NASA Archives - ATI Courses

NASA Wants Your Help to Name a Space Object, What Could Go Wrong

Posted on November 9, 2017 by admin

There’s a small, icy object floating at the outer edge of our Solar System, in the messy Kuiper belt. Or it could be two objects, astronomers are not sure. But NASA is on track to find out more, as that object has been chosen as the next flyby target for the New Horizons spacecraft – the same probe that gave us incredible photos of Pluto in 2015. And now they want your help to give that target a catchy name. Currently, the enigmatic Kuiper belt object is designated 2014 MU69, but that’s just the provisional string of letters and numbers any newly discovered object gets. “Yes, we’re going to give 2014 MU69 a real name, rather than just the “license plate” designator it has now,” New Horizons’ principal investigator Alan Stern wrote in a blog post earlier this year. “The details of how we’ll name it are still being worked out, but NASA announced a few weeks back that it will involve a public naming contest.” And now, folks, our time to shine has arrived. NASA has finally extended an invitation for people to submit their ideas for a name, although they note this is not going to be the officially-official name just yet, but rather a nickname to be used until the flyby happens. The team at New Horizons already have a bunch of ideas prepared, which now form the basis of the naming campaign, and anyone can already vote for those. Amongst current choices put forward by the team are Z’ha’dum – a fictional planet from the TV series Babylon 5; Camalor – a fictional city actually located in the Kuiper belt according to Robert L. Forward’s novel Camelot 30K; and Mjölnir – the name of Norse thunder god Thor’s epic hammer. One of the most interesting aspects of MU69 is that we’re not even sure whether the object is one body or two – telescope observations have hinted it could actually be two similarly-sized bodies either in close mutual orbit, or even stuck together. Read more.

AMERICA’S INFRARED SPITZER TELESCOPE by Tom Logsdon

Posted on July 26, 2017 by admin

Tom Logsdon teaches a number of courses for Applied Technology Institute including: Orbital & Launch Mechanics – Fundamentals GPS Technology Strapdown and Integrated Navigation Systems Breakthrough Thinking: Creative Solutions for Professional Success The article below was written by him could be of interest to our readers. AMERICA’S INFRARED SPITZER TELESCOPE “As in the soft and […]

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, which launched Aug. 25, 2003, will begin the “Beyond” phase of its mission on Oct. 1, 2016. Spitzer has been operating beyond the limits that were set for it at the beginning of its mission, and making discoveries in unexpected areas of science, such as exoplanets.

Tom Logsdon teaches a number of courses for Applied Technology Institute including:

The article below was written by him could be of interest to our readers. AMERICA’S INFRARED SPITZER TELESCOPE “As in the soft and sweet eclipse, when soul meets soul on lover’s lips.”

British Lyric Poet

Percy Shelly

Prometheus Unbound, 1820

America’s famous inventor, Thomas Edison, The Wizard of Menlo Park, had long admired the somber, romantic words penned by England’s master poet Percy Shelly. And, like Shelly, he, too, was enchanted with the sensual experiences conjured up by the periodic eclipses that blotted out the sun and the moon. In 1878 Edison clambered aboard the newly constructed transcontinental railroad headed from New Jersey to Wyoming where he hoped to utilize his newly constructed infrared sensor to study the total solar eclipse he knew would soon sweep across America’s western landscape. When he arrived in Wyoming, the only building he could rent was an old chicken coop at the edge of the prairie. And, as soon as the moon slipped in front of the sun causing the sky to darken, the chickens decided to come to roost. Soon The Wizard of Menlo Park was so busy trying to quiet his squawking companions, he caught only a fleeting glimpse of the rare and colorful spectacle lighting up the darkened daytime sky. His infrared sensor, unfortunately, remained untested that day. Even if those agitated Wyoming chickens had behaved themselves with proper decorum during that unusual event, Thomas Edison’s sensor would have been entirely ineffective because most of the infrared frequencies emanating from the sun and the stars are absorbed by the atmosphere surrounding the earth. However, sensors of similar design can, and do, handle important astronomical tasks when they are installed in cryogenically cooled telescopes launched into space by powerful and well-designed rockets. The infrared rays streaming down to earth from distant stars and galaxies lie just beyond the bright red colors at the edge of in the electromagnetic spectrum our eyes can see. As such, they penetrate the clouds of dust found, in such abundance, in interstellar space. The dust that has accumulated under your bed is not particularly valuable or interesting. But the dust found in outer space is far more beneficial – and exciting, too! The Spitzer Space Telescope – a giant thermos bottle in space – now following along behind planet earth as it circles the sun, was an effective infrared telescope until it used up its entire supply of liquid helium coolant. In the meantime, it has become a “warm” space-age telescope seeking out previously undiscovered exoplanets orbiting around suns trillions of miles away. This is accomplished by observing their shadows periodically dimming the star’s visible light as the various planets coast in between the Spitzer and the celestial body being observed.

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See all the ATI courses on 1 page. What courses would you like to see scheduled as an open-enrollment or on-site course near your facility? ATI is planning its schedule of technical training courses and would like your recommendations of courses that will help your project and/or company. These courses can also be held on-site at your facility.

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New Horizons Flyover of Pluto

Posted on July 17, 2017 by admin

Two years ago on July 14, 2015, the New Horizon spacecraft reached Pluto. To celebrate this anniversary NASA released a Pluto flyby video. Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features […]

Two years ago on July 14, 2015, the New Horizon spacecraft reached Pluto. To celebrate this anniversary NASA released a Pluto flyby video.

Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, mission scientists have created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system – from a vantage point even closer than the spacecraft itself.

This dramatic Pluto flyover begins over the highlands to the southwest of the great expanse of nitrogen ice plain informally named Sputnik Planitia. The viewer first passes over the western margin of Sputnik, where it borders the dark, cratered terrain of Cthulhu Macula, with the blocky mountain ranges located within the plains seen on the right. The tour moves north past the rugged and fractured highlands of Voyager Terra and then turns southward over Pioneer Terra — which exhibits deep and wide pits — before concluding over the bladed terrain of Tartarus Dorsa in the far east of the encounter hemisphere. Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston.

Background

New Horizons is a space probe launched by NASA on 19 January 2006, to the dwarf planet Pluto and on an escape trajectory from the Sun. It is the first man-made spacecraft to go to Pluto. Its flight took eight years. It arrived at the Pluto–Charon system on July 14, 2015. It flew near Pluto and took photographs and measurements while it passed. At about 1 kilobit per second, it took 15 months to transmit them back to Earth.

The New Horizons spacecraft

The primary mission of New Horizons is to study Pluto and its system of moons. The secondary mission is to study any objects in the Kuiper Belt if something became available for a flyby. The space probe set the record for the fastest man-made object ever launched, with the Earth-relative speed of about 16.26 km/s, although, arguably, the Helios probes got a faster Sun-relative speed. It used a gravity assist from Jupiter to get its high speeds without having to burn as much monopropellant (weak rocket fuel) as needed to fly directly to Pluto. ATI instructors who helped plan, develop and engineer the New Horizons Mission. These include the following engineers and scientists, with their bios and links to their related ATI courses.

