1

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A publication of NASA Research Park Spring 2010

NRP POST The

1

NRP’s Bloom Energy Debuts Advanced 

Fuel Cell to Change the World

cont’d on p.3

NASA Technology Comes to Earth*

Bloom Energy can trace its roots to work performed at the University of Arizona as part of the 

NASA Mars space program. Dr. KR Sridhar and 

his team were charged with creating a technology 

that could sustain life on Mars. They built a device 

capable of producing air and fuel from electricity, 

and/or electricity from air and fuel.

They soon realized that their technology could 

have an even greater impact here on Earth.

In 2001, when their project ended, the team decided to continue their research and start a company. 

Originally called Ion America, Bloom Energy, was 

founded with the mission to make clean, reliable 

energy affordable for everyone on earth.

In 2002, John Doerr, and Kleiner Perkins became 

the fi rst investors in the company. Kleiner Perkins 

was legendary for its early backing of other industry changing companies, like Google, Amazon.com, 

Netscape, and Genentech, but Bloom was its fi rst 

clean tech investment. In fact, at that time, clean 

tech was not even really a word.

With fi nancing in place, the team packed three Uhauls and headed to NASA Research Park at Ames 

Research Center in Silicon Valley to set up shop. 

Over the next few years, the technology quickly 

developed from concept, to prototype, to product, 

as the major technological challenges were solved 

and the systems became more powerful, more effi cient, more reliable, and more economical.

In early 2006 Bloom shipped its fi rst 5kW fi eld 

trial unit to the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. After two years of successful fi eld trials in 

Tennessee, California, and Alaska, to validate the 

technology, the fi rst commercial (100kW) products 

were shipped to Google in July 2008.

Since that time Bloom’s Energy Servers have 

helped our customers generate millions of kWhs 

of electricity and eliminate millions of pounds of 

CO2 from the environment.

From humble beginnings on Mars, Bloom Energy 

is now changing the Earth for the better.

*http://bloomenergy.com/about/company-history/

Bloom Energy Staff , Sunnyvale, CA

NRP Partner Bloom Energy Corporation, a Silicon Valley-based Company committed to changing the way people generate and consume 

energy, announced Feb. 24 the availability of the Bloom Energy 

ServerTM, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that provides a cleaner, more reliable and aff ordable alternative to both today’s electric grid as well as traditional renewable energy sources. The 

Bloom Energy Server provides distributed power generation, allowing 

customers to effi ciently create their own electricity onsite.

The company introduced its groundbreaking technology at eBay 

Inc. headquarters with a keynote by California Governor Arnold 

Schwarzenegger, Bloom Energy Board Member General Colin Powell 

and several of its early customers. Built using abundant and aff ordable materials, Bloom’s fuel cell technology is fundamentally diff erent from the legacy “hydrogen” fuel cells. The Bloom Energy Server 

is distinct in four primary ways: it uses lower cost materials, provides 

unmatched effi ciency in converting fuel to electricity, has the ability 

to run on a wide range of renewable or traditional fuels and is more 

easily deployed and maintained.

(L-R) California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar with Bloom Energy Principal 

Co-Founder and CEO K.R. Sridhar, Phd, at Bloom Energy launch Feb. 24, eBay 

Townhall, San Jose, CA
NRP Post

2 www.nasa.gov

Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley Launches Research Center & 

Initiative in Advanced Communications & Disaster Management

by Nichole Dwyer, Manager of Web Communications

Carnegie Mellon CyLab

Late in 2009, the International Center for Advanced Communication Technologies (interACT) 

launched its latest site at Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. With sites in Pittsburgh, Germany, 

Hong Kong and Tokyo, Silicon Valley marks the fi fth center that interACT has launched. 

InterACT’s mission is to carry out scientifi c research on Advanced Communication Technologies as well as to promote and facilitate education in an international, cross-cultural 

setting. The research emphasis is in speech recognition, language processing, speech 

translation, multimodal and perceptual user interfaces. The research team at Silicon Valley campus includes Director Dr. Alex Weibel, professor of computer science; Dr. Ian Lane, 

systems scientist; Dr. Joy 

Zhang, assistant research 

professor; and Dr. Matthias 

Eck, research technician. 

The Silicon Valley team 

was the fi rst to successfully deploy a full-scale 

statistical machine translation application on a 

mobile device. 

“In the past, people used grammar-based translation techniques, which requires human efforts in writing grammar rules to build up a translation lexicon. However, this is expensive to 

build and diffi cult to deploy for any new set of languages and domains. By using data-driven 

machine translation, we are able to learn the translation model automatically from a set of 

translation examples. This allows us to create a new set of systems for new languages or new 

domains in a much shorter time frame,” said Dr. Zhang, machine translation expert.

The fi rst project to come out of interACT’s research at the Silicon Valley site is Jibbigo. 

Jibbigo is an iPhone app that translates language back and forth. The Jibbigo app has 

been tremendously successful, becoming one of the top travel apps, even rising to the 

number one selling app in Japan. It was also submitted to CrisisCampHaiti to aid in relief 

eff orts after the devastating earthquake in January. A translation app is critical for relief 

eff orts in Haiti when volunteers, including medical professionals, who do not speak the 

local language are on the ground aiding Haitians. 

Also aiding in disaster recovery is the newly established Disaster Management Initiative 

(DMI). Launched by Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley and the CyLab Mobility Research Center, DMI is a new technology partnership and incubator that brings together key partners 

and individuals to collaborate on next-generation solutions for more eff ective management of disaster and emergency response among the public, emergency responders and 

command centers in California and beyond.

The DMI held its fi rst workshop, “Disaster Management and Emergency Services: Next 

Generation Device, Communication, and Collaboration Technologies” on March 26, 2010. 

The workshop focused on defi ning the framework for new devices, communication and 

Contents

Bloom Energy 1

CMSV: Advanced 

Communications & 

Disaster Management 2

Unimodal Systems LLC 5

California Native Gardens 

 6

Space Business 

Roundtable: 

Cureton Event 7

Airship Earth 8

Space Systems/LORAL: 

Propulsion System 

for Moon Exploration 9

Bright Green Energy, USA 

 10

Singularity University 

2010 Graduate 

Studies Program 11

Khalid Al-AliAppointed 

Executive Director 

of UARC 12

NASA 70th 

Anniversary Gala 12

Tibion Corp New CEO 13

Dan Bolfi ng/Zystech

 13

CMU: 1991 Cold-Case 

Criminal Investigation 15

Yuri’s Night 16

Conrad Foundations 

2010 Spirit of 

Innovation Awards 17

Airship Ventures 18

Economics Benefi t Study 

 20

Moff ett Museum 

Open House 20

Dr. Joy Zhang and Dr. Matthias Eck introduce Jibbigo App
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 3

collaboration technologies and identifying projects to be explored further during 

CrisisCampSiliconValley. Agenda items at 

the DMI workshop included panels with 

many DMI partners covering sensors, 

mobile devices, WiFi, 3G and 4G networking, systems integration, common 

operating picture and next-generation 

emergency operation centers. 

Following the DMI workshop, Carnegie 

Mellon Silicon Valley hosted CrisisCampSiliconValley on March 26-28. Notable 

attendees included Matthew Bettenhausen, Secretary of CalEMA (California 

Emergency Management Agency) who 

gave the keynote , and Mike Dayton, 

Deputy Director of Legislative Aff airs for 

California Homeland Security. 

CrisisCamps brings together domain 

experts, developers and fi rst responders around improving technology and 

practice for humanitarian crisis. In the 

fi rst quarter of 2010, we’ve already seen 

natural disasters in California, Haiti, Chile, 

New Guinea, Cuba and Japan.

“Natural disasters occur worldwide killing 

tens of thousands of people, and in some 

cases hundreds of thousands of people, at 

a time,” said Dr. Martin L. Griss, director 

of Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley. “Advances in technology can predict threats 

sooner, accelerate response times and 

provide new communication channels, 

ultimately saving lives, and many of those 

innovations were born in Silicon Valley. 

