2015年7月31日 星期五

The ISS and a Colorful Moon


Tonight's Full Moon, the second Full Moon in July, could be called a blue moon according to modern folklore. But this sharp and detailed mosaic, recorded with telescope and digital camera just before July's first Full Moon, actually does show a colorful lunar surface. The colors have been enhanced in the processed image but are real nonetheless, corresponding to real differences in the chemical makeup of the lunar surface. Also easy to see especially when the Moon is near full phase, bright rays from 85 kilometer wide Tycho crater at the upper right extend far across the lunar surface. Against the southern lunar highlands above and right of Tycho is an amazingly detailed silhouette of the International Space Station. Seen from Byron Bay, NSW Australia on June 30, the ISS lunar transit lasted about 1/3 of a second, captured with a fast shutter speed in burst mode. via NASA http://ift.tt/1KEiFIp

NEEMO Undersea Crew Tests Tools and Techniques For Future Spacewalks


This photograph of NASA astronaut Serena Aunon (@AstroSerena) moving tools and equipment underwater was taken during the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 20 mission. NEEMO 20 is focusing on evaluating tools and techniques being tested for future spacewalks on a variety of surfaces and gravity levels. via NASA http://ift.tt/1I7kFb3

Pretty pictures of the Cosmos: Star stream

Award-winning astrophotographer Adam Block presents the first-ever high-resolution color images of the "star stream halo" of the spiral galaxy NGC 4414.

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 07/30/15

Status:  Capillary Flow Experiment-2 (CFE-2)-Vane Gap: Yui successfully configured the CFE-2 Vane Gap experiment including the lighting and video camera for appropriate viewing and data collection. He used the CFE-2 vessel to observe the fluid interface and critical wetting behavior in the cylindrical chamber with an elliptical cross-section adjustable central perforated valve. This was the 101st run of CFE-2.  The goal of the Vane Gap experiment is to determine equilibrium interface configurations and critical wetting conditions for interfaces between interior corners separated by a gap.  CFE involves many studies centered on a phenomenon called wetting which is the ability and degree that a liquid spreads across a surface. The original CFE tests were highly successful at uncovering the dynamics of wetting in microgravity. CFE-2 determines the critical wetting conditions for screens and perforated plates for perfectly wetting fluids. The impact of such ‘porous substrates’ has immediate implications to the design of passive geometries to manage highly wetting fuels, cryogens, thermal fluids, and contaminated aqueous solutions for urine processing. The unique vane gap critical wetting phenomena is greatly complicated by the presence of three-dimensional (3-D) porous walls. Human Research Program (HRP) Operations:  Today’s HRP operations included Lindgren’s Flight Day (FD) 7 blood draw for the Microbiome experiment.  He and Yui also collected FD7 Microbiome saliva samples.  Both sets of samples were inserted into Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on a future flight.   The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time). Salivary Markers samples will be used to measure markers of latent viral reactivation (a global indicator of immune impairment and infection risk) in conjunction with salivary antimicrobial proteins and immune cell functional assays. This research study will help identify if there are any risks of an adverse health event in crewmembers due to an impaired immune system.   Node 1 (N1) Galley Rack Prep: Kelly continued with N1 reorganization of stowage, including moving infrequently used hardware to the Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM). This reorganization is required to make room for the new Galley Rack that arrives on HTV-5. Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3011 Return To Service (RTS): So far this week Lindgren and Kelly have completed gas trap, Water Line Vent Tube Assembly (WLVTA) and Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove & Replace (R&R) as well as cleaning and inspecting the Primary Life Support System (PLSS). Today, following cleanup from the FPS R&R, the crew performed a water tank dump and fill for EMUs 3005 and 3011 followed by a EMU 3011 flush, 60mL water sample and O2 leak checks. Tomorrow Kelly is scheduled to perform ionic and particulate filtration and bioicidal maintenance of EMU and Airlock cooling water loops. High Beta Operations:  Today the solar beta angle is +69.2 and increasing in magnitude. The beta angle is expected to peak at +69.6 on GMT 213 (8/1/15).  Tonight ground specialist will be configuring power channel batteries in a high beta configuration to prevent overcharging.  Today’s Planned Activities   All activities were completed unless otherwise noted.   NEIROIMMUNITET. Saliva Sampling Stress Test. HRF – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage HRF Sample Collection MORZE. Measuring Bioimpedance using SPRUT-2 HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion HRF Blood Draw HRF Blood Sample Collection (operator) NEIROIMMUNITET. CORRECTSIA. MORZE. Blood Collection. CORRECTSIA. MORZE. Venous blood sample processing using Plasma-03 centrifuge. NEIROIMMUNITET. Venous blood sample processing (smear) HRF Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration NEIROIMMUNITET. Venous blood sample processing using Plasma-03 centrifuge. NEIROIMMUNITET. CORRECTSIA. Closeout Ops. Blood Samples Handover from Russian crew to USOS in Preparation for MELFI Insertion COSMOCARD. Preparation Ops. Starting 24-hr ECG Recording HRF – Blood Sample Collection Closeout Ops CONSTANTA-2. Cassette removal from TBU-V and setup on panel 418 for 1-hour warmup Russian Crew Blood Samples Insertion into MELFI HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion HRF Blood Collection Hardware Stowage Disconnecting Condensate Tank from Waste Water Bus CFE – Preparation and Hardware Setup BIOME – Survey Completion WRM Condensate Pumping Start MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: Tsentrovka, SENSOR Tests SM interior panels 313, 314, 317, 321 and 334 dimension check before repair activities to install cover  plates on SM interior panels CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake Node 1 Galley Rack Prep CONSTANTA-2. Prep and Execution 2. NEIROIMMUNITET. Psychological Testing NEIROIMMUNITET. Hair Sampling WRM Condensate Pumping Terminate Connecting the wastewater bus to the Lab Condensate Tank and disconnecting it from WPA DC1 EVA Support Panel (ПОВ) Test. MORZE. Psycho-physiological Evaluation: SUPOS Test VEG-01 – Plant Pillow Fill CFE – Test Ops Hand Ergometry Assessment. ТК 717 Transfers and IMS Ops ПхО EVA Support Panel (ПОВ) Checkout. EMU – Water Tank Dump and Fill PEV Activation Test from DC1 ПОВ (EVA Support Panel). PEV activation test from ПхО EVA Support Panel EMU – Flush CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake Replacement of urine receptacle (МП) and filter-insert (Ф-В) in АСУ АСУ Activation after Replacement DOUG Review On-orbit Hearing Assessment using EARQ СОЖ Maintenance BIOME – Sampling Setup Review EVA Translation Paths and Work Zones using DOUG Application. Review EVA Translation Paths and Work Zones through ISS Windows. CFE – Hardware stow Familiarization with Auxiliary Computer System. PAO Hardware Setup Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation PAO crew prep PAO Event during a Year Long Mission INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops Flight Director / ISS Crew Tagup (Ku+S-band) NEIROIMMUNITET. Saliva Sampling Stress Test CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake   Completed Task List Items None  Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. EMU flush support VEG-01 test ops Three-Day Look Ahead: Friday, 07/31: Sound Level Measurements, Microbiome Saturday, 08/01: Crew off duty, housekeeping Sunday, 08/02: Crew off duty, HRF sample collection QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:                                   Component Status Elektron Off Vozdukh Manual [СКВ] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) Off [СКВ] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal […]

