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

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A publication of NASA Research Park Summer 2009

NRP Post

Ecliptic’s RocketCam “Shoots the Moon” 

in LCROSS Mission

by Kathleen Burton

NRP tenant Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation is playing a 

crucial role in the LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and 

Sensing Satellite) mission to search for the signature of water, 

a lunar resource that can be used for future human exploration, 

at the Moon’s rugged South Pole.

Ecliptic’s signature product, RocketCamTM, transmitted 

video from three camera perspectives of the picture-perfect 

launch from Cape Canaveral aboard an ATLAS V rocket on 

June 18. RocketCamTM, a family of onboard imaging systems, 

is designed to withstand the extreme environment of space 

launches and missions. 

Almost five days after launch, LCROSS performed a Moon 

flyby to insert LCROSS into its Lunar Gravity Assist Lunar 

Return Orbit (LGALRO). During this maneuver, the LCROSS 

science payload was activated to provide for calibration data 

and determine that instruments were correctly pointed. As 

part of the flyby, lunar surface images, a stunning visual event, 

was also captured by a RocketCam video camera, one of 

LCROSS’ nine payload sensors.

Besides RocketCam, an Ecliptic-supplied avionics unit, called 

the Data Handling Unit (the DHU), controls all nine LCROSS 

visible, infrared and flash imaging sensors, which will relay 

mission-critical information about the composition of the 

lunar sub-surface excavated by the Centaur Stage Rocket impact event back to Earth. 

NASA Research Park Hosts Exploration 

and Sustainability EXPO

by Kathleen Burton

On April 21, 2009, NASA Research Park held its third 

Technology EXPO, focused on the themes of exploration and 

sustainability. The event was held in Bldg. 943 and the Exploration Dome from 9 am - 4 pm.

“We are showcasing the technologies resulting from the relationships NRP 

has built between universities, businesses, non-profits and graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Michael 

Marlaire, Director NASA Research Park.

“The EXPO is focused this year on the confluence between NASA’s 

exploration-driven technologies and the new technologies needed for sustainability here on Earth,” said Marlaire, noting that “the end result will be 

a cleaner, greener Earth.”

Cosponsored by the Ames Innovative Partnerships Program 

(IPP), the open-to-the-public event attracted over 800 visitors 

from inside and outside NASA and the Silicon Valley, including business leaders, local politicians, venture capitalists and 

the media.

The EXPO featured 40+ exhibitors from NRP and Ames in 

areas ranging from electric power sources for cars to unmanned 

aerial vehicles used to fight California’s recent wildfires. In 

parallel with the exhibits, 13 speakers gave short presentations 

Ecliptic continued on page 4

EXPO continued on page 2

LCROSS launch June 18, seen by RocketCam (aft-facing) 

on the first stage of the Atlas 5 Rocket

Clark Foster, VP Mechanical Engineering, Unimodal Systems, with 

SkyTranTM exhibit at the NRP Exploration and Sustainablility EXPO

Image courtesy RocketCam
NRP Post

2 www.nasa.gov

in the nearby Exploration Dome on diverse topics such as: 

“The Moon as a Window on Earth,” “Advanced Life Support 

Systems” and “Supercomputing for Green Technology.”

“In NASA’s exploration mission, we are developing technologies with 

Earth-based applications, many having to do with sustainability,” said 

event attendee Doug Comstock, Director of NASA’s Innovative Partnership’s Program, referencing the work NASA is doing to support the ISS 

and future lunar and Mars habitats.

“NASA has an opportunity to help the nation move to sustainable systems 

and renewable energy in the future," said Jeff Smith, Deputy Chief of the 

Ames Entrepreneurial Initiatives Division. "NASA's research for the ISS 

and future lunar and Mars habitats will spinoff new green technologies that 

make our homes and businesses more sustainable here on Earth. Some recent 

green and environmental spinoffs from Ames include new insulation materials, 

software for more efficient air traffic management, ground-based sensors to provide environmental data and space-based imaging and analysis for identifying 

environmental hazards and watering needs for various crops.”

Among the EXPO exhibitors were:

Unimodal Systems LLC, developer of the SkyTranTM personal 

rapid transit (PRT) technology, a hybrid urban transportation 

model with the privacy and flexibility of an automobile and 

the throughput of mass transportation;

Kleenspeed Technologies, creating scalable R&D electric 

power systems for transportation; 

NASA ARC Green Aviation Systems, using green aviation 

systems and researching air traffic management protocols to 

improve the flying experience, reduce emissions and increase 

on-time arrivals;

Carnegie Mellon University Innovations Lab (CMIL), developing rovers and mission control systems as prototypes for 

future Mars rover missions;

UAV Collaborative, a non-profit promoting unmanned aerial 

vehicles for applications such as acquiring data with Earth Science applications and providing emergency response search 

and rescue services;

The Lunar Science Institute, a virtual institute with central 

offices at NASA Ames and member teams worldwide;

Tesla Motors, showcasing the only U.S. certified roadster electric vehicle which operates on lithium batteries, travels 244 

miles on a single charge and reaches a top speed of 125 mph;

RMV Technology, providing electro-static discharge (ESD) 

testing of materials used in space and elsewhere, helping to 

curb the problem of parts counterfeiting.

Both exhibitors and visitors gave the event an A+. “The NRP EXPO 

was a great success,” said exhibitor Florian Selch of CMU’s Innovations 

Lab. “We had great opportunities to chat with people, promote our 

research and find new connections.”

“We were impressed with the high quality of information and exhibits,” said 

Marianne Adoradio of the NOVA Business Liason, who said NOVA 

plans to follow up with several companies who exhibited at the EXPO.

For a complete list of exhibitors and speaker topics and video 

of EXPO highlights and presentations, please visit the NRP 

website: researchpark.arc.nasa.gov under “2009 EXPO”.

Photozig, an NRP tenant and EXPO exhibitor, has posted a web 

album of the event at http://my1.photozig.net/NRP/zindex.php

University Affiliates, LLC - 

RFQ Submittals Announcement

by Patricia Ponzini, Assistant Director, UA, LLC

University Associates-Silicon Valley LLC has completed 

the first phase evaluation of the four developer team 

responses to its Request for Qualifications issued in June 

2009. Following the July 16th meeting of its Board of 

Governors, UA-SV has selected two finalist teams for the 

second phase leading to the selection of a development 

team to form the private element of its public-private 

partnership to develop a portion of the NASA Research 

Park as a sustainable community for research and education. The two teams selected to develop business plans for 

UA-SV consideration are: 

• Lowe Enterprises/Essex Property Trust/

Swinerton Builders/Skanska USA Building Inc.

• TMG Partners/The Related Companies

For info contact: Teifion Rice-Evans, Economic and

Planning Systems, (510) 841-9190

EXPO continued from front page
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 3

• Dr. David Morrison, 

Director NASA Lunar Science Institute

• Tim Collins, President, KleenSpeed Technologies Inc.

• Christopher Perkins, CEO, Unimodal Systems, LLC

• Steve Hipskind, Chief Earth Science Division, 

NASA Ames

• William Berry, President, University Associates

• Kern Bhugra, CEO, Tibion Corp.

• Dr. John Hogan, 

NASA Ames Space Bioengineering

• Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, Director of Research, 

CMU Innovations Lab (CMIL)

• Dr. Michael Sims, Intelligent Systems Division, 

NASA Ames

• William Thigpen, Advanced Supercomputing, 

NASA Ames

• Dr. Eric Becklin, SOFIA Project 

• Dr. John Hines, Chief Technologist, 

Ames Engineering Directorate

 EXPO Speakers

NRP and NASA HIghlights at Exploration and Sustainability EXPO
NRP Post

4 www.nasa.gov

“When the spent Centaur goes in, you’ll see a quick flash in a completely 

dark crater,” Ridenoure said. He described what will happen approximately four minutes later: “As the plume of Moon debris from the Centaur 

impact crater hits the sunlight, the spacecraft will go in, diving through the 

Centaur impact plume, which will be whizzing by LCROSS (but at a 

comfortable distance away from LCROSS) in the form a crown.” At 

that point, LCROSS’ infrared sensors will look thru the debris “and see 

what it’s made of before everything, including RocketCam, vaporizes.” 

Earth-based telescope signals will corroborate this impact scenario. 

 “As before, our avionics will be controlling the whole sensor suite including 

a lot of data switching and formatting so the spacecraft can relay the data 

to Earth before the mission ends.” Approximately forty percent of the 

images taken during approach and impact content will be from Ecliptic’s 

video camera, he said. 

