www.nasa.gov www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 1

NRP Partners Shine at Yuri’s Night

by Kathleen Burton

Six NRP Partners played a major role in Yuri's Night, an annual 

celebration and festival of ideas commemorating the first 

human space flight of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on 

April 12, 1961. Held at Hangar N-211 at Ames on April 12, 

the twelve hour space marathon was a unique blend of science, 

technology, art and music that drew a crowd of over 7,000.

Amid this carnival atmosphere, the NRP partners shone, joining 

a thronged Hangar N-211 to celebrate two Yuri’s Night themes 

– space exploration and “radical technology for a sustainable 

future.”

The NRP Exploration Lecture at Yuri's Night was delivered 

by Unimodal, a company currently negotiating with NASA 

to build a demonstration track to test its personal-rapidtransit (PRT) project called SKYTRAN. A next-generation, 

sustainable "people mover", Unimodal's demonstration track 

is slated to be built East of Hangar 3.

Unimodal CEO Christopher Perkins and COO John Cole held 

the audience' rapt attention from Hangar Stage B, as the sun 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A publication of NASA Research Park Summer 2008

NRP Post

Yuri’s Night continued on page 2 

L to R: Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, Astronaut Yvonne Cagle, Senior 

Advisor to Center Director Jack Boyd, Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Ames 

Associate Director for Institutions and Research Steve Zornetzer, Ames 

Director S. Pete Worden, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale, Director 

of Center Operations Lewis Braxton, III 

Photo by John Schultz

Google continued on page 3

Ribbon cutting at Yuri’s Night Opening Ceremonies 

NASA and Google Announce Lease at Ames 

Research Center

by Michael Mewhinney, NASA Ames 

and Andrew Pederson, Google

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. – NASA and Google Inc. announced 

June 4th plans to develop a new high-technology campus at 

NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. 

Under the terms of the 40-year agreement, Google will lease 

42.2 acres of unimproved land in NASA Research Park at 

Ames to construct up to 1.2 million square feet of offices and 

research and development (R&D) facilities in a campus-style 

setting.

“With this new campus, we will establish a new era of expanded 

collaboration with Google that will further enhance our Silicon Valley 

connections,” said Ames Director S. Pete Worden. “This major expansion 

of NASA Research Park supports NASA’s mission to lead the nation 

in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”

“This long-term lease agreement is a key component of Google’s strategy 

for continued growth in Silicon Valley,” said David Radcliffe, Google’s 

vice president of real estate and workplace services. “We believe this 

collaboration between Google, NASA and the city of Mountain View 

is emblematic of the mutually beneficial partnerships that can be created 

between the public and private sectors.” 

Google development site at NASA Ames Source: Google
NRP Post

2 www.nasa.gov

NRP Welcomes New Tenants

Airship Ventures

Building 156, February 2008

Airship Ventures is working with a number of science 

research partners to maximize the opportunity presented 

by this unique platform to conduct earth and atmospheric 

science.

Spatial Ops

Building 19, March 2008

R&D focused on technologies to assist the measurement 

and analysis of climate change caused by deforestation, 

harvesting forestation and reforestation.

Yuri’s Night continued on page 9

set outside, sketching out their revolutionary vision of 21st 

Century rapid mass transit that aims to solve today's traffic 

congestion and oil dependency problems.

"We need to rethink the core concept of how we move people around, not 

just make incremental improvements such as hybrid vehicles," Perkins 

noted.

SKYTRAN will use small vehicles running on elevated magnetic 

levitation (MAGLEV) guideways and non-stop point-to-point 

service. The pod-shaped vehicles will travel on guideways 

mounted on standard utility poles and will eventually travel 

up to 150 mph and move over 10,000 people per hour, both 

locally and regionally. SKYTRAN is aiming for a 500 million 

gallon energy use equivalency, compared to today’s standard 

automobile transportation efficiency.

"Conventional thinking says to stuff 200 people into a box which 

continually starts and stops to let those people on and off which is big and 

expensive,” Perkins said. Unimodal’s goal is to move people in 'small 

packets' (one or two per car) that they self- program via kiosk, he added.

The Unimodal “third generation” concept is different from 

current "second generation" PRT models currently being 

tested in Sweden and at London's Heathrow Airport in 

2009. Besides being affordable, the SKYTRAN concept is 

low maintenance because it uses passive maglev and linear 

synchronous motors. Eventually, SKYTRAN will harness 

solar energy to provide the electric power. 

 

For more information visit: www.Unimodal.com.

Yuri’s Night continued from front page

Artist rendering of SKYTRAN Personal Rapid Transit system. Unimodal’s 

CEO Chris Perkins and COO John Cole presented the NASA Research 

Park Exploration Lecture “A Transportation Strategy for the 21st 

Century” at Yuri’s Night. 

The Mars Institute gave a talk about how to prepare for 

the future of Mars exploration here on Earth from Hangar 

Stage B. “From Earth to Mars”, featured Mars Institute CEO 

Dr. Pascal Lee and three scientists from the Haughton Mars 

Project team — Dr. Brian Glass, Dr. Hans Utz and Dr. Darlene 

Lim, all of NASA Ames.

The Haughton Mars Project is a Martian analog multi-year 

research effort in which scientists use a remote, ancient impact 

crater in the Canadian High Arctic to field-test exploration 

equipment (such as rovers and space suits) and simulate the 

Mars Institute CEO Dr. Pascal Lee joined by Apollo Astronaut Buzz 

Aldrin presented “From Earth to Mars”, discussing how to use Earth 

as an analog to prepare for Mars exploration.

Photo by Paul Langston
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 3

Airship Ventures and Moffett Field – a Natural 

Partnership.

by Alex Hall, CEO, Airship Ventures

Background Perspective

In 1908 Count Zeppelin almost 

bankrupted himself trying to 

build his ‘crazy flying machines’ 

for the good of Germany. Public 

support poured in to the tune 

of 6 million marks, equivalent 

to more than $25 million at the 

time, resulting in the establishment of the Zeppelin Foundation 

in the city of Friedrichshafen. The Foundation oversaw the 

production of airships. Today the Foundation oversees a multibillion dollar manufacturing organization, a major industry for 

the area that in 1990 restarted its airship division. The Zeppelin 

NT (new technology) had her maiden flight in 1997, starting a 

new era for Zeppelin airships.