The goal of our Disaster Management 

Initiative and CrisisCampSiliconValley is 

to be a driving force behind the further 

development of new technologies that 

will encourage innovation and a renewed 

focus on the area of disaster management.”

While interACT will advance communications technology and DMI will bring 

together collaborators in management 

and response, both will develop research 

to further disaster relief. Their work will 

push technology from useful to necessary for disaster recovery and humanitarian eff orts. 

To learn more about interACT, visit 

sv.cmu.edu/research/interact/. 

To learn more about the Disaster Management Initiative, visit dmi.sv.cmu.edu.

Bloom cont’d from p.1

NASA DART Chief Robert Dolci leads tour of NASA Ames cont’d on p.4

DART Collapsed Structure Rescue Training site

Unlike traditional renewable 

energy technologies, like solar 

and wind which are intermittent, 

Bloom’s technology can provide 

renewable power 24/7. Each 

Bloom Energy Server provides 

100 kilowatts (kW) of power in 

roughly the footprint of a parking space. Each system generates enough power to meet 

the needs of approximately 

100 average US homes or a 

small offi ce building. For more 

power, customers simply deploy 

multiple Energy Servers side by 

side. The modular architecture 

allows customers to start small 

and “pay as they grow.”

Bloom’s customers have deployed the solution to lower 

and/or fi x their energy costs, 

while signifi cantly cutting 

their carbon footprint and enhancing their energy security 

by reducing their dependence 

on the grid. Customers who 

purchase Bloom’s systems 

can expect a 3-5 year payback 

on their capital investment 

from the energy cost savings. 

Depending on whether they 

are using a fossil or renewable 

fuel, they can also achieve a 

40-100% reduction in their 

carbon footprint as compared 

with the U.S. grid. Customers 

announced today include 

Bank of America, The CocaCola Company, Cox Enterprises, eBay, FedEx Express, 

an operating company of 

FedEx Corp, Google, Staples, 

and Walmart.

Since the fi rst commercial 

customer installation in July 

2008, Bloom’s Energy Servers 

have collectively produced 
NRP Post

4www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov

more than 11 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of 

electricity, with CO2 reductions estimated at 

14 million pounds – the equivalent of powering approximately 1,000 American homes 

for a year and planting one million trees.

“Bloom Energy is dedicated to making clean, 

reliable energy aff ordable for everyone in 

the world,” said Dr. K.R. Sridhar, principal 

co-founder and CEO of Bloom Energy. “We 

believe that we can have the same kind of 

impact on energy that the mobile phone had 

on communications. Just as cell phones circumvented landlines to proliferate telephony, 

Bloom Energy will enable the adoption of distributed power as a smarter, localized energy 

source. Our customers are the cornerstone of 

that vision and we are thrilled to be working 

with industry leading companies to lower their 

energy costs, reduce their carbon footprint, 

improve their energy security, and showcase 

their commitment to a better future.“

Powder to Power – How It Works

Founded in 2001, Bloom Energy traces its 

roots to NASA’s Mars space program. Sridhar 

and his team were charged with building 

technology to help sustain life on Mars using solar energy 

and water to produce air to breathe and fuel for transportation. They soon realized that their technology could have 

an even greater impact here on Earth and began work on 

what would become the Bloom Energy Server.

The Bloom Energy Server converts air and nearly any fuel 

source – ranging from natural gas to a wide range of biogases – 

into electricity via a clean electrochemical process, rather than 

dirty combustion. Even running on a fossil fuel, the systems 

are approximately 67% cleaner than a typical coal-fired power 

plant. When powered by a renewable fuel, they can be 100% 

cleaner. Each Energy Server consists of thousands of Bloom’s 

fuel cells – flat, solid ceramic squares made from a common 

sand-like “powder”.

“Today we witnessed something special,” said John Doerr, 

partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufi eld & Byers and Bloom 

Energy board member. “This is a new kind of product 

Announcement, coming long after a product has shipped and 

directly from marquis customers. For years, there have been 

promises of new energy solutions that are clean, distributed, 

aff ordable, and reliable. Today we learn that Bloom, formerly 

in stealth, has actually delivered. 

Americans want clean, aff ordable, 

energy, 24x7 -- and all the jobs 

that go with it. Bloom’s boxes are 

a breakthrough, serving energy, 

serving demanding customers, 

and serving our country.”

Bloom Energy’s management 

team possesses expertise 

across a number of relevant industries, including aerospace, 

high volume manufacturing, 

semiconductors, automotive, 

naval nuclear, and Silicon 

Valley startups. In addition to 

CEO Sridhar, the company’s 

board members include John 

Doerr, partner, Kleiner Perkins 

Caufi eld & Byers; General Colin 

Powell, former U.S. Secretary 

of State; Scott Sandell, general 

partner, New Enterprise Associates (NEA); T.J. Rodgers, 

chairman, SunPower; and 

Eddy Zervigon, managing director, Morgan Stanley. Bloom 

Energy’s investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufi eld & Byers, 

representing the fi rm’s fi rst clean tech investment, as well as 

Morgan Stanley, NEA, and Northgate Capital.

Bloom Energy, a partner in NASA Research Park since 2004, 

has been featured on 60 Minutes, in Newsweek and Fortune 

Magazines among others.

Bloom cont’d from p.3

Bloom Energy Servers installed in summer 2009 

at eBay headquarters, San Jose, CA. Other early 

adopters of Bloom Energy Servers include Google, 

Inc., Walmart, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Cox 

Enterprises, FedEx Express and Staples.

“NASA is a tremendous environment for 

encouraging innovation—it’s all about 

solving problems that are seemingly 

unsolvable. After realizing that we could 

make oxygen on Mars, making electrons 

on Earth seemed far less daunting. We’re 

grateful to NASA for giving us a challenge 

with serendipitous impact for mankind.”

 - K.R. Sridhar
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 5

SkyTran’s lightweight personal compartments can transport up to three passengers. 

Travelers board the pod-like vehicles and select their destination on a touch screen.

cont’d on p.6

Photo: Michelle Le 

for Shoreline Boulevard over the years. Light rail projects have cost $100 million per 

mile while SkyTran would cost only $10 million per mile, according to Baertsch. The 

company claims its passive magnetic levitation technology is a breakthrough in terms 

of cost and effi ciency.

Baertsch said his company is “getting extremely close” to securing several million in 

venture capital funding to fi nish developing SkyTran.

Unimodal believes SkyTran fares could generate revenue for local government agencies while buses and light rail do not. In tough economic times, Baertsch said, Mountain 

View offi cials may be happy to know that the fi rst city to agree to a SkyTran system will 

not have to spend a dime on it.

That city would also get a SkyTran factory as part of the deal, Baertsch said, 

“That’s part of the package.”

Valley Support

San Jose International Airport and the University of Michigan are among other locations considering a SkyTran system. But while Michigan’s desire to reinvent itself as 

the center of transportation technology is attractive, Unimodal wants to create what it 

believes will be a multibillion dollar industry in Silicon Valley, said Elizabeth Thompson, 

the company’s director for strategic partnerships.

The technology still has to be tested, and Unimodal is planning to build a 1,000-foot oval 

test track on the tarmac behind Hangar Two at Moff ett Field. NASA Ames director Pete 

Worden is highly supportive of the project, and the 

space agency’s technology is expected to fi nd 

its way into SkyTran engineering, Baertsch said.

Unimodal envisions a 

system serving a redeveloped NASA Research 

Park, running across 

Stevens Creek to Google 

headquarters, to downtown Mountain View 

and eventually expanding all the way to the 

San Jose airport, where a 

request for proposals for 

a PRT project connecting it to the Santa Clara train station is expected later this year, 

Baertsch said.

New Relevance

The City Council’s resolution opens the door for PRT to be studied for the Shoreline area 

as the city updates its General Plan. The council has supported allowing Google, Microsoft and other companies to build buildings up to seven stories high in the Shoreline 

Area, which could pose traffi c management challenges for the neighborhood north of 

Highway 101.

“How we get around is probably just as important to think about as the buildings themselves,”

said council member John Inks.

Could Investors Fund City’s 

Transit Future?