“The last three hours will be full of action, with things changing quickly,” 

Ridenoure said. “And the last hour will be how the public will remember 

LCROSS, ...the moon creeping up on the spacecraft and then, the impact. 

I can’t wait,” said Ridenoure, noting that he “plans to be up all night.”

Ecliptic’s business plan focuses primarily on placing the company’s RocketCam products on rockets and spacecraft going to 

Earth orbit, the Moon and Mars. The July 15th NASA shuttle 

launch marks Ecliptic’s 70th launch “with no failures,” said 

Ridenoure. RocketCam is now on 12 different rocket types, 

including NASA, commercial and defense customers, and has 

been launched on five 

different spacecraft, 

two in low Earth orbit 

and two in geosynchronous orbit, with 

LCROSS the first to 

the Moon.

LCROSS is a low cost 

$79 million Class D 

mission that delivered a 

spacecraft for acceptance 

in 28 months and is still 

running under cost. It is the first of its kind dual payload aboard the 

ATLAS V and the collaborative teamwork between NASA Ames, 

Goddard, Marshall, Kennedy and Northrop Grumman allowed NASA 

to capitalize on using existing payload capability and keeping costs down. 

“I am very happy for the LCROSS team, which put together the science 

payload for less than $2 million and made it all work. LCROSS sets a 

new standard for low cost payloads on lunar missions,” Ridenoure said.

Ecliptic’s next NASA lunar mission is the GRAIL gravity measurement mission, run by JPL, and planned for launch in 2011.

“For me the most special moment during the lunar flyby was when our 

DHU and all the sensors were turned on,” said Ecliptic CEO Rex 

Ridenoure. “This is the high stakes part for Ecliptic. If our DHU fails, 

the spacecraft won’t be able to return data,” he said.

“All of us at Ecliptic breathed a sigh of relief when the lunar flyby data 

started streaming back to Earth,” said Ridenoure, who was at home in 

Pasadena watching the “off-hours” flyby on his laptop. Of Ecliptic’s eightperson staff, four have been directly working on the LCROSS mission on 

and off for several years.

LCROSS’ goal is to determine the presence or absence of water 

ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar south pole. 

Together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, LCROSS marks the beginning of NASA’s return to the 

Moon missions.

The LCROSS mission, a collaboration between Ames and 

Northrop Grumman, demonstrates that fast, small, inexpensive missions are viable options for NASA’s ambitious return 

to the Moon and Mars. 

Next up for Ecliptic and LCROSS is the lunar impact event 

on October 9 at around 4:30 am PDT. On final approach to 

the Moon, the inert Centaur stage rocket and the LCROSS 

shepherding spacecraft will separate. The LCROSS spacecraft 

will perform a braking maneuver and will reorient to point the 

instrument payload to capture images and spectra from the 

Centaur impact event and transmit the data to Earth. During 

the event, the Centaur will impact the Moon, followed four 

minutes later by the LCROSS spacecraft. 

Ecliptic continued from front page

Colorized view of the Moon based on an 

infrared camera's image, also returned during 

the flyby

RocketCam’s image of the Moon from one frame of live 

video taken one frame per second June 23 during LCROSS 

lunar flyby

Image courtesy RocketCam

Image courtesy RocketCam
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 5

KleenSpeed/Thruxar Electric Race Car Wins 

1st Overall at Laguna Seca Alternative Vehicle 

Time Trials

July 21, 2009 – Monterey and Mountain View, CA

NRP’s KleenSpeed Technologies, Inc., a designer of electric 

power systems and components for high-performance cars 

and other vehicles, announced July 21 that its electric sports 

racer, powered by the KleenSpeed “Thruxar” electric power 

system, recorded the fastest lap of the day at “Refuel - the First 

Alternative Vehicle Demonstration and Electric Time Trials.”

KleenSpeed’s 2009 West WX 10T Thruxar electric race car 

won the overall competition and the four wheel vehicle trophy 

with a lap time of 1:43, or an average speed of 90 mph. KleenSpeed has converted three race cars to electric power, and this 

was the first race track appearance for its 2009 West WX 10T 

sports racer which utilizes the KleenSpeed “Thruxar” power 

system. The car was recently converted to electric power by 

KleenSpeed’s joint venture partner, Gillis MotorSports.

Refuel was held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, 

CA July 19, 2009 and featured a wide array of electric and 

other alternative energy vehicles including motorcycles, gokarts, Tesla motorcars, race cars, sports cars, solar powered 

cars, home-builts and conversions. The event, organized and 

sponsored by Speed Ventures, introduced the cutting-edge 

performance, speed and torque of electric vehicles on a world 

famous race track.

According to Timothy Collins, KleenSpeed Chairman,“The promise 

of high-performance electric power has arrived, with our KleenSpeed/

Thruxar machine capably driven by Andrew Gillis turning a 1:43 

lap time. This was not only the fastest time at Refuel, but we believe 

this is the electric vehicle record at Laguna Seca. Having clearly demonstrated performance, we are also finalizing technical enhancements to 

realize a half-hour range. We look forward to delivering top-performance 

electric cars to the racing circuit, and to bringing those state-of-the art 

technologies to a range of other consumer and industrial vehicles.”

For more info: http://kleenspeed.com/ and http://www.refuelraces.

com/, http://gillismotorsports.net, http://www.speedventures.com

Clockwise from top left: Tim Collins, President, KleenSpeed; Andrew 

Gillis, driver with trophy, COO KleenSpeed; Morgan Gillis, VP Production, KleenSpeed; Paul Gillis, Gillis Motorsports

Santa Clara University Students 

Operate PharmaSat

by Diane Farrar with Dr. Chris Kitts

The Ames developed PharmaSat spacecraft, launched 

May 19 from Wallops Flight 

Facility, carried an advanced 

laboratory that performed an 

in situ biological experiment 

to assess efficacy of antifungal 

drugs in microgravity.

“NRP Partner Santa Clara 

University (SCU) students, staff 

and faculty played an integral role 

with development of the ground segment - communication stations, mission 

control, command and telemetry software -- which provided all on-orbit 

mission operations,” said Dr. Chris Kitts, Director, Center for Robotic 

Exploration and Space Technology at NRP.

“Our team worked around the clock the first week to execute the biology 

experiment and retrieve the science data for this mission. They are now 

using the nanosatellite to perform communication link performance testing 

to improve their ability to support future Ames missions,” he said.

The primary ground station is SRI International, Menlo Park, 

CA, which transmits mission data to Mission Control at NASA 

Ames. All mission operations were performed by SCU’s Robotic Systems Lab, which Kitts directs.

SCU’s PharmaSat operational support follows their operation 

of the Ames GeneSat-1 satellite, launched in 2006.

“GeneSat-1 still operates as part of an SCU class in spacecraft operations. SCU is also preparing to provide mission operations for the Ames 

O/OREOS spacecraft, which is currently manifested for a launch in early 

2010,” Kitts offered.

Students operating PharmaSat at 

SCU’s Robotic Systems Lab

Tracking Stations for PharmaSat 
NRP Post

6 www.nasa.gov

Civilization in a Box

by Diane Farrar

NASA Research Park based Green Trail Energy Inc., in collaboration with International Network Solutions, Global Wireless 

Communications and 

North Star Fabrication, 

has manufactured the 

first clean energy based 

mobile telecommunications system (data/

cellular). The system is 

denoted GSW7000 as it 

produces 7kW of clean 

energy using solar and 

wind power.

The 2.4kW wind turbine, 

4.6kW sun tracking solar 

system and heavy-duty 106 

ft. telescoping tower fold 

into a package the size of 

a standard sea container for 

economic shipping worldwide. “It is a bit like something in a Steven Spielberg 

movie, it folds into a very 

tight package yet has a large 

and stable footprint when deployed. It can be deployed by one person, 

producing power and transmitting in less than 30 minutes as it is highly 

automated by hydraulic subsystems,” said Green Trail President Andrew 

Gold. Extra onboard power can easily be utilized to provide other basic 

necessities, i.e. light, water purification, irrigation, etc. “It’s civilization in 

a box,” says Tim Collins, president of Kleenspeed.

The patent pending 106 ft. tower system and folding communications array can support any flavor of wireless equipment 

including WiMAX, UMTS, LTE, CDMA, GSM and/or Wi-Fi. 

Green Trail used concepts similar to satellite manufacturers, 

with folding solar arrays that can move and rotate to track the 

sun, maximizing output. The system is delivered with 1500Ah’s 

of battery storage, making the system fully self sustainable and 

redundant. Green Trail is considering all methods of energy 

storage for future models.