1. Dr. Alan Stern https://aticourses.com/planetary_science.htm Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant, and author. In 2010, he was elected to be the President and CEO of The Golden Spike Company, a commercial space corporation planning human lunar expeditions. Additionally, since 2009, he has been an Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute, and since 2008 has had his own aerospace consulting practice. Dr. Stern is the Principal Investigator (PI) of NASA’s $720M New Horizon’s Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission, the largest PI-led space mission ever launched by NASA. New Horizons launched in 2006 and is arriving July 14, 2015. Dr. Stern is also the PI of two instruments aboard New Horizons, the Alice UV spectrometer and the Ralph Visible Imager/IR Spectrometer. 2. Eric Hoffman https://aticourses.com/effective_design_reviews.htm https://aticourses.com/spacecraft_quality.htm https://aticourses.com/satellite_rf_communications.htm Eric Hoffman has designed space-borne communications and navigation equipment and performed systems engineering on many APL satellites and communications systems. He has authored over 60 papers and holds 8 patents in these fields. Mr. Hoffman was involved in the proposal (as well as several prior Pluto mission concepts). He chaired the major system level design reviews (and now teaches the course� Effective Design Reviews). He was Space Department Chief Engineer during the concept, design, fabrication, and test of New Horizons. His still actively consulting in the field. He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and coauthor of the leading textbook Fundamentals of Space Systems 3. Chris DeBoy https://aticourses.com/Satellite_Communications_Design_Engineering.htm Chris DeBoy leads the RF Engineering Group in the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is a member of APL’s Principal Professional Staff. He has over 20 years of experience in satellite communications, from systems engineering (he is the lead RF communications engineer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto) to flight hardware design for both Low-Earth orbit and deep-space missions. He holds a BSEE from Virginia Tech, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins, and teaches the satellite communications course for the Johns Hopkins University. 4. Dr. Mark E. Pittelkau http://www.aticourses.com/attitude_determination.htm Dr. Pittelkau was previously with the Applied Physics Laboratory, Orbital Sciences Corporation, CTA Space Systems (now Orbital), and Swales Aerospace. His experience in satellite systems covers all phases of design and operation, including conceptual design, implementation, and testing of attitude control systems, attitude and orbit determination, and attitude sensor alignment and calibration, control-structure interaction analysis, stability and jitter analysis, and post-launch support. His current interests are precision attitude determination, attitude sensor calibration, orbit determination, and optimization of attitude maneuvers. Dr. Pittelkau earned the B.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and the M.S. degree in EE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 5. Douglas Mehoke http://www.aticourses.com/spacecraft_thermal_control.htm Douglas Mehoke is the Assistant Group Supervisor and Technology Manager for the Mechanical System Group in the Space Department at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He has worked in the field of spacecraft and instrument thermal design for 30 years, and has a wide background in the fields of heat transfer and fluid mechanics. He has been the lead thermal engineer on a variety spacecraft and scientific instruments, including MSX, CONTOUR, and New Horizons. He is presently the Technical Lead for the development of the Solar Probe Plus Thermal Protection System. He was the original thermal engineer for New Horizons, the mechanical system engineer, and is currently the spacecraft damage lead for the flyby Hazard Team. Other JHU/APL are currently teaching the Spacecraft Thermal Control course. 6. Steven Gemeny http://www.aticourses.com/ground_systems_design.htm Steve Gemeny is a Principal Program Engineer and a former Senior Member of the Professional Staff at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he served as Ground Station Lead for the TIMED mission to explore Earth’s atmosphere and Lead Ground System Engineer on the New Horizons mission to explore Pluto by 2020. Mr. Gemeny is an experienced professional in the field of Ground Station and Ground System design in both the commercial world and on NASA Science missions with a wealth of practical knowledge spanning nearly three decades. Mr. Gemeny delivers his experiences and knowledge to his ATIcourses’ students with an informative and entertaining presentation style. Mr Gemeny is Director Business Development at Syntonics LLC, working in RF over fiber product enhancement, new application development for RF over fiber technology, oversight of advanced DOD SBIR/STTR research and development activities related to wireless sensors and software defined antennas. 7. John Penn http://www.aticourses.com/fundamentals_of_RF_engineering.html John Penn is currently the Team Lead for RFIC Design at Army Research Labs. Previously, he was a full-time engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory for 26 years where he contributed to the New Horizons Mission. He joined the Army Research Laboratory in 2008. Since 1989, he has been a part-time professor at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches RF & Microwaves I & II, MMIC Design, and RFIC Design. He received a B.E.E. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980, an M.S. (EE) from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in 1982, and a second M.S. (CS) from JHU in 1988. 8. Timothy Cole https://aticourses.com/space_based_lasers.htm https://aticourses.com/Tactical_Intelligence_Surveillance_Reconnaissance_System_Engineering.htm https://aticourses.com/Wireless_Sensor_Networking.htm Timothy Cole is a leading authority with 30 years of experience exclusively working in electro-optical systems as a system and design engineer. While at Applied Physics Laboratory for 21 years, Tim was awarded the NASA Achievement Award in connection with the design, development, and operation of the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Laser Radar and was also the initial technical lead for the New Horizons LOng-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI instrument). He has presented technical papers addressing space-based laser altimetry all over the US and Europe. His industry experience has been focused on the systems engineering and analysis associated development of optical detectors, wireless ad hoc remote sensing, exoatmospheric sensor design and now leads ICESat-2 ATLAS altimeter calibration effort. 9. Robert Moore http://www.aticourses.com/satellite_rf_communications.htm Robert C. Moore worked in the Electronic Systems Group at the JHU/APL Space Department since 1965 and is now a consultant. He designed embedded microprocessor systems for space applications. He led the design and testing efforts for the New Horizons spacecraft autonomy subsystem. Mr. Moore holds four U.S. patents. He teaches for ATIcourses and the command-telemetry-data processing segment of “Space Systems” at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. 10. Jay Jenkins http://www.aticourses.com/spacecraft_solar_arrays.htm Jay Jenkins is a Systems Engineer in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA and an Associate Fellow of the AIAA. His 24-year aerospace career provided many years of experience in design, analysis, and test of aerospace power systems, solar arrays, and batteries. His career has afforded him opportunities for hands-on fabrication and testing, concurrent with his design responsibilities. He was recognized as a winner of the ASME International George Westinghouse Silver Medal for his development of the first solar arrays beyond Mars’ orbit and the first solar arrays to orbit the planet, Mercury. He was recognized with two Best Paper Awards in the area of Aerospace Power Systems.

NASA bets the farm on the long-term viability of space agriculture

Posted on June 29, 2017 by admin

Old MacDonald had a space farm. Applied Technology Institute (ATI Courses) offers a variety of courses on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. Also, our president, Jim Jenkins, is an avid gardener who grows a garden full of tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas. If you give an astronaut a packet of food, she’ll eat for a day. If […]

If you give an astronaut a packet of food, she’ll eat for a day. If you teach an astronaut how to farm in space, she’ll eat for a lifetime—or at least for a 6-month-long expedition on the International Space Station. Since its earliest missions, NASA has been focused on food, something astronauts need whether they’re at home on Earth or orbiting 250-odd miles above it. Over the years, the administration has tried a series of solutions: John Glenn had pureed beef and veggie paste, other flight crews used new-age freeze drying technology. More recently, NASA’s been trying to enable its astronauts to grow their own food in orbit. Bryan Onate, an engineer stationed at the Kennedy Space Center, is on the forefront of this technology. He helped lead the team that built Veggie, NASA’s first plant growth system, and next month he’s sending up Veggie’s new and improved brother, the Advanced Plant Habitat. The habitat is the size of a mini-fridge. But instead of storing soda, it will carefully record every step in the growth of plants aboard the space station. This will allow researchers on the ground unprecedented insight into how plants are shaped by microgravity and other forces at work in outer space. And, Onate says, “astronauts may get to enjoy the fruit of our labor.” Read more here.

Babylon 5 solar system bears striking resemblance to our own

Posted on May 4, 2017 by admin

The number of planetary systems discovered seems to grow on a daily basis, but most of them are wildly different to our own solar system. Now a team of University of Arizona researchers led by Kate Su have used NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) flying observatory to take a closer look at […]

The star in question is Epsilon Eridani (ε Eri) in the southern hemisphere of the constellation of Eridanus. Its previous claims to fame were as the setting for the sci fi television series Babylon 5 and the disputed location of Star Trek‘s planet Vulcan. It’s also been the subject of several early studies seeking extrasolar planets and was even monitored in the 1960s by Project Ozma as a possible source of extraterrestrial intelligence. Much of the previous work on Epsilon Eridani involved the Spitzer Space Telescope, but SOFIA is over twice the size of Spitzer, has three times the resolution, and can operate in the infrared at wavelengths between 25 and 40 microns. What this meant was that SOFIA could discern much smaller details, especially from warm materials, than before, which suggested an alternative model to the one provided by Spitzer’s data.

NASA astronaut: Space toilet inspires ‘sheer terror’

Posted on April 18, 2017 by admin

Forget motion sickness and adjusting to microgravity. Astronaut Jack Fischer is most worried about facing the space station’s intimidating bathroom facilities. On Thursday, NASA astronaut Jack Fischer is scheduled to embark on his first voyage to the International Space Station. He’s excited to be working on a variety of experiments, including ones dealing with plant growth and bone growth, but he’s less than thrilled about the prospect of using the loo in microgravity. In a NASA Q&A, Fischer reveals what he expects his greatest challenge will be. He says it’s the toilet. “It’s all about suction, it’s really difficult, and I’m a bit terrified,” Fischer says. In case you think Fischer is exaggerating his toilet trepidation, here’s NASA description of how the commode functions: “The toilet basically works like a vacuum cleaner with fans that suck air and waste into the commode.” It also requires the use of leg restraints. “Unlike most things, you just can’t train for that on the ground,” Fischer says, “so I approach my space-toilet activities with respect, preparation and a healthy dose of sheer terror.”