Council resolution favors general 

concept of ‘personal rapid transit’

by Daniel DeBolt, Mountain View Voice Staff , 

April 1, 2010

A company that has set up shop at NASA 

Research Park claims its system for automated pod travel could lift Mountain 

View out of its traffi c and public transportation woes -- and the city may not 

have to spend a dime on it.

So claims Unimodal Systems LLC., which 

says that for the fi rst city to say yes, it can 

build its SkyTran system -- small cars or 

“pods” which move about automatically 

on a network of rails, heading to their 

destination at the push of a button 

-- while getting all of the funding from 

private investors.

“Investors have told us, bring us a project 

and we’ll fi nance it,” said Robert Baertsch, 

Unimodal’s vice president 

of software engineering.

Though the jury is still out 

on the merits of such a system, the City Council has 

already made a preliminary 

step in its favor. On Feb. 23, 

the council unanimously 

supported “the general 

concept of an automated 

personal rapid transit (PRT) 

system in Mountain View” 

after being lobbied by 

another PRT company -- 

one not located at Moff ett 

-- called ULTra.

The city is considering a PRT system from 

the downtown train station to the Shoreline area, where young employees from 

Google and Microsoft are expected to 

embrace its cutting-edge means of moving people around.

Council members say it is premature 

to call PRT their favorite transportation 

solution for the Shoreline area, but so 

far its purported low cost and effi ciency 

looks attractive in comparison to the 

light rail and shuttle services touted 
NRP Post

6 www.nasa.gov

California Poppy (Eschscholzia Californica) at Ames.

Robert Baertsch, vice president of software engineering for Unimodal, 

shows off a SkyTran pod prototype at NASA Research Park. 

Photo: Michelle Le

Unimodal cont’d from p.5

Council member Mike Kasperzak said 

he fi nds the idea of PRT in Mountain 

View “exciting” and was impressed with 

SkyTran’s prototype during a recent visit 

to Unimodal’s modest facility at NASA 

Ames.

And on a recent trip to London he was 

able to experience the ULTra PRT system 

being tested at Heathrow Airport. Ultra’s 

pods are battery powered cars riding on 

cement paths at up to 30 miles per hour. 

He said the ride was “smooth” and something like a ride at Disneyland.

Steve Raney, principal for ATS ULTra 

North America, said Mountain View was 

the fi rst city in the country to pass a resolution in favor of PRT as a concept.

Despite the interest, in tough budget 

times council members said it was unlikely the city could fund such a project. 

An 8.5-mile-long system with 24 stations 

would cost between $60 million and $130 

million, according to a city staff report.

How to Fund

Among the fans of Personal Rapid Transit 

and SkyTran is transportation guru Rod Diridon, executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute. He said the city could 

probably qualify for federal funding for the 

project if necessary, especially if it could be 

shown that it would create jobs quickly.

To qualify, matched funding of 20 percent would have to come from the city’s 

Shoreline Community tax district, the 

Valley Transportation Authority or the 

Shoreline tech companies that would 

make use of PRT. Before federal funds 

could even be applied for, the city would 

have to fi nd $1 million for initial studies, 

Diridon said. He recommended working 

with the VTA to expand PRT regionally.

Unimodal has already worked with 

Google, which considered using SkyTran 

to connect a new million-square-foot 

campus at NASA Ames to Hangar One, 

which they have considered using as a 

parking lot, Baertsch said. And Google’s 

co-founder, Larry Page, has made comments about his personal interest in PRT 

technology.

The city of San Francisco 

asked SkyTran for the 

costs of a seven-mile 

system on Geary Street. 

Using the current fare 

box revenue for the 

Geary Street buses, 

Baertsch calculated that 

the system would begin 

to turn a profi t after four 

years. More than 3,000 

people per square mile 

are needed to make 

a profi t with SkyTran, 

the company says, and 

Mountain View has 

about 6,000 people per 

square mile.

High Speeds

The light rail system in Santa Clara County has been little used in part because of its 

slow speed -- it averages 12 miles per hour in some places. SkyTran plans for 50 mile per 

hour speeds just to start off , but is designed to reach up to 150 miles per hour. Unimodal 

claims that one SkyTran guideway can provide the capacity of three freeway lanes.

Because of its light weight, the system supposedly can be mounted from light poles—

no expensive new infrastructure needed. Unimodal says SkyTran’s benefi ts are due to 

its “passive mag-lev” technology the company is developing, which allows the pods to 

basically fl oat on their overhead guideways once at speed.

If PRT really turns out to be aff ordable and safe (Unimodal says it is 20 times safer than a 

car and safer than fl ying), then its appearance may be its hardest selling point.

“It looks kind of futuristic,” said council member Margaret Abe-Koga. “I’m not sure if folks 

would be open to that.”

Baertsch said Unimodal was not attached to the exterior design of the pods, and joked 

that the company would build retro style pods that looked like San Francisco trolley 

cars if that’s what people wanted. 
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 7

SVSBR provides forums by leading 

aerospace leaders to educate the 

industry on new initiatives and goals. 

SVSBR educational outreach programs 

will also encourage students to enter 

these fi elds by their support to educational institutions in the Silicon Valley. 

Each quarter, the SVSBR will hold an 

event with invited government guests 

and speakers. This allows members 

opportunities to network with invited 

guests including prominent political 

and government leaders and colleagues from local companies. Selected 

speakers represent a cross-section of 

top political, NASA, and DOD leaders. 

For future event and membership 

information, see www.svsbr.org.

Bay Area aerospace professionals at SVSBR’s inaugural event. 

The roundtable series was founded by NRP’s Dr. Joy Colucci, 

SGT (Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies) and Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, UARC 

(University Affi liated Research Center).

Space Business Roundtable 

Kicks Off with Cureton Event

CIO Linda Cureton spoke on March 22, 

2010 at the inaugural luncheon of the 

Silicon Valley Space Business Roundtable 

(SVBR). The event was attended by over 

150 members of the Bay area’s aerospace 

community, representing 30 commercial, 

government and university organizations.

The Silicon Valley Space Business Roundtable is a new organization founded 

by NRP resident Joy Colucci of SGT and 

Khalid Al-Ali of the UARC. The non-profi t 

organization encourages the growth and 

development of aerospace-related business in California’s Silicon Valley.

Ames’ Jack Boyd introduced Cureton, 

who spoke about her vision for the 

future of NASA’s IT infrastructure in her presentation entitled “How to Make NASA IT 

Stellar”. The mission of the NASA IT organization is to increase the 

productivity of scientists, engineers, and mission support personnel by responsively and effi ciently delivering reliable, innovative 

and secure IT services.

 

NASA’s IT organization is one of the most highly regarded federal IT 

organizations, a sought-after innovator, and respected partner for 

NASA’s mission and mission support organizations – and innovation was a key theme in Cureton’s presentation. Cureton explained 

that we can learn a lot about innovation by looking at lessons 

taught to us by the tiny mustard seed, as tiny seed blossoms into 

a large sprawling plant and has many uses. So too, small amounts 

of innovation can blossom into extensive capabilities that can give 

your organization the ability to adapt, grow, and thrive.

Converting Conventional 

Landscapes to California 

Native Gardens

Photos by Kathleen Burton

Native plantings are located at 

Ames’ Bldgs. 200, 235, 269 and 

at NRP’s Bldg. 3 with plans to 

further expand native plantings 

to NRP by Ames’ JC Division.

Hummingbird Sage 

(Salvia Spathacea): 

California native 

perennial which 

attracts Anna’s and 

other California 

Hummingbirds.

California Lilac (Ceanothus), an evergreen, 

drought tolerant native.

Linda Cureton, NASA Chief Information 

Offi cer, NASA Headquarters, Washing. DC, 

kicks off the fi rst Silicon Valley Space Business Roundtable at the Hilton Santa Clara.
NRP Post

8 www.nasa.gov

by Thomas Grimm, Chief Innovation Offi cer 

Airship Earth

Airship Earth, a new media production, technology and telecommunications group, co-founded 

by Kathryn Schubel and Thomas Grimm, is a proud 

member of the NASA Research Park community 

of academic, industry and government partners. 