In 1931 the communities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale 

raised nearly half a million dollars to purchase 1000 acres of 

farmland to create a new dirigible airfield, and gave it to the 

US government for $1. They had a vision to bring the new 

Navy Zeppelin airships to the area to create employment, 

infrastructure and prestige. Their vision led to this location 

in 1940 of a key flight laboratory of the National Advisory 

Committee on Aeronautics (predecessor to NASA). With 

this concentration of expertise over time, combined with the 

excellence of Stanford University, the area evolved into today’s 

Silicon Valley - definitely a good investment.

The behemoth Zeppelin airships of the 1930s were an idea 

too early for the materials and propulsion technology of the 

time, although blimps – 

airships without internal 

rigid frames – quickly 

became popular with 

the Navy, and an LTA 

(lighter than air) program 

was created. Moffett 

Field’s infrastructure 

soon included the historic 1930s buildings and Hangar One 

and new airship hangars and the expanding NACA campus. 

LTA programs ceased in 1947 and other aviation, military and 

research used the infrastructure until 1994 when base closures 

closed Moffett and the site was transferred to NASA Ames. 

Airship Ventures continued on page 12

 Zeppelin NT #3 flying over Lake 

Constance

The new ship is the descendant 

of the original Zeppelins

Google continued from front page

Under the terms of this enhanced-use lease (EUL), Google will 

pay NASA an initial base rent of $3.66 million per year. This 

rate is based on appraisals establishing fair market value of the 

land. NASA will use the proceeds to cover the full cost of the 

lease and the balance may be used for capital revitalization and 

improvements of the real property assets at Ames.

The 40-year lease provides for periodic escalations and 

adjustments of rent. Google may extend the lease for three 

10-year terms. After that, NASA and Google may agree to 

extend the lease two additional 10-year terms. If all extensions 

are exercised, the lease term will be a total of 90 years. NASA 

will retain control over the project during its construction 

phase, including approving the design, issuing building permits, 

conducting inspections and monitoring construction. 

Construction will proceed in three phases. The first phase is 

planned to begin by the end of September 2013, the second 

phase by 2018 and the third by 2022. While the majority of the 

development will consist of office and R&D space, Google 

also plans to construct company housing and amenities such 

as dining, sports, fitness, child care, conference and parking 

facilities for its employees, as well as recreation and park 

facilities and infrastructure improvements for NASA’s use. 

Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of 

collaborations dating back to September 2005, when NASA 

and Google announced plans to work together on a variety 

of technology-focused R&D activities. NASA and Google 

signed a memorandum of understanding that year, launching 

negotiations for this development in NASA Research Park. 

Located at Ames, NASA Research Park is a world-class, shareduse educational and research-and-development campus. 

Since signing the memorandum of understanding in 2005, 

NASA and Google have begun collaboration on several joint 

projects. The Planetary Content project develops software that 

makes it easier for the science community to publish planetary 

data via the Internet. This project has already provided highresolution lunar imagery and maps to the Google MoonTM 

program and resulted in the “NASA” layer in Google Earth. 

Similarly, the Global Connection project enhances the 

“National Geographic” layer in Google Earth by embedding 

geo-referenced stories and images from around the world. The 

Disaster Response project develops prototype software tools 

to help improve first response to large-scale natural disasters. 

Google continued on back page
NRP Post

4 www.nasa.gov

lofted above the surface. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust 

Environment Explorer (LADEE) will launch before NASA’s 

moon exploration activities accelerate during the next decade.

“There are secrets to the solar system on the surface of the moon. It is 

advantageous that the science and exploration are linked so early on,” 

said Green.

Ames Dr. David Morrison has been selected as the interim 

director for NlSI.

“Creating a new and innovative program in lunar science is an exiting 

prospect, which I am thrilled to take on,” said Morrison. “We have long 

neglected our home satellite, but no more, ” he noted. 

A world-renowned planetary scientist, Morrison serves as 

the senior scientist at the Ames-based NASA Astrobiology 

Institute. The Lunar Science Institute, a virtual adventure 

in lunar science, is modeled after the Astrobiology Institute 

with teams working together across the nation to help lead 

the agency's research activities related to NASA's exploration 

goals. 

The NLSI will fund interdisciplinary science and exploration 

research teams to conduct basic lunar science, and 

astronomical, solar and Earth science investigations that can be 

performed from the moon. Institute teams also will provide 

a quick-response capability in support of NASA's Exploration 

initiative. The institute will also support development of the 

lunar science community and train the next generation of lunar 

science researchers.

NASA announced its intent to establish 

a new lunar science institute in October 

2007. The Lunar Science Institute will 

augment other, previously established, 

but smaller, focused lunar science 

investigations funded by NASA. Work 

performed by the institute will be 

conducted at a variety of NASA centers, 

universities and non-profit organizations 

across the nation. Institute funding will be 

allocated based on competitive selection 

following scientific peer review.

A nationwide search for a permanent director is under way. 

Morrison, who obtained his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard 

University, has written more than 155 technical papers and 

published a dozen books. He has worked at Ames since 1988, 

as chief of the space science division and director of the space 

directorate at the center. 

On April 11 the NASA Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) 

opened in NASA Research Park’s Historic District with 

a ribbon cutting by Ames Director S. Pete Worden, 

Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, California Congressman 

Mike Honda, NASA HQ’s Planetary Science Division Director 

Dr. Jim Green and Interim NLSI Director Dr. David Morrison 

from Ames. 

Building 17 was the former Admiral’s Quarters -- locating the NLSI in 

this beautiful building is a fitting legacy,” Worden said, opening the gala 

ceremony.