July 31, 2015 at 01:10AM
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Our Global Volunteers: July 2015 Update

The Planetary Society's volunteers around the world have been busy these past few months, with all the excitement surrounding Asteroid Day, the LightSail test mission, the New Horizons and Dawn missions, and other space milestones!

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Arc of Truth

I was out strolling recently on a cloudy day, and—as I always do—I took a quick look around the sky to see if anything interesting was to be seen.

I do so love that habit. This particular time, I was greeted with a most unusual sight: a rainbow segment, just a small arc levitating in the clouds. It was raining in that direction, so there were raindrops in the air, a critical component to make a rainbow.

But the other half of that recipe is sunlight, and that day was almost completely overcast. Almost. In the west there was a small break in the clouds, enough to let a single shaft of sunlight through. That illuminated the suspended raindrops, refracted, and created the partial bow.

What I love about this, though, is that you can see that shaft of light! Haze, raindrops, and other particulates in the air scattered that light, reflected it back to me, lighting up in the path of that sunbeam, contrasted with the storm clouds behind it. And you can tell that the opening in the clouds to the west wasn’t fully open; there must have been a small cloud in the middle to account for the shadow ray piercing through the light shaft and arc.

Mind you, there was no other hint of a rainbow anywhere else in the sky. That was it, the only clear sunlight available. And it was only those raindrops, seen at just the right angle, that allowed me the view of the broken spectral arc. Someone a kilometer away in the wrong direction wouldn’t have seen anything at all. I was at the right place at just the right time.

But even then, it all would’ve been for naught had I not looked up.

Oh, that sky we live under. Wonderful, isn’t it? You should look at it more often.



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2015年7月30日 星期四

Finding What You Are Looking For in Space

Astronomers Discover Planet Identical To Earth With Orbital Space Mirror, The Onion "In what many are hailing as the most significant development in the history of space exploration, NASA scientists announced Thursday that a planet seemingly identical to Earth has...

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Milky Way over Uluru


The central regions of our Milky Way Galaxy rise above Uluru/Ayers Rock in this striking night skyscape. Recorded on July 13, a faint airglow along the horizon shows off central Australia's most recognizable landform in silhouette. Of course the Milky Way's own cosmic dust clouds appear in silhouette too, dark rifts along the galaxy's faint congeries of stars. Above the central bulge, rivers of cosmic dust converge on a bright yellowish supergiant star Antares. Left of Antares, wandering Saturn shines in the night. via NASA http://ift.tt/1H4Flwz

More Planetary Science Trash Talking

Pluto's dwarf planet status is 'bulls---,' says lead scientist of NASA mission, Business Insider "The mission to Pluto was meant to complete the exploration of the planets in the Solar System. But scientists reclassified Pluto from a planet to a...

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Congressional Oversight or Congressional Ignorance?

Congress calls SpaceX Falcon 9 launch certification into question, Denver Post "The June 28 explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying supplies to the International Space Station has members of Congress asking NASA and the U.S. Air Force for assurance...

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NASA Selects Proposals to Study Neutron Stars, Black Holes and More

NASA has selected five proposals submitted to its Explorers Program to conduct focused scientific investigations and develop instruments that fill the scientific gaps between the agency’s larger missions.

July 30, 2015
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NASA's Spitzer Confirms Closest Rocky Exoplanet

Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the discovery of the nearest rocky planet outside our solar system, larger than Earth and a potential gold mine of science data.

July 30, 2015
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Dawn Journal: Descent to HAMO

With a wonderfully rich bounty of pictures and other observations already secured, Dawn is now on its way to an even better vantage point around dwarf planet Ceres.

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California “Rain Debt” Equal to Average Full Year of Precipitation

A new NASA study has concluded California accumulated a debt of about 20 inches of precipitation between 2012 and 2015 -- the average amount expected to fall in the state in a single year. The deficit was driven primarily by a lack of air currents moving inland from the Pacific Ocean that are rich in water vapor.