Kathryn holds a PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences, with extensive experience in formal and 

informal education, interactive exhibit display 

systems, and distance learning technologies. 

Thomas is a new media entrepreneur, fi lmmaker 

and former lead technical designer of Landscape 

Carbon Analytics for the Clinton Foundation. 

Kathryn and Thomas see potential in a new generation of ultra-scale, high 

resolution display networks linked to high performance graphics processing clusters, especially in Earth and 

Environmental Sciences, Informal 

Education and Emergency Management. Dubbed “HIPerSpace,” these 

highly interactive arrays developed by 

researchers at the Calit2 at UCSD, that 

can simultaneously present a mix of 

streaming high defi nition media from 

observatories and sensor networks in 

interactive environments that allow 

researchers, decision makers and 

students collaborate in exploring and 

understanding complex subjects, such 

as climate change, ocean acidifi cation 

and biotechnology. In Aquariums and 

Science Centers, HIPerSpace presentations of Discovery Channel, National 

Geographic programming can be 

greatly enhanced with live streaming 

media from observatories and content 

experts. 

The focus of Airship Earth is to work 

with the developers of HIPerSpace 

technologies to develop user communities and new venues for HIPerSpace display systems. Airship Earth 

is currently designing a stand-alone 

HIPerSpace Ocean Observatory for 

the Aquarium of the Pacifi c, located in 

Long Beach, California, where educators, students and the public will be able to 

explore gigapixel-size graphics and streaming media from space, land and seaborne observatories, research vessels, buoy sensors, autonomous underwater 

vehicles, seafl oor instruments and deep sea moorings. 

NRP Partner Magenn Power Inc. aims to produce electricity 

at 1,000 feet through helium-fi lled tethered wind turbines. The 

aerostats could be especially useful in poor or remote regions 

without an electrical grid, and could be quickly deployed 

after natural disasters that cause major damage to electrical 

infrastructure. 

HIPerSpace is an unparalleled visualization resource for informal education, 

allowing guests and content experts 

to gather in front of displays in farfl ung locations as if they were in the 

same room. The display system’s storytelling capacity extends advances 

in simulation, data streaming, and 

human-computer interaction to a 

broader public. HIPerSpace has a 

unique capacity to bridge global environmental knowledge gap through 

their capacity to distribute massive 

amounts multifaceted, multidimensional data in shared, virtual spaces. 

Each new HIPerSpace installation 

adds to the growing global community connected by advanced, 

multi-gigabit-per-second networks. 

As policy-makers, business leaders, 

and scientists grapple with 

climate change, biodiversity 

and habitat loss, land degradation, water pollution, 

depleted fi sheries, rising sea 

levels, ocean acidifi cation 

and the challenges of the Urban Ocean, new HIPerSpace 

Portals can provide new 

collaborative spaces that 

will help distant research 

communities work ever 

more eff ectively together. 

HIPerSpace Portals represent a powerful new global 

resource for understanding 

the complex environmental 

processes that directly impact human society and the 

global climate, upon which 

all life depends.

Another powerful application of HIPerSpace technology will be in the area of 

Emergency Management. 

Multidimensional data associated with large-scale 

disasters is growing exponentially, overwhelming 

rather than enhancing the coordination of emergency response operations. HIPerSpace Portals can provide 

Airship Earth at NASA Research Park
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 9

SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL to Provide Space-Proven 

Propulsion System for Moon Exploration

Palo Alto, CA

Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications and the 

leading provider of commercial satellites, announced Jan. 6, 2010, it has been 

selected to provide a propulsion system to NASA Ames Research Center for the 

Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. 

“We are pleased to have 

this opportunity to work 

with our neighbor NASA 

Ames, and to help the U.S. 

Government leverage the 

extensive heritage and 

mission capability of 

technologies developed 

for commercial satellites,” 

said John Celli, President 

of Space Systems/Loral. 

“NASA Ames has designed 

a versatile spacecraft 

platform for unmanned 

space exploration and 

our propulsion system is 

available as a long-term 

solution for these important scientifi c missions.”

NASA’s LADEE spacecraft 

is a small observatory planned for launch in mid-2012 to study the moon’s thin 

atmosphere and dust above the lunar surface. The LADEE propulsion system 

will be a variant of the mission-critical system used for many years on SS/L’s 

geostationary satellites for television, radio, broadband internet, meteorology 

and other services. Currently there are 59 SS/L-built satellites orbiting Earth, 

and the company has logged more than 1,600 satellite years on orbit.

According to Stevan Spremo, LADEE deputy project manager at NASA Ames, 

“The LADEE mission will help researchers understand how the lunar environment 

will aff ect future explorers. Space Systems/Loral understands the importance of 

this mission and presented a unique propulsion solution for our Modular Common 

Spacecraft Bus. Working with a commercial manufacturer is helping NASA meet 

demands for a lower-cost approach to science missions.”

“Loral has a long standing Space Act Agreement with NASA Ames’ Airfi eld Management Offi ce to transport the satellites, and an Enhanced Use Lease with NASA Research Park to store satellite containers and thermal vac in Hangar 2,” said Mejghan 

Haider, Chief of Business Development at NRP.

Artist rendering of NASA’s LADEE Spacecraft planned for 

launch in 2012.

First Responders and Incident 

Commanders with eff ective new 

ways of analyzing, processing 

and converting complex data into 

actionable intelligence and more 

coherent response. Airship Earth 

is collaborating with Carnegie 

Mellon and Geodan, a Geoinformatics specialists based in the 

Netherlands to display Emergency Management “Common 

Operating Pictures.” HIPerSpace 

COP applications will be designed 

to collect and fi lter space-borne, 

airborne and ground-based data, 

including building and infrastructure sensor data and social media 

geotagged time stamped data, 

fusing and sharing critical data. 

Airship Earth and Magenn Power

In an eff ort to address the need for 

emergency power and telecom 

needs that can hobble Disaster 

Response eff ectiveness, Airship 

Earth entered into a Teaming 

Agreement with Magenn Power, 

to co-develop lighter-than-air, 

wind powered aerostats that can 

provide emergency power and 

communications in disaster areas. 

Their shared goal is to develop 

rapidly deployable emergency 

power. Antenna and surveillance 

payloads are being developed to 

restore cellular communication 

impacted by disasters while providing high resolution, continuous surveillance over landscapes 

impacted by earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfi res. As operational 

experience builds and funding becomes available, the team intends 

to fl y aerostats with increasingly 

capable payloads. Pierre Rivard, 

CEO of Magenn Power expressed 

enthusiasm about the teaming 

agreement, “Airship Earth has been 

a God-send to Magenn Power. This 

teaming agreement will greatly accelerate our R&D activities at NASA 

Research Park.” 
NRP Post

10 www.nasa.gov

Greene, Gold, and Bright Green: 

Guerilla Geeks Take Action To 

Empower Women

by Miki Huynh

Andrew Gold, Founder of I-Net Solutions 

Inc., and Laina Greene, CEO of GetIT Inc., are 

venturing forth into Bangladesh. They’ve a 

business for a sustainable non-profi t venture 

called Bright Green Energy USA, formed in 

partnership with Bright Green Energy Foundation, the grassroots organization started 

by Dipal Barua, Zayed Future Energy Prize 

recipient, co-founder of Grameen Bank and 

Founder of Grameen Shakti. 