“The Lunar Science Institute will lead NASA’s basic and applied research 

for the agency’s lunar exploration goals, providing NASA with scientific 

and technical perspectives for lunar research programs and space missions. 

A bright future lies ahead for lunar science,” 

Worden noted.

“The most desirable space station already has 

six American flags on it, let’s go back and 

use it,” said Aldrin, the second man to walk 

on the moon, as he recalled the lunar plaque 

placed by Apollo crew stating “we come in 

peace for all mankind.”

This fall NASA plans to launch the 

Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 

Satellite (LCROSS) managed by Ames. LCROSS, a secondary 

payload aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter managed by 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will slam into the lunar 

surface to search for frozen water at the lunar south-pole.

 

NASA also has plans to send, in 2011, a small spacecraft to the 

moon to assess the lunar atmosphere and the nature of dust 

NASA Research Park’s Building 17 was renovated to 

house NLSI and NASA CoLab personnel.

Left to right: Dr. Jim Green, Michael Honda, Buzz Aldrin, S. Pete 

Worden and Dr. David Morrison cut ribbon for NLSI opening.

NASA’s Lunar Science Institute at NRP
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www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 5

Planners Collaborative, Inc. receives NASA Honor 

Award for Public Service Group Achievement 

NRP Partner Planners Collaborative, Inc. has been selected for 

the NASA Honor Award for Public Service Group Achievement, 

for an outstanding performance in business operations and 

technical services while participating in a significant program or 

project that has contributed substantially to NASA’s mission. 

Explicit consideration was given to: the quality of results and 

the level of impact on NASA programs or operations; effective 

management of cost and schedule; customer satisfaction; and 

additional credit for development of innovative approaches 

and/or success in responding to unforeseen crises.

Planners was selected from among hundreds of nominees 

throughout the Agency for its outstanding performance 

in support of NASA missions and for making significant 

contributions to the Agency’s strategic goals. 

“Planners is a small but incredibly resourceful company that has made 

significant contributions to the Agency’s strategic goals. They are highly 

deserving of the NASA Public Service Group Achievement Award. 

The management and technical team’s dedication to the success of the 

agency is perhaps best expressed by their company motto, “Making the 

Vision our Mission,” said John Adams, the nominating official.

“At Planners Collaborative, communication and collaboration across 

disciplines underscores all they do. From video news releases for the Public 

Affairs Office to video data acquisition for the Arc Jet Facility, they 

keep stakeholders informed, supportive and enthusiastic about NASA’s 

mission,” Adams noted.

“There is no higher honor for a NASA contractor than receiving the 

NASA Honor Award. We thank our NASA customers for this 

acknowledgement. We also want to thank our NASA customers for the 

collaborative environment we work in to achieve success together in support 

of NASA’s mission,” said Ed Shoucair, Vice President of Planners.

Planners Collaborative, Inc. at Building 19, NASA Research Park

Tibion Collaborates with Stanford University's 

Biomechanical Engineering Group

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Calif., May 22, 2008 

Tibion Corporation, a leading developer of bionic technologies 

for the mobility impaired, announced that it has engaged in 

a collaboration with Stanford University's Biomechanical 

Engineering Group to develop future applications of its bionic 

technology. Per the agreement, a team of Stanford graduate 

students will be working to extend Tibion's technology 

platform to additional medical applications. The work will 

serve as a foundation for future development activities to 

address mobility impairment across a wide range of acute and 

chronic indications.

Tom Andriacchi, Ph.D., Chairman of Stanford's Biomechanical 

Engineering Group and Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, stated 

that "the industry collaboration with Tibion has generated much excitement 

because of the technology's capacity to improve the quality of life for many 

people." The Stanford team will build on the bionic technology 

platform provided by Tibion to achieve enhanced mobility 

for patients suffering from neuromuscular or musculoskeletal 

pathologies.

Kern Bhugra, Tibion CEO, added, "We are fortunate to have the 

biomechanical expertise of Tom Andriacchi and his graduate students 

focused on additional applications of Tibion's bionic technology and are 

enthusiastic about the innovative potential."

For more information, visit: http://www.tibion.com 

Yuri’s Night “Flight Path” exhibit by Planners, depicting the 

history of flight, from the Wright Brothers (leaving Earth) to 

Neil Armstrong (walking on the Moon).

Photo courtesey of Photozig
NRP Post

6 www.nasa.gov

“LCROSS and its payload will give us a truly unique view of the impact 

event. Never farther than 600 km from the impact itself, and closing 

in fast, the suite of LCROSS instruments will characterize the impact, 

ejecta and resulting crater with unmatched sensitivity and resolution,” said 

LCROSS Principal Investigator and Ames planetary scientist Dr. Tony 

Colaprete.

“The method by which this payload was developed -- working with 

commercially available instrumentation and hardware and bringing it to 

flight qualification in rapid fashion -- made this payload possible in the 

first place,” said Colaprete.

Using an active, pre-defined and extensively rehearsed sequence 

stored in and executed by the DHU, the LCROSS science 

payload will first observe the Atlas 5 upper stage impact into 

the crater, followed seconds later by direct observations of the 

250-metric-ton plume of material ejected from the crater by 

this impact as it meets the incoming LCROSS spacecraft about 

10 km above the lunar surface. Finally, LCROSS will capture 

its own demise as it, too, impacts the same crater. 

Live RocketCam video and science data 

will be beamed to Earth-bound viewers 

throughout the 9-hour sequence of 

events. Numerous terrestrial and spacebased telescopes should be able to 

observe the impacts.

Ecliptic and Ames entered into a joint 

Memorandum of Understanding in summer 2007 to collaborate 

on projects involving onboard imaging systems for rockets and 

spacecraft, small space payloads, related data-transport and 

data-processing technologies, and novel government business 

models for enabling expanded entrepreneurial space activity. 

Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation and NASA Ames Collaboration In Full Swing

Pasadena Firm Provides Key Elements of LCROSS Lunar Mission Science Payload

A collaboration between NASA 

Research Park entrepreneurial 

space firm Ecliptic Enterprises 

Corporation and NASA Ames 

Research Center reached a 

milestone with final acceptance 

of the Ames-developed science 

payload for the LCROSS lunar 

mission and its shipment to 

Northrop Grumman Space 

Technology (NYSE: NOC) in 

Redondo Beach, CA. Integration 

and testing of the payload with 

the LCROSS spacecraft began in 

late February.

NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite 

mission is designed to impact the LCROSS spacecraft (and a 

large upper stage from the Atlas 5 rocket that launches it) into 

a permanently shadowed crater at the Moon’s south pole in 

early 2009. LCROSS, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, 

will be launched by the Atlas 5 in winter 2008.

Ecliptic, under contract to Ames, supplied the Data Handling 

Unit (DHU), the core avionics control unit to control and 

route data from all nine onboard remote-sensing science 

instruments -- including one of Ecliptic’s RocketCam color 

video cameras -- during the mission.

LCROSS Principal Investigator 

Dr. Tony Colaprete

LCROSS collecting data from plume impact 

Artist rendering courtesy of Northrup Grumman

Ames LCROSS payload team member Dr. Kimberly Ennico with a fully assembled LCROSS payload 

panel.

RocketCam NTSC

camera and bracket
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 7

Apprion Names Mike Bradley CEO

Former Wonderware President Joins Industrial Wireless Leader 

by Sarah Prinster

Apprion, the pioneer of industrial wireless application 

networks, announced in February that Mike Bradley has been 

named CEO, succeeding Stephen Lambright, a founder of 

Apprion who will be continuing with the company as VP 

of Marketing and Customer Services. Bradley served as 

Wonderware's president for five years from November 2002 

to November 2007. 

During his tenure, Bradley was instrumental in repositioning 

Wonderware from a pure-play HMI/SCADA vendor to a leader 

in Manufacturing Intelligence and Operations Management/

MES Software. Under his leadership, Wonderware consistently 

achieved more than four years of double-digit growth - 

expanding the installed base to over 100,000 plants and 

growing the network of distributors to more than 140 offices 

worldwide. 

“My time at Wonderware was some of the most gratifying of my career. 

But now I am elated with the tremendous growth possibilities at Apprion. 

It is rare to have an opportunity as exciting and as large in scope as what 

we see emerging in the industrial wireless space,” Bradley said. “What 

Steve Lambright, his executive team, and the entire Apprion team have 

already achieved in technology breakthroughs and customer success is 

extremely impressive. Apprion is poised for continued growth and I'm 

excited to join at such a pivotal point in the company's development.”

“We are extremely fortunate to have someone of Mike’s market acumen, 

personal character, and proven track-record join Apprion as CEO,” said 

Stephen Lambright. “Mike brings a wealth of experience to Apprion 

and under his guidance, I am certain we will extend Apprion’s leadership 

in serving the manufacturing and other industrial markets.” 

Mike Bradley, Apprion CEO 

NASA Ames Partners with m2mI for Small Satellite 

Development

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. -- April 24, 2008 -- NASA's Ames 

Research Center and m2mi Corp. announced April 24th 

they are taking a revolutionary step forward in improving 

telecommunications and networking from space.

Under the terms of a cooperative research and development 

agreement, only the third in NASA's history, NASA Ames and 

m2mi will work together to develop very small satellites, called 

nanosats, for the commercialization of space.

"NASA wants to work with companies to develop a new economy in 

space," said NASA Ames Center Director S. Pete Worden. "m2mi has 

great technology that fits excellently with our goals, while enhancing the 

commercial use of NASA-developed technologies."

Nanosatellites are small satellites weighing between 11 and 

110 pounds. A large number of these satellites, called a 

constellation, will be placed in low Earth orbit for the new 

telecommunications and networking system.

"The constellation will provide a robust, global, space-based, high-speed 

network for communication, data storage and Earth observations," said 

m2mi Chief Executive Officer Geoff Brown. "Nanosatellites take 

advantage of the significant technological advances in microelectronics and 

will be produced using low-cost, mass-production techniques."

Under the agreement, NASA and m2mi will cooperate to 

develop a fifth generation telecommunications and networking 

system for Internet protocol-based and related services. 

The cooperative effort will combine NASA's expertise in 

nanosensors, wireless networks and nanosatellite technologies 

with m2mi's unique capabilities in software technology, sensors, 

global system awareness, adaptive control and commercialization 

capabilities. Fifth Generation, or 5G, incorporates Voice Over 

Internet Protocol, video, data, wireless, and an integrated 

machine-to-machine intelligence layer, or m2mi, for seamless 

information exchange and use.

"This initiative shows great promise in revolutionizing mobile

communications critical in meeting future needs," said Badri Younes, 

NASA deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and 

Navigation. "This project also will leverage m2mi's capabilities in software 

expertise to automate global system awareness and provide intelligent 

adaptive control."

For more information visit: http://www.m2mi.com

Apprion continued on back page
NRP Post

8 www.nasa.gov

Carnegie Mellon University’s west coast campus, is launching in fall 2008 a full-time 

version of its very successful part-time Master’s in Software Engineering program. 

This exciting new program is designed for new or recent computer science graduates 

who are interested in becoming software engineers, developers, team leads, and 

architects in the dynamic Silicon Valley. 

This 12-month, full-time MS SE program delivers a team-based, project-oriented 

curriculum focused on agile applications reflective of the dynamic Silicon Valley 

software industry. Through authentic project work, students master modern 

software engineering methods and technologies across the lifecycle, learn to align 

software engineering decisions with the company’s business goals, and develop the 

communication, teamwork, and negotiation skills critical to successful technical 

leadership.

For questions about the program please contact Sylvia Leong, director of admissions, 

at Sylvia.leong@west.cmu.edu or by telephone at 650/335-2808.

