WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement Tuesday about the plane crash in Alaska that killed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and injured former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and his son, Kevin:

“We at NASA are deeply saddened by today’s news that former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and others were killed in a plane crash in Alaska that also injured former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and his son, Kevin. As a long-time supporter of NASA, Sen. Stevens made lasting contributions to our agency and our country. We at NASA mourn his loss and send our deepest condolences to his family, as well as the families and friends of all who perished in the accident. We also send our best wishes for a speedy recovery to Sean, Kevin, and other survivors of the crash. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their families.”

WASHINGTON — NASA Television has been honored with a Primetime Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The 2009 Philo T. Farnsworth Award recognizes the agency for engineering excellence and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the technological innovations that made possible the first live TV broadcast from the moon by the Apollo 11 crew on July 20, 1969.

The prestigious Emmy Award, named after the man credited with designing and building the world’s first working television system, honors an agency, company or institution with contributions over a long period of time that have significantly affected the state of television technology and engineering.

“I congratulate the many NASA staffers who are being recognized by the academy with this award for contributions to television engineering excellence,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “From the first landing of man on the moon in 1969 to today’s high definition broadcasts of America’s ongoing space exploration initiatives, television has been a powerful communications tool that enables the agency to share its achievements in exploration and discovery with the world.”

In 1927, Farnsworth was the first inventor to transmit a television image comprised of 60 horizontal lines. He developed the dissector tube, the foundation of the modern electronic televisions. In a 1996 interview, his wife Elma, whose nickname was Pem, said the two of them watched with pride the televised Apollo 11 moonwalk. “We were watching it and when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon Phil turned to me and said, ‘Pem, this has made it all worthwhile.’ Before then, he wasn’t too sure.”

Over the agency’s 50-year history, NASA TV has served as a vital engineering and mission support resource and a valuable communications outlet.

“I am honored to have been selected to accept this award on behalf of NASA and the hundreds of engineers and technicians who made the telecast of this historic event possible,” said Richard Nafzger, an engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Nafzger was 28 years old when he worked with the team that brought television from the moon to a world-wide audience estimated at more than 600 million people.

Joining Nafzger in accepting the honor will be Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot and moonwalker Buzz Aldrin.

Today, NASA TV is available on four digital channels, serving the general public, educators and journalists. It also is streamed continuously over the agency’s Internet homepage.

The Primetime Emmys are awarded by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood, Calif. Recipients of the Engineering Awards will receive their statues during a special ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles.

This is NASA Television’s second Emmy Award for 2009. In January, the Midsouth Chapter of the National Television Academy awarded NASA TV the Governor’s Award for Lifetime Achievement at a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn.

For more information about NASA TV, including program schedules and how to watch programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

For information about the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, visit: http://www.Emmys.com.

WASHINGTON — NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-134 to the International Space Station. The flight will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS, to the station. The AMS is a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector designed to examine fundamental issues about matter and the origin and structure of the universe.

Navy Capt. Mark Kelly will command the STS-134 mission. Retired Air Force Col. Gregory H. Johnson will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Air Force Col. Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel. European Space Agency astronaut and Italian Air Force Col. Roberto Vittori also will serve as a mission specialist.

The flight will include three spacewalks and the installation of the AMS to the exterior of the space station using both the shuttle and station arms. The AMS will be attached to the right side of the station’s truss, or backbone.

NASA also has named Air Force Col. Michael Good to replace Karen Nyberg on shuttle Atlantis’ STS-132 mission, targeted to launch in May 2010. Nyberg is being replaced due to a temporary medical condition. Nyberg will be assigned to a technical role while she awaits a future assignment.

Kelly previously served as the pilot of STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and commander for STS-124 in 2008. He was born in Orange, N.J., and considers West Orange, N.J., to be his hometown. Kelly has a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, King’s Point, N.Y., and a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.

Johnson previously flew as a pilot on STS-123 in 2008. He was born in South Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom, but graduated from Park Hills High School in Fairborn, Ohio. Johnson has a bachelor’s from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and master’s degrees from Columbia University and the University of Texas, Austin.