Bright Green Energy (BGE) is a microcredit program 

focused on empowering communities in Bangladesh 

through training women. The women receive training at 

BGE’s Green Technology Centers located within 10 miles of 

a rural community, and up to 200 women can be trained at 

a time. Within a three week training course, these women 

learn how to install home solar systems, self manufacture 

DC to DC convertors, charge controllers and solar lighting devices and 

fi nd themselves able to dramatically 

increase their income and improve their 

quality of life. They receive clean energy, access to communications and 

clean lighting for less than the price 

they pay for kerosene and eliminate 

their family’s exposure to indoor air pollution. In addition the equipment has a 

useful life of over 20 years and they end 

up owning the system outright after 3 

years – you do the math – 17 years of 

nearly free clean energy! (http://www.

makingitmagazine.net/?p=459)

After making her acquaintance with 

Grameen Shakti and the Green Tech 

Centers in Bangladesh, Greene put 

together a short fi lm entitled “New 

Faces of Geeks and Entrepreneurs” 

(http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=-rKtNDnpM3M) that aimed 

to dispel the notion of “geeks” as 

strictly “men with glasses” and to 

show the dramatic technological 

and life altering changes possible at 

the hands of women in their home 

communities. Gold met Greene 

through a mutual friend and was 

impressed with her keynote speech 

at the Clean Tech Open. After a 

series of meetings directed towards 

rethinking strategies for social and 

environmental change in third world countries, they 

formed a partnership with Dipal Barua of Bangladesh 

to solidify their ideas and to extend the reach of BGE. 

As Greene and Gold see their mission, bringing social 

change and eventual environmental improvements 

is not about shipping people into these areas to save 

the day, but about identifying talent and potential 

within the target communities and empowering 

them. BGE USA is helping to further refi ne, franchise 

and scale the model that Dipal Barua has mastered in 

Bangladesh and to make it portable and applicable 

to other developing nations i.e. India, Africa, and 

Latin America. Andrew envisions the formation of 

what he calls “Eco Villages,” sustainable communities 

implementing new technology to leverage biogas, 

grow organic foods, purify water, and develop sustainable local infrastructure within these countries.

The project is now underway as 

students from Stanford University 

have begun organizing fundraising 

strategies and targeting donors. Two 

Stanford graduate students, Patricia 

Ho and Clay Sader, will also travel to 

Bangladesh with Greene and visit 

the training sites later this summer.

Bright Green Energy USA taps into 

people’s passion for change. Gold and 

Greene are connecting people abroad 

with people at NASA Ames, Stanford 

and Silicon Valley through a shared 

passion for entrepreneurship, technology and women‘s empowerment.

Andrew Gold and Laina Greene at NRP

Andrew Gold welcomes newest member of NASA’s 

family. Andrew with wife Sharon, son Julian, and 

daughter Meredith.

Margarita Quhuis, Research Fellow at Stanford Persuasive Technologies Lab, 

Stanford students Diane Lee, Yang Hong, Stephany Sy, Patricia Ho, and Clay 

Sader with Greene and Gold after a BGE USA marketing strategy presentation.
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 11

by Salim Ismail, Executive Director of 

Singularity University

On June 19, Singularity University will 

welcome its second Graduate Studies 

Program class of 80 student to their 

summer home at NASA Research Park 

for an intensive, ten-week program. 

The program is designed to facilitate 

understanding and collaboration 

across a set of rapidly advancing scientifi c and technological disciplines 

whose developments are exponentially accelerating. 

“The past year of global disruption 

has resulted in a signifi cant shift in the 

zeitgeist for exponential technologies,” 

said Salim Ismail, Executive Director 

of Singularity University. “Exponential 

technologies can scale to meet the 

demands of our grand challenges. 

Singularity University fosters students’ 

understanding of these accelerating 

and converging technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.”

Building a World-Class Faculty

Singularity University has attracted 

leading minds to its faculty, helping to realize its vision of positively 

addressing humanity’s grand challenges. From nanotech expert 

Ralph Merkle to three-time shuttle 

astronaut Dan Barry, applicants 

worldwide are eager to learn and 

share knowledge with SU faculty, 

to better understand innovations 

across the 10 academic tracks. 

Beginning with GSP-10, SU is pleased 

to welcome John Gage of Sun Microsystems/Kleiner Perkins as a Co-Chair 

of the Networks and Computing 

Systems track. Credited with coining 

the phrase “the network is the computer,” Gage will lead discussions and 

workshops, and serve as an advisor 

to GSP-10 projects.

10^9: Graduate Studies 

Program Team Projects 

and Successes

This summer, Graduate 

Studies Program students 

will self-organize into teams, 

tasked with the goal of 

“positively aff ecting at least 

a billion people.” Students 

from last year’s summer 

program made impressive 

progress toward this goal 

by leveraging Singularity 

University’s unique resources.

Through Singularity University partnerships, team projects benefi t from 

cutting-edge research of NASA and 

Silicon Valley. For example, Xidar Systems, focused on applying exponential technologies to disaster response, 

leveraging knowledge from domain 

experts, including NASA’s Disaster 

Assistance and Rescue Team.

Many of last year’s projects evolved 

into companies, now with funding 

and nearing public launch. “Based 

on the early work of the team projects 

from 2009, and the growing success 

of the spin-out companies, we expect 

the eff ects of our Graduate Studies 

Program alumni to be far-reaching in 

aff ecting humanity’s challenges over 

the coming years,”said Ismail.

Greater Success through 

NASA-SU Collaboration

Through Singularity University’s collaboration with NASA, students have gained 

exposure to NASA’s innovative research 

and partnership programs, enabling a 

unique experience and education.

For example, NASA Ames Research 

Center Director Dr. Pete Worden discussed new developments with students during Singularity University’s 

Space and Physical Sciences track. 

A highlight for participants was Dr. 

Jonathan Trent of NASA’s GREEN 

team, who discussed how cuttingedge biotechnology applies to the 

grand challenge of clean water. 

Participants in Singularity University’s 9-day Executive Program also 

received an overview of NASA’s 

long-term goals from scientists 

across research areas, including 

Director Gary Martin, New Ventures 

& Communications Directorate.

Looking Forward

“2009 was a ground-breaking inaugural year for Singularity University,” 

said Ismail. “The world-class group of 

students and faculty joining Singularity University continues to exceed our 

expectations. We expect 2010 to be 

another great year of innovation, collaboration, and progress.” 

http://www.singularityu.org

Singularity University Executive Program participants David 

Gessel (left) and Robin Winsor (right) working with 3-D 

fabrication on their class gift in their spare time - a new podium 

for SU’s main classroom at NASA Research Park

SU and NASA Ames meet during SU’s winter Executive Program (L-R) David 

Morse, Chief, Entrepreneurial Initiatives Division, Innovative Partnerships 

Program; Susan Fonseca-Klein, Founding Architect, SU; Lewis Braxton, 

III, Ames Deputy Director; Peter Diamandis, Founder/Chairman, SU; Keith 

Powers, VP Strategic Development, SU; Chris Boshuizen, Co-Chair Space & 

Physical Sciences Track, SU

Singularity University Welcomes 

2010 Graduate Studies Program
NRP Post

12www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov

NASA 70th Anniversary Gala Event 

NRP Partners joined the NASA community in celebrating Ames 70th 

Anniversary at a gala dinner January 23, 2010, at Santa Clara University. 

Actress Nichelle Nichols, Lt. Uhura of Star Trek, (she helped NASA widen 

its recruiting in the early days) gave the keynote. Ames was founded on 

Dec. 20, 1939, after Charles Lindbergh recommended this location as the 

ideal spot for America’s second research laboratory for aeronautics.

Back Row: (L-R) Paul Pelosi, Jr., 

Eric Dahlstrom (SU), Lew Braxton, 

Will Marshall (NASA) Front Row: 

(L-R) Roger Hunter (NASA), Emeline 

Paat-Dahlstrom (SU), Bob Richards 

(SU), Pete Worden, Jack Boyd, 

Susan Fonseca-Klein (SU), Bruce 

Klein (SU), Nhu Anh Can (SU), Chris 

Boshuizen (NASA) 

Khalid Al-Ali Appointed 

Executive Director of UARC

The University of California, Santa Cruz, 

appointed Khalid Al-Ali as executive director of the University Affi liated Research 

Center (UARC) on January 25, 2010. He 

oversees the center’s research contract 

with NASA and special relationship with 

the NASA Ames Research Center.

Established in 2003 as a contract between 

NASA and UC managed by UCSC, UARC is 

a key element of UCSC’s presence in Silicon 

Valley and the campus’ growing partnerships with NASA Ames. Research at the 

center focuses on five technology areas: 

aerospace systems (which includes air traffic management and rotorcraft research), 

earth sciences, information sciences, space 

sciences, and nanotechnology.