Carnegie Mellon West and UC Berkeley Hosted One-Day Conference on The Mobile Future

Carnegie Mellon West Announces Launch of a new Full-time MS Software Engineering Program

 by Diane Dimeff

In a not-too-distant future, the computing platform of choice 

for a significant number of consumers will be a hand-held 

device. Signs of this trend are already apparent in Asia and 

Scandinavia, and all indicators suggest that this evolution 

transforms the lives and work of individuals in ways that 

are both chaotic and enriching. Given the diversity of global 

communications mechanisms, how can network operators, 

software vendors, and handset providers foster this evolution? 

Sofcon 2008 brought together experts from industry and 

the research community to share and discuss their visions of 

possible futures, along with technology and business models 

for achieving them. Held April 22nd at the Santa Clara 

Convention Center, Sofcon featured 15 great companies, 2 

great universities, 20 panelists, 300 attendees.

The Mobile Future conference, sponsored by Carnegie 

Mellon West and the Fisher Center at UC Berkeley’s Haas 

School of Business, brought together industry experts and 

academics to explore the background, current status, and 

future of the mobile communications industry. New demands 

from competition and advances in technology and innovation 

continue to rock the mobile technology and communications 

industry as well as its customers in ways that will alter how 

everyone lives and does business. So much is changing that we 

need a slice-in-time picture, viewed from many angles at once. 

Issues discussed were: What do consumers want? How can 

providers deliver it? What obstacles must be cleared? What 

partnerships make sense? What grand challenges need to be 

solved? How can Silicon Valley help close the gap with the rest 

of the world? Where should investors, creators, and customers 

of the mobile industry place their bets? 

Industry experts and academic pundits learned about the state 

and future of mobile technology – its demands, challenges, 

and opportunities from innovation to delivery of services.

Carnegie Mellon University west coast campus students

Did you know that Carnegie Mellon University is located 

in NASA Research Park near Mountain View?

We offer flexible full-time or part-time graduate programs:

MS in Software Engineering & MS in Software Management

Prospective Students:

http://west.cmu.edu/prospective_students

Directions to Campus:

http://west.cmu.edu/who_we_are/visitor

Our website: http://west.cmu.edu

Contact: 650-335-2808 or admissions@west.cmu.edu 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 9

human factors issues that will arise when astronauts live in 

Mars’ remote desolation.

The talk featured three videos shot by Discovery Television, 

Canada, showing Lee surveying Haughton Crater from a 

helicopter, a robotics field trial conducted by Dr. Utz of K-10 

Rovers “Red” and “Black” and a space suit test led by Dr. Glass 

and Martian lakes expert Dr. Lim.

Prior to the talk, a “surprise” guest in a vivid red shirt jumped 

onstage — Astronaut Buzz Aldrin -- who spoke passionately 

about using the Moon as a way station and a “safe haven” for 

astronauts and using Mars’ moons Phoebus and Demos as a 

fuel source for Mars travel.

According to Lee and his team, lessons learned from Haughton 

include: helping scientists figure out where to look for life’s 

biosignatures on Mars (at the bottom of a gullies and under 

rocks), realizing that impact craters tend to create habitable 

zones for new opportunistic life forms, and knowing that 

drilling and excavating on Mars could provide important 

resources for astronauts to “live off the land” on Mars.

NRP tenant Photozig was very visible at Yuri's Night. From 

Exhibit #46 located at the main door of the N-211 Hangar, 

CEO Bruno Kajiyama and his busy team of staffers and Yuri’s 

volunteers masterminded the "Photozig Web Albums Live" 

exhibit, broadcasting a real-time slideshow montage of images 

of Yuri's on a large overhead screen, posting photos to a photo 

sharing web site and video filming the event. Photozig shot 

over 2,000 images and interviewed over 100 people, including 

NASA Ames Director Dr. Peter Worden and Apollo Astronaut 

Buzz Aldrin.

“Yuri’s Night was a huge success because it motivated people to think about 

space exploration using technology, science, music and art,” Kajiyama 

said. His favorite images were of the space fashion show, a 

dance performance, slinky performers on stilts and children 

interacting with a robot.

To look at Photozig images of Yuri’s Night go to:

<http://m2.pepcast.com/pz/zindex.php>http://

m2.pepcast.com/pz/zindex.php

For Yuri’s Community Photo Sharing go to www.pepcast.com

The Community Photo Sharing allows the 198 Yuri’s Night 

events around the world to upload photo albums offering a 

world view of all Yuri’s Night events.

For other Yuri's night photos visit: <http://sf.yurisnight.

net/2008/>http://sf.yurisnight.net/2008/ (for the Bay 

Area) and <http://www.yurisnight.net/2008/>http://www.

yurisnight.net/2008/ (for yuri's Night around the world 

images).

Ecliptic Enterprises Corp’s CEO Rex Ridenoure flew in from 

Pasadena to take part in Yuri’s Night, and was joined by local 

intern Tina Le. Ecliptic presented a video compilation of 

“RocketCam’s Greatest Hits”, which showed a sampling of 

onboard “launch-to-orbit” video footage from 30 space projects 

(including NASA shuttle launches), many with sound, taken 

by Ecliptic’s onboard RocketCam camera. Images included 

many delta and shuttle launches, SpaceShipOne spacecraftrocket separation sequences and XCOR Aerospace test flights. 

The onboard video views showed the drama of what it’s like 

to ride a rocket into orbit, plus behind-the-scenes insights 

Yuri’s Night continued on page 14

Yuri’s Night continued from page 2

Yuri’s Night guest enjoying RocketCam’s Greatest Hits

Photo by Rex Ridenoure, Ecliptic Enterprises

Photo courtesey of Photozig

Photozig staff and Yuri’s Night guest
NRP Post

10 www.nasa.gov

UCSC Deeply Invested in Silicon Valley

Where we do business

UCSC has four major sites and employs 800 people in Silicon 

Valley. Its education and research programs serve more than 

18,000 students from pre-K through executive levels.