"We can power a mobile communications system, backhaul it using a 

satellite uplink, and transmit terrestrially using only wind and sun,” 

said Gold. Green Trail Energy believes this system could revolutionize 

energy and communication system deployments in developing nations. The 

system can provide clean power and sustainable communication efficiently 

to remote areas for long-term use and is perfect for disaster response.

The Other Kind of Green (it’s about the money)

by Diane Farrar

Timothy Collins, President and Chairman of KleenSpeed 

Technologies, Inc., invited Washington D.C. consultants to 

NRP July 8 to discuss government grants and loans available 

for sustainable projects.

 

The financial consultants from BlueInk Capital Partners specialize in navigating the beltway maze in search of stimulus 

dollars, grants and loans, and have been engaged by Collins to 

help NRP companies procure available R&D and production 

funds from appropriate government agencies, as well as public 

and private concerns. Collins’ goal is to bring in about $10 

million in production funding. KleenSpeed also plans to form 

a $12 million research and development consortium which will 

be funded by several companies desiring to get access through 

licensing of alternative energy and electric vehicle products 

developed by the consortium.

 

Eric White, BlueInk Senior Managing Director, San Francisco, CA, 

gained experience in Washington, DC, with the Clinton administration, 

was an early fundraiser for President Obama, and has been active in private 

International Network Solutions (I-Net) specializes in building 

sustainable broadband networks that provide free broadband 

access to major metropolitan areas. I-Net operates and maintains Google's free broadband network in Mountain View, CA 

and collaborates with Silicon Valley Unwired in operating a free 

broadband network in Milpitas CA. I-Net deploys WiMAX 

for municipalities and carriers throughout the United States.

For info contact Andrew Gold: agold@intnetworksolutions.com

L-R: Bill Shraga and Eric White, BlueInk Capital Partners; Tim 

Collins, KleenSpeed President; Dan Bolfing, Zystech; Andrew 

Gillis, Kleenspeed COO; Andrew Gold, Green Trail Energy

Andrew Gold’s Green Trail Energy’s 

GSW7000, the first renewable power 

and wireless communication tower on a 

mobile platform

KleenSpeed continued on page 7 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 7

Butte, a former Army Aviator (note the cars original Army 

Sponsorship) has deployed numerous times to Afghanistan 

and Iraq, piloting combat rescue helicopters. He had purchased 

the racecar just prior to the collapse of the ChampCar Series, 

when he read in a local paper about KleenSpeed’s arrival at 

NASA Research Park.

Butte, after decades of military service, is now likely in the final year of 

his Air Force career. “After 22 years of flying, I soon will no longer 

participate in the critical life saving missions that are an all encompassing 

part of my life. After much introspection, I believe that I can have a far 

greater impact on society by focusing on technologies that enable geo-political 

stability,” Butte said.

Butte is a licensed race car driver, and like Collins, shares a 

passion for motor sports and technology. Both Tim and Andrew believe that the competitive, innovative spirit in motor 

sports will bring the biggest gains to the automotive industry 

and consumers. Collins, a former pilot, and Butte are thinking 

about Thruxar power systems for aviation.

“Whatever we’ve seen so far is not the solution to our energy problems, but 

if smart people like KleenSpeed and NASA keep working at it, we will 

get there,” Butte said.

KleenSpeed is developing Thruxar systems - electric motors, battery packs and controllers for electric vehicles of various scale.

KleenSpeed - Does it Move You?

A 1999 SWIFT ChampCar (CART), last raced by Robby 

Gordon in 2000, arrived at KleenSpeed in early July to aid 

R & D efforts. Folks may remember seeing this car perform in 

California venues like the Long Beach Grand Prix or San Jose 

Gran Prix, to name a few.

Thanks to Andrew Butte, a local rescue helicopter pilot and 

race car enthusiast, the car is now on loan to KleenSpeed to 

help with R&D efforts that will lead to high performance 

electric drive conversion systems.

“We are designing a Thruxar electric power system for Butte’s car which, 

when scaled back, will be suitable for super-cars like Ferraris, and trucks 

and buses -- the greatest fuel consumers. Our goal is to make the former 

CART Indy car as fast as it was with its internal combustion engine, “ 

said KleenSpeed President Timothy Collins.

capital mergers and acquisitions. “In Washington, it’s not what you do, it’s 

who you are working with that brings the money,” White said.

 

“Traditional channels of funding have dried up...looking for government 

dollars now is the only way to go,” said William Shraga, a former Bear 

Stearns Investment Banker with expertise in numerous technology disciplines. Shraga is BlueInk Managing Director in Santa Monica, CA.

 

Andrew Gold, President of International Network Solutions, 

Inc., GreenTrail Energy, Inc. and eta Tech, Inc.; and Dan 

Bolfing, a new KleenSpeed partner, were invited by Collins 

to discuss their technology development with BlueInk. Gold 

and Bolfing, both serial entrepreneurs, have each launched 

successful start ups.

 

Bolfing, Founder and CEO of Zystech, invented a relatively 

light-weight smart machine to design and cut composites. 

Bolfing makes the carbon fiber parts for the KleenSpeed 

power systems. He, like energy guru Amory Lovins, thinks the 

greatest advances in transportation efficiencies can be attained 

with lighter weight (composites) vehicles and vehicle parts, and 

improved aerodynamics. Bolfing’s machine can scan, digitize 

and make 3-D shapes, which he thinks will excite the new 

generation accustomed to virtual reality. A former World Cup 

windsurfer, Bolfing made the machine to be competitive in 

his sport. His machine’s cost is well under the current cost of 

$1 million plus for traditional computerized milling machines 

on the market. Its lighter weight allows cheaper transport and 

a smaller footprint.

L-R: Tim Collins, President, KleenSpeed and Andrew 

Butte, rescue helicopter pilot and former Army Aviator, with 

Butte’s 1999 SWIFT ChampCar

KleenSpeed continued from page 6 

Photo by Eric James
NRP Post

8 www.nasa.gov

m2mi Helps Reboot Computing with the Magic 

and Beauty of Computer Science

Innovation powerhouse and NRP partner, Machine-To-Machine Intelligence Corporation's (m2mi) CEO Geoff Brown 

was selected as a lead designer for the altruistic industry 

effort to encourage adoption of computer science for K-12 

education. This year 200 of the world's top leading computer 

scientists attended an invitation only closed door three day 

meeting at the Computer History Museum to literally "reboot" 

the entire computer science education system and encourage 

more US students to study computer science. 

“Since the age of eight, computing has defined my life. Working alongside 

the pioneers of the computer science industry to help student education and 

increase US adoption is a challenge I relish, and it starts with an open and 

level playing field” said Geoff Brown. 

More info on rebooting computing: www.rebootingcomputing.org 

City of Mountain View Councilmembers and city staff visit NRP Director 

Michael Marlaire. L-R: NRP Director Michael Marlaire, Kevin Woodhouse, 

Ligia Sarmento, Vice Mayor Ronit Bryant, Councilmember Mike Kasperzak, 

Councilmember John Inks, and Ellis Berns

Leading computer scientists meet at the Computer History Museum 

in Mountain View, CA, to boost K-12 computer science education

LCROSS Spacecraft to Search for 

Water on the Moon

by Dr. Michael J. Redmon, Program Manager, ISRDS, SGT, Inc.

For mankind’s initial efforts to establish permanent outposts 

off our home planet to succeed, we must develop technologies to utilize in situ resources to produce essential substances 

to sustain life, produce energy and build habitats. Nothing is 

more critical than the ability to produce water and oxygen. 

Prior observations of the moon’s polar regions suggest that 

water ice may be present in craters at the lunar poles. The 

Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), the 

first mission in NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration -- a return to the moon and beyond, is designed to provide definitive 

evidence of the presence of water ice on the moon.

On June 18 NASA launched an Atlas V Rocket from the Cape 

to determine if water ice is present in polar lunar craters. The 

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the primary payload 

managed by Goddard Space Flight Center, is now in a lunar 

orbit identifying safe landing sites, searching for resources and 

investigating the radiation environment.

 LCROSS, the secondary payload managed by NASA Ames, 

will stay with the spent Centaur upper stage during several 

Earth orbits, until just before a planned impact into a permanently shadowed crater on the south polar region, planned for 

October 9. The spacecraft, outfitted with imagers, spectrometers and a photometer, will guide the Centaur into a precision 

impact and follow at a safe distance, recording and relaying 

data from the tons of ejecta caused by the Centaur impact, 

before itself impacting inside the crater. Ground and spacebased observations will also collect data from both impacts. 