Al-Ali oversees 140 scientists, engineers, 

and administrative staff affi liated with 

the UARC contract. He succeeds William 

Berry, now president of University Associates - Silicon Valley, a partnership 

between UCSC and other academic 

institutions that is developing a sustainable community for education and 

research at NASA Research Park.

“We are very fortunate that we are able 

to hire someone of Khalid’s experience 

and expertise. We look forward to Khalid 

being part of our dynamic relationship 

with NASA Ames,” said Martin Chemers, 

vice provost for Silicon Valley Initiatives 

at UCSC.

Al-Ali has led several major NASA 

research projects involving advanced 

aircraft and spacecraft technologies, 

intelligent avionics, novel power 

systems, planetary rovers and robots, 

spacecraft, and autonomous exploratory vehicles for Lunar, Martian, and 

Antarctic missions. He founded the 

Carnegie Mellon Innovations Laboratory at NASA Research Park, directing 

its activities to create advanced technologies for compact, highly capable 

mobile autonomous vehicles covering ground, air, and space operations. 

He earned a B.S. in mechanical and 

aerospace engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Ph.D. 

in mechanical and electrical engineering at UC Berkeley.

Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, Executive Director, UARC

Susan Fonseca-Klein, JD, BA, Co-Founder 

Singularity University, with Actress Nichelle Nichols

NRP’s Dave and Trish Guerrieri, GaryAir, 

with Ames Deputy Director Lewis Braxton, III Dr. Khalid Al Ali, UARC Executive Director, 

with Actress Nichelle Nichols
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 13

Tibion Corporation New CEO

Mr. Charles Remsberg joined Tibion in late 2009 after serving for 

three years as CEO of Hocoma Inc., the U.S. sales and marketing 

arm of the privately held Swiss company Hocoma AG. Hocoma 

AG is best known for its clinic-based Lokomat® robotic gait 

orthosis that has helped thousands of American patients with 

spinal cord, stroke, traumatic brain injury and cerebral palsy 

recover their ability to walk.

Prior to that position, Mr. Remsberg 

was head of worldwide sales for 

Hocoma, and for more than ten 

years, an executive of Biodex 

Medical Systems in Shirley, NY. 

At Biodex, he rose from product 

development manager to head 

of worldwide sales for the nation’s 

leading supplier of balance, gait 

and joint rehabilitation systems. 

Mr. Remsberg lives in Palo Alto with 

his wife and two daughters.

Tibion Corporation develops innovative equipment that can 

help individuals recover physical function lost due to disease, 

trauma or aging.

The New Science Behind Neurorehabilitation

Approximately 700,000 strokes occur annually in the United 

States. Half of the 550,000 survivors experience residual hemiparesis and approximately 165,000 of those individuals have 

mobility defi cits requiring assistance with walking. Recent 

advances in motor-learning-based therapies have opened 

new possibilities for recovery of motor functions after stroke.

Central neural plasticity – the ability of the brain to rewire 

itself to bypass disease and trauma-compromised regions – 

has emerged as a prime mechanism that may be exploited to 

optimize therapy for hemiparesis in the lower limb. At present, 

the Tibion Bionic Leg is in clinical use at selected sites across 

the nation. Early reports suggest that patients with hemiparesis due to strokes – even strokes fi ve or more years in the 

past – responds well to the therapeutic intervention with the 

Tibion Bionic Leg. 

Tibion Corporation, at NRP since 2003, has grown from 200 

square feet to more than 5,000 square feet and has entered its 

marketing and scalability phase. 

Mr. Charles Remsberg, 

Tibion Corporation CEO

The Next Big Wave

by Miki Huynh

...Dan Bolfi ng, like energy guru Amory Lovins, 

thinks the greatest advances in transportation 

effi ciencies can be attained with lighter weight 

vehicles and better aerodynamics...

Dan Bolfi ng knows how to ride a wave of opportunity when he sees one, and create a few of his own. 

Dan met Timothy Collins, founder of KleenSpeed 

Technologies Inc., and they formed a partnership 

for joint ventures between KleenSpeed and Dan’s 

companies, ContactScale and Zystech. 

“Dan is riding a composite tsunami,” said Collins, noting that Bolfi ng is known as a preeminent source 

for composite parts for vehicles in the US and 

around the world, with a specialty in exotic parts 

and emergent technology. 

As a KleenSpeed partner, Dan consults, designs, CAD 

processes, 3-D renders, and prototypes the electric 

vehicles KleenSpeed outputs. He builds molds for 

custom 1-off automotive parts as well as parts in mass 

production. He also builds CNC hotwire machines 

that prepare the parts for cutting and drilling.

At his Zystech offi ce in the old auto service station 

in NASA Research Park, Bolfi ng surrounds himself 

with electric car parts and unique prototyping machinery, but his story begins with surfboards. By the 

age of fi fteen, Bolfi ng understood his passion for 

surfi ng. Since boards cost $250-$300 each, the high 

schooler found the sport out of his price range. 

cont’d on p.14

Dan Bolfi ng with a Zystech Machine for prototype design
NRP Post

14 www.nasa.gov

Instead of buying surfboards, he decided 

to build his own. Gathering inspiration for 

dimensions and decorative stenciling from 

surfi ng magazines, he shaped boards out 

of foam inside a home garage. With a little 

artistry and plenty of resourcefulness, he 

and a friend discovered they could hand 

make boards of better quality than the 

store bought variety, and Bolfi ng found 

his calling.

Things took sail when he upgraded to windsurfi ng at age thirteen, winning third place 

against the world’s best in his fi rst competition by the age of sixteen. It wasn’t long 

until, disgruntled with college, Bolfi ng left 

San Francisco State University for Hawaii 

to seek out the legendary Jimmy Lewis, 

one of the world’s best known windsurf 

board designers. 

Bolfi ng recalls his fi rst encounter with 

Lewis: “I’m hitchhiking up a mountain to 

get to Jimmy’s workshop at the top. A car 

fi nally stops, and who is behind the wheel 

but Jimmy himself.” Since the current board 

shaper at the shop, Peter Thommen, was 

abroad competing, Lewis agreed to hire 

eighteen-year old Bolfi ng, who was only 

in his second day of residence in Hawaii, 

during Thommen’s absence. A year later, 

Lewis invited Dan to work at his surfboard 

manufacturing company full-time - after 

Bolfi ng delayed college a second time, 

returning once more to Hawaii.

Bolfi ng gained international recognition in 

windsurfi ng competitions and board designs in the ensuing years, while helping 

the industry push changes in the materials 

used in windsurf boards, from polyester 

and clark foam to full vacuumed bags 

foam construction. In Hawaii, Dan was at 

the epicenter of the windsurfi ng world, 

with his own company, designing boards 

for brands like Nifty, Cabrinha, Island 

Comp and Northshore Extreme (and fi nding time to visit CA and graduate at SFSU.)

Bolfi ng cont’d from p.13

Photo: Diane Farrar

Dan at Zystech with his design products, from surfboards to automobiles

After a decade of international success, as machine built boards saturated the market and Japan and Brazil entered an economic recession, the windsurf industry began to freeze. It was time to change 

course. Dan used his experience and self-built CNC (Computer 

Numerically Controlled) machines to create a successful sign making 

business, until a serious fall forced him into long-term rehabilitation.

. 

With plenty of time to think, Dan decided his real passion is cars. 

With skills in building and modifying prototyping machinery, he 

planned to prototype movie cars in Los Angeles, but then recognized an epicenter of automotive innovation in the Bay Area, which 

he compares to the past hotbed for windsurfi ng in Hawaii.

Bolfi ng innovates new prototyping processes and new vehicles, 

and wants to push his fabrication team toward developing lighter 

weight electric cars for better mileage and overall improved safety. 

He is even investigating possibilities for constructing organic cars 

out of materials like paper and honeycomb. 