UCSC’s Silicon Valley Center is based in NASA Research Park 

in Mountain View and includes distance learning classrooms, 

faculty and student offices, and computer labs. Associated 

research facilities include he Advanced Studies Laboratory.

Building 19 (above): Classrooms, conference rooms, faculty 

offices, graduate offices, computer labs, staff offices, access to 

NASA Research Park facilities and conference center.

Building 239: 5,744 square feet of dry and wet lab space.

University Extension has sites in Cupertino and Sunnyvale 

that include classrooms, computer labs, and office space. 

Each year more than 18,000 Silicon Valley professionals turn 

to Extension for more than 40 professional development 

programs.

UCSC’s New Teacher Center operates a satellite office at 

the Extension Cupertino facility. 

An intensive mentoring initiative 

focuses on some of East Palo Alto’s 

lowest performing elementary and 

middle schools.

Lick Observatory, established on 

Mount Hamilton in 1888, was the 

first major mountaintop observatory 

in the world. It continues to be 

an important research site and is 

a leader in the development of 

instrumentation for adaptive optics. 

UCSC and NASA: Allies in Innovation 

The University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), a 

partnership between NASA and the University of California, 

is a 10-year, $330 million research contract managed by UC 

Santa Cruz. UCSC and NASA scientists work side by side on 

UARC research tasks in critical areas. 

• UARC teams have developed award winning software tools 

to improve the nation’s air traffic management systems. 

• Nanotechnology researchers are developing technology 

that incorporates nanoscale features into advanced semiconductors. 

• Computer scientists have developed a computer-based 

spoken-dialogue system that responds to voice commands 

and talks astronauts through complicated procedures in 

space. 

Bio-Info-Nano Research and Development Institute 

With NASA and industry, UCSC is spearheading the 

establishment of research and development facilities through 

which industry, government, and university scientists will 

seek breakthrough technologies based on the convergence of 

biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology. 

Hewlett-Packard is the first partner in the BIN-RDI’s industry 

affiliates program. 

The observatory’s three-meter Shane Telescope plays a key 

role in the discovery of planets around distant stars, and the 

Automated Planet Finder now under construction will be the 

observatory’s seventh major telescope.

By the numbers

Silicon Valley Employees:

• UCSC Extension: 500 instructors, 75 staff members

• Lick Observatory: 15 researchers, 25 staff members

• Silicon Valley New Teacher Center: 5 staff members

• Silicon Valley Center: 135 researchers, 25 faculty members, 

25 staff members

UCSC alumni in Silicon Valley: 7, 719

Silicon Valley enrollments:

• Silicon Valley Center: 200

• Extension Facilities: 18,000

Shane Telescope
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 11

UCSC officials joined industry 

representatives in April to 

discuss the benefits of industryuniversity partnerships in Silicon 

Valley. They provided insights 

into managing successful research 

and development partnerships.

Nirvikar Singh, Special Advisor 

to the Chancellor for the School 

of Management, noted the 

Partnerships with UCSC’s School of Engineering 

UCSC’s Baskin School 

of Engineering 

(BSoE) is collaborating 

with industry partners 

including Cisco Systems, 

General Motors, Google, 

Lockheed Martin, Yahoo, 

and others to create new 

opportunities in research 

and education for Silicon 

Valley. The school is building and maintaining excellence in three 

major research areas: information technology, biotechnology, 

and nanotechnology. These three areas are closely linked and 

synergistic in nature, and activities in each area are supported 

and enhanced by contributions from the others. Many BSoE 

research programs also have strong ties with Silicon Valley 

industry. 

•	 The Storage Systems Research Center is working to 

improve the performance and profitability of the data 

storage industry through strong focus on the software and 

systems aspects of data storage. 

•	 The Information Technology Institute conducts 

collaborative research in a wide range of areas related 

to the Internet, computer systems, and communication 

technologies. 

•	 The High-Speed Networks Lab is developing the next 

generation of high-capacity routers and switches for 

network communications. 

•	 The Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering 

blends cutting-edge computational approaches with 

new research in biology, chemistry, and engineering and 

maintains the UCSC Genome Browser, a valued resource 

for biomedical and biotechnology research.

Potential innovations include the development of: 

• Sustainable energy technologies, such as thermoelectric 

materials, novel photovoltaic devices, and fuel-cells. 

• Ultra-miniature medical and surgical tools for noninvasive 

surgery and microelectronic prosthetic devices 

• Machines that optimize and conserve energy with attributes 

similar to biological systems 

Baskin School of Engineering 

at Santa Cruz campus

Campus and Industry Representatives Discuss 

Benefits of Partnerships in Silicon Valley

By LaRae West, larae@ucsc.edu

Vice chancellor for university 

relations Donna Murphy (center) 

panelists Anna Williamson of 

Genentech (L) and Lou Witkin of 

HP Labs (R). 

economic benefits of such partnerships.

"Universities such as Bologna and Oxford are the oldest continuously 

functioning institutions in the world. Since their founding, they have 

been critical to the success of their surrounding economies," said Singh, 

a professor of economics. "Modern industry-university partnerships offer 

the potential for cutting-edge research, as well as challenges of intellectual 

property management and culture alignment."

The panel, held April 1 at the NASA Ames Conference 

Center, included Lou Witkin, program manager of HP Labs 

Open Innovation Office; Anna Williamson, senior manager of 

business development at Genentech; William Berry, director 

of UC-NASA Ames University Affiliated Research Center; and 

Gerald Barnett, director of UCSC's Office for Management 

of Intellectual Property. Steve Zornetzer, associate center 

director for institutions and research at NASA Ames, was the 

moderator.

Berry discussed UCSC's Silicon Valley Initiatives-- the Bio-InfoNano Research and Development Institute, UCSC Extension 

and the proposed School of Management. Through these 

initiatives, UCSC is partnering with NASA Ames and Silicon 

Valley industry and universities at NASA Research Park.

Partnerships offer opportunities to engage university students in 

open collaborations that bring new ideas to help shape industry 

and the world and create an entrepreneurial environment. 