Instruments will analyze the impact plumes for water (ice or 

vapor), hydrocarbons and hydrated minerals.

NRP tenant SGT, Inc. supports LRO and LCROSS. Engineers 

and computer scientists with SGT’s Intelligent Systems Research 

and Development Support (ISRDS) contract provide flight 

operations and ground systems support for LCROSS at Ames. 

Paul Tompkins of SGT serves as Lead Flight Director. Khanh 

Trinh and Masoud Mansouri-Samani provide additional support 

to LCROSS simulators and system verification and validation.

Paul, a northern CA native, received a B.S. in Aeronautics and 

Astronautics from MIT, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering 

from Stanford, and a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (specializing in mission-directed planning and 

scheduling for planetary rover exploration). An expert in 

satellite and spacecraft systems engineering, he spent several 

LCROSS continued on back page
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 9

California Space Authority Unveils Plans 

to Support Lunar Rover Development

by Matt Everingham, Engineering Programs and 

Development Manager, California Space Authority

The California Space Authority 

(CSA) has signed an agreement 

with NASA Ames Research 

Center to collaborate on participatory science and public 

outreach using a simulated 

lunar surface environment. Under the terms of a Space Act 

Agreement, California Space 

Authority is establishing a lunar 

regolith simulant testbed in 

Bldg. 503 in NASA Research 

Park. The testbed will have a 

footprint large enough to test 

rover capabilities such as lunar 

surface mobility, excavation, resilience to the dusty lunar surface environment and the abrasive 

properties of the lunar regolith simulant. It is anticipated that 

universities, NASA researchers and others will be able to use 

this testbed to augment their lunar system development efforts 

as an easily accessible “field test” site. It is envisioned that 

the testbed will eventually support the development of private 

missions to the lunar surface by providing an opportunity for 

enhanced risk reduction and mission planning.

This fall, NASA Ames and CSA, along with its sister organization, the California Space Education and Workforce Institute, 

will be using the testbed to host the Regolith Excavation 

Challenge, a prize 

c o m p e t i t i o n 

focused on developing improved 

lunar regolith 

handling technologies. During the 

Regolith Challenge 

scheduled Oct. 

17-18, 2009, teams 

from across the 

country will design 

and build robotic 

machines to excavate simulated lunar soil, otherwise known as 

regolith, in hopes of winning a $750,000 prize funded by the 

NASA Centennial Challenges program. CSA is a nonprofit 

organization supporting California's commercial, civil and 

national security space stakeholders. For info on CSA: www.californiaspaceauthority.org For info on the Regolith Excavation Challenge: www.

regolith.csewi.org

NewSpace 2009 Conference at NRP

by Bruce Pittman, Space Portal

On the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing a new 

generation of space explorers met at NASA Research Park to 

talk about the future. The NewSpace 2009 conference was coordinated by Dr. Jeff Smith, Deputy Chief Entrepreneurial Initiatives Division, and sponsored by Boeing, The Heinlein Trust, 

the National Space Society and the Space Frontier Foundation.

The conference mixed the practical and the revolutionary, 

bringing together students at the start of their careers with 

seasoned veterans ready for new challenges. 

“We in the Space Frontier Foundation were delighted to hold our 20th 

anniversary NewSpace 2009 conference at NASA Research Park. 

Many of the participating NewSpace companies are already working 

with NASA Ames, and hope to grow their technical collaborations 

using NRP’s ‘friendly front door’. We were thrilled to have over 300 

attendees and look forward to returning next year,” said James Muncy, 

Co-Founder, Space Frontier Foundation and space policy consultant in 

Washington, D.C.

Each of the three conference days had a theme. The first 

day “Enabling the Future” began with a welcome by Lewis 

Braxton III, Ames Deputy Director, and included three panels 

highlighting Ames programs. The first featured Ames’ small 

missions, with Dr. John Hines presenting PharmaSat, Dr. Dan 

Andrews covering LCROSS and Cecilia Wigley describing her 

groups’ experience integrating small payloads into the Space 

Shuttle and International Space Station. The second covered 

Ames commercial space efforts with Dr. Dan Rasky, Director, 

Space Portal, discussing his work with SpaceX on their thermal 

protection system, Dr. John Hogan talking about advanced life 

support systems and Dr. Yvonne Cagle describing the Human 

Suborbital Science Program. 

The final session, Public/Private Partnerships led by Gary Martin, Director, New Ventures and Communications, featured NASA’s Innovative 

Partnership Program and Small Business Innovative Research programs, 

and Jeff Smith presenting Ames Green Initiative. Michael Marlaire, 

Director, NASA Research Park, concluded with a fascinating description 

of the role the NRP could play in developing the NewSpace economy. “In 

four years I hope the efforts to establish a new economy in space becomes 

synonymous with NASA Research Park,” Marlaire said. According to 

Marlaire, NRP development plans and the fifty-eight NRP partners from 

industry, universities, and institutes could provide the “physical nexus” for 

the acceleration of the new space economy and NRP partner Space Portal 

could become NASA’s “friendly front door” to the entrepreneurial space 

organizations, facilitating their involvement with NASA. 

NewSpace continued on page 13 

The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo team 

sets up their rover during the 2008

Regolith Excavation Challenge

Team Waldbaum's rover digs in at the 2008 

Regolith Excavation Challenge
NRP Post

10 www.nasa.gov

Second Age of Carnegie Mellon in Silicon Valley

by Richard Power, Cylab Distinguished Fellow

The history of Silicon Valley is one of daring, luck, and ceaseless endeavor.

It is a narrative rife with the thrills and chills of boom and bust. 

For every icon that has emerged to illuminate the digital sky, 

there are countless wrecks that did not make it, as well as other 

story lines that end abruptly when some entity or another is 

devoured by some larger, hungrier entity. There are also many 

fascinating sub-plots interwoven throughout the timeline, and 

one of them just took a fascinating twist.

Under an azure blue sky, in an open air tent, speaking to an audience 

of hundreds of Bay Area alumni, trustees, donors, parents and students, 

Dr. Jared L. Cohon, President of Carnegie Mellon, declared that having 

“soldiered on” through challenging economic conditions in the Valley since its 

founding in 2002, “in a way we are looking at the second age of Carnegie 

Mellon in Silicon Valley.”

Carnegie Mellon Names Martin L. Griss 

to Head Innovative Silicon Valley Campus

by Chriss Swaney, CIT Media Relations Director

Carnegie Mellon University's Martin L. Griss has been named 

director of Carnegie Mellon University's Silicon Valley campus, 

effective July 1. He succeeds James Morris, founding director 

of Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley and former dean of Carnegie 

Mellon's School of Computer Science.

 

Carnegie Mellon Provost and Senior Vice President Mark 

S. Kamlet praised Griss for his vision and broad expertise in 

software engineering 

technology.

"It is a great honor for me to 

be named to this important 

post as the demand for 

faster, leaner and more 

mobile information technology and systems continues to 

grow," said Griss, currently 

associate dean of research 

at Carnegie Mellon Silicon 

Valley and codirector of 

Carnegie Mellon CyLab's 

Mobility Research Center. 

"As director of Carnegie 

Mellon Silicon Valley, I 

will continue to work with 

my university colleagues to 

improve our educational 

programs and perform innovative research that connects 

us to important global technology companies."

Pradeep K. Khosla, founding director of Carnegie Mellon 

CyLab and dean of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering, 

said Griss' background, his extensive research and education 

experience, and his global skills in developing programs for 

software reuse make him a perfect choice to lead Carnegie 

Mellon Silicon Valley. 

 

With nearly 40 years of academic and industrial research experience, Griss is world-renowned for his work in software reuse 

and software agents, which is now focused on context-aware, 

mobile companions for the globetrotting professional and the 

"SmartSpaces" sensor-enabled environment for home-based, 

elder-care projects. He spent two decades as a principal 

laboratory scientist at Hewlett-Packard, and as director of 

HP's 70-person Software Technology Laboratory. He was 

previously an associate professor of computer science at the 

University of Utah and an adjunct professor at the University 

of Southern California, Santa Cruz.

 

The South African native received his bachelor's degree in 

math and physics from the Israel Institute of Technology in 

1967, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois 

in 1971. Griss and his wife Pnina, a retired biologist, live in 

Mountain View, Calif. They have two children, Doron, 30, and 

Shelli, 27. Both work in the competitive software entertainment technology industry.

 

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, established in 2002 at Moffett 

Field, offers full-time and part-time master's degree programs 

in software engineering, software management, networking, 

security and mobility, and engineering and technology innovation management. Last fall, the campus launched an associated 

bi-coastal electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. program 

focused on mobility, security and networking. This August 

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley awards its 400th degree.