July 30, 2015
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Frosty Gullies on the Northern Plains of Mars


Seasonal frost commonly forms at middle and high latitudes on Mars, much like winter snow on Earth. However, on Mars most frost is carbon dioxide (dry ice) rather than water ice. This frost appears to cause surface activity, including flows in gullies. via NASA http://ift.tt/1LZCz3H

ISS Daily Summary Report – 07/29/15

Capillary Flow Experiment-2 (CFE-2)-Vane Gap: Yui reviewed onboard training materials prior to configuring the CFE Vane Gap experiment on the Maintenance Work Area (MWA).  He configured the assembly to create appropriate conditions within the CFE chamber for fluids to fill the small perforations within the chamber. The primary objective of Vane Gap is to determine equilibrium interface configurations and critical wetting conditions for interfaces between interior corners separated by a gap. Secondary objectives are to determine critical wetting transient as well as to validate numerical predictions of the large length scale discontinuous or near discontinuous wetting phenomena.  CFE involves many studies centered on a phenomenon called wetting. Wetting describes the ability and degree that a liquid spreads across a surface. The original CFE tests were highly successful at uncovering the dynamics of wetting in microgravity. Capillary Flow Experiment -2 (CFE-2) determines the critical wetting conditions for screens and perforated plates for perfectly wetting fluids. The impact of such ‘porous substrates’ has immediate implications to the design of passive geometries to manage highly wetting fuels, cryogens, thermal fluids, and contaminated aqueous solutions for urine processing. The unique vane gap critical wetting phenomena is greatly complicated by the presence of three-dimensional (3-D) porous walls. Human Research Program (HRP) Operations:  Today’s HRP operations included the Flight Day (FD) 6 Cognition, FD7 Microbiome and FD10 Salivary Markers for Yui; Habitability Observation #6 for Kelly; and the Microbiome questionnaire for Lindgren. The Biochemical Profile experiment tests blood and urine samples obtained from astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. Specific proteins and chemicals in the samples are used as biomarkers, or indicators of health. Post-flight analysis yields a database of samples and test results, which scientists can use to study the effects of spaceflight on the body. The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time). Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) is a battery of tests that measure how spaceflight-related physical changes, such as microgravity and lack of sleep, can affect cognitive performance. Salivary Markers samples will be used to measure markers of latent viral reactivation (a global indicator of immune impairment and infection risk) in conjunction with salivary antimicrobial proteins and immune cell functional assays. This research study will help identify if there are any risks of an adverse health event in crewmembers due to an impaired immune system. Habitability assesses the relationship between crew members and their environment in order to better prepare for future long-duration spaceflights to destinations, such as Near Earth Asteroids (NEA) and Mars. The ultimate goal is to understand how much habitable volume is required for vehicle internal design and layout, and if mission duration impacts the volume needed. Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3011 Return To Service (RTS): Following yesterday’s gas trap and Water Line Vent Tube Assembly (WLVTA) Remove & Replace (R&R), today Kelly and Lindgren successfully R&Rd the Fan Pump Separator. As part of the R&R, they cleaned and inspected the Primary Life Support System (PLSS). Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. HRF – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9451 CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9431 CONTUR-2. Installation of P/L and Cables. / r/g 9471 Gather EVA Equipment and Tools. Photography, Photo Downlink / r/g 9464, 9465, 9468 HABIT – Hardware activation ISS Crew / SSIPC FD Conference BIOME – Survey Completion EMU – Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove and Repair, Part 1 JEM Stowage Consolidation – Part 1. EMU – Cleaning Fan Pump Separator (FPS) EMU – Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove and Repair,  Part 2 EXPANDER Exercise Study of veins in lower extremities / r/g 9462 EHS MCD – In-flight Microbiology Water analysis and data recording ISS O2 Repress from ТКГ 425 (Aft) СРПК Section 1 (start) CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9451 CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9431 EMU – Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove and Repair,  Part 3 ISS O2 Repress from ТКГ 425 (Aft) СрПК Section 1 (terminate) CFE – Big Picture Overview Consolidate Tool Caddy, Photography, Photo Downlink. / r/g 9464, 9465, 9468 Filling (separation) of EDV (KOV) for Elektron or EDV-SV r/g 9372 Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation HRF – Hardware Setup MOTOCARD. Experiment Ops. / r/g 9469 MOTOCARD. Assistance with the Experiment / r/g 9470 SHD – Weekly Questionnaire NEIROIMMUNITET. CORRECTSIA. MORZE. Experiment setup / r/g 9463 Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation CFE – MWA Setup CFE Teardown NEIROIMMUNITET. Saliva Test / r/g 9467 COGN – Experiment Ops and Filling Questionnaire CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9451 CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake / r/g 9431  Completed Task List Items NOD1 Galley Rack Prep [In Work] IMAX VEG scene [In Work] Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. EMU FPS R&R support DOUG prep for RS EVA #41 crew  Three-Day Look Ahead: Thursday, 07/30: CFE ops, EMU flush, N1 Galley Rack Prep Friday, 07/31: N1 stowage reconfig, Microbiome Saturday, 08/01: Crew off duty, housekeeping QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:                               Component Status Elektron Off Vozdukh Manual [СКВ] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) On [СКВ] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab Shutdown Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Full Up  

July 30, 2015 at 12:52AM
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The Summer of ’82

David: You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is at least as important as how we face life.

Kirk [sadly, resigned]: Just words.

David: But good words! That's where ideas begin.