KleenSpeed has exciting new projects on the way, and Dan Bolfi ng 

is ready to catch the next big wave.“Dan’s knowledge of composite 

fabrication technique is profound, and complemented by his ability to 

integrate software and hardware to design and produce CNC machines. 

Zystech Machines are cost eff ective and can enable manufacturers’ use 

of composites in any country,” Collins said.
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 15

Carnegie Mellon Innovations 

Lab (CMIL) in collaboration 

with the NASA Payload 

Directed Flight research 

team from the Intelligent 

Systems Division at NASA 

Ames, and the United States 

Geological Survey in Menlo 

Park, assisted the County of 

Santa Clara’s District Attorney’s Offi ce in CA in solving 

a 1991 cold case murder 

investigation. The team 

deployed a Senseta MAX 

5.0A Rover, an autonomous 

ground vehicle, to perform 

magnetic surveys of a vacant 

lot in Alviso, CA, looking for buried 

material evidence, which included 

car parts and a possible body buried 

in the old junk yard. Applied research 

algorithms developed by NASA 

and CMU combined with USGS and 

Senseta technologies provided the 

means to collect data and locate the 

buried material evidence, which was 

excavated. The excavation led to a 

conviction and resolution of the 18 

year old cold-case. 

The CSI Case

In 1991, Bernado Bass 

killed Dawn Sanchez, but 

her body and the gun used 

in the murder was not discovered in the ensuing investigation. Mr. Bass’ car, in 

which Ms. Sanchez was last 

seen, was also missing. The 

case was dismissed in 1991 

due to lack of evidence. 

The case was recently reo 

pened, when an informant 

reported that the car may 

have been disassembled 

and buried in a large abandoned lot in 

Alviso. The exact location in the lot was 

not specifi ed, and the cost to excavate 

the entire area was too high. Further, 

the lot contained a substantial amount 

of buried and surface metallic debris, 

making a simple survey with metal 

detectors insuffi cient.

The DA’s offi ce requested surveying expertise from the USGS, who contacted 

NASA’s Payload Directed Flight research 

group for support. The NASA group 

was already working with CMIL and 

the USGS, and had developed realtime processing algorithms and 

platforms for magnetic and ground 

penetrating radar sensors hosted 

on small autonomous aerial and 

ground vehicles, for intelligent autonomous earth science missions. 

Additionally, the NASA group was 

also already working closely with 

Senseta Inc., a Carnegie Mellon 

Silicon Valley spin-off specialised 

in aerospace technologies and 

unmanned intelligent systems. 

In response to the DA’s request, 

the mixed team of scientists and 

engineers from CMIL, NASA Ames 

and the USGS deployed an instrumented Senseta MAX 5.0A rover 

hosting the research technologies 

under development, and mapped 

the magnetic environment of the 

survey area. The USGS received 

the processed data set, and after 

further post-processing, presented 

the county DA’s offi ce with their 

analysis and possible locations for 

excavation. Based on 

this data, the county 

excavated the site and 

retrieved car parts that 

matched the suspect’s 

car. Confronted with 

this evidence in court, 

on August 29, 2009, the 

suspect Bernardo Bass 

pleaded no contest to 

the charges, was convicted of manslaughter, 

and sentenced to six 

years in prison.

CMU Silicon Valley, NASA Ames, USGS, Senseta, 

and Santa Clara DA’s Offi ce Solve 1991 Cold-Case Criminal Investigation

Excerpted from a paper by Corey Ippolito, Ritchie Lee, Yoo-Hsiu Yeh, Khalid Al-Ali, 

Robert Kayan, John Spritzer, Geoff Phelps

Carnegie Mellon University, NASA Ames Research Center, United States Geological Survey

USGS personnel carrying the NASA instrumented Senseta MAX 

rover during Alviso survey

Research Engineers Ritchie Lee and Yoo-Hsiu Yeh of the Carnegie Mellon 

Innovations Lab operating the Ground Station Setup at the Alviso Survey Location.
NRP Post

16 www.nasa.gov

NRP at Yuri’s Night

By Brian Black 

Sales Manager, New Business 

Planners

NRP partners Planners Collaborative 

and KleenSpeed Technologies, Inc. 

hosted popular stops at Yuri’s Night 

on April 10. The day started blustery 

and cloudy, but by late afternoon rays 

of sunshine emerged and by evening 

the wind subsided. The ear plugs went 

in as the festival atmosphere featuring 

mega bands grew.

KleenSpeed showed off its prototype 

electric powered race car with lithium ion 

battery packs. KleenSpeed’s 2009 West 

WX 10T set the lap record at 92.5mph, 

winning the four wheel vehicle trophy 

and First Place overall at “Refuel – the 

First Alternative Vehicle Demonstration 

and Electric Time Trials” at Laguna Seca, 

Monterey, CA, in July 2009.

The Collaborative’s interactive six-hole 

miniature golf course, featuring sustainable products and services, was a 

huge hit. Thousands putted through 

the 21stGreen course, learning about 

NASA Ames’ sustainable future with 

partners such as Magenn, Swinerton 

Builders, GaryAir, and many others. 

iPads featuring each of the participants 

were illuminated at night, fascinating 

the attendees.

On April 9 Ames hosted Education Day, 

in conjunction with Yuri’s Night, for six 

thousand students. 2010 Pete Conrad 

Scholars and Spirit of Innovation Award 

participants won grants, commercial 

opportunities and a Zero Gravity fl ight! Onstage the Collaborative’s own 

Brian Day inspired attendees by giving 

NASA LCROSS Mission updates, and at 

21stGreen, students learned about a 

sustainable future.

Photo: Daniel Margulies oto a e a gu es Photo: Daniel Margulies

Photo: Diane Farrar Photo: Di ane Fa rra

Photo: Diane Farrar Photo: Diane Farrar
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 17

Conrad Foundations 2010 

Spirit of Innovation Awards

by Michael Marlaire

Nancy Conrad, widow of Apollo astronaut 

Pete Conrad - the third man to walk on the 

Moon and the fi rst to dance on it - created 

the Conrad Foundation to inspire STEM 

education. The foundation’s second annual 

Spirit of Innovation Awards for high school 

students, held April 8-10 at Moff ett Field 

Conference Center in NASA Research Park, 

was billed as “Revenge of the Nerds meets 

American Idol.”

The program encourages high school 

students to solve 21st century challenges by 

creating breakthrough technologies in one 

of four categories: aerospace, green schools, 

renewable energy and space nutrition.

Each winning team received a $5000 cash 

award from the Conrad Foundation. Ames 

Center Director Dr. Pete Worden spoke at the 

event and distributed free Yuri’s Night tickets 

to students and teachers. Former NASA Ames 

Director for Aeronautics, Dr. Skip Fletcher, 

representing AIAA, presented $500 awards to 

the teachers of the winning teams.

A number of VIPs attended including: Lori 

Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator; Miles 

O’Brien, chairman of the NASA Advisory 

Council for Education and Public Outreach; 

Steve Westly, The Westly Group; Chairman Jon 

Wellinghof, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; recording artist and music producer 

Pharrell Williams, N.E.R.D.; Keith Cowings, 

NASA Watch; and entrepreneurs Rafe Furst, 

John Gage, Fred Nazem and Ari Meisel.

NASA HQ Director for Innovative Partnerships 

Doug Comstock, Ames New Ventures and 

Communication Director Gary Martin and 

NRP Director Michael Marlaire also attended.

Nancy Conrad welcomes guests with Astronaut Pete Conrad’s image on

the screen.

Miles O’Brien and Lori Garver 

discuss NASA and the future 

with guests.

Nancy Conrad with the People’s Choice Winners (AM Rocks) and N.E.R.D. 

lead singer Pharrell Williams
NRP Post

18 www.nasa.gov

Happenings at Airship Ventures

by Gus Holweger, Ambassador

Airship Ventures, Inc.

Annual Maintenance

“Eureka”, Airship Ventures’ Zeppelin, the only US-based 

airship designed for passenger travel, just completed 

its annual maintenance as required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). 

As you will see from the highlights of this “Annual Physical” the airship, one of only three in the world, is diff erent 

from a blimp. The maintenance is performed by Airship 

Ventures’ technical staff and by three experts from Germany’s Zeppelin company, which built the airship. 