Martin L. Griss, Director, Carnegie Mellon 

Silicon Valley

CMU continued on page 11 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 11

Held at the Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley campus, on the 

grounds of NASA Research Park (a.k.a. Moffett Field) in 

Mountain View, California, the event was part of “Inspire Innovation – The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon University.”

Following Dr. Cohon 

to the podium, Pradeep 

Khosla, Dean of the 

College of Engineering 

and founder of Carnegie 

Mellon CyLab, elaborated 

on the “re-visioning” of 

the Silicon Valley Campus, 

as “the crown jewel for the 

College of Engineering.”

Emphasizing the work of 

recently established CyLab 

Mobility Research Center 

(MRC), Dean Khosla 

extolled the virtues of the 

bi-coastal program which 

calls for students to spend 

two semesters in Pittsburgh and two semesters 

in Silicon Valley.

“Don’t get me wrong. Pittsburgh also has a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, but there is something about this air out here, once you start breathing 

it you don’t want a real job anymore, you want to be an entrepreneur,” Khosla 

remarked wryly, “You want to use somebody else’s money to create something, 

and maybe it becomes something big, or maybe you lose it. But as we know, 

more often than not it has become something big.”

Khosla also cited the significant investment made in the building of a state of the art distance education class room. “And 

we are building two more,” he added.

After the opening remarks of Cohon, Khosla and Martin 

Griss, Director of the CyLab Mobility Research Center, Associate Dean in the College of Engineering and recently named 

Director of Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley, the crowd of 

hundreds broke up into smaller groups to rotate through four 

brief presentations meant to convey the scope and spirit of the 

work being undertaken at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley:

Jason Lohn, a Senior Research Scientist at the Silicon Valley 

campus, spoke on “Space and Beyond: Creating the Next Generation Antenna through Evolutionary Computing.” 

Khalid Al-Ali, Director of Research and the Carnegie Mellon 

Innovation Lab, spoke on “Carnegie Mellon Innovation Lab: 

An Overview of Cutting-Edge Research in Ground, Air and 

Space Technologies.” 

Ray Bareiss, Director of Educational Programs and Professor 

of Practice of Software Engineering and Software Management, spoke on “Transformative Professional Education for 

Silicon Valley.” 

Griss, along with two more faculty members, spoke on “Mobility: Enhancing Our Lives through Mobile Technology.” 

Afterwards, attendees were shuttled to the Computer History 

Museum for “An Evening of Impact and Imagination.”

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley is dedicated to educating its students to become leaders in global technology innovation and 

management and to performing innovative research that connects it to local, national, and global high-tech companies. Long 

known for its leadership in engineering and computer science 

research and education, Carnegie Mellon and the College of 

Engineering have established a natural extension in the Silicon 

Valley, one that integrates the rich heritage and resources of 

the Pittsburgh campus with the opportunities available in the 

highly innovative and entrepreneurial Silicon Valley. Offering 

graduate programs in software engineering, software management, information technology, innovation and mobility, each 

program provides the appropriate mix of technical, business 

and organizational skills critical to our students' success. With 

research that focuses on a suite of new technologies, Carnegie 

Mellon Silicon Valley is committed to creating and implementing solutions for real problems.

For more information, visit: http://sv.cmu.edu or contact 

Sylvia Leong, director of external relations and admissions, at 

sylvia.leong@sv.cmu.edu.

Pradeep Khosla, Dean of the 

College of Engineering and Founder of 

Cylab, addresses the audience

CMU continued from page 10 

Students and guests mingle on front lawn of 

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley
NRP Post

12 www.nasa.gov

2009 NSTI Summer Scholars and Faculty Fellows

United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation 

(UNCFSP) is pleased to 

welcome this year’s participants in the NASA Science 

and Technology Institute for 

Minority Institutions (NSTI) 

Project. The NSTI brings 

together the talent and expertise of Historically Black 

Colleges and Universities 

(HBCUs), Hispanic Serving 

Institutions (HSIs), Tribal 

Colleges and Universities 

(TCUs) and Other Minority 

Institutions (OMIs), to provide the opportunity for all 

Minority Institutions (MIs) 

to communicate, connect, 

and collaborate with government, the private sector, one 

another, and other majority 

institutions and research and 

technical associations and organizations through the establishment of R&D collaborations and partnerships. The Summer 

Faculty Fellowship (SFF) and the Summer Scholars Programs 

(SSP) provide hands-on research experiences at NASA centers, 

as well as positive experiences for grant writing and career 

advancement.

 

MI Faculty are readily sought to obtain great research experiences at the NASA Centers. The benefits are vast, yet specific 

to the individual’s research interest. Thus, the NSTI project is 

excited to have early career, STEM faculty from MIs at NASA 

Ames this summer. They will take part in ground-breaking 

research activities and then incorporate the knowledge gained 

through their NASA experience into the curriculum upon 

return to their home institution. The goals of the SFF are to:

• Enhance the technical capabilities and prepare MI 

faculty to apply for other NASA Pipeline opportunities 

• Provide an opportunity to share information 

about specific MI capabilities and technologies

• Enhance undergraduate and graduate research

The 2009 NSTI Summer Faculty Fellows are Dr. Gregory 

Battle (Grambling State University), Dr. Eranna Guruvadoo 

(Bethune Cookman College), Dr. Carmen Lilley (Univ. of 

Illinois-Chicago), Dr. Nicholas Madamopoulos (The City University of New York), Dr. Edgardo Oliveros (Univ. of Puerto 

Rico –Baymon Campus), Dr. Ehsan Sheybani (Virginia State 

University), and Dr. Lakew Temeselew (Trinity University)

The SSP component of 

the NSTI project provides 

a dynamic atmosphere for 

undergraduate and graduate students in science, 

technology, engineering 

and mathematics (STEM) 

fields to participate in cutting edge research. NASA 

scientists and engineers 

serve as mentors to the 

scholars who spend 10 

weeks engaged in a wide 

variety of research themes 

including nanotechnology, flight assessment, sleep 

deprivation, and computing. Additionally, scholars 

receive opportunities to 

enhance their scientific 

communication and leadership skills through various professional development workshops and trainings throughout the 

summer. Initially based solely at the NASA Ames Research 

Center, the Summer Scholars component expanded this year 

to include scholar placement at NASA Johnson Space Center 

(JSC) and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). 

Mr. Roger Riviere, a former NSTI Summer Scholar from 2008, addressed the incoming 2009 scholars during the NSTI Orientation Meeting that was held Friday, June 5th. Mr. Riviere talked highly about his 

experience and offered great words of wisdom. “The NSTI program offers 

you the chance to walk away with a future,” he told the incoming program 

participants. “Take advantage of it. I sure did.” He also displayed the 

poster he created for last year’s poster session where he competed with all of 

the 100+ summer interns to earn an impressive fifth place award for best 

poster presentation. Since participating in the NSTI program, he secured 

employment with NASA and will graduate this year with his bachelor’s 

degree in Electrical Engineering. 

The Summer Scholar and Faculty Fellow projects feed into 

a third component of the NSTI program, called the NSTI 

Research Clusters. In view of the substantial contributions 

that underrepresented minorities make, the research cluster 

teams provide the means and opportunity for engaging the 

minority higher education community in government and 

private industry research. Thus, the NSTI research clusters 

facilitate research collaborations amongst MIs, NASA, other 

government agencies and private STEM organizations.

2009 NSTI Summer Scholars, Faculty Fellows and Mentors

Front L-R: Brandon Douglas, Michael Tucker. Middle L-R: Gilena Monroe, 

Carmen Lilley, Patricia Cowings, Charlese Hawkins, Adrienne Haynes, Sonya Greene, 

Jenaelle Coleman, Edgardo Oliveros, Errana Guruvadoo. Back L-R: Ray Gilstrap, 

Lakew Temeselew, Eshan Sheybani, Nicholas Madamopoulos, Gregory Battle

Scholars continued on page 13 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 13

Each cluster specializes in research disciplines that 

help to make the Vision for Space Exploration a reality and promote the advancement of space exploration. 

To date, three research clusters have been established. 

• The UNCFSP-NSTI Information and Emerging 

Technologies Cluster (UNITE) conducts research 

that address pressing challenges in the areas of 

Supercomputing, Networking and Intelligent Systems. 

The NASA Ames Research Center is home to UNITE. 