Witkin discussed the phases necessary to establish a partnership, 

noting that "if any one of the steps are skipped there will be less than 

optimal partnering." Williamson said Genentech is interested 

in collaborations with universities because to continue to 

be creative they need "internal and external people to work at the 

forefront of science."
NRP Post

12 www.nasa.gov

Aiship Ventures continued from page 3

Today NASA is engaged in developing the reuse of Moffet 

Field as NASA Research Park, attracting industry and academic 

partners.

Airship Ventures - The Zeppelin Revival

Zeppelin has been operating an NT airship in Germany 

profitably, for sightseeing, science missions, advertising 

and media. Their studies show that the ideal place with an 

appropriate demographic, tourist base and climate for a similar 

operation is the San Francisco Bay Area. Airship Ventures 

principal, Brian Hall, embraced a partnership with Zeppelin 

Luftschifftechnik and during the past year, invested significant 

dollars and countless man hours in clearing regulatory and 

operational hurdles and raising the financing for this new 

business.

Airship Ventures at NASA Research Park

In February 2008 Airship Ventures took up temporary 

residence in Building 156 while they continue negotiating to 

lease a historic building to base their headquarters at NASA 

Research Park. Their vision involves sympathetic renovation 

to preserve a historic building. 

On May 21, 2008, Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik and Airship 

Ventures announced the successful first flight of the fourth 

and latest Zeppelin NT airship over Friedrichshafen, Germany. 

Airship Ventures has witnessed over the past year the frame 

assembly, gondola fitting, helium put into the envelope, the 

engines’ first start up and now her maiden flight. 

The Airship Ventures logo and “Going Places” branding 

evoke images of flightseeing trips to come – iconic locations in 

California including San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, 

Treasure Island, Hollywood and Yosemite. The Airship plans 

to arrive in the Bay Area in October 2008, 75 years almost to 

the day since the Macon arrived on October 15, 1933. 

Historic Building 20 Restoration

Building 20, one of NASA Ames’ historic buildings located 

in the Shenandoah Historic District at NASA Research Park, 

has recently undergone a facelift in preparation for reuse as a 

partner occupied building. This building, built in 1933, served 

as the military Bachelor Office Quarters until 1999 when it 

became vacant. 

In compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act 

of 1966 and environment and fire codes, the Center made an 

effort to repair the building deficiencies to preserve this historic 

building for interim partner occupancy on the first floor. A 

View of Lobby after renovation

Storage room 

before and after

Airship Ventures’ new Zeppelin

Airship Ventures continued on back page
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 13

substantial investment was made to repair roof, gutters and 

flooring; wall, ceiling and external damages; and abatement of 

hazardous material. In addition, upgrades and replacements 

were made to building systems such as the boiler unit, steam 

radiators, hot and cold water, electrical, data and phone, fire 

alarm and exit/emergency lighting. 

The Shenandoah Historic District is an attractive site to the 

commercial and university partners who have a collaborative 

and programmatic relationship with NASA. 

The repair efforts brought Bldg. 20 back to life in the 

Ames community. The investment will prevent on-going 

deterioration while making it habitable for future business 

occupancy. 

Office space 

before and after

Lobby fireplace before and after

Xeriscape Gardens by Kathleen Burton

Center Director S. Pete Worden is encouraging green initiatives 

at Ames. As one of his objectives in 2008, he is interested 

in the development of Ames as a center for green energy 

technologies in Silicon Valley. 

An early green initiative at Ames was the development of 

Ames’ Xeriscape gardens. Xeriscape gardens consist of 

California native plants that require little water. They reduce 

landscaping needs and associated waste, saving maintenance 

and disposal costs. “Such gardens provide healthy habitats for native 

butterflies, birds and other species,” said Steve Frankel, Chief of the 

Plant Engineering Branch. Frankel is responsible for center 

maintenance, repairs and landscaping.

Visit Xeriscape Gardens at Ames Megabyte Café and across 

from Bldg. 269.

Matija poppies

Photo by Christine Nolasco

Photo by Christine Nolasco
NRP Post

14 www.nasa.gov

LifeZig Personalized Reminiscence Video with 

Free Slideshows and Music for Individuals with 

Alzheimer’s and Dementia

CEO Bruno Kajiyama (R) and 

John DiMario (L) of Photozig Inc. 

into aerospace vehicle development and testing. Ecliptic’s 

presentation was located in the “chill area”, an area in the 

Northwest part of the Hangar N-211, designed to provide a 

respite from the high-voltage energy of Yuri’s Night.

In the chill area, people lounged on pillows and couches and 

alternated listening to the Yuri’s Night DJ spin metallic space 

rock and Ecliptic’s launch audiotape, set against dramatic 

images shot by RocketCam of the shuttle and other space 

vehicles in all phases of launch and flight.

About 800 people viewed the RocketCam video, Ridenoure 

noted. There was definitely enthusiasm. After viewing 

SpaceShipOne’s onboard video sequence from take-off to 

landing, one group of viewers burst into spontaneous applause, 

Ridenoure said. “You can almost feel the launch vibration when you 

look at RocketCam images,” said another Yuri’s Night attendee.

“I was very pleased to see such a wide variety of people there -- age, 

ethnicity, formality (or not), geographic origin -- and to also see how “nonNASA” the overall setup and event details were,” Ridenoure noted.

“I was also pleased to see so many people stroll by the RocketCam video, 

stop, spend a few minutes gawking at the video clip, and then walking 

away saying, "Wow! That was SOOOO cool!"

Ridenoure believes that the goals of Yuri’s Night were met. “It raised 

the awareness level about space exploration,” he said, “and everyone had 

fun doing it.”

Inform Art/Gary Air presented “Share a Ride and Sustain 

the Earth”, whose centerpiece was a Cessna single-engine 

piston airplane outfitted with state-of-the-art air taxi avionics, 

allowing ride sharing by air to avoid the congestion below. 

