![]() ![]() One experiment will allow researchers to see how microorganisms adapt in space. In September, Ames plans to fly two distinct experiments in one 5.5 kilogram satellite as part of the Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stressors mission. In the meantime, Ames is continuing to develop small satellite technologies and prepare space biology experiments as it did with PharmaSat in 2009 and GeneSat in 2006. Robotic investigation of the Moon will continue as Ames works with the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to oversee the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a mission scheduled for launch in 2013. Last year, the center’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission smashed into the Moon, producing evidence of water and hydrocarbons. In recent years, Ames has gained a reputation for its ability to conduct low-cost, fast-paced research programs, Worden said. We bring that sort of character of innovation to the agency.” Air Force brigadier general, astronomy professor and veteran of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, who took the helm at Ames in 2006. ![]() “I think of Ames as the Silicon Valley of NASA,” said the retired U.S. ![]() Ames also is assisting San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco in developing Planetary Skin, a global sensor network designed to help world and community leaders understand and respond to climate change.Īccording to Worden, those partnerships demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of Ames. The center has joined forces with Microsoft of Redmond, Wash., to provide high-resolution imagery of the Moon and Mars through Microsoft’s World Wide Telescope, a free Internet portal. Ames is working with Google, which is also based here, to provide space agency data through the Google Moon and Google Mars photographic maps. That computing expertise is the basis for many of Ames’ industrial collaborations, which are designed to make NASA’s enormous data stockpile available to the public in easily accessible formats. For example, the center is leading the space agency’s move to cloud computing, which offers access to a shared pool of computer networks, servers and application. “If your flight is late today, it’s not our fault, but it will be in 20 years,” Worden said.Īmes also features one of the world’s fastest supercomputers and leads many of NASA’s information technology initiatives. Defense Department, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Google Inc., Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corp., according to Ron Liang, Ames’ deputy chief financial officer.įounded in 1939 as an aircraft research laboratory for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Ames continues to test military aircraft in its transonic and supersonic wind tunnels and to assist the FAA in developing future air traffic control systems. The center’s 2010 budget includes $700 million in NASA funding plus approximately $124 million earned through work for government and industrial partners, including the U.S. Nearly every Ames initiative involves private companies, universities and other government agencies. “To do cool things, we have to focus on some of the smaller things, but we also have to partner with folks,” he said. That fact, which some might view as a disadvantage, is actually an advantage, according to Ames Director Simon “Pete” Worden. With only 3,170 employees, Ames is one of NASA’s smaller centers. SAN FRANCISCO - The NASA Ames Research Center is not equipped to build massive spacecraft or lead flagship missions to distant planets, but it can play a significant role in the space agency’s future through innovations in information technology, space biology, small satellites and aeronautics. Ames develops tools for a safer, more efficient national airspace and unique partnerships benefiting NASA’s mission. Ames provides leadership in astrobiology small satellites robotic lunar exploration technologies for the Constellation program the search for habitable planets supercomputing intelligent/adaptive systems advanced thermal protection and airborne astronomy. Mission: Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley enables exploration through selected development, innovative technologies and interdisciplinary scientific discovery. ![]()
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