Fincke is a veteran of two long-duration missions aboard the space station. He served as the NASA science officer and flight engineer on Expedition 9, and commander for Expedition 18. He was born in Pittsburgh and considers Emsworth, Pa., his hometown. He has an Associate Science degree from El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., two bachelor’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and master’s degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston - Clear Lake.

Chamitoff, also a veteran of a long-duration spaceflight, served as NASA science officer and a flight engineer on Expeditions 17 and 18. He was born in Montreal and grew up in San Jose, Calif. He holds a bachelor’s degree from California Polytechnic State University, a master’s degree from the California Institute of Technology, a second master’s degree from UHCL and a doctorate from MIT.

STS-134 is the second mission for Feustel, who flew as a mission specialist on STS-125 in May. He has an Associate Science degree from Oakland Community College, Mich., a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and a doctorate from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Feustel considers Lake Orion, Mich., his hometown.

Vittori is a veteran of two prior spaceflights to the space station aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He was born in Viterbo, Italy. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Italian Air Force Academy and earned master’s degrees from the University of Naples and University of Perugia.

This will be the second mission for Good, who flew on STS-125. He was born in Parma, Ohio, and considers Broadview Heights, Ohio, to be his hometown. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Notre Dame.

For complete astronaut biographical information, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios

Video of the STS-134 crew members will air on NASA Television’s Video File. For downlink and scheduling information and links to streaming video, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For more information about AMS, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/experiments/AMS-02.html

With the space agency in the middle of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, NASA this evening paused to honor legendary journalist Walter Cronkite — who chronicled that event along with a generation of other major stories including the war in Vietnam and the assasination of President John F. Kennedy.

Cronkite died on Friday following a lengthy illness.

In honor of his coverage of America’s space program, NASA presented Cronkite with an Ambassador of Exploration Award on Feb. 28, 2006 at a ceremony in Austin, Texas. He was the only Ambassador of Exploration recipient who was not an astronaut or NASA employee.

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the death of veteran journalist Walter Cronkite.

“It is with great sadness that the NASA family learned of Walter Cronkite’s passing. He led the transition from print and radio reporting to the juggernaut that became television journalism. His insight and integrity were unparalleled, and his compassion helped America make it through some of the most tragic and trying times of the 20th century.

“For decades, we had the privilege of learning about our world from the original ‘anchorman.’ He was a true gentleman. Our thoughts and prayers are with Walter’s family and his millions of friends and supporters.”

Separately, NASA also issued comments by Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong about Cronkite, who provided this iconic coverage of Apollo 11: “Armstrong is on the moon — Neil Armstrong, 38-year-old American, standing on the surface of the moon, on this July 20, 19 hundred and 69.”

“For a news analyst and reporter of the happenings of the day to be successful, he or she needs three things: accuracy, timeliness, and the trust of the audience. Many are fortunate to have the first two. The trust of the audience must be earned.

“Walter Cronkite seemed to enjoy the highest of ratings. He had a passion for human space exploration, an enthusiasm that was contagious, and the trust of his audience. He will be missed.”

In a 1996 interview, Cronkite quipped that the Apollo 11 landing was the only time he’d ever been left speechless — “What I said was ‘Gosh! Wow! Gee!’ — immortal words obviously.”

” I think that 500 years from now the young people that are living on space stations and space cities and perhaps on the orbs themselves out there … they will be recognizing the most important feat of all time. 500 years from now they will be celebrating the first landing on the moon and the first walk on the moon.”

Hear Cronkite discuss the lunar landing in this CBS video:

WASHINGTON — Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday as the twelfth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Lori Beth Garver was confirmed as NASA’s deputy administrator.

As administrator, Bolden will lead the NASA team and manage its resources to advance the agency’s missions and goals.

“It is an honor to have been nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to lead this great NASA team,” Bolden said. “Today, we have to choose. Either we can invest in building on our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment, ceding it to other nations who are working diligently to push the frontiers of space.”