Yuri’s Night continued from page 9

Yuri’s Night continued on next page

Tricia and Dave Guerrieri, a short-haul pilot, presented 

“Share a Ride and Sustain the Earth”

Photo by Paul Langston

Photozig, Inc., located 

at NASA Research 

Park, announced the 

expansion of its free 

LifeZig program to 

create personalized video 

channels for individuals 

with Alzheimer’s Disease 

and other dementia, as it is 

recruiting eligible organizations that provide care for dementia 

patients in the San Francisco Bay Area.

LifeZig, funded by the National Institute on Aging under grant 

2R44AG022261-02A1, aims to develop a new reminiscence 

activity for dementia patients based on personalized 

reminiscence slideshows, which may contribute to enhancing 

quality of life, reducing agitation, and decreasing the burden 

of care.

This program is free for eligible organizations and caregivers. 

Compensation and an optional free DVD with personalized 

digital photo album and slideshow video will be provided to 

participants.

"LifeZig enables an enhanced reminiscence activity for dementia. In our 

pilot tests, we were impressed by participants’ reactions, when watching 

their own video," said Bruno Kajiyama, CEO of Photozig. "Initial 

results suggest that LifeZig may help to improve their mood and decrease 

anxiety by providing pleasant events, and facilitating communication with 

caregivers. The possibilities of such digital photo technology to improve 

behavioral interventions for dementia are very encouraging."

According to Ames Technology Partnerships, LifeZig 

technology could potentially be used for ISS crews skill 

training. 

There are many tasks aboard ISS or longer duration future 

missions that could benefit from multimedia skills training or 

refresher courses, according to one of the technology

partnership managers. For example, this type of vivid training 

(as opposed to dry technical manuals) would be useful in 

emergencies (medical and otherwise), unplanned mission 

contingencies and cross-training. LifeZig technology could 

also provide videos, music, photos, and art exchange between 

ISS crews and their families. 

Dementia care providers are encouraged to contact LifeZig, at 

650-694-7496 ext.3 or "info @ photozig.com".
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 15

A collaborator, Zimride, whose role is to set up air “carpools” 

using social networks such as FaceBook, also took part. 

The purpose of Gary Air’s exhibit was to demonstrate the 

concept of “ride sharing” by air.

“Yuri’s Night was the right venue for this,” said company principal 

David Guerrieri. One powerful positive for Guerrieri was 

that the event showcased the essence of the NRP — to foster 

collaborations. “Yuri’s let Inform Art/Gary Air join together with 

Cessna and Zimride to show people this new air taxi concept,” he 

said. The purpose of air taxi is to lower commute costs and 

reduce greenhouse emissions from both cars and airplanes, 

in keeping with the Yuri’s Night theme, he noted. 

 

InformArt, Zimride, Google and others are joining forces to 

foster social network data sharing for air taxi rides, he said. 

For example, if someone signs up on Craigslist to share an 

air ride, that database will be automatically matched with 

ride share names also listed on social network databases.

Yuri’s Night photos by Paul Langston, John Schultz, Jim Taylor and Photozig

Trekkie with Astronaut Yvonne Cagle Ames CIO Chris Kemp and Dr. S. Pete Worden

Steve Wozniak

Yuri’s Night continued from previous page

Photo by Paul Langston

Makani Power’s model of a wind-powered hydrofoil

Yuri’s Night also showcased NRP tenant Makani Power, who 

provided a model of their wind-powered hydrofoil boat, 

developed by founder Don Montague. In addition, Makani 

Power CEO Saul Griffith gave a talk on sustainability.
NRP Post

16 www.nasa.gov

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diane Farrar

Layout and Design . . . . . . . . . .Christine Nolasco

NRP Post deadlines

Please submit articles to nrppost@mail.arc.nasa.gov

on or before September 12, 2008 for the next issue.

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: researchpark@mail.arc.nasa.gov

Website: www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

NRP Lease Payment Location Changes

Effective July 1, 2008, all NASA billings and collections 

-- including NASA Research Park lease payments -- will be 

processed centrally at the following address:

NASA Shared Service Center (NSSC) 

FMD Accounts Receivable

Attn: For the Accounts of NASA Ames Research Center

Bldg. 1111, C Road

Stennis Space Center, MS 39529

NRP Partners should mail lease payments to this address by 

the first of each month. Any questions, please contact your 

NRP Account Manager. Thanks for your assistance.

Announcements

Upcoming Events

11:30 am - 1:30 pm

Chase Park

4th Annual 

NRPSummerPicnic

July 23rd, 2008

Prior to joining Wonderware, Bradley was CEO of Projexsys, 

an electronic business intelligence company serving industrial 

and financial markets. Before starting Projexsys, Bradley spent 

14 years as CEO for Cimtek Commerce Inc. and Cimtek Inc., 

which were e-Commerce and marketing database companies 

serving the industrial and medical marketplaces. Early in his 

career, Bradley was a sales and marketing manager for Texas 

Instruments for 10 years in the Industrial Systems Division. 

Apprion has been a partner in Bldg. 19 NASA Research Park 

since Nov. 15, 2004. #SAA2-401893 is their current lease.

Apprion continued from page 7

Airship Ventures continued from page 12

Google continued from page 3

Google’s innovative search technologies connect millions of 

people around the world with information every day. Founded 

in 1998 by Stanford University Ph.D students Larry Page and 

Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property in all major 

markets. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices 

throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. 

Collaborative Opportunities

Airship Ventures is working with a number of NASA science 

research partners to maximize the opportunity to conduct 

earth and atmospheric science, both done by the Zeppelin and 

traditional blimps in the past. The Zeppelin has also been used 

successfully for surveillance, is a wonderful educational tool, 

and in partnership with Hiller Aviation Museum and NASA, 

will support teachers and students who are inspired by the 

world’s longest commercial airship (246ft) in Bay Area skies.

For further information visit: 

www.airshipventures.com or 

Airshipventures.blogspot.com