• The UNCFSP-NSTI Mission Enabling Technologies 

Cluster (UNIMET) conducts human exploration 

mission enabling research in the areas of Science 

Missions and Payloads, Bio-technology, Astrobiology, 

Human Factors, Advanced Life Support and Bionano-info fusion. The NASA Johnson Research 

Center serves as the host center for UNIMET.

• The UNCFSP-NSTI Energy and Environmental Cluster 

(UNEEC) addresses energy and environmental issues 

as it relates to space travel and life on earth. UNEEC 

is housed at the NASA Glenn Research Center.

UNCFSP serves as the managing partner for the NSTI Project. 

Founded in April 2000, UNCFSP is an all-inclusive advocate 

and resource for the minority higher education community—

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Tribal Colleges and Universities 

(TCUs), and Other Minority Institutions (OMIs)—both 

domestically and internationally. Through workforce development, training, and capacity-building programs and services, 

UNCFSP fosters educational excellence and professional 

advancement to ensure our constituencies’ competitiveness. 

For more information about UNCFSP and the NSTI project, 

log on to www.uncfsp.org/nsti. 

The afternoon sessions focused on technologies that could 

enable the NewSpace economy - nanosats, orbiting fuel 

depots, suborbital point-to-point transportation systems and 

space solar power systems. Each technology could leverage 

growth for the new economy and also represents cost and risks 

to be addressed. The afternoon’s featured speaker, Dr. David 

Livingston, host of The Space Show, presented “Humanity’s 

Future in Space.”

The second day featured The Business of New Space and 

began with a business plan competition. The plans ran the 

gamut from small satellites to novel propulsion schemes to 

lunar exploration. Flagsuit LLC, the maker of an innovative 

spacesuit glove design, took home the $5,000 prize from the 

America Heinlein Prize Trust, which sponsored the competition. A number of policy and business issues that affect 

NewSpace were discussed, as well as the role of government 

in this new economy and whether it is having a positive or a 

negative effect. Also explored were lunar commercialization 

opportunities to provide services to NASA in support of 

lunar exploration program.

The final day theme was “Apollo 11 Anniversary: Moon, Mars 

and Beyond”. The first panel members were associated with 

the Lunar X Prize sponsored by Google -- a $30 million prize 

for a robotic return to the moon. Three of the nineteen teams 

signed up for the Prize were present and presented their teams 

and plans. The seven finalists for the “Teachers in Space” 

competition sponsored by the Space Frontier Foundation were 

honored at a special luncheon ceremony. The winner of this 

competition will receive a free sub orbital vehicle trip and will 

share this experience with their students. The later panels addressed diverse topics such as the threat and promise of Near 

Earth Objects, the proper architecture for exploring the moon 

and beyond, the science of settling the solar system, and the 

next steps -- where do we go from here? 

The conference takeaway message is that commercial space 

has the potential to protect the earth, create wealth, open up 

the solar system for commerce and make us a truly spacefaring civilization. This remarkable event in a unique setting has 

everyone wondering what next year’s event will bring.

NewSpace continued from page 9 

Far left: James Muncy, CoFounder, Space Frontier Foundation and Washington, D.C space 

policy consultant

Scholars continued from page 12 Photo by Michael Marlaire
NRP Post

14 www.nasa.gov

AV’s Zeppelin NT - Multi-tasking at its Best!

by Gus Holweger, Community Ambassador, 

Airship Ventures, Inc. 

Our Spring issue focused on “Increased Co-Operation 

between NASA Ames and Airship Ventures.” We at Airship 

Ventures like to think that in addition to ‘cooperating’ we have 

become neighbors and part of NASA Research Park’s growing 

community of high-tech and academic tenants. 

Airship Ventures has extended its “Neighborhood – Same 

Day – Flight Special “ program through the end of 2009. 

All federal employees, Ames interns and contractors, NRP 

partners, and military personnel are eligible. These ‘Same Day 

Flight Specials’ may be booked no earlier than 24 hours before 

scheduled flight time. Sixty and ninety-minute flights for those 

eligible are offered at $199 plus tax. AV Guest Services will do 

the booking. Call (650) 969-8100 ext. 111 for details. 

Airship Ventures’ airship the ‘Eureka’ underwent its FAA- mandated annual maintenance in March and has since offered its 

unique ‘flightseeing’ for individuals, charters, and special interest 

groups out of Moffett Field, Oakland, and as of late Monterey. 

The ‘Eureka’ also soared twice over Long Beach, to celebrate the 

release of Pixar’s popular movie “UP” and again for the July 4th 

festivities. Offered in connection with the Monterey and Long 

Beach flights (which will be continued as the season progresses) 

are one-way flights from Moffett field to the destination or from 

the destination back to Moffett Field. 

Special terms have become the trademark of technology 

and business. What used to be ‘Advertising’ has now become 

“Branding” and what used do be “Billboards” are in Airship 

Ventures vernacular “Decals”. The ‘Eureka’s’ first decal was 

PixarTM’s “UP” lettering and the wonderful depiction of the 

main character’s house being airlifted by hundreds of colorful 

balloons to its new home far away. 

The second decal, currently on the ‘Eureka’, is “23and Me.com 

Personal Genetics.” It invites interested parties and individuals 

to access the company’s website to see their genes in a whole 

new light. 23andMe won TIME Magazine’s 2008 (Biotech) 

Invention of 

the Year. Their 

website explains 

how it works, 

suggests setting 

up an account 

and ordering a 

23andMe kit. 

For those of 

you who want 

to know details 

about attaching 

decals to the airship – it takes special layouts for the dimensions of the decals as they are attached to a curved surface 

(as distinguished from the flat surface of a billboard) and can 

therefore not be distorted. 

Decals also add weight to the ‘Eureka’. This adds another challenge to balancing our ‘lighter-than-air’ dirigible. For example, 

the “UP” decal for the PixarTM movie took four days to affix 

and 3 days to take off, and added 39 kilogram of weight. The 

“23and Me” decal took six man-days to put on and take off, 

and added 34.4 kg weight. 

Airship Ventures has more to report: 

On the events side, Airship Ventures wants you to know that 

it soared over the recent ‘Pacific Coast Dream Machine’ event 

in Half-Moon Bay and the “Concours d’Elegance” in Palo 

Alto, followed by flights to the San Francisco and Monterey 

Concours d’Elegance, and flights on special holidays (like the 

4th of July journey to Long Beach). 

Airship Ventures provided for another US ‘FIRST’ in “lighterthan-air” Zeppelin flights on the July 4th trip to Long Beach. 

Geoff Reeves, former member of the US Navy Seals and 

member of the Navy “Leap Frogs” parachute team jumped 

with a para-sail parachute onto a roped-off target in front of 

the ‘Queen Mary” in Long Beach. 

Airship Ventures just completed our second “pilot experience” course

Led by our experienced pilots and engineering team, this two 

day adventure allowed individuals to see behind the scenes at 

‘Eureka’s’ first decal was PixarTM’s “UP”

The second decal currently on the ‘Eureka’ is “23and 

Me.com Personal Genetics”

AV continued on page 15
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 15

Airship Ventures, learn the basics of airship flight, and get into 

the cockpit. They handled the controls, commanded the airship, and did it all from the left seat. 

Each session was limited to six “qualifying pilots” (class enrollment required that individuals must be pilot rated private pilots 

or better and have a current FAA medical certificate.) The 

session gave each pilot at least 30 minutes in the cockpit and 

nearly four hours of total flight time in the Zeppelin. Flying 

time was preceded by a comprehensive and interactive ground 

school covering flight and ground operations, limitations and 

performance, as well as system checks, ground handling and 

preflight procedures. For further information to the web at 

www.airshipventures.com/tours-pilot_experience.php 

While we spend a great deal of time doing passenger flights, 

the airship also lends itself to scientific projects thanks to its 

stable flight characteristics, its vectored thrust engines that enable it to take off and land vertically and to hover over selected 

targets at low altitudes, and its slow cruising speeds. We have 

been working with NASA on a Space Act agreement to jointly 

explore this unique aviation platform and determine what 

types of projects are best suited to the airship. Special Mission 

Manager, Alex Travell, has been pulling together the technical 

information in an “Experimenters Handbook” for those who 

want to pursue scientific applications. Alex, who has more than 

20 years experience with airships all over the world, including a recent mission to use an airship to take detectors to the 

North Pole, can be reached at atravell@airshipventures.com . 

We expect to be flying our first detectors in a test mode during 

August and a special missions section of the website will go 

live around that time too!