“If we choose to lead, we must build on our investment in the International Space Station, accelerate development of our next generation launch systems to enable expansion of human exploration, enhance NASA’s capability to study Earth’s environment, lead space science to new achievements, continue cutting-edge aeronautics research, support the innovation of American entrepreneurs, and inspire a rising generation of boys and girls to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math.”

Bolden’s confirmation marks the beginning of his second stint with NASA. His 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew.

During his astronaut career, Bolden also drew technical assignments as the Astronaut Office safety officer; technical assistant to the director of Flight Crew Operations; special assistant to the director of the Johnson Space Center; chief of the Safety Division at Johnson (overseeing safety efforts for the return to flight after the 1986 Challenger accident); lead astronaut for vehicle test and checkout at the Kennedy Space Center; and assistant deputy administrator at NASA Headquarters. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.

Immediately prior to Bolden’s nomination for the NASA administrator’s job, he was employed as the chief executive officer of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business enterprise providing leadership, military and aerospace consulting, and motivational speaking. A resident of Houston, the 62-year-old South Carolina native earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical science from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968. He completed flight training in 1970 and became a naval aviator, serving as a combat pilot in Southeast Asia and later, as a test pilot. Bolden retired from the Marine Corps in 2003 with the rank of major general.

Like Bolden, Garver’s confirmation as deputy administrator marks the second time she has worked for NASA. Her first stint at the agency was from 1996 to 2001. Initially, she served as a special assistant to the NASA administrator and senior policy analyst for the Office of Policy and Plans, before becoming the associate administrator for the Office of Policy and Plans. Reporting to the NASA administrator, she oversaw the analysis, development and integration of policies and long-range plans, the NASA Strategic Management System, and the NASA Advisory Council.

As deputy administrator, Garver will be NASA’s second in command. She is responsible to the administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. Garver will represent NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. She also will oversee the work of NASA’s functional offices, including the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel and Office of Strategic Communications.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to serve under Charlie Bolden’s leadership,” Garver said. “My previous five years at NASA exposed me to the incredible talent of the workforce there. The unbelievable achievements of this team over its 50-year history are unmatched. I look forward to working with Charlie and the NASA team to make our agency work as effectively as it can for the American people.” A 48-year-old Michigan native, Garver earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Colorado College in 1983. Her focus immediately turned to space when she accepted a job working for Sen. John Glenn from 1983 to 1984. She since has served in a variety of senior roles in the nonprofit, government and commercial sectors.

From January 2001 until her nomination as NASA’s deputy administrator, Garver was a full-time consultant as the president of Capital Space, LLC, and senior advisor for space at the Avascent Group. In these roles, she provided strategic planning, technology feasibility research and business development assistance, as well as merger, acquisition and strategic alliance support, to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.

For a detailed biography of Bolden, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/bolden_bio.html.

For a detailed biography of Garver, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/garver_bio.html.

HOUSTON — After reviewing more than 3,500 applications, NASA has
selected nine people for the 2009 astronaut candidate class. They
will begin training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston this
August.

“This is a very talented and diverse group we’ve selected,” said Bill
Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA
Headquarters in Washington. “They will join our current astronauts
and play very important roles for NASA in the future. In addition to
flying in space, astronauts participate in every aspect of human
spaceflight, sharing their expertise with engineers and managers
across the country. We look forward to working with them as we
transcend from the shuttle to our future exploration of space, and
continue the important engineering and scientific discoveries aboard
the International Space Station.”

The new astronaut candidates are:

Serena M. Aunon, 33, of League City, Texas; University of Texas
Medical Branch flight surgeon for NASA’s Space Shuttle, International
Space Station and Constellation Programs; born in Indianapolis. Aunon
holds degrees from George Washington University, University of Texas
Health Sciences Center in Houston and the University of Texas Medical
Branch.

