollo 1 spacecraft are remembered:  Gus Grissom, Edward H. White II and, Walter B. Chaffee.  On January 27, 1967 they were killed when fire erupted during a test. Picture courtesy of NASA.

NASA'S SUOMI NPP SATELLITE TAKES A PICTURE OF EARTH

The above picture and below article are from the NASA website:

"A 'Blue Marble' image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA's most recently launched Earth-observing satellite - Suomi NPP. This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth's surface taken on January 4, 2012. The NPP satellite was renamed 'Suomi NPP' on January 24, 2012 to honor the late Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin. Suomi NPP is NASA's next Earth-observing research satellite. It is the first of a new generation of satellites that will observe many facets of our changing Earth. Suomi NPP is carrying five instruments on board. The biggest and most important instrument is The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite or VIIRS.

APPLICATION FOR ASTRONAUT CLASS IS ENDING SOON

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:

"HOUSTON -- Individuals interested in becoming America's future space 
explorers have until Friday to submit their applications. The 
deadline to apply for NASA's next astronaut class is Jan. 27.

The agency typically receives as many as 3,500 applicants for each 
astronaut class. Thus far, NASA has received more than 3,000 
applications since November for this class. 

"We are excited about the response we have received, and we want to 
encourage anyone contemplating this dynamic and exciting career to 
apply," said Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office. "We are 
entering a new phase in human spaceflight with amazing opportunities 
to live and work in space. We want the best, the brightest and the 
most talented mix of professionals to join our team."

Those interested in applying for the astronaut corps can submit their 
applications through the federal government's USAJobs.gov website. 
Qualifications include a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or 
math and three years of relevant professional experience. Educators 
teaching kindergarten through 12th grade also are encouraged to 
apply.

NASA expects to announce the final selections in 2013 with initial 
training to begin that summer.

For more information about the astronaut application and selection 
process and to follow the latest news via NASA accounts on Twitter, 
Facebook and YouTube, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/flynasa"

NASA ROVERS: GENERATIONS

The following picture and excerpt are from the NASA website:

Three Generations of Rovers with Crouching Engineers

01/19/2012 12:00 AM EST

Two spacecraft engineers join a grouping of vehicles providing a comparison of three generations of Mars rovers developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The setting is JPL's Mars Yard testing area. Front and center is the flight spare for the first Mars rover, Sojourner, which landed on Mars in 1997 as part of the Mars Pathfinder Project. On the left is a Mars Exploration Rover Project test rover that is a working sibling to Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on Mars in 2004. On the right is a Mars Science Laboratory test rover the size of that project's Mars rover, Curiosity, which is on course for landing on Mars in August 2012. Sojourner and its flight spare, named Marie Curie, are 2 feet (65 centimeters) long. The Mars Exploration Rover Project's rover, including the "Surface System Test Bed" rover in this photo, are 5.2 feet (1.6 meters) long. The Mars Science Laboratory Project's Curiosity rover and "Vehicle System Test Bed" rover, on the right, are 10 feet (3 meters) long. The engineers are JPL's Matt Robinson, left, and Wesley Kuykendall. The California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, operates JPL for NASA. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

DEFENSE AND STATE DEPARTMENTS PLAN FOR OUTER SPACE CODE OF CONDUCT

The following excerpt is from the Department of Defense American Forces Press Service:

“Defense, State Agree to Pursue Conduct Code for Outer Space
By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2012 - The departments of Defense and State have agreed an international code of conduct should govern activities in outer space, and officials announced plans to work with the European Union to develop it.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little yesterday issued a statement saying DOD "supports the concept" of an international code of conduct for outer space activities.
"An international code of conduct can enhance U.S. national security by encouraging responsible space behavior by reducing the risk of mishaps, misperceptions and mistrust," he said.

Little added that a European Union draft plan "is a promising basis for an international code."

Little's statement followed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's announcement yesterday that the United States has decided to join with the European Union and other nations to develop a code of conduct, which she said "will help maintain the long-term sustainability, safety, stability, and security of space by establishing guidelines for the responsible use of space."

Clinton's announcement came two days after a Russian spacecraft crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 700 miles west of Chile. The European Union issued its proposal about the same time as another space mishap – the February 2009 collision between a commercial satellite and that of a Russian military satellite, according to reports.

"The long-term sustainability of our space environment is at serious risk from space debris and irresponsible actors," Clinton said. "Ensuring the stability, safety and security of our space systems is of vital interest to the United States and the global community. These systems allow the free flow of information across platforms that open up our global markets, enhance weather forecasting and environmental monitoring, and enable global navigation and transportation.

"Unless the international community addresses these challenges," Clinton continued, "the environment around our planet will become increasingly hazardous to human space flight and satellite systems, which would create damaging consequences for all of us."

Opponents of the European Union plan have said it would restrict U.S. military options. But Clinton said yesterday that the U.S. government "has made clear to our partners that we will not enter into a code of conduct that in any way constrains our national security-related activities in space, or our ability to protect the United States and our allies."

In early 2011, then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper approved a National Security Space Strategy designed to govern congestion and competition in space, as well as contested areas of space.”