Excerpts from the maintenance checklist shows how 

comprehensive this annual project is. Here are the 

components: 

• Instrumentation 

• Engines

• Complete Airframe

• Electrical System

• Pressure Management System

• Fuel System

• Helium Purifi cation 

Following are details of two of the tasks that are very 

specifi c to an airship: 

Helium Purifi cation: Other companies using helium 

have chosen to let the gas escape rather than purify 

it. Airship Ventures’ purifi cation process, that lasts 48 

hours, purifi es the helium from 75% (with 25% atmospheric impurities) to 98.5%, thus signifi cantly increasing lift for the airship. The process is as follows: 

The Eureka is drained of helium and the gas pumped 

into three large helium storage bags with a capacity 

of 2,300 cubic meters each (the airship holds a total of 

7,400 cubic meters with the residual 500 cubic meters, 

or ‘dregs’ being vented as they get atmospheric impurities during the transfer process). Each large storage bag 

is held in place by 400 lb. concrete blocks on castors. 

After the airframe has been completely inspected (this 

task is described below), the helium, before being 

pumped from the large storage bags back into the 

airship, is purifi ed by passing it through membranes. 

These membranes remove any atmospheric impurities 

that accumulated during the operation of the airship. 

The purifi ed helium is pumped back into the airship. 

The bags empty from the top, 

and the helium is pumped into 

“Eureka”, again at the top, 

where it pools upward, pushing the heavier air out through 

her ventral ports.

The crew moves the helium storage bag # 3 into position 

and begins to fold fully defl ated bag #2

And then, as the cloud of helium 

begins to struggle against the heavy 

bag, we move in the “Abstract 

Elephant” phase. What a treat!
NRP Post

www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov 19

Airframe Inspection: This task must be done after the helium has been drained from the airship. The 

technician has to be inside the structure of the airship. For this purpose a temporary ‘catwalk’ is installed. 

The airframe components that will be 100% inspected are: 

• “Longerons”, the aluminum beams that run from the front to the back of the airship. 

 The longerons are pressure tested up to a maximum pressure of 5 atmospheres 

• “Crossbeams”, carbon fi ber triangles, that are connected to the longerons at regular intervals.

• “Knotplates”, the highly engineered and designed connector plates that connect and hold 

 together the longerons and crossbeams. 

This structure is vastly diff erent from the airships of yesteryear where huge aluminum structures were 

held together by millions of rivets. Incidentally, the “ballonets”, the two self-contained “air” bags inside 

the airship used to balance the pressure and lift of the airship, remain infl ated while the above tasks are 

being performed. After these and all other tasks have been completed, an FAA inspector will check the 

compliance with FAA regulations, accuracy and eff ectiveness of “Eureka’s” Annual Physical and give it its 

‘seal of approval’ - the green light for Airship Ventures to resume its operations for the upcoming seasons.

The airship “Eureka” with a Valentine’s Day decal

Decals and Banners – 

What’s the Diff erence?

This part of Airship Ventures’ scope 

of activities falls under “Branding” 

and many of you have seen blimps 

in the air advertising someone’s 

product or service. Branding is one 

of Airship Ventures’ three revenues 

streams (passenger “fl ightseeing” 

and scientifi c projects being the 

other two). 

How is a decal or banner diff erent 

from advertising on a billboard? 

A billboard, regardless of size, has 

a fl at surface and posters are attached to it with some adhesive. 

The airship is shaped like a cigar 

and has curved surfaces. Lettering 

logos or pictures, in order to avoid 

distortions, must therefore be 

designed and produced taking the 

curvatures of the airship into consideration. Special software is used 

to design decals and banners for 

this application. Airship Ventures 

uses Airborne Graphics software. 

Decals: The design is given to a 

local company that produces the 

decal made of a self-adhesive vinyl, 

and, when attached to the airship, 

accommodates its shape. A decal’s 

life expectancy is about one year. 

While the decal is self-adhesive and 

the vinyl weather-resistant, it must 

be perforated with very small pinholes before being attached. The 

airship’s envelope, while extremely 

sturdy and multi-layered, still lets 

helium escape in very small quantities. If the decal is not perforated, 

the escaping helium might create 

bubbles underneath. 

Banners: For illustrating purposes, 

a banner might be compared to a 

big sail made of a material that is 

not only sturdy, but also moisture 

resistant (moisture would add 

weight to the airship which is not 

desirable). While the same software 

is used to design a banner as for 

designing a decal the actual banner 

may be produced by a company 

that can meet the material and 

manufacturing specifi cations.

The airship envelope has been 

equipped with banner hooks to 

tightly affi x a banner. There are 

enough banner hooks to allow for 

various size banners.

NASA/AV Joint Scientifi c Projects

In the last edition of NRP Post, we reported about 

the airship being equipped with a “Remote Sensing 

Platform” for various scientifi c projects, one of the fi rst 

being the Ocean Color Science Mission. These collaborative projects, which also include the SETI Institute 

in Mountain View, were described in an October 2009 

NASA press release. 

Alex Travell, Airship Ventures’ Special Missions Sales 

Manager, jointly with NASA Ames staff , is investigating the integration of a standardized “pod” where 

research staff can install – within bounds – telemetry 

for a wide variety of experiments and observations in 

the lower atmosphere. The standardization of the pod 

is expected to ease physical integration, speed up the 

paperwork process, and reduce project costs, thus making the Zeppelin more accessible as a science resource 

for projects that face budgetary constraints.

Airship Ventures’ Management and staff wish all NASA /

Ames neighbors, colleagues and friends a beautiful Spring 

2010 and hope to see you aboard the airship “Eureka”. 
Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diane Farrar

Layout and Design . . . . . . . . Miki Huynh

NRP Post deadlines

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

on or before June 11, 2010 for the next issue.

Phone: (650) 604-2NRP

Email: researchpark@mail.nasa.gov

Website: www.researchpark.arc.nasa.gov

NRP Post

Save the date: Ames Child Care Center (ACCC) 

14th Annual Charity Golf Tournament, Friday, 

July 23, 2010 at the Golf Course at Moff ett 

Field. Join us for a great day of golf and 

fundraising benefi ting the Ames Child Care 

Center! Registration at noon, with shotgun 

start at 1:00 PM. Your Corporate Sponsored 

team could be the fi rst ever winner of the 

ACCC Sippy Cup! Look for more details in an 

upcoming ARC-NRP-Partners@list.nasa.gov 

e-mail or contact the ACCC at 650-604-5100 

for more information.

Michael Marlaire (center), NRP Director, briefed Mieke Eoyang (left), 

Rep. Anna Eshoo’s Chief of Staff, on NASA Research Park partnerships and development plan in early April. They were joined by Rod 

Bersamina (right), Field Representative, Offi ce of Rep. Eshoo.

NASA Research Park published in March an Economics 

Benefi t Study on NASA Ames Research Center and 

NASA Research Park highlighting NRP as a NASA and 

national asset. NRP was recently cited in the National 

Research Council’s report - “Understanding Research, 

Science and Technology Parks: Global Best Practices.” 

Our NRP community is part of NASA’s bold effort to shape 

the future by improving STEM education, assisting the 

commercial space economy, advancing next generation 

information technologies, sensors, robotics, developing 

new sustainable technologies, and other innovations.

Economics Benefi t Study 

Moffett Field Historical Society 

Museum Open House

April 16-17, 2010

(L-R) Eugene “Frenchie” Choiniere, 

Kay Case, R.S. "Red" Brooks, Carol 

Henderson, Harry “Herb” Parsons. 

Carol Henderson, whose husband, 

Lee, was a fl ight engineer in the Navy, 

started the Moffett Field Historical 

Society Museum in 1994 to remember 

all the military branches that were once 

based at Moffett. 

Visitors view Bell AH-1 Cobra helicopter and F-104 Starfi ghter, 

new exhibits on display outside the museum. 

Photo: Bob Lopez

Photo: Diane Farrar

Photo: Mejghan Haider