Jeanette J. Epps, 38, of Fairfax, Va.; technical intelligence officer
with the Central Intelligence Agency. Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Epps
holds degrees from LeMoyne College in Syracuse and the University of
Maryland.

Jack D. Fischer, major, U.S. Air Force, 35, of Reston, Va.; test
pilot; U.S. Air Force Strategic Policy intern, Joint Chiefs of Staff,
at the Pentagon. Born in Boulder, Colo., Fischer is a graduate of the
U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Co., and MIT.

Michael S. Hopkins, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Air Force, 40, of
Alexandria, Va.; special assistant to the Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff, at the Pentagon. Born in Lebanon, Mo., Hopkins holds
degrees from the University of Illinois and Stanford University.

Kjell N. Lindgren, 36, of League City, Texas; University of Texas
Medical Branch flight surgeon for NASA’s Space Shuttle, International
Space Station and Constellation Programs. Born in Taipei, Taiwan,
Lindgren has degrees from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado State
University, the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota
and the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Kathleen (Kate) Rubins, 30, of Cambridge, Mass.; principal
investigator and fellow, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
at MIT. Born in Farmington, Conn., Rubins conducts research trips to
the Congo and has degrees from the University of California-San Diego
and Stanford University.

Scott D. Tingle, commander, U.S. Navy, 43, of Hollywood, Md.; test
pilot and assistant program manager-Systems Engineering at Naval Air
Station Patuxent River. Born in Attleboro, Mass., Tingle holds
degrees from Southeastern Massachusetts University (now the
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) and Purdue University.

Mark T. Vande Hei, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, 42, of El Lago,
Texas; flight controller for the International Space Station at the
Johnson Space Center as part of the U.S. Army NASA Detachment. Born
in Falls Church, Va., Vande Hei is a graduate of Saint John’s
University in Collegeville, Minn., and Stanford University.

Gregory R. (Reid) Wiseman, lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy, 33, of
Virginia Beach, Va.; test pilot; department head, Strike Fighter
Squadron 103, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Oceana, Va. Born in
Baltimore, Wiseman is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and Johns Hopkins University.

For more on each astronaut candidates, their photos and details on the
astronaut selection process, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ascans2009

Hawthorne, CA – (June 16, 2009) – Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) announces Ken Bowersox as vice president of the newly formed Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance Department. He will be co-located in Houston, Texas, and SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California.

Bowersox joins SpaceX with over 19 years of experience at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Selected to the astronaut corps in 1987, he has flown five times on NASA’s Space Shuttle, serving as pilot, commander and mission specialist, and once on a Russian Soyuz, where he served as the flight engineer during descent. During his five orbital missions, Bowersox has logged over 211 days in space, including five and a half months aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he was the mission commander of the 6th expedition. He was also a crew member for the first two Hubble Space Telescope repair flights and two United States Microgravity Laboratory flights.

Subsequent to his mission aboard the ISS, Bowersox served as the director of the Johnson Space Center’s Flight Crew Operations Directorate, where he was responsible for the NASA Astronaut Office and all aircraft operations at the Johnson Space Center. Most recently, Bowersox has been working as an independent aerospace consultant, serving on the NASA standing review boards for Space Shuttle, ISS, Constellation, Orion and the Constellation Suit System.

“Ken Bowersox is a critical asset to the SpaceX team, as we prepare for crewed missions aboard our Dragon spacecraft,” said Elon Musk, Founder and CEO of SpaceX. “His experience in the U.S. astronaut corps, and aboard the International Space Station, will be invaluable in shaping the future of commercial manned spaceflight.”

About SpaceX

SpaceX is revolutionizing access to space with a family of launch vehicles and spacecraft designed to increase the reliability and reduce the cost of both manned and unmanned space transportation, ultimately by a factor of ten. As a winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition (COTS), SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft, culminating in Dragon berthing with the ISS. In addition, NASA recently selected the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for the ISS Cargo Resupply Services (CRS) contract award.

The contract includes 12 flights between 2010 and 2015 and represents a guaranteed minimum of 20,000 kg to be carried to the ISS.