Stunning Space Station photo of glowing auroras

Posted on April 6, 2017 by admin

Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) photographed brightly glowing auroras from his vantage point aboard the International Space Station on March 27, 2017. (ESA/NASA)

NASA has released an amazing photo show by Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, who photographed bright auroras from the International Space Station on March 27, 2017. “The view at night recently has been simply magnificent: few clouds, intense auroras. I can’t look away from the windows,” Pesquet wrote in a tweet that included the image. Here’s what NASA wrote about the image: “The dancing lights of the aurora provide stunning views, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun. Aurora are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs.’ Check out more images from NASA’s Aurora Image Gallery

Bounce House For The Astronauts!

Posted on April 7, 2016 by admin

Applied Technology Institute offers a variety of course on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. When Elon Musk’s SpaceX Dragon cargo ship lifts off from Cape Canaveral on April 8, there’ll be a little treat for the astronauts on the International Space Station nestled among all the supplies and consumables: a whole new room for the ISS! How’d NASA fit an entire room onto a space craft with only as much cargo room as a small U-Haul? The same way you squeeze a camping mattress into the trunk of your car: make it inflatable. The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, or BEAM, is about 8 feet in diameter in its compacted state. Once it reaches the ISS and is attached to the wing known as the Tranquility Node, it’ll be filled with air until the aluminum-and-fabric structure swells to 565 cubic feet. It will then spend the next two years attached to the ISS, before being jettisoned and left to burn up in the atmosphere. As NASA says it has no plans to store equipment inside the module, astronauts will presumably use it as a tiny, zero-g bounce house. BEAM, which was developed in conjunction with Bigelow Aerospace, isn’t going into orbit simply so the astronauts can have a place to let loose their inner child. The module’s main purpose is to serve as a test bed for inflatable space habitats. Astronauts will measure how much radiation is entering the chamber, how much heat is leaking out, and how well it holds air, among other factors. If the BEAM proves successful at holding its shape and deflecting nasty radiation and micrometeoroids, the basic concept could be a huge breakthrough for future deep-space missions. As anyone who’s read “The Martian” knows, inflatable habitats would be ideal for the lunar or Martian surface; they could be transported and air-dropped in compact form, then blown up to create living space. NASA has released a quick video showing the basics of how the BEAM will be installed. Don’t worry about pausing that playlist for it, though; there’s no sound. In space, no one can hear you inflate your bounce house.

FINDING NEW WAYS TO COPE WITH SPACE DEBRIS-OR RISK IMPRISONING OURSELVES ON PLANET EARTH? by Tom Logsdon

Posted on November 3, 2015 by admin

FIGURE CAPTION: More than 20,000 space debris fragments are now orbiting the Earth and presenting serious collision hazards to their companions in space. In 1978 a NASA researcher, Donald Kessler, concluded that, if too many large objects were placed in low altitude orbits around the Earth, successive collisions between them could create a "chain reaction" that would, in turn, create so many additional objects, safe space launches could become impossible for future generations.

For the past 58 years, starting in 1957, mankind has been launching enormous swarms of satellites and useless space debris in the vicinity of planet Earth. Many of these fragments swoop around our home planet at 17,000 miles per hour. When they collide at such high speeds, huge numbers of space debris fragments are instantly created many of which continue to circle around the Earth with the possibility of further collisions. In the 1978 Donald Kessler, a talented researcher at NASA Houston, realized that successive collisions could create ever larger swarms of debris fragments that could, in turn, engage in further collisions to create even more dangerous fragments. Soon the space around the Earth would be swarming with dangerous, high-speed metallic shrapnel. This phenomenon has, in the meantime, then called the “Kessler Syndrome”. It is similar in concept to the nuclear chain reactions that make atomic bombs possible. Donald Kessler made careful estimates of the total tonnage of large objects in Earth orbit that could end up imprisoning us on our beautiful, blue planet. Flying space missions through swarms of high-speed debris could become much too dangerous for anyone to advocate. Separate studies have indicated that a highly energetic collision at a speed of about five miles per second (typical for low-altitude impacts) could create as many as 20 objects per pound of mass involved in the collision. What can be done to minimize the probability of a runaway “Kessler Syndrome” that could, theoretically, imprison all of us on planet Earth? 1. We could impose more stringent rules on the launching satellites and the debris fragments that typically result from such a launch. Some rules have already been established in conjunction with space exploration. These could be made more stringent. And they could be accompanied by fines or other penalties for those who fail to comply. 2. We could remove existing debris fragments from space to minimize the hazard of collisions. Some experts envision roving capture devices (e. g., spaceborne drones) that would rendezvous with — and remove — useless debris fragments from their orbits and hurl them back to Earth into remote oceans areas for safe disposal. 3. Ground-based lasers could illuminate selected debris fragments to push them out of orbit. Serious studies of this approach have been conducted at NASA headquarters, at NASA Houston, and at the Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 4. Large debris fragments could be tracked with precision with ground-based and space-based sensors to pin down their trajectories to a high degree of accuracy. Probable collisions could then be predicted and spaceborne devices could be launched to nudge one or both of the objects onto safe collision-free trajectories. Among other approaches, puffs of air have been proposed to accomplish this goal. In 1978 Donald Kessler managed to develop a highly imaginative concept now called the Kessler Syndrome. His analysis indicated that, if we continue on our present path, we could all become prisoners on planet Earth unable to engage in the safe exploration of outer space. Fortunately, techniques are available to help mitigate this worrisome hazard. Tom Logsdon, who penned this account, tells the story of the space debris fragments now enveloping planet Earth in his special short course: “ORBITAL AND LAUNCH MECHANICS” which is being sponsored by the Applied Technology Institute on January 25 – 28, 2016, in Albuquerque, New Mexico and on March 1 – 4, 2016, in Columbia, Maryland These courses, which are lavishly illustrated with 400 full-color visuals, also include detailed explanations of the counterintuitive nature of powered flight maneuvers together with explanations of the new “Superhighways in Space”, and the contrasting philosophies of Russian and American booster rocket design. The illustrative calculations included in the course all employ realworld data values gleaned from the instructor’s professional experiences in the aerospace industry. Each student will receive a full-color version of every chart that appears on the screen, several pamphlets and written explanations of the concepts under review, and autographed copies of two of Logsdon’s published books. A few slots are still available in those two classes. Register early to assure your acceptance.

ThumbSats: Itty-Bitty Satellites Could Carry Your Experiments To Space

Posted on October 15, 2015 by admin

Each mini satellite measures 16 inches and includes a micro camera and GPS. Aerospace engineer Shaun Whitehead is putting a $15,000 price tag on each ThumbSat's launch cost. (Photo : Cristiano Rinaldi)

IT LOOKS LIKE an alien balloon. Except that it flies at 17,500 mph in near-Earth orbit and can carry a science experiment—potentially your science experiment—for two months before it burns up in the atmosphere. And early next year, 20 of these ThumbSats will beam data back to a network of 50 listening stations all over the world. Aerospace engineer Shaun Whitehead came up with the ThumbSat project because he wanted to help regular people send stuff into space. “We get slowed down by old-school ways of thinking,” he says. “I hope that ThumbSat accelerates progress in space, inspires everyone to look up.” His craft are so small that they fit into the nooks and crannies of commercial launchers, hitching a ride with bigger payloads and keeping costs down. The people conducting the first experiments are a diverse group. Engineers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory hope to use a cluster of connected ThumbSats to study gravitational waves. Three teenage sisters from Tennessee who go by the moniker Chicks in Space want to orbit algae and sea monkey eggs. Artist Stefan G. Bucher will deploy magnetized fluids and shape-memory alloys. Eventually a global network of volunteers, including a Boy Scout group in Wisconsin and a school in the Cook Islands, will monitor all the ThumbSat data. (Without receivers on those remote islands, there’d be a big gap in coverage out in the South Pacific.) Space is the place, and pretty soon anyone will be able to reach it.