In June of 1982, I found myself waiting in a long, long line at a mall. I had just graduated high school, and was spending the summer doing what innumerable kids my age had done for decades: eagerly and nervously anticipating going to college in a few months, working at my part-time job (for me, slogging through the brutally humid Virginia weather at 5 a.m. to deliver the Washington Post to more than 100 of my neighbors), hanging out with friends, reading sci-fi books, going to the mall to play video games, and watching movies.

And oh, those movies. The summer of 1982 was magic. Magic! The science-fiction movies that came out in those few short months would change the way movies were made. Think I’m exaggerating? Here are a few of the movies that came out in 1982: Blade Runner. The Thing. Poltergeist. E.T, the Extra-Terrestrial. Tron

And, of course, one of my favorite movies of all time, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. When the first movie (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) came out, we hardcore arrogant and smug fans hated it. It was long, boring, and preachy. It was mocked unceasingly and mercilessly for years. But then Khan came out, and all was forgiven; faster paced, big battles, great tension, and far more personal, Khan was what we had craved.

I’m older, less of an ass, and hopefully wiser now, and appreciate the first movie far more than I did as a hot-headed kid. And yet, Khan still touches something primally Trek in me. The music still sings to me (I had the soundtrack on vinyl, copied it to cassette so I could listen in my Walkman, then on CD, and now digitally; a dynasty that’s lasted for electronic generations), and the scenes in the Mutara nebula still put me on the edge of my seat.

All that was ahead of me, though, as I stood in line at the mall with 100 people ahead of me. Over the course of an hour I was joined by my friends, coincidentally, a chunk of my graduating class wanting to see Khan on opening day. By the time the box office opened there more over a dozen of us (100 people from the front of the line), eagerly chatting away with nervous excitement.

I had no idea at that moment what lay ahead of me in my life: a disastrous first year at college, dropping out because I wasn’t nearly ready for it emotionally, an ego-stomping year of living at home with my parents as I got my act (partially) together, then finishing out college, going to grad school, meeting my future wife, having a daughter, and everything else that life delivers that is simultaneously mundane and glorious.

I’m not sure any of that would’ve registered with me anyway. I was an immature kid, wrapped up in the excitement of seeing Kirk and Spock on the big screen again.

Why am I thinking of all this now? Lots of reasons, actually. I just got back from Comic-Con, where I saw old friends again, met new ones, and bumped into some of the people who made the stories that so shaped my own life.

Also, as it happens, this clip of a news segment got posted to a friend’s timeline on Facebook. Watch it:

The mundanity of the descriptions belies the changes that were about to happen. (This was before the Spoiler Alert, obviously.) Watching that clip from 33 years ago (!!), seeing it as if I were that young once again, catching the 5 o’clock local news, made me smile. It was a great summer.

There’s a lot to be said for the present, too. My daughter somehow caught the Trek bug, and is now a full-fledged Federation dork. I’m bouncing in my seat waiting for her to finish watching the original series so we can see the movies together. I cannot wait to see Khan once again, chewing up the Enterprise as thoroughly as he did the scenery, Kirk’s tactics, Spock’s final (heh) scene.

I wonder how much of the movie I’ll spend sneaking peeks at my daughter’s face, to see how she reacts. Passing down our stories is part of what makes us human, and seeing it with her will, I think, make me feel young, as when the world was new.



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2015年7月29日 星期三

The Deep Lagoon


Ridges of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds inhabit the turbulent, cosmic depths of the Lagoon Nebula. Also known as M8, The bright star forming region is about 5,000 light-years distant. But it still makes for a popular stop on telescopic tours of the constellation Sagittarius, toward the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. Dominated by the telltale red emission of ionized hydrogen atoms recombining with stripped electrons, this stunning, deep view of the Lagoon's central reaches is about 40 light-years across. Near the center of the frame, the bright hourglass shape is gas ionized and sculpted by energetic radiation and extreme stellar winds from a massive young star. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IpRahC

Field Report from Mars: Sol 4060 - June 26, 2015

Larry Crumpler gives an update on the Opportunity rover's activities in Spirit of St. Louis crater.

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NSF's Confusing Stance On Accepting Financial Support

Search for Alien Life Ignites Battle over Giant Telescope, Scientific American "The foundation was and still is interested in partnering with Arecibo, Scientific American has learned. But according to Arecibo Director Robert Kerr, that partnership is currently being prevented due...

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NAC Set to Redirect Asteroid Redirect Mission

NASA Advisory Council Meeting "29-31 July 2015. Location: Jet Propulsion Laboratory" Agenda Keith's note: In April the NAC came within a a vote of adopting a recommendation to NASA that the current Asteroid Redirect Mission be changed - possibly to...