Founded in 2002, the SpaceX team now numbers more than 700 full time employees, located primarily in Hawthorne, California, with additional locations, including SpaceX’s Texas Test Facility in McGregor near Waco; offices in Washington DC; and launch facilities at Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA managers completed a review Wednesday of space shuttle Endeavour’s readiness for flight and selected June 13 as the official launch date for the STS-127 mission to the International Space Station. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 7:17 a.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Endeavour’s launch date was announced following a daylong Flight Readiness Review at KSC. During the meeting, top NASA and contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission and determined the shuttle’s equipment, support systems and procedures are ready for flight.

The 16-day mission will feature five spacewalks and complete construction of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. Astronauts will attach a platform to the outside of the Japanese module that will allow experiments to be exposed to space.

The STS-127 crew members are Polansky, Pilot Doug Hurley and Mission Specialists Dave Wolf, Christopher Cassidy, Tom Marshburn, Tim Kopra and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette. Kopra will join the space station crew and replace Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata. Wakata will return to Earth on Endeavour to conclude a three-month stay at the station.

With Endeavour’s seven astronauts at the space station, a new record will be set for the number of occupants on the ISS. Along with the current six station residents, the combined crew with number 13.

In a press conference held 50 years ago today, the newly formed NASA introduced it’s first group of astronauts — the Mercury Seven.

Each became a household name as all but Deke Slayton took turns flying solo missions as part of the Mercury Program. Slayton, who was grounded by medical problems eventually got his turn to fly.

In addition to Slayton, the men are: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, and Alan Shepard.

Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, when his Freedom 7 spacecraft made a suborbital flight.

On February 20, 1962, an Atlas rocket successfully carried Glenn into space on the nation’s first orbital mission.

The men were dubbed “astronauts.” The term was a cross between “aeronauts,” as ballooning pioneers were called, and “Argonauts,” the legendary Greeks in search of the Golden Fleece. These new explorers were being prepared to sail into the new, uncharted vastness of space.

In honor of the anniversary, here are a couple of NASA links:

•   http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th_announcement/

•   http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/

HOUSTON — Veteran space shuttle astronaut Barbara R. Morgan will leave NASA in August to become an educator at Idaho’s Boise State University.

NASA’s first educator astronaut, Morgan logged more than 305 hours in space aboard shuttle Endeavour’s STS-118 assembly mission to the International Space Station in August 2007. She operated the shuttle and station robotic arms to install hardware, inspect the orbiter and support spacewalks. Morgan also served as loadmaster for the transfer of supplies between the shuttle and station, taught lessons from space to schoolchildren on Earth and served on the flight deck during re-entry and landing.

"Barbara has served NASA and the Astronaut Office with distinction over the course of her career," Astronaut Office chief Steve Lindsey said. "From the Teacher in Space Program to her current position as a fully qualified astronaut, she has set a superb example and been a consistent role model for both teachers and students. She will be missed."

Morgan previously served as the backup to payload specialist Christa McAuliffe in the Teacher in Space Program. McAuliffe and six fellow astronauts lost their lives in the Challenger accident on Jan. 28, 1986. Morgan, who was an elementary schoolteacher in McCall, Idaho, before being selected as McAuliffe’s backup, returned to teaching after the accident. She was selected to train as a mission specialist in 1998 and named to the STS-118 crew in 2002.

"It is really tough to leave NASA," Morgan said. "It is a great organization with great people doing great things. We’re going back to the moon and on to Mars. I’m especially proud that we have three other teachers who are astronauts, and there will be others in the future. I’m very excited to go to work for Boise State University. I like everything about it, and it’s going to be wonderful helping exploration by working full time for education."

Three other educator mission specialists, Richard Arnold, Joseph Acaba and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, are training for future spaceflights. Arnold and Acaba are assigned to fly on the STS-119 space shuttle mission to the station in 2009.

Morgan will serve as Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State, providing vision and leadership to the state of Idaho on science, technology, engineering and math education.