Cubesats explained and why you should build one

Posted on July 8, 2015 by admin

Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offer technical training on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. Ever wanted to make your own satellite? Now you can. Building a Cubesat is affordable and you may even qualify for a free ride from NASA. What are CubeSats? A CubeSat is a small satellite in the shape of a 10 centimeter cube and […]

Artist's illustration of NASA's Near-Earth Asteroid Scout cubesat, which is scheduled to launch aboard the maiden flight of the agency’s Space Launch System rocket in 2018. Credit: NASA
Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offer technical training on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. Ever wanted to make your own satellite? Now you can. Building a Cubesat is affordable and you may even qualify for a free ride from NASA. What are CubeSats? A CubeSat is a small satellite in the shape of a 10 centimeter cube and weighs just 1 kilogram. That’s about 4 inches and 2 pounds. The design has been simplified so almost anyone can build them and the instructions are available for free online. CubeSats can be combined to make larger satellites in case you need bigger payloads. Deployable solar panels and antennas make Cubesats even more versatile. The cost to build one? Typically less than $50,000. CubeSats are carried into space on a Poly-PicoSatellite Orbital Deployer or P-POD for short. The standard P-POD holds 3 Cubesats and fits on almost any rocket as a secondary payload. Over 100 Cubesats have been launched into space since they were first introduced by CalPoly and Stanford in 1999. To reduce space debris they are usually placed in low orbits and fall back to earth in a few weeks or months. Why are they so popular? Cubesats are popular with schools and governments because they are cheap and relatively easy to build. Because a lot of the hardware has been standardized, you can even buy Cubesat hardware online. NASA is offering free rides for science missions through their Cubesat Launch Initiative. If you don’t qualify for a free ride, launching a CubeSat is much cheaper than traditional satellites but still costs over $100,000. They might be small but you can do a lot with them. Including…Taking Pictures from space, Send radio communications, Perform Atmospheric Research, Do Biology Experiments and as a test platform for future technology. Cubesats have become THE standard microsatellite thanks to their Open Source Hardware design and will become even more popular as we find new uses for them. If launch costs can become more affordable in the next few years…we can see a new era of personal satellites. Only a few years ago you needed a degree in Engineering or millions of dollars to build a satellite. Now all you need is a credit card and some hard work. Launching it…is another story. Would you want your own personal satellite? Let us know in the comments below.

The New Horizons Mission to Pluto–Ten Experts Who Worked Behind-the-Scenes On the New Horizons Mission and Who Teach for ATIcourses.

Posted on June 30, 2015 by admin

Applied Technology Institute (ATI) is proud to have several course authors, instructors and subject-matter experts that led portions of the New Horizons Mission and/or were directly involved in the project, which began in 2003. This is the countdown time to the New Horizons Missions closest point of approach to Pluto; The spacecraft is on track […]

American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto, the ninth planet in our solar system, on February 18, 1930. Many key questions about Pluto, it's moon Charon, and the outer fringes of our solar system await close-up observations. A proposed NASA mission called New Horizons, depicted in the artist's concept above, would use miniature cameras, radio science experiments, ultraviolet and infrared spectrometers and space plasma experiments to study Pluto and Charon, map their surface compositions and temperatures, and examine Pluto's atmosphere in detail. Image Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
Applied Technology Institute (ATI) is proud to have several course authors, instructors and subject-matter experts that led portions of the New Horizons Mission and/or were directly involved in the project, which began in 2003. This is the countdown time to the New Horizons Missions closest point of approach to Pluto; The spacecraft is on track toward an “aim point” approximately 7,750 miles above Pluto’s surface on July 14, but meaningful data is already streaming in to JHU/APL and NASA. http://seeplutonow.com/ On Sunday, June 20, 2015, the “Washington Post” published a front-page and extensive article on the New Horizons Mission to Pluto: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/pluto-poised-for-a-star-turn-as-nasa-probe-races-toward-historic-encounter/2015/06/20/46ffd54e-0d1f-11e5-a0dc-2b6f404ff5cf_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1 This is the original 2003 press release describing the New Horizons Mission. Boulder, Colo. – April 9, 2003 – This week NASA authorized the New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt (PKB) mission to go forward with preliminary spacecraft and ground system construction. New Horizons is led by the Southwest Research Institute(r) (SwRI(r)) and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Neither Pluto nor Kuiper Belt Objects have ever been explored by spacecraft. In July 2002, the National Research Council’s Decadal Survey for Planetary Science ranked the reconnaissance of Pluto-Charon and the Kuiper Belt as its highest priority for a new start mission in planetary science, citing the fundamental scientific importance of understanding this region of the solar system. Read more at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=040903pr ATI instructors who helped plan, develop and engineer the New Horizons Mission. These include the following engineers and scientists, with their bios and links to their related ATI courses 1. Dr. Alan Stern https://aticourses.com/planetary_science.htm Dr. Alan Stern is a planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant, and author. In 2010, he was elected to be the President and CEO of The Golden Spike Company, a commercial space corporation planning human lunar expeditions. Additionally, since 2009, he has been an Associate Vice President at the Southwest Research Institute, and since 2008 has had his own aerospace consulting practice. Dr. Stern is the Principal Investigator (PI) of NASA’s $720M New Horizon’s Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission, the largest PI-led space mission ever launched by NASA. New Horizons launched in 2006 and is arriving July 14, 2015. Dr. Stern is also the PI of two instruments aboard New Horizons, the Alice UV spectrometer and the Ralph Visible Imager/IR Spectrometer. 2. Eric Hoffman https://aticourses.com/effective_design_reviews.htm https://aticourses.com/spacecraft_quality.htm https://aticourses.com/satellite_rf_communications.htm Eric Hoffman has designed space-borne communications and navigation equipment and performed systems engineering on many APL satellites and communications systems. He has authored over 60 papers and holds 8 patents in these fields. Mr. Hoffman was involved in the proposal (as well as several prior Pluto mission concepts). He chaired the major system level design reviews (and now teaches the course Effective Design Reviews). He was Space Department Chief Engineer during the concept, design, fabrication, and test of New Horizons. His still actively consulting in the field. He is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA and coauthor of the leading textbook Fundamentals of Space Systems 3. Chris DeBoy https://aticourses.com/Satellite_Communications_Design_Engineering.htm Chris DeBoy leads the RF Engineering Group in the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and is a member of APL’s Principal Professional Staff. He has over 20 years of experience in satellite communications, from systems engineering (he is the lead RF communications engineer for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto) to flight hardware design for both Low-Earth orbit and deep-space missions. He holds a BSEE from Virginia Tech, a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins, and teaches the satellite communications course for the Johns Hopkins University. 4. Dr. Mark E. Pittelkau https://aticourses.com/attitude_determination.htm Dr. Pittelkau was previously with the Applied Physics Laboratory, Orbital Sciences Corporation, CTA Space Systems (now Orbital), and Swales Aerospace. His experience in satellite systems covers all phases of design and operation, including conceptual design, implementation, and testing of attitude control systems, attitude and orbit determination, and attitude sensor alignment and calibration, control-structure interaction analysis, stability and jitter analysis, and post-launch support. His current interests are precision attitude determination, attitude sensor calibration, orbit determination, and optimization of attitude maneuvers. Dr. Pittelkau earned the B.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and the M.S. degree in EE from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. 5. Douglas Mehoke https://aticourses.com/spacecraft_thermal_control.htm Douglas Mehoke is the Assistant Group Supervisor and Technology Manager for the Mechanical System Group in the Space Department at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He has worked in the field of spacecraft and instrument thermal design for 30 years, and has a wide background in the fields of heat transfer and fluid mechanics. He has been the lead thermal engineer on a variety spacecraft and scientific instruments, including MSX, CONTOUR, and New Horizons. He is presently the Technical Lead for the development of the Solar Probe Plus Thermal Protection System. He was the original thermal engineer for New Horizons, the mechanical system engineer, and is currently the spacecraft damage lead for the flyby Hazard Team 6. Steven Gemeny https://aticourses.com/ground_systems_design.htm Steve Gemeny is a Principal Program Engineer and a former Senior Member of the Professional Staff at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where he served as Ground Station Lead for the TIMED mission to explore Earth’s atmosphere and Lead Ground System Engineer on the New Horizons mission to explore Pluto by 2020. Mr. Gemeny is an experienced professional in the field of Ground Station and Ground System design in both the commercial world and on NASA Science missions with a wealth of practical knowledge spanning nearly three decades. Mr. Gemeny delivers his experiences and knowledge to his ATIcourses’ students with an informative and entertaining presentation style. Mr Gemeny is Director Business Development at Syntonics LLC, working in RF over fiber product enhancement, new application development for RF over fiber technology, oversight of advanced DOD SBIR/STTR research and development activities related to wireless sensors and software defined antennas. 7. John Penn https://aticourses.com/fundamentals_of_RF_engineering.html John Penn is currently the Team Lead for RFIC Design at Army Research Labs. Previously, he was a full time engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory for 26 years where he contributed to the New Horizons Mission. He joined the Army Research Laboratory in 2008. Since 1989, he has been a part-time professor at Johns Hopkins University where he teaches RF & Microwaves I & II, MMIC Design, and RFIC Design. He received a B.E.E. from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1980, an M.S. (EE) from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) in 1982, and a second M.S. (CS) from JHU in 1988. 8. Timothy Cole https://aticourses.com/space_based_lasers.htm https://aticourses.com/Tactical_Intelligence_Surveillance_Reconnaissance_System_Engineering.htm https://aticourses.com/Wireless_Sensor_Networking.htm Timothy Cole is a leading authority with 30 years of experience exclusively working in electro-optical systems as a systems and design engineer. While at Applied Physics Laboratory for 21 years, Tim was awarded the NASA Achievement Award in connection with the design, development and operation of the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Laser Radar and was also the initial technical lead for the New Horizons LOng-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI instrument). He has presented technical papers addressing space-based laser altimetry all over the US and Europe. His industry experience has been focused on the systems engineering and analysis associated development of optical detectors, wireless ad hoc remote sensing, exoatmospheric sensor design and now leads ICESat-2 ATLAS altimeter calibration effort. 9. Robert Moore https://aticourses.com/satellite_rf_communications.htm Robert C. Moore worked in the Electronic Systems Group at the JHU/APL Space Department since 1965 and is now a consultant. He designed embedded microprocessor systems for space applications. He led the design and testing efforts for the New Horizons spacecraft autonomy subsystem. Mr. Moore holds four U.S. patents. He teaches for ATIcourses and the command-telemetry-data processing segment of “Space Systems” at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. 10. Jay Jenkins https://aticourses.com/spacecraft_solar_arrays.htm Jay Jenkins is a Systems Engineer in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at NASA and an Associate Fellow in the AIAA. His 24-year aerospace career provided many years of experience in design, analysis and test of aerospace power systems, solar arrays, and batteries. His career has afforded him opportunities for hands-on fabrication and testing, concurrent with his design responsibilities. He was recognized as a winner of the ASME International George Westinghouse Silver Medal for his development of the first solar arrays beyond Mars’ orbit and the first solar arrays to orbit the planet Mercury. He was recognized with two Best Paper Awards in the area of Aerospace Power Systems. For more information on the New Horizons Mission, we encourage you to visit: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Participate/community/Plutopalooza-Toolkit.php About Applied Technology Institute (ATIcourses or ATI and ATII) ATIcourses is a national leader in professional development seminars in the technical areas of space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, engineering, and signal processing. Since 1984, ATIcourses has presented leading-edge technical training to defense and NASA facilities, as well as DOD and aerospace contractors. ATI’s programs create a clear understanding of the fundamental principles and a working knowledge of current technology and applications. ATI offers customized on-site training at your facility anywhere in the United States, as well as internationally, and over 200 annual public courses in dozens of locations. ATI is proud to have world-class experts instructing courses. For more information, call 410-956-8805 or 1-888-501-2100 (toll free), or visit them on the web at www.ATIcourses.com and www.aticourse.com/atii CONTACT: Jim Jenkins Phone: 1-888-501-2100 (toll free) or 410-956-8805 Fax: 410-956-5785 Email: jim.jenkins@aticourses.com

Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory launched in space

Posted on March 3, 2015 by admin

Recently, NASA along with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory into space from Japan. Data from GPM is helping to provide scientists with new insights into finding out how Earth works as a system and specific weather patterns including rain and snowfall. Together with these missions, NASA now has 20 ongoing Earth-observing missions. The observations from these missions will be openly available to both scientists and decision makers worldwide. “The highly accurate measurements from these new missions will help scientists around the world tackle some of the biggest questions about how our planet is changing,” said Peg Luce, deputy director of the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “These new capabilities will also be put to work to help improve lives here on Earth and support informed decision-making by citizens and communities.” In January, NASA released the most comprehensive global rain and snowfall product to date from the GPM mission that was comprised of data from a system of 12 international satellites and the Core Observatory. The Core Observatory combines measurements of other satellites, which offers a global picture of rain and snow, called the Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM, or IMERG. On Thursday February 26, 2015, the first global visualization of the initial IMERG data was released. “The IMERG data gives us an unprecedented view of global precipitation every 30 minutes,” said Gail Skofronick-Jackson, GPM project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Knowing where, when and how much it rains and snows is vital to understanding Earth’s water cycle.” NASA deployed two Earth-observing instruments to the International Space Station: ISS-RapidScat, in September of 2014 which is a scatterometer that is using wind measurements to help figure out how ocean winds differ from day and night, and the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), in January of 2015 which is a lidar that measures the altitude of clouds and airborne particles (aerosols) which will help scientists determine the future potential impact of climate change. The launch of the GPM core observatory will help scientists to study Earth’s interconnected natural systems and better understand how our planet is changing.

Name NASA New Free-Flying Robot and Win $1,000!

Posted on October 16, 2014 by admin

Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offers a variety of courses on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. We think the news below will be of interest to our readers. NASA has a new “free-flying robot” they’ll be sending up to help out the International Space Station crew in 2017. But let’s be honest: “free-flying robot” is kind of a mouthful. That’s why the space agency wants help creating a name for the little guy, as well as a new mission patch design! Of course, this robot isn’t the first free-flyer to hop aboard the ISS—NASA has a whole fleet of “SPHERES” (Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites, a clever acronym that would make Marvel jealous) which assist the crew in a myriad of ways. All of them are able to move autonomously throughout the outpost, but can also be controlled remotely by crew members; the new fleet, according to Topcoder, “will eventually extend the research and exploration capabilities of astronauts, as they are capable of working during off-hours and (eventually) in extreme environments.”” The full guidelines for the contest can be found at Topcoder, but here’s the main gist: to enter the contest, all you have to do is sign up and then create a name and custom graphic for the mission patch, which also needs to have the name of the space mission on it somewhere. Preliminary feedback on the initial designs will be given out on October 22nd, and the contest ends on the 27th. Oh, and there’s also cash prizes for winning, in case the thought of naming a robot wasn’t a cool enough draw for you. So start designing, team! To participate in the challenge and learn more about it, go to http://www.topcoder.com/challenge-details/30046039/?type=design&noncache=true.

Shutdown Reaches Mars: Curiosity Rover Will Stop

Posted on October 3, 2013 by admin

…but not without some major snark! Just before 11 p.m. Monday night, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft sent this message via Twitter: Due to government shutdown, we will not be posting or responding from this account. Farewell, humans. Sort it out yourselves. — NASAVoyager2 (@NASAVoyager2) October 1, 2013 Of course, it wasn’t Voyager sending the tweet, it […]

The parachute for the Mars Science Laboratory mission to Mars. The Mars Curiosity Rover will stop collecting data during the shutdown. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech.

…but not without some major snark! Just before 11 p.m. Monday night, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft sent this message via Twitter:

Due to government shutdown, we will not be posting or responding from this account. Farewell, humans. Sort it out yourselves. — NASAVoyager2 (@NASAVoyager2) October 1, 2013

Of course, it wasn’t Voyager sending the tweet, it was Voyager’s handlers here on Earth. But the slight whiff of snarkiness coming from the intrepid spacecraft that’s hurtling through deep space — and depending very much on government funding to do so — highlights the powerful impact this shutdown has on science and the nation’s scientific agencies. At NASA, Mission Control in Houston remains active to support the crew aboard the International Space Station. But nearly all other space agency operations have ground to a halt. NASA has 18,250 civil servants around the country, and the furlough means 90 percent are now sitting at home wondering what will happen at next. Visiting nasa.gov redirects users to a placeholder screen, saying that the website is not available, “due to the lapse in federal government funding.” The Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s website still functions, but will not be updated. “We also cannot respond to comments/questions. We sincerely regret this inconvenience,” adds JPL. ABC News reached out to its press contacts and sources involved at NASA but only received an automated response in reply. “I am in furlough status; therefore, I am unable to respond to your message at this time,” wrote one employee. Spacecrafts and satellites not yet launched are grounded and while the Hubble Space Telescope will continue peering into far flung galaxies, no one will be there to collect the data.

“If a satellite mission has not yet been launched, work will generally cease on that project,” NASA’s shutdown plan reads. “The extent of support necessary and the time needed to safely cease project activities will depend on whether any of the activities are of a hazardous nature (e.g., parts of the satellite may need to be cooled).”

Work preparing for the Mars MAVEN mission, which was slated for a Nov. 18 launch, for example, has stopped, and could delay the craft’s planned mission to Mars. How did furlough effect you? Please let us know by commenting below.