Geoff Reeves, former US Navy Seal, jumping off 

the “Eureka”

Singularity University Panel on

Humanity’s Grand Challenges by Diane Farrar

On July 9 Singularity University (SU) hosted its second public 

event -- Humanity’s Grand Challenges -- in its nine week graduate summer program at NASA Research Park. SU’s panel of 

experts addressed a packed house on global issues of climate 

change, pandemics, water resources, vulnerable populations, 

poverty and the economy.

The host, Mr. Vijay Valtheeswaran, a writer for the Economist, 

opened the evening at the Moffett Field Conference Center reflecting on Gandhi’s question: “How many planets will it take?”

“African vegetation has been cut down for energy, the African population 

now relies mostly on the consumption of bush meat. The increased contact 

between human and animal brings greater opportunities for virus transmission across species. Will we be ready? Indonesia faced a pandemic but 

chose not to share the strain because they believed the vaccine would not be 

made available to them once produced by an industrial nation. Although 

pandemics are a great threat, climate change is the first priority because of 

its impact on water. Most water is used for agriculture, and much is lost 

through evaporation. Water is everything.” 

-- Dr. Larry Brilliant, Skoll Foundation

“We avoided Paul Ehrlich’s prediction of reaching 20 billion people on 

the planet this decade, but at almost seven billion, we consume like 20 

billion, and our carbon footprint is as if we are 20 billion. Unfortunately 

those causing climate change are not the ones impacted by climate change. 

It is really too late, we need infrastructure change immediately. We should 

now implement adaptive approaches like early warnings and flood control 

in vulnerable areas.” 

-- Dr. Chris Field, U.S. Rep to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and coauthor with Al Gore of the Nobel 

Prize winning IPCC report

“One billion people in the world do not have access to water. 2.6 billion 

are without proper sanitation. We have failed to provide this basic need. 

Globally we have polluted rivers, rivers that don’t reach their destinations, 

and water tables drying up in the southwest. We need to implement many 

soft path solutions. In Colorado it is illegal to harvest rain water because 

the Colorado River is so oversubscribed. Until recently it was illegal for me 

to use gray water to water my own garden and plants.”

-- Ms. Meena Palaniappan, Water Initiative, Pacific Institute

“I deal with projections. We cannot even predict if rainfall will decrease 

or increase over the tropics. Two billion people in Asia depend on water 

from glacier melt. These glaciers are now reduced by 80%. Kenya now 

has many villages powered by solar. There is no grid in Kenya, and the 

population sees renewables as superior.” 

-- Dr. Bill Collins, Climate Science Dept., Lawrence Berkeley 

National Laboratory

SU Panel continued on back page

Airship Ventures offers opportunities for fun, excitement, the 

experience of unequaled “Flight-seeing”, and scientific exploration. If you have never done it, give a flight on our ‘Eureka’ 

some serious consideration. 

AV continued from page 14
NRP Post

16 www.nasa.gov

The World’s Best and Brightest are Here -- 

International Space University and Singularity 

University Sessions Underway by Diane Farrar

On June 29 the Mayors of Mountain View and Sunnyvale, 

NASA and ISU officials, and the Governor of California, 

(via video) welcomed 132 students from 35 countries to the 

International Space University’s ((ISU) 2009 Space Studies 

Program at NASA Research Park (NRP). Also welcomed 

heartily were 40 international and American students attending the inaugural session of Singularity University (SU), now 

a permanent resident in NRP. More than 100 international 

distinguished professors and staff also arrived for the first ISU 

session hosted at a federal site.

The opening ceremony, under the leadership of NRP Partners 

and ISU Cosponsors Joy Colucci, SGT, Inc, and Jessica Culler, 

Planners Collaborative, was held at the Mountain View Center 

for Performing Arts. Planners Collaborative built a new exhibit 

at the Exploration Center and designed the ISU/SU logos and 

banners for main street Mountain View and NRP’s Parade 

Ground. Planners also erected an NRP “line of questions” 

exhibit and directed the welcoming and hospitality tasks with 

talented student teams from San Jose State University’s Hotel, 

Recreation and Tourism Management Department.

NRP Partners Dr. Pascal Lee, Mars Institute; Rich Davies, 

Western Disaster Center; and Dr. Khalid Al Ali , CMU-SV, are 

included as ISU academic staff along with numerous NASA 

Ames scientists. Upon arrival ISU students talked with NASA’s 

Expedition 20 astronauts aboard the International Space 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 17

Station in a live downlink June 30 to learn more about Canada’s 

first long-duration astronaut, Bob Thirsk, the payload design 

process and a student experiment which is currently onboard 

the station.

The idealistic, motivated crowd of the world’s best and brightest 

attended workshops such as spacecraft design, space law, geopolitics of commercial launches, remote sensing, neuroscience, 

and robotics. A NASA astronaut and Russian expert instructed 

them in orbital science. Ames lead scientist Dr. Chris McKay 

gave a crash course in astrobiology. Students and staff experienced microgravity in Zero G’s aircraft and questioned expert 

panels on Commercial Space, Mars Exploration and the “ living 

in space experiences” of international astronauts.

“This has been a memorable summer and Ames and NRP have much 

to be proud of. 172 students from 36 countries are engaged in rigorous 

interdisciplinary, international and intercultural studies – nearly one-fifth 

of the world’s countries have citizens at NASA Ames this summer,” said 

Donald James, ISU/SU Project Manager.

The students are now focusing on their team projects: Mars 

Caves – the Role of Subsurface Habitats in Mars Exploration; 

Disaster Risk Management; and Space Aid for Energy Needs 

on Earth. 

ISU was founded in 1987 with the vision of a peaceful and prosperous future 

through the study, exploration and development of space for the benefit of 

humanity. The space studies program is a nine-week course for postgraduate 

students and young professionals from all over the world. The curriculum 

covers technical and non-technical, space-related fields and ranges from engineering and satellite applications to policy and the humanities. The ISU and 

SU programs end August 28th. 
NRP Post

18 www.nasa.gov

NRP Deputy Director Report from ISU HQ

by Trish Morrissey, Deputy Director NRP

This summer International Space University (ISU) has come to 

the NASA Research Park with 132 students for their nine-week 

Space Studies Program. “International” is a key descriptor for 

this school, 2009’s class represents 35 countries. Every year 

the University 

goes to a new 

site, in a different country, to offer 

their master’s 

level program 

focusing on 

all aspects 

of the space 

b u s i n e s s , 

from the 

rocket science 

to the public 

policy. A lot 

of planning 

and effort go into ramping up this course as it has to reinvent 

itself each year in a new location. 

In order to aid in the logistics and communication between 

NASA in California and ISU in Strasbourg, France, I went to 

ISU for four months in early 2009 on a detail assignment. My 

project was to help with the final logistics but also to work with 

the President of ISU on other projects and to gain experience 

in an international environment. 

During my detail I learned a lot about the international space 

community and ISU’s educational objectives. My projects 

ranged from performing a gap analysis regarding ISU’s 

readiness to pursue additional academic recognition outside of 

France, where ISU currently is recognized by the Ministry of 

Education, to recruiting and coordinating team project leads 

and professional visits for the summer curriculum. My gap 

analysis supported ISU’s core strategy as it is continuously 

looking to maintain international character while addressing 

and mitigating the difficulty of having to explain one country’s 

method of validating academic legitimacy to potential students 

from another. Indeed, prior to leaving Strasbourg ISU began 

initial accreditation discussions in the United States.

The 9-week intensive Space Studies Program is only one of 

many courses offered by ISU in interdisciplinary education in 

an intercultural environment. At the Strasbourg campus yearlong masters programs are offered in both Space Science and 

Space Management, and professional development courses 

and symposiums bring key players in the space field to ISU 

all year round. This year for the first time ISU is offering an 

Executive MBA. This 18-month program is designed for 

working professionals and takes place in 2-week blocks in various locations around the world. I was lucky enough to help 

critique the inaugural session of the program as one of my last 

assignments prior to leaving Strasbourg.

While at the University I was able to participate in many of 

the international activities organized at ISU including the 

international space symposium on the theme Space for a Safe 

and Secure World and in addition to my support to the new 

Executive MBA classes, I gave a lecture on NASA to the Executive Space Course participants. When added to the regular 

interaction with ISU’s masters degree students and with the 

regular flow of international visitors through the building, I 

acquired substantial experience in working and interacting with 

people of over forty different nationalities.

