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Launch of SpaceShipOne
Watch the hair-raising flight of SpaceShipOne during the first of two launches needed to win the $10 million X Prize. The craft experienced a major rolling motion and early engine shutdown. (3min 40sec file)
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The roll close up
This high bandwidth clip focuses on the unplanned rolling motion that SpaceShipOne saw during its engine firing. (1min 25sec file)
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Reentry descent
SpaceShipOne feathers its wings for a "care-free" reentry into Earth's atmosphere that doesn't require a precise angle of attack. (2min 59sec file)
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SpaceShipOne landing
SpaceShipOne glides to landing on the runway at Mojave airport under the control of astronaut Mike Melvill. (1min 41sec file)
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Melvill emerges
A truck tows SpaceShipOne from the runway to the spectator viewing spot where Mike Melvill climbs out for welcoming by Burt Rutan and others. (2min 01sec file)
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Post-flight speeches
Hear from Mike Melvill, Burt Rutan and others during post-flight speeches on the runway at Mojave airport. (6min 40sec file)
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X-43A test
NASA's X-43A research craft and its Pegasus rocket booster complete a captive carry test flight aboard a B-52 launch aircraft. (1min 48sec file)
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See the KSC damage
See damage to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Saturn 5 Center and other facilities at Kennedy Space Center caused by Hurricane Jeanne. (4min 31sec file)
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Station chat with kids
Expedition 9 commander Gennedy Padalka and flight engineer Mike Fincke talk about life aboard the International Space Station during an in-flight educational event with students at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. (19min 00sec file)
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ISS educational event
The International Space Station's Expedition 9 crew hold an educational talk with students and members of the National Guard Bureau in Charleston, West Virginia. (19min 53sec file)
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Software links pediatric doctors with new research
NASA/JPL NEWS RELEASE
Posted: October 1, 2004

Conjoined twins from Guatemala and the Philippines were recently separated after marathon surgeries in the United States, since their small communities lacked the quality medical care for the delicate procedure. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., are working with doctors on a computer system that might eventually allow such high-tech surgeries to be performed in a remote country using a virtual pediatric intensive care unit.

JPL computer engineers created software that will connect information from various hospitals all over the world into one virtual intensive care unit. The system would link doctors who need detailed and specific information with researchers willing to share their data about pediatric medicine.

For example, if a pediatrician in North Carolina were to want information about the most advanced treatment for a child with bone cancer, he could search the database and find the latest medical studies conducted by researchers all over the country.

The software, called Object Oriented Data Technology Software, was modeled after the Planetary Data System, a large software network that helps space scientists translate terminology used in local databases into standard language. Similar software is used to support the Mars Exploration Rovers, currently exploring the martian environment. 

"The problem has been that information has been generated for local use, and now scientists are discovering the value of sharing research within their various communities, said Dan Crichton, JPL senior computer scientist. "This has been true in planetary science and biomedicine and, now, in pediatric medicine."

With the extended databases, pediatricians can also record patient information directly from bedside monitors regardless of their location. The computer system is also capable of storing the information so researchers can use it for clinical trials and helping educate other doctors dealing with similar patients.

Right now, the virtual pediatric intensive care unit is being developed and tested at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Next year the system will be extended to Johns Hopkins Children's Center, Baltimore, and Cornell University Medical Center, New York.

"The goal of the virtual pediatric intensive care unit is to enable us to practice in one critical care unit where we will all have the latest information available to care for critically ill children," said Dr. Randall Wetzel, director of critical care medicine at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. "The fast paced, compelling urgency and the overwhelming diversity of diseases seen in children around the world, makes communication among caregivers life-saving and essential, but at the same time difficult."

The virtual pediatric intensive care unit is ideal for hospitals without advanced intensive care units. In the next few years, engineers hope to install networked cameras, allowing doctors to check on their patients in remote areas and assist their colleagues working in isolated centers.    

"It is extremely rewarding to see this NASA funded technology solving a problem of national importance," said Dr. Ken Wolfenbarger, manager of JPL's Innovative Technology Transfer Partnerships Office. "As part of its mission, JPL welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with outside companies to develop and transfer dual-use technology through NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program." 

There are about 275 pediatric intensive care units around the country. Every year about 50,000 infants and children who need constant care are admitted into these centers.