ATI TRAINING PROGRAM ON SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS FOCUSES ON KEY TECHNICAL SKILLS FOR ENGINEERS AND MANAGERS

Posted on September 25, 2013 by admin

Riva, Md., [DATE]—An upcoming course is just the ticket for satellite and spacecraft engineers who are looking to build on their technical expertise with broadly marketable skills that will enable them to take on more expansive roles in the satellite communications industry. Developed by Applied Technology Institute (ATIcourses), a leading provider of classroom-based and online training programs geared for space industry professionals, “Satellite Communications Design and Engineering” will combine a thorough overview of how communications satellites function with information-packed modules devoted to the practical skills necessary to design and operate satellite communications networks. Participants in the program, set for October 15-17, 2013, in Columbia, Md., will learn the mathematical and other skills necessary to perform and verify link budget calculations, which are essential to ensuring that a satellite connection can carry data efficiently and reliably. They will also gain the ability to evaluate satellite networks independently and in collaboration with other satellite professionals. In addition, attendees will learn how Earth stations and transponders function, gain an understanding of phenomena such as rain fade, and develop a grasp of the forces that affect how a satellite orbits the Earth. The three-day course will be taught by Chris DeBoy, head of the RF Engineering Group in the Space Department at the renowned Applied Physics Laboratory run by The Johns Hopkins University. DeBoy is an expert in the development of satellite communications systems and spacecraft designed for deep-space missions. He is the lead RF communications engineer for NASA’s New Horizons Mission to Pluto. DeBoy replaces another space industry veteran at the helm of the course, which is offered periodically by ATI. Robert Nelson, a satellite communications expert, author, and consultant, taught the program until his passing earlier this year. Further details about the program, including registration and cost information, are at www.aticourses.com/Satellite_Communications_Design_Engineering.htm. About Applied Technology Institute (ATIcourses or ATI) ATIcourses is a national leader in professional development seminars in the technical areas of space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, engineering, and signal processing. Since 1984, ATIcourses has presented leading-edge technical training to defense and NASA facilities, as well as DOD and aerospace contractors. ATI’s programs create a clear understanding of the fundamental principles and a working knowledge of current technology and applications. ATI offers customized on-site training at your facility anywhere in the United States, as well as internationally, and over 200 annual public courses in dozens of locations. ATI is proud to have world-class experts instructing courses. For more information, call 410-956-8805 or 1-888-501-2100 (toll free), or visit them on the web at www.ATIcourses.com. Note: Accredited media are invited to attend for free.

NASA’s Second Space Apps Challenge: 2 Days Left To Register!

Posted on April 17, 2013 by admin

Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offers a variety of courses on Space, Satellite & Aerospace Engineering. We think the news below would be of interest to our visitors. Calling all space geeks: The hackathon is on! Bring your dreams, your drink (the caffeinated kind, of course) and your skills to any one of 75 locations in 41 countries around this world – or the whole Blue Marble if you choose to join virtually – to the second annual International Space Apps Challenge, April 20-21. For 48 hours, some of the most active minds on the planet will come together to crowdsource fun and maybe even life-sustaining solutions to some of the most complex space exploration problems:

Gotta eat: Develop a deployable greenhouse that could be used for an M&M mission (Moon or Mars).
Bootstrap space: Develop the game Moonvilleto and virtually build a self-sustaining lunar industry.
Seven minutes of sheer science: Conceive of how to make use of 150 kilograms of ejectable mass that also achieves a scientific or technical objective during the entry and landing phase of a Mars mission.
Diggin’ dirt: Using soil testing approaches, develop “a simple means for users to feedback their soil measurements using web/phone technology.”
Duck, duck, goose: Create a poultry management system for backyard farmers. Hey – whether you’re on the Moon, Mars, or Macedonia (yes, that’s one of the locations this year), you gotta what? Eat.
Meteor, meteor, duck: Create an app to use during meteor showers that allows observers to trace the location, color and size of the shooting stars.

Those are just some of the more than 50 space challenges posed for the 2013 event, and the invitation is open to all to bring their own. Organized by NASA, with support from the space agencies of Europe, Canada and others, the idea behind the challenge is to create teams with an eye on human exploration that can “do something better than any of us can do on our own.” For a comprehensive explanation of how it will work, where to go, and how to register, go the space apps challenge website. Note: you’ll have to be a registered participant to submit a project for judging.

NASA Can No Longer Afford Public Outreach

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin

One of the most lasting memories of my husband’s childhood was his obsession with space. This is nothing new, really. Lots of kids like space. This shouldn’t be a surprise. The thing is, it may be common, but a love of space never feels common. On the contrary, it feels special and grand. Sure, there are millions of other people who share that love, maybe billions, but compared to the universe, that’s still a pretty exclusive club. So is just being from Earth. While he may have found out that space is one of the most fascinating things (or combination of things) ever on his own, the catalyst for this revelation in him was when his school was visited by an astronaut. He doesn’t even remember his name, but remembers him talking about going up on the shuttle, doing experiments you can’t do on Earth, how we can one day start exploring again. Unfortunately, more kids will not have the same opportunity he did. Due to the Sequester, NASA is having to cut all of their public outreach. No more school visits and informational websites, no more videos, no more attempts to promote work in STEM fields. All gone in an instant. How does this make you feel? Please comment below.

It’s official: We are an interstellar species

Posted on March 21, 2013 by admin

Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offers a variety of Space & Satellite related courses. We thought the news below could be of interest to our readers. In recent months it has appeared likely that Voyager 1, a probe launched in 1977, has gone beyond our solar system but now it’s official: the spacecraft has left the building. This […]

Applied Technology Institute (ATICourses) offers a variety of Space & Satellite related courses. We thought the news below could be of interest to our readers. In recent months it has appeared likely that Voyager 1, a probe launched in 1977, has gone beyond our solar system but now it’s official: the spacecraft has left the building. This makes it the first human-made object to move beyond the Sun, its planets and its heliosphere, a region of space dominated by the Sun and its wind of energetic particles. The findings are to be published in Geophysical Research Letters (see abstract). In their article the authors write:

“It appears that [Voyager 1] has exited the main solar modulation region, revealing [hydrogen] and [helium] spectra characteristic of those to be expected in the local interstellar medium.”

And so there you have it, humans are an interstellar species. This is the century in which we have sent a machine on the path to the stars. Will a spacecraft carrying humans join it next century? We can only hope. UPDATE: NASA says not so fast, reiterating a position it took last December when questions arose about Voyager’s exit from the solar system:

“The Voyager team is aware of reports today that NASA’s Voyager 1 has left the solar system,” said Edward Stone, Voyager project scientist based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. “It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. In December 2012, the Voyager science team reported that Voyager 1 is within a new region called ‘the magnetic highway’ where energetic particles changed dramatically. A change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space, and that change of direction has not yet been observed.”

Well, that’s interesting.

Space Tourism and Informed Consent Laws

Posted on January 15, 2013 by admin

ATI specializes in Space and Launch Vehicles technical training. We thought that the evolving state of law and regulations discussed below may interest you. A full listing of ATIcourses” Space and Launch is listed at this link. https://aticourses.com/catalog_of_all_ATI_courses.htm#space Spaceport America is lobbying New Mexico legislators to expand legislation to provide protection to suppliers and manufacturers of private spacecraft’s. New Mexico already has legislation exempting operators from being sued by passengers, so long as the passenger has signed an informed consent. However, the current exemption does not apply to suppliers and manufacturers, could be liable if or when an accident occurs.

Without such protections space tourism companies, such as Virgin Galactic, may be forced to leave New Mexico for states that provide greater liability protection. For example, Virginia 2007 legislation addressing immunity from tort claims relating to space flight broadly defined “space entity” to include not only an operator but also “any manufacturer or supplier of components, services, or vehicles that have been reviewed by” the FAA as part of issuing such a permit or license.. Va. Code. Ann. §§ 8.01-227.8 to 8.01-227.10. However, even if New Mexico passes legislation similar Virginia’s, it is unclear if that legislation would provided the desired protections. Discussing the proposed legislation, attorney Guigi Carminati stated: “I understand the impetus to try to match other states, but right now there is no guarantee it’s enforceable.” There are several potential problems with immunizing legislation. First, it is unclear whether any such state legislation would be pre-empted by federal law. Second, informed consent waivers are not always enforceable in court. Although there is a substantial body of case law regarding when informed consent for dangerous activities is and is not enforceable, there is no case law relating to space launches. Despite the uncertainties surrounding informed consent legislation, one thing is clear. The failure to pass a liability exemption for suppliers and manufacturers could cripple New Mexico’s commercial space industry. Former FAA official, Patti Smith, noted that “since other states have extended the liability exemption to suppliers, New Mexico must do the same to remain competitive.” Otherwise facilities such as Space Port America, New Mexico’s recently completed $200 million commercial spaceport, may be left deserted. You can find more information in this interesting article. ATIcourses instructors are available as expert witnesses in the technical and engineering areas of Space Technology http://www.crowell.com/files/2011-Limitations-On-Liability-As-To-Space-Tourists.pdf Another useful source of information is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130107/us-travel-spaceport-liability-legislation/?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=green

Do You Know the Key Differences between Gimballing and Strapdown Intertial Navigation Systems?