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 07/28/15

Human Research Program (HRP) Operations: Yui and Lindgren performed their Flight Day 7 (FD7) saliva collection, both in support of Microbiome, and Yui collected for Salivary Markers. Throughout the day Kelly collected urine samples for Biochemical Profile and Twins Study.  He also completed his FD120 Cognition session and along with Kornienko, performed the final Reaction Self-Test for the 43 Soyuz sleep shift. The Biochemical Profile experiment tests blood and urine samples obtained from astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. Twins Study is an integrated compilation of ten different studies led by multiple PI’s at multiple centers.  The studies take advantage of a very unique opportunity to look at the effects of space travel on identical twins, one of whom experiences space travel for one year; the other mains earth-bound for that same year. The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time). Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) is a battery of tests that measure how spaceflight-related physical changes, such as microgravity and lack of sleep, can affect cognitive performance. Reaction Self Test aids crewmembers to objectively identify when their performance capability is degraded by various fatigue-related conditions that can occur as a result of ISS operations and time in space (e.g., acute and chronic sleep restriction, slam shifts, extravehicular activity (EVA), and residual sedation from sleep medications). Plant Circumnutation and Its dependence on the Gravity Response (Plant Rotation) Run 3: Yui retrieved rice plants from the Freezer-Refrigerator Of STirling cycle (FROST) and prepared Plant Rotation Chamber B of the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF).  He then installed Plant Experiment Unit into the 1G rotor and Measurement Experiment Unit into the microG rotor.  For Run 3, the plants will undergo microgravity rotation first followed by 1G rotation.  Many species of climbing plants grow upward in a spiraling shape, a process known as circumnutation. Plant organs, such as stems, leaves, and roots also grow in a spiraling, helical shape. This spiraling process can take many forms, including very tight loops and broad curves. The Plant Rotation experiment verifies the hypothesis that this type of plant growth requires gravity. Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3011 Return To Service (RTS) Activities: Today Lindgren and Kelly continued tasks to return EMU 3011 back to service. Lindgren finished gathering tools and hardware in preparation for tomorrow’s Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove & Replace (R&R). Kelly and Lindgren R&Rd the gas trap and Kelly R&Rd the Water Line Vent Tube Assembly (WLVTA). On-board Training (OBT) ISS Emergency Hardware Familiarization: Padalka and the 43S crew reviewed where emergency hardware is located on the ISS. Items covered include US Portable Breathing Apparatus (PBAs), US and Russian fire extinguishers, emergency masks, fire/ammonia cartridges and ammonia measurement kits. The crew then practiced emergency mask don/purge technique as well as demonstrated their ability to communicate with ground teams from the Soyuz while wearing emergency masks.  Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Self-Reaction Test (morning) HRF – Sample Collection and Prep for Stowage Biochemical Urine Test TWIN – Urine Sample Collection HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time Test (morning) URISYS Hardware Stowage CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor CARDIOVECTOR. Experiment Ops. Plant Rotation (PRT) – Plant sample Retrieval from FROST RGN-REC TK – Transfer and Swap (Handover) Gathering of spacesuit replaceable elements, service and personal gear. Plant Rotation (PRT) – Plant sample collection EMU FPS R&R Tool Gathering EMU swap TWIN – Equipment Stowage ТК 717 Transfers and IMS Ops Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation DC1 and ПхО preparation for EVA СОЖ Maintenance TOCA Waste Water Bag (WWB) Changeout Plant Rotation (PRT) – Sample Setup WRS Water Sample Analysis EMU backpack replacement EMU – Gas Trap R&R Plant Rotation (PRT) – Plant Sample Insertion into FROST HAM radio session from Columbus CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake Initiate condensate tank offload to CWC ISS Emergency Hardware Familiarization OBT Verification of ИП-1 Flow Sensor Position DC1 and ПхО preparation for EVA Termination of Condensate Tank Offload to CWC Emergency Mask OBT EMU – Water Line Vent Tube Assembly (WLVTA) R&R Crew time for ISS adaptation and orientation CONTENT. Experiment Ops SHD – Weekly Questionnaire On-orbit Hearing Assessment using EARQ SHD – Weekly Questionnaire TOCA Data Recording COGN – Experiment Ops and Filling Questionnaire CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time Test (evening) CORRECTSIA. Logging Liquid and Food (Medicine) Intake Completed Task List Items iPad swap  Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. EMU R&R support  Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 07/29: FPS install, JEM stowage consolidation part 1, CFE prep Thursday, 07/30: CFE ops, EMU flush, N1 stowage reconfig Friday, 07/31: N1 stowage reconfig, Microbiome QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:                               Component Status Elektron Off Vozdukh Manual [СКВ] 1 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV1”) On [СКВ] 2 – SM Air Conditioner System (“SKV2”) Off Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Lab Standby Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA) Node 3 Operate Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Lab Shutdown Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) Node 3 Operate Oxygen Generation Assembly (OGA) Process Urine Processing Assembly (UPA) Standby Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Off Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Full Up  

July 29, 2015 at 01:20AM
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Africa and Europe from a Million Miles Away


Africa is front and center in this image of Earth taken by a NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Ky6MX2

The Densest Galaxies Ever Discovered

I think one of the most interesting facts in astronomy is a simple one to state: Galaxies are cannibals. They eat each other.

The Milky Way grew huge this way; our galaxy is in the top tier of spirals in the Universe (many are bigger, but the vast majority are far smaller). It got that way by colliding and merging with smaller galaxies, enlarging its ranks over time. It’s actually in the process of eating several dwarf galaxies right now. Like, literally, at this very moment.

But what of these smaller galaxies? What happens to them?

Some merge completely with the bigger galaxy, a completely digestible meal. But sometimes parts of the smaller galaxy survive. If the center is compact and dense enough, it can make it through the ordeal.

We’ve seen these here and there, but now astronomers have found a new class of such objects: Ultra Compact Dwarfs, or UCDs. And it turns out they’ve been hiding in plain sight.

These galaxies are small and luminous, and incredible dense with stars. Through ground-based telescopes they’re so small they look like foreground stars, and through Hubble their dense nature but slightly visible fuzzy halos make them look like distant galaxies. That’s how they avoided discovery for so long: They slipped between the cracks.

These objects are the densest galaxies known. Our Milky Way has hundreds of billions of stars, but they’re spread out over a hundred thousand light years. In one of the new UCDs just discovered, it has far fewer stars — something like ten million — but it’s only about 20 light years across!

That’s really weird. I mean, really weird. It has the size of a typical globular cluster (a spherical cluster containing a hundred thousand stars or so) but is a hundred times denser!