While ISU will only be in the NRP for nine weeks, their impact 

will hopefully be much more lasting. Certainly my experience 

at ISU was pivotal in my appreciation for the importance as 

well as the complexities of international collaboration. I expect 

that like myself, the NRP and NASA will see lingering benefits 

through the connections made with the ISU students and faculty 

as a result of interactions as mentors, in professional visits, social 

events and public panels. In the competitive yet highly collaborative space business these experiences are invaluable.

by Kathleen Burton

Four "blue" agaves have been recently planted on the East side 

of Bldg. 19 off the back parking lot. Agaves, which are related 

to the lily and amaryllis families, are low water, low maintenance plants native to 

Mexico and the American Southwest. Known 

as "Century plants", 

these slow growers 

produce a tall (up to 12 

foot) flower stalk after 

many years and then 

die after blooming. 

However, the original 

plant has produced offsets, (called "pups") which continue live 

on. The two small agaves are Agave Parryi, which is used to 

make tequila. Dried agave flower stalks can be used to make 

didgeridoos, medicinal herbs, teas and tinctures.

Blue Agaves Planted by Bldg. 19

L-R: Donald James, ISU/SU Project Manager; Trish Morrissey, Deputy Director, NRP; Ruth Marlaire, Public Affairs; 

Mike Mewhinney, News Chief, Public Affairs

Photo by Michael Marlaire

Photo by Kathleen Burton
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 19

Transportation Leaders Discuss Unimodal 

Personal Rapid Transit for NRP

by Michael Marlaire

On August 4th the NRP hosted a meeting of local, regional 

and state transportation officials to discuss the potential for a 

personal rapid transit (PRT) system at NASA Research Park. 

NRP partner Unimodal briefed guests in Building 14 on their 

PRT system, SkyTranTM, and demonstrated a to-scale transit 

pod that seats three people descending from a maglev guideway. Following the tour Ames Center Director Pete Worden 

welcomed guests to lunch in the Ames Committee Room to 

discuss NRP’s unique potential opportunity for a PRT system.

Attendees included Bijan Sartipi, District Director Caltrans; 

Steve Heminger, Executive Director Metropolitan Transportation Commission; Dennis Manning, Fresno County 

Transportation; Dr. Russ Hancock, President and CEO Joint 

Venture Silicon Valley Network; Jon Kessler, District Director, 

California Assemblyman; Paul Fong, Doug Schmitt and Jeral 

Poskey, Google; Peter Skinner, Transportation Director Silicon 

Valley Leadership Group; and Ellis Berns, City of Mountain 

View Economic Development.

“It was an outstanding meeting that I believe hwwas generated major interest in the Skytran PRT system,” said Unimodal CEO, Chris Perkins. 

Expectations are high, as new Caltrans Director Randell Iwasaki is 

expected to visit Unimodal later this month.

For Unimodal info: http://www.unimodal.com/ or watch CEO 

Perkins presentation from the Exploration and Sustainability Expo 

on the researchpark.arc.nasa.gov website.

Hands On with Electrostatic Discharge -- ESD 

and Tribocharge Measurements at NASA’s 

Science Technology Showcase are for Kids, Too

“The June 29, 2009 event was very worthwhile!” said Bob Vermillion, 

of NRP’s RMV Technology Group, LLC. “When RMV received the 

invitation to display at the NASA Science & Technology Showcase in 

Mountain View, we jumped on it right away as a means of getting the 

message out about static electricity problems to the general public, namely 

future astronauts and engineers - kids!”

“To my surprise, said Renee Mitchell of RMV, “Bob had all kinds 

of experiments geared 

towards kids for generating static electricity. He 

even set up the same 

instruments used in 

satellite high bay areas 

and university seminars. 

It seemed to work, as 

an overwhelming number 

of future scientists and 

astronauts were attracted 

to our booth.”

“I was amazed that the youngest kids were able to grasp concepts about 

static electricity and ESD because they could participate in the experiments 

and see what was happening,” said Bob.

Vermillion explained how static electricity related issues are 

harmful to electronics in spacecraft, space suits and potential 

specimen sampling on Lunar or Mars due to Electrostatic Attraction (ESA), a concept the kids readily embraced.

According to NASA JPL, ESD issues are a big problem and 

increasing -- as devices get smaller ESD sensitivities increase. 

The aerospace sector is seeing ESD sensitive devices being 

compromised at <50 volts and the roadmap is now at +/25 

volts as the maximum allowable voltage seen on a device. In 

like fashion, microprocessor densification is sacrificing protection for real estate, Vermillion explained.

“With computer interfaced instrumentation in hand and visual aides, 

Bob was able to bring static electricity to life. Our booth was flooded with 

kids from age 4 to teenagers who were captivated by the experiments of 

Tribocharge Generation (charging by friction), Field Inducing ESD events 

and attraction issues,” said Renee.

For the next NASA event, Bob will expand his array of experiments 

and equipment to accommodate more kids’ quest for science. According to a surprised Renee Mitchell of RMV, several parents had asked 

if Bob would set up experiments at their schools.

For info contact: renee@esdrmv.com

RMV’s Bob Vermillion explains ESD to young guest 

at NASA’s Science and Technology Showcase

Lunar Science Forum at NRP

The Lunar Science Forum 2009, organized by NASA's Lunar 

Science Institute in NRP, reported on recent science results 

from current lunar missions and discussed future opportunities 

for lunar science. The July 21-23 Forum had ~650 attendees 

from 31 states with international guests from 15 different 

countries, including delegates from current international lunar 

missions Kaguya from the Japan Aerospace Exploration 

Agency (JAXA), Chandrayaan-1 of the Indian Space Research 

Organisation (ISRO), and Chang’e-1 from China’s National 

Space Administration (CNSA). Representatives from NASA’s 

lunar missions were also in attendance, with Richard Vondrak 

discussing the preliminary science results of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission, and Principal Investigator 

Tony Colaprete detailing the upcoming LCROSS impact.

Photo by Renee Mitchell
20 www.nasa.gov www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

NRP Post

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

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

NRP Post deadlines

Please submit articles to Diane.Farrar-1@nasa.gov on 

or before, October 30, 2009 for the next issue.

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: arc-dl-researchpark@mail.nasa.gov

Website: www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

KleenSpeed Board Announcement

Timothy Collins, Chairman of KleenSpeed Technologies Inc. 

announced May 14th the appointment of Susan R. Crossley to 

the Board of Directors. Ms. Crossley is a writer and former 

Semiconductor Technology Financial Analyst. Ms. Crossley 

joins Peter Sprague and Timothy Collins on the Board. Peter 

Sprague (sprague.com) is the former Chairman of National 

Semiconductor Corp for 30 years (NSM), former owner of 

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. and founder of Wave Systems 

Corp. ( WAVX). 

Timothy Collins, the Chairman is the founder of KleenSpeed 

and a Managing Director of Security Research & Associates, 

Inc.(sracap.com) Mr. Collins was also appointed President to 

fill the position left by Jerry Kroll , co founder of KleenSpeed 

who resigned from the Board and as President to pursue other 

opportunities. Andrew Gillis with JV partner Gillis Motor 

Sports serves as COO and Jerry Chan serves as CFO.

KleenSpeed Technologies Inc.founded in November of 2007 

is developing technology, products and systems for the EV or 

Electric Vehicle industry. KleenSpeed uses racing cars which 

have been converted to total electric power utilizing KleenSpeed systems as a laboratory and test bench to develop and 

test products. KleenSpeed has established an Advisory Board 

and forged joint ventures with other firms dedicated to alternative energy solutions and implementation. 

years with Hughes Aircraft Company as a mission systems 

engineer for their commercial satellite operations. Paul is committed to the research, development and flight test of intelligent systems for space exploration.

For further information on LCROSS, see the mission site at 

(http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov) or Paul’s Flight Director’s Blog at 

(http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/lcrossfdblog).

LCROSS contnued from page 8

SU Panel contnued from page 15

“We have the solutions to climate change. We don’t have the solution to 

poverty, which is caused by the problem of human greed. Upfront infrastructure funding is the problem. We have a program now in Berkeley that 

provides infrastructure funding for renewable energy installations, and the 

owners pay back via property taxes. This is working.”

-- Dr. Dan Kammen, Berkeley Institute of the Environment, IPCC

Host Valtheeswaran closed the session asking the tough question “Should water be a commodity?” What do you think?

Singularity University booth at Ames hosted Moonfest held July 19 in 

NRP to honor Apollo 11’s 40th Anniversary 

Ames Research Center Director Pete Worden (l) hosts San Jose 

Mayor Chuck Reed’s (r) visit to NASA Research Park in August

Honors for reQall, Inc

NRP partner reQall, Inc. won the “Tie 50” award in the wireless category and is listed in New York Times’ top 10 iPhone 

applications for 2009.