Posted on July 10, 2012 by admin

Video Clip: Click to Watch Maybe You Should Find Your Way to ATI’s Strapdown and Integrated Navigation Systems Course In this highly structured 4-day short course – specifically tailored to the needs of busy engineers, scientists, managers, and aerospace professionals – Thomas S. Logsdon will provide you with new insights into the modern guidance, navigation, and […]

Strapdown Algorithm Design for Strapdown Inertial Navigation Systems

Video Clip: Click to Watch

Maybe You Should Find Your Way to ATI’s Strapdown and Integrated Navigation Systems Course

In this highly structured 4-day short course – specifically tailored to the needs of busy engineers, scientists, managers, and aerospace professionals – Thomas S. Logsdon will provide you with new insights into the modern guidance, navigation, and control techniques now being perfected at key research centers around the globe

The various topics are illustrated with powerful analogies, full-color sketches, block diagrams, simple one-page derivations highlighting their salient features, and numerical examples that employ inputs from today’s battlefield rockets, orbiting satellites, and deep-space missions. These lessons are carefully laid out to help you design and implement practical performance-optimal missions and test procedures

Why not take a short course? ATI short courses are less than a week long and are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for an understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development of complex systems. What You Will Learn • What are the key differences between gimballing and strapdown Intertial Navigation Systems? • How are transfer alignment operations being carried out on modern battlefields? • How sensitive are today’s solid state accelerometers and how are they currently being designed? • What is a covariance matrix and how can it be used in evaluating the performance capabilities of Integrated GPS/INS Navigation Systems? • How do the Paveway IV smart bombs differ from their predecessors? • What are their key performance capabilities in practical battlefield situations? • What is the deep space network and how does it handle its demanding missions? Course Outline, Samplers, and Notes Our short courses are designed for individuals involved in planning, designing, building, launching, and operating space and defense systems. Determine for yourself the value of this course before you sign up. Click here for the sample Course video on YouTube You will receive a full set of detailed notes at the beginning of the class for future reference and you can add notes and more detail based on the in-class interaction. After attending the course you will also receive a certificate of completion. Please visit our website for more valuable information. About the Applied Techinolgy Institute (ATI) Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training to DoD and NASA personnel, as well as contractors. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues. If you or your team is in need of more technical training, then boost your career with the knowledge needed to provide better, faster, and cheaper solutions for sophisticated DoD and NASA systems. Our mission here at ATI is to provide expert training and the highest quality professional development in space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. We are not a one-size-fits-all educational facility. Our short classes include both introductory and advanced courses. About the Instructors ATI’s instructors are world-class experts who are the best in the business. They are carefully selected for their ability to clearly explain advanced technology. Thomas S. Logsdon has accumulated more than 30 years experience with the Naval Ordinance Laboratory, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin, Boeing Aerospace, and Rockwell International. His research projects and consulting assignments have included the Tartar and Talos shipboard missiles, Project Skylab, and various deep space interplanetary probes and missions. Mr. Logsdon has also worked extensively on the Navstar GPS, including military applications, constellation design and coverage studies. He has taught and lectured in 31 different countries on six continents and he has written and published 1.7 million words, including 29 technical books. His textbooks include Striking It Rich in Space, Understanding the Navstar, Mobile Communication Satellites, and Orbital Mechanics: Theory and Applications. Dr. Walter R. Dyer is a graduate of UCLA, with a Ph.D. degree in Control Systems Engineering and Applied Mathematics. He has over thirty years of industry, government and academic experience in the analysis and design of tactical and strategic missiles. His experience includes Standard Missile, Stinger, AMRAAM, HARM, MX, Small ICBM, and ballistic missile defense. He is currently a Senior Staff Member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and was formerly the Chief Technologist at the Missile Defense Agency in Washington, DC. He has authored numerous industry and government reports and published prominent papers on missile technology. He has also taught university courses in engineering at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Dates and Locations For the dates and locations of all of these short courses, please see below: Sep 24-27, 2012 Columbia, MD Jan 21-24, 2013 Cape Canaveral, FL

Sincerely, The ATI Courses Team P.S Call today for registration at 410-956-8805 or 888-501-2100 or access our website at www.ATIcourses.com. For general questions please email us at ATI@ATIcourses.com

Under President Obama, the PUBLIC Sector is Doing Fine

Posted on July 10, 2012 by admin

Typical Agile Project Management Process Video Clip: Click to Watch Do You Know How to Satisfy the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Requirements (Circular A-11) while Applying an Agile Execution Approach? If you answered NO, Then you should take our Agile Projects in the Government Environment Course In this powerful two-day course, you’ll grasp the […]

Typical Agile Project Management Process

Video Clip: Click to Watch

Do You Know How to Satisfy the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Requirements (Circular A-11) while Applying an Agile Execution Approach? If you answered NO, Then you should take our Agile Projects in the Government Environment Course

In this powerful two-day course, you’ll grasp the concepts, principles, and structure of Agile development and how these are being applied in the unique federal environment. A common misconception is that Agility means lack of order or discipline, but that’s incorrect. It requires strong discipline. You must have a solid foundation of practices and procedures in order to successfully adapt Agile in the Government environment, and you must also learn to follow those practices correctly while tying them to pre-defined, rigid quality goals. This workshop gives you the foundation of knowledge and experience you need in order to be successful on your next federal project. Define principles and highlight advantages and disadvantages of Agile development and how to map them to federal guidelines for IT procurement, development and delivery. Get firsthand experience organizing and participating in an Agile team. Put the concepts you learn to practice instantly in the classroom project. Understand and learn how to take advantage of the opportunities for Agile, while applying them within current government project process requirements. Specifically, you will • Consistently deliver better products that will enable your customer’s success • Reduce the risk of project failure, missed deadlines, scope overrun or exceeded budgets • Establish, develop, empower, nurture and protect high-performing teams • Identify and eliminate waste from processes • Map government project language to Agile language simply and effectively • Foster collaboration, even with teams that are distributed geographically and organizationally • Clearly understand how EVM and Agile can be integrated • Understand the structure of Agile processes that breed success in the federal environment • Embrace ever-changing requirements Who Should Attend Because this is an immersion course and the intent is to engage in the practices every Agile team will employ, this course is recommended for all team members responsible for delivering outstanding software. That includes, but is not limited to, the following roles: • Business Analyst • Technical Analyst • Project Manager • Software Engineer/Programmer • Development Manager • Product Manager • Product Analyst • Tester • QA Engineer • Documentation Specialist The Agile Boot Camp is a perfect place for cross functional “teams” to become familiar with Agile methods and learn the basics together. It’s also a wonderful springboard for team building & learning. Bring your project detail to work on in class. About the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training to DoD and NASA personnel, as well as contractors. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues. If you or your team is in need of more technical training, then boost your career with the knowledge needed to provide better, faster, and cheaper solutions for sophisticated DoD and NASA systems. What You Will Learn • Consistently deliver better products that will enable your customer’s success • Reduce the risk of project failure, missed deadlines, scope overrun or exceeded budgets • Establish, develop, empower, nurture and protect high-performing teams • Identify and eliminate waste from processes • Map government project language to Agile language simply and effectively • Foster collaboration, even with teams that are distributed geographically and organizationally • Clearly understand how EVM and Agile can be integrated • Understand the structure of Agile processes that breed success in the federal environment • Embrace ever-changing requirements for your customer’s competitive advantage Why not take a short course? ATI short courses are less than a week long and are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for an understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development of complex systems. Dates and Locations For the dates and locations of these short courses, please see below: Jul 19-20, 2012 Baltimore, MD Aug 9-10, 2012 Washington, DC Sep 13-14, 2012 Herndon, VA Oct 18-19, 2012 Columbia, MD Sincerely, The ATI Courses Team P.S Call today for registration at 410-956-8805 or 888-501-2100 or access our website at www.ATIcourses.com. For general questions please email us at ATI@ATIcourses.com

Get Grounded with an Introduction to Ground System Elements and Technologies from ATI

Posted on July 3, 2012 by admin

Video Clip: Click to Watch ATI’S GROUND SYSTEMS DESIGN & OPERATION COURSE This course provides a practical introduction to all aspects of ground system design and operation. Starting with basic communications principles, an understanding is developed of ground system architectures and system design issues. The function of major ground system elements is explained, leading to a […]