Another UCD found is less extreme but still pretty amazing: It’s about 200 light years across and has a hundred million stars in it. That’s far larger than a globular cluster, with a lot more stars.

It’s their incredibly compact nature that helped them survive being a galactic snack. This video should help make that clear:

The small galaxy is in a tight orbit around the center of a much larger galaxy. Tides from the big galaxy strip the outer stars off the smaller one; in a sense the gravity they feel from the bigger galaxy is larger, so they get peeled away from the smaller one. Stars closer in to the center of the small galaxy are more tightly bound, and stay together.

After a few passes all the outer stars are ripped away, and what’s left is just the compact nucleus of the smaller galaxy: an ultra compact dwarf. In fact, spectra taken of the UCDs show they resemble the cores of galaxies.

You’d expect to find these objects near bigger galaxies, and sure enough both of the new objects are physically close to much beefier galaxies. Note only that, the larger galaxies show signs of recent disturbances (basically, weird overall shapes) indicating they recently underwent a collision and merger.

This work is impressive. It’s not often you find a new kind of astronomical object, especially when examples of them are sitting right in images that have been around for years. But their borderline nature between star clusters and proper galaxies effectively hid them.

I’ve long said that we have to be careful and not let our prejudices blind us to objects that are neither one thing or another (cough cough Pluto cough). In this case, I’m glad this team was able to see these UCDs for what they are.

And I have to add: The astronomers who found them were undergrads, students at San José State University! They combed through archived data taken by several different telescopes to identify potential ultra compact galaxies, then followed up using observations to nail down their characteristics. It’s quite an accomplishment!

And a reminder to not always dismiss something just because it conforms to your own pre-disposed beliefs. Look around you! What are you missing? 



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In Pictures: West Virginia from Space

Jason Davis shares five images of his home state, West Virginia, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

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2015年7月28日 星期二

Rainbows and Rays over Bryce Canyon


What's happening over Bryce Canyon? Two different optical effects that were captured in one image taken earlier this month. Both effects needed to have the Sun situated directly behind the photographer. The nearest apparition was the common rainbow, created by sunlight streaming from the setting sun over the head of the photographer, and scattering from raindrops in front of the canyon. If you look closely, even a second rainbow appears above the first. More rare, and perhaps more striking, are the rays of light that emanate out from the horizon above the canyon. These are known as anticrepuscular rays and result from sunlight streaming though breaks in the clouds, around the sky, and converging at the point 180 degrees around from the Sun. Geometrically, this antisolar point must coincide with the exact center of the rainbows. Located in Utah, USA, Bryce Canyon itself contains a picturesque array of ancient sedimentary rock spires known as hoodoos. via NASA http://ift.tt/1evEkqq

Hooray - JSC Warp Drive Confirmed !!!!

'Impossible' propellantless engine appears to work despite breaking laws of physics, Sydney Morning Herald "Ridiculed as impossible by the scientific community, the electromagnetic propulsion engine - which could supposedly take a craft from Earth to Pluto in just 18 months...

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NASA Awards Aerospace Propulsion, Communications Research Contracts

NASA has awarded contracts to 13 companies to provide advanced propulsion and communications system technologies as part of ongoing long-term aerospace research activities at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

July 28, 2015
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NASA Awards Contract to Support Agency’s Human Spaceflight Programs

NASA has selected Wyle Laboratories Inc., of El Segundo, California, to provide biomedical, medical and health services in support of all human spaceflight programs at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The work supports ongoing research aboard the International Space Station and helps enable the journey to Mars.

July 28, 2015
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Sen: Is Kepler-452b Really Earth-like?

I recently wrote about the newly discovered exoplanet Kepler-452b. It’s bigger than Earth, but it orbits its Sun-like star in the habitable zone, where water could ostensibly exist on the planet’s surface.

The planet is actually 1.6 times the Earth’s diameter, and if I were a betting man, I’d wager it’s not Earth-like at all. Given what we think we understand about planets, it’s as likely to have a thick atmosphere like Neptune's as one like Earth's. Maybe more likely. But we just don’t know.

Despite this, a lot of headlines were screaming about an Earth-like planet found, calling it “Earth’s twin.” Feh.

In fact, I feel “feh” so strongly that I wrote all about this for my bi-weekly column for Sen.com. You can go there to get the details of my “feh”-ness. It’s subscription only, but that includes getting lots of articles by lots of good writers… and there are more to come. You’ll like it.

And to be clear: I am excited about the discovery of this planet, and its implications. I just wish stuff like this weren't overhyped.



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Round of Testing Completed on Webb Telescope Flight Mirrors


This July 11, 2015 photograph captures one of the final, if not the final, James Webb Space Telescope flight primary mirror segments to be processed through NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Calibration, Integration and Alignment Facility (CIAF). via NASA http://ift.tt/1JODnSV

DSCOVR's Halo

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has begun sending us fresh, whole-hemisphere images of our own fragile planet. Some sources say that the spacecraft is "orbiting" the L1 point. Dave Doody thinks this warrants some scrutiny.

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 7/27/15

Pre-determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver (PDAM): On Saturday, the ISS performed a PDAM using 58 Progress R&D thrusters.  This was the result of a late notification conjunction. Delta-V was 0.50 meters/second (m/s); burn duration was 4 minutes, 12 seconds. This PDAM will likely replace a reboost that was scheduled for August 6 as the first of three reboosts to set up 4-orbit rendezvous conditions for 44S launch and 42S landing this September. Human Research Program (HRP) Operations: The United States On-orbit Segment (USOS) and 1-Year Mission crewmembers participated in a suite of HRP activities today.  Kelly performed blood draws and urine collections in support of his Flight Day (FD) 120 Biochemical Profile and Twins Study experiments.  Yui continued his FD7 Microbiome with body, perspiration, and surface sample collections.  Lindgren performed his FD6 Cognition, and both Kelly and Kornienko continued their 7-day Sleep Shift Reaction Self-Test operations.  The Biochemical Profile experiment tests blood and urine samples obtained from astronauts before, during, and after spaceflight. Specific proteins and chemicals in the samples are used as biomarkers, or indicators of health. Post-flight analysis yields a database of samples and test results which scientists can use to study the effects of spaceflight on the body. Twins Study is an integrated compilation of ten different studies led by multiple PIs at multiple centers.  The studies take advantage of a unique opportunity to look at the effects of space travel on identical twins, one of whom experiences space travel for one year; the other remains earth-bound for that same year.  The experiment studies changes in the human body in the fields of genetics, psychology, physiology, microbiology, and immunology. The Microbiome experiment investigates the impact of space travel on both the human immune system and an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes that live in and on the human body at any given time). Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) is a battery of tests that measures how spaceflight-related physical changes, such as microgravity and lack of sleep, can affect cognitive performance. Cognition includes ten brief computerized tests that cover a wide range of cognitive functions and provides immediate feedback on current and past test results. The software allows for real-time measurement of cognitive performance while in space. Reaction Self-Test is a portable, five-minute task that enables astronauts to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while in space. Sleep restrictions and residual effects from sleep medications, slam shifts that change the sleep/wake cycle, and effects from spacewalks can cause fatigue and degrade astronaut performance. Periodically during the mission, and in association with major events, an astronaut performs a reaction-time test on a computer to measure changes in responses. Veggie Hardware Validation Test (Veg-01): Lindgren added water to the plant pillows and root mat. He then took photos and downlinked for ground teams to evaluate the status of the plants.  The primary goal of the Veg-01 testing is to demonstrate plant growth in the Veggie hardware using lettuce as a test species. Plants will be grown in two different sizes of arcillite, a calcined clay media. This test will help compare root zones of the two media sizes to determine water and root distribution in the different sized particles to provide recommendations for future Veggie investigations. Shoot samples will provide information on growth anomalies when compared with ground controls and information on microbial growth and food safety. Photographs will be used to assess plant growth rates and plant health. A data logger will record the environment within the Veggie hardware. Crew questionnaires will provide insight into the appropriateness and thoroughness of the crew procedures for Veggie hardware and plant growth operations. Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Fan Pump Separator (FPS) Remove and Replace (R&R) Procedure Review: Due to the loss of Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) 3017 on SpaceX (SpX)-7, the EVA community was directed to return EMU 3011 to operational status. The EMU was originally taken out of service due to corroded bearings in the FPS which was removed and not replaced. Today the crew reviewed FPS R&R procedures followed by a conference with ground teams to address questions in preparation for tomorrow’s planned gas trap and Water Line Vent Tube Assembly (WLVTA) R&Rs. Lindgren also gathered tools for configuration/staging of tools and hardware prior to starting the maintenance activities tomorrow. Japanese Experiment Module (JPM) Stowage Consolidation: Yui removed trash and gathered hardware to be stowed under the JEM Airlock in preparation of the arrival of H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV)5. He also consolidated Cargo Transfer Bags (CTBs) to optimize JEM stowage configuration.  Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Reaction time test (morning) Inspection of [МНР-НС]’s [СМ-У] connection, [РУ2], [РУ4], [РУ5] behind АСУ panel 139 and of the transparent 5182-03 hose running from [ДКиВ] to [МНР] Laptop RSS 1,2 reboot / r/g 7437 BIOME – sampling off the body surfaces TWIN – urine sampling HRF – sample insertion into MELFI Reaction self-test. Reaction time test (morning) HRF – sample insertion into MELFI HRF – blood sampling HRF – blood sampling (assistance) DPC (S-band) KORREKTSIYA. Logging the liquid and food (medicine) intake parameters / r/g 9431 Morning meal HRF – cooling centrifuge configuration Morning meal Removal equipment transfer to Progress-425 (docked at SM [АО]) along with IMS updates / r/g 9288 KASKAD. Manual stirring inside the bioreactor / r/g 9277 HRF – blood sampling cleanup ops SEISMOPROGNOZ. Copy data from [МКСД] HDD data (start) r/g 9013 HRF – sample insertion into MELFI HRF – blood sampling and processing equipment stow JEM stowage setup – part 1 EVA-41 equipment and tools search r/g 9420 ISS adaptation and familiarization time Water treatment system sampling VEG-01 – plant water filling GoPro camera uninstall in Soyuz 717. Video copy to HDD. Flash card cleaning TOCA – potable water dispenser sample analysis HRF- hardware installation VELO-1 exercise TWIN – urine sampling KONSTANTA-2. Retrieve the cartridge from [ТБУ-В] and stow at panel 418 to warm up for one hour / r/g 9436 HRF – sample insertion into MELFI EMU […]

July 28, 2015 at 01:12AM
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AIAA Panel: Cost and Affordability of Future Systems

Live now: Cost and Affordability of Future Systems, with Michael D. Griffin, Frank Culbertson, Mike Hawes, Lee Monson, and Mark Sirangelo Marc's note: SpaceX, the one company driving costs down now isn't on the panel. Maybe they we're too busy...

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Because Comets Aren’t Cool Enough: They Also Have Sinkholes

“No, no. We have already succeeded. I mean, what are the terrors of the Comet? One, the ice venting—no problem. There's a popping sound preceding each; we can avoid that. Two, the sinkhole, which you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too.”