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ATI’S GROUND SYSTEMS DESIGN & OPERATION COURSE

This course provides a practical introduction to all aspects of ground system design and operation. Starting with basic communications principles, an understanding is developed of ground system architectures and system design issues. The function of major ground system elements is explained, leading to a discussion of day-to-day operations. The course concludes with a discussion of current trends in Ground System design and operations. This course is intended for engineers, technical managers, and scientists who are interested in acquiring a working understanding of ground systems as an introduction to the field or to help broaden their overall understanding of space mission systems and mission operations. It is also ideal for technical professionals who need to use, manage, operate, or purchase a ground system. Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training to DoD and NASA personnel, as well as contractors. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues. If you or your team is in need of more technical training, then boost your career with the knowledge needed to provide better, faster, and cheaper solutions for sophisticated DoD and NASA systems. Why not take a short course? ATI short courses are less than a week long and are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for an understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development of complex systems. What You Will Learn • The fundamentals of ground system design, architecture and technology • Cost and performance tradeoffs in the spacecraft-to-ground communications link • Cost and performance tradeoffs in the design and implementation of a ground system • The capabilities and limitations of the various modulation types (FM, PSK, QPSK) • The fundamentals of ranging and orbit determination for orbit maintenance • Basic day-to-day operations practices and procedures for typical ground systems • Current trends and recent experiences in cost and schedule constrained operations Course Outline, Sampler, and Notes Our short courses are designed for individuals involved in planning, designing, building, launching, and operating space and defense systems. Determine for yourself the value of this course before you sign up. See Slide Samples You will receive a full set of detailed notes at the beginning of the class for future reference and you can add notes and more detail based on the in-class interaction. After attending the course you will also receive a certificate of completion. Please visit our website for more valuable information. About ATI and the Instructors Our mission here at ATI is to provide expert training and the highest quality professional development in space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. We are not a one-size-fits-all educational facility. Our short classes include both introductory and advanced courses. ATI’s instructors are world-class experts who are the best in the business. They are carefully selected for their ability to clearly explain advanced technology. Steve Gemeny is Principal Program Engineer. Formerly Senior Member of the Professional Staff at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he served as Ground Station Lead for the TIMED mission to explore Earth’s atmosphere and Lead Ground System Engineer on the New Horizons mission to explore Pluto by 2020. Prior to joining the Applied Physics Laboratory, Mr. Gemeny held numerous engineering and technical sales positions with Orbital Sciences Corporation, Mobile TeleSystems Inc. and COMSAT Corporation beginning in 1980. Mr. Gemeny is an experienced professional in the field of Ground Station and Ground System design in both the commercial world and on NASA Science missions with a wealth of practical knowledge spanning nearly three decades. Mr. Gemeny delivers his experiences and knowledge to his students with an informative and entertaining presentation style. Date and Location For the date and location of this short course, please see below: Sep 10-12, 2012 Albuquerque, NM

ATI’s Fiber Optic Communication Systems Engineering Course

Posted on June 28, 2012 by admin

Can You Perform Cost Analysis or Design Fiber Optic Systems? This three-day course investigates the basic aspects of digital and analog fiber-optic communication systems. Topics include sources and receivers, optical fibers and their propagation characteristics, and optical fiber systems. The principles of operation and properties of optoelectronic components, as well as signal guiding characteristics of […]

Can You Perform Cost Analysis or Design Fiber Optic Systems?

This three-day course investigates the basic aspects of digital and analog fiber-optic communication systems. Topics include sources and receivers, optical fibers and their propagation characteristics, and optical fiber systems. The principles of operation and properties of optoelectronic components, as well as signal guiding characteristics of glass fibers are discussed. System design issues include both analog and digital point-to-point optical links and fiber-optic networks. From this course you will obtain the knowledge needed to perform basic fiber-optic communication systems engineering calculations, identify system tradeoffs, and apply this knowledge to modern fiber optic systems. This will enable you to evaluate real systems, communicate effectively with colleagues, and understand the most recent literature in the field of fiber-optic communications. Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues. If you or your team is in need of more technical training, then boost your career with the knowledge needed to provide better, faster, and cheaper solutions for these sophisticated systems. Why not take a short course????????????????? ATI short courses are less than a week long and are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for an understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development of complex systems. What You Will Learn: • What are the basic elements in analog and digital fiber optic communication systems including fiber-optic components and basic coding schemes? • How fiber properties such as loss, dispersion and non-linearity impact system performance. • How systems are compensated for loss, dispersion and non-linearity. • How a fiber-optic amplifier works and it’s impact on system performance. • How to maximize fiber bandwidth through wavelength division multiplexing. • How is the fiber-optic link budget calculated? • What are typical characteristics of real fiber-optic systems including CATV, gigabit Ethernet, POF data links, RF-antenna remoting systems, long-haul telecommunication links.

ATI Fundamentals of Passive and Active Sonar Short Course

Posted on June 21, 2012 by admin

Video Clip: Click to Watch Do You know All There Is to Know About All the Major System Components in a SONAR System? This four-day course is designed for (SOund Navigation And Ranging) SONAR systems engineers, combat systems engineers, undersea warfare professionals, and managers who wish to enhance their understanding of passive and active SONAR or […]

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Do You know All There Is to Know About All the Major System Components in a SONAR System?

This four-day course is designed for (SOund Navigation And Ranging) SONAR systems engineers, combat systems engineers, undersea warfare professionals, and managers who wish to enhance their understanding of passive and active SONAR or become familiar with the “big picture” if they work outside of either discipline. Each topic is presented by instructors with substantial experience at sea. Presentations are illustrated by worked numerical examples using simulated or experimental data describing actual undersea acoustic situations and geometries. Visualization of transmitted waveforms, target interactions, and detector responses is emphasized

Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues. If you or your team is in need of more technical training, then boost your career with the knowledge needed to provide better, faster, and cheaper solutions for sophisticated systems

What You Will Learn: • The differences between various types of SONAR used on naval platforms today • The fundamental principles governing these systems’ operation • How these systems’ data are used to conduct passive and active operations • How to avoid previous mistakes revealed when systems were taken to sea • Signal acquisition and target motion analysis for passive systems • Waveform and receiver design for active systems • The major cost drivers for undersea acoustic systems Course Outline, Samplers, and Notes Our short courses are designed for individuals involved in planning, designing, building, launching, and operating space and defense systems. Determine for yourself the value of our courses before you sign up. See our samples (See Slide Samples) on some of our courses. Or check out the new ATI channel on YouTube. You will receive a full set of detailed notes at the beginning of the class for future reference and you can add notes and more detail based on the in-class interaction. After completing the course you will also receive a certificate of completion. Please visit our website for more valuable information. About ATI and the Instructors Our mission here at ATI is to provide expert training and the highest quality professional development in space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. We are not a one-size-fits-all educational facility. Our short classes include both introductory and advanced courses. ATI’s instructors are world-class experts who are the best in the business. They are carefully selected for their ability to clearly explain advanced technology. Dr. Harold “Bud” Vincent, Research Associate Professor of Ocean Engineering at the University of Rhode Island and President of DBV Technology, LLC is a U.S. Naval officer qualified in submarine warfare and salvage diving. He has over twenty years of undersea systems experience working in industry, academia, and government (military and civilian). He served on active duty on fast attack and ballistic missile submarines, worked at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and conducted advanced R&D in the defense industry. Dr. Vincent received the M.S. and Ph.D in Ocean Engineering (Underwater Acoustics) from the University of Rhode Island. His teaching and research encompasses underwater acoustic systems, communications, signal processing, ocean instrumentation, and navigation. He has been awarded four patents for undersea systems and algorithms. Dr. Duncan Sheldon has over twenty-five years’ experience in the field of active sonar signal processing. At Navy undersea warfare laboratories (New London, CT, and Newport, RI) he directed a multiyear research program and developed new active sonar waveforms and receivers for ASW and mine warfare. This work included collaboration with U.S. and international sea tests. His experience includes real-time direction at sea of surface sonar assets during ‘free-play’ NATO ASW exercises. He was a Principal Scientist at the NATO Undersea Research Centre at La Spezia, Italy. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1969 and has published articles on waveform and receiver design in the U.S. Navy Journal of Underwater Acoustics. Date and Location For the date and location of this short course, please see below: Aug 13-16, 2012 Newport, RI Sincerely, The ATI Courses Team P.S Call today for registration at 410-956-8805 or 888-501-2100 or access our website at www.ATIcourses.com. For general questions please email us at ATI@ATIcourses.com or Join, Link, Follow or Share with us at: Join us on Facebook Link to us on LinkedIn Follow us on Twitter Share with us on Slideshare P.P.S. What Happens at ATI does NOT Stay at ATI because our training helps you and your organization remain competitive in this changing world. Please feel free to call Mr. Jenkins personally to discuss your requirements and objectives. He will be glad to explain in detail what ATI can do for you, what it will cost, and what you can expect in results and future performance.

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