— The Dread Astronomer Westley Roberts

The comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is heading toward the Sun, and as it does, it slowly dies.

But what a death. Underneath its crusty surface are icy deposits, and as the comet nears the Sun, these warm. The ice turns directly to gas and blows out of vents, forming gorgeous and delicate streamers of water vapor dozens of kilometers long. The picture at the top of the article shows the long-distance view of this; from 177 kilometers away, the Rosetta spacecraft sees quite a few of these jets.

But what do these do to the surface? Some of the vents have been seen in close-up views from Rosetta, and they come from pits that you might mistake for impact craters at first. It’s clear these are the sources of at least some of the jets, but a new study reveals they’re more than that: They’re sinkholes.

Sinkholes on Earth are relatively common; water (for example) can erode away material under the surface, and at some point gravity takes over, and the structural integrity gives way. The surface collapses, sometimes taking cars or even houses with it.

On a comet things are slightly different. For one, the gravity is only a tiny fraction of Earth’s. For another, sinkholes on Earth tend not to jet towers of water vapor out from them.

But the overall idea is the same. Heat from the Sun warms the comet. This heat leaks under the surface (possibly through cracks) and turns the ice into gas, which then leaks out. Eventually a large cavity is formed under the surface, so big that the “roof” of material over it collapses, forming the steep-walled sinkholes.

This allows light to flood in, which can heat the ice rapidly, causing an outburst of jetting from the comet. This has been seen on 67P, too. Eventually, the walls of the hole erode as more ice vaporizes, and the steep pits become more shallow. Quite a few of these are seen on 67P as well. This means the steep pits are young, and the shallow ones old.

While this result doesn’t surprise me—it’s been suspected since the first close-up pictures came back from Rosetta—it’s nice to see the whole story figured out, and an explanation found for the steep pits.

Comets are so cool. And this one has turned out to be a fantastic choice for an extended visit by Rosetta. We’re learning so much about these interplanetary wanderers, and, unsurprisingly, it’s all been really amazing.



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2015年7月27日 星期一

Milky Way and Aurora over Antarctica


It has been one of the better skies of this long night. In parts of Antarctica, not only is it winter, but the Sun can spend weeks below the horizon. At China's Zhongshan Station, people sometimes venture out into the cold to photograph a spectacular night sky. The featured image from one such outing was taken in mid-July, just before the end of this polar night. Pointing up, the wide angle lens captured not only the ground at the bottom, but at the top as well. In the foreground is a colleague also taking pictures. In the distance, a spherical satellite receiver and several windmills are visible. Numerous stars dot the night sky, including Sirius and Canopus. Far in the background, stretching overhead from horizon to horizon, is the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. Even further in the distance, visible as extended smudges near the top, are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, satellite galaxies near our huge Milky Way Galaxy. via NASA http://ift.tt/1OJw2s8

More Negative Progress at Vostochny Cosmodrome

$126 Million Stolen From Russian Vostochny Cosmodrome Project Prosecutor General, The Moscow Times "Russia's Prosecutor General said Monday that 7.5 billion rubles ($126 million) had been stolen during construction of a new spaceport in Russia's Far East, news agency RIA...

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New Horizons Victory Lap at Congress

Hearing on Pluto Flyby "Tuesday, July 28, 2015: The Science Committee's NASA Authorization Act for FY16 and FY17 restored funds the Obama administration proposed cutting from planetary science budgets. This would bring parity between NASA's science accounts and allow for...

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NTSB Meets on SpaceShipTwo Accident

NTSB Board Meeting on SpaceShipTwo Crash in California "Tuesday, July 28, 2015: The National Transportation Safety Board will meet to determine the probable cause of the October 31, 2014 in-flight breakup of SpaceShipTwo that occurred near Mojave, CA. SpaceShipTwo was...

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NASA Astronauts Speak with Ohio Summer Camp Students from Space Station

Summer camp students at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland and students from the city’s MC2 STEM High School will speak with Expedition 44 crew members aboard the International Space Station at 11:40 a.m. EDT Friday, July 31.

July 27, 2015
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Proposals to Explore the Solar System’s Smallest Worlds

Van Kane rounds up some of the latest NASA Discovery mission proposals aiming to explore our solar system's smallest bodies.

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Odd Pluto Social Media Policy at SwRI

Keith's note: The use of social media during the recent Pluto encounter has been widely hailed. That said, Southwest Research Institute Public affairs continues with its slightly strange media policy - in this case by blocking @NASAWatch from following...

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Activity at Klyuchevskoy Volcano


This photograph, taken on May 4, 2015 by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station, highlights one of the most active volcanic regions on Earth: the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. The three largest volcanoes visible at image center include Kliuchevskoy, Bezymianny, and Ushkovsky. via NASA http://ift.tt/1VJ4BUb

Gardasil: Yup. Still Safe.

Through an article in Forbes I saw that a new study has been published about the safety of Gardasil, a vaccine for prevention of certain strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV.

HPV is a virus that can lead to genital warts, many types of cancer, and cervical cancer in women, which kills 4,000 women every year in the US alone.

The Gardasil vaccine, on the other hand, caused some people to faint after getting it, and others got mild skin infections — both of which occur somewhat rarely with other vaccines too, as you might expect.

Which sounds worse to you?

The study, published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, looked at the published data about effects from the vaccine, and found that it has a “favorable safety profile”. This study comes after many other previous studies that show essentially the same thing. There is no correlation between getting the Gardasil vaccine and seriously adverse effects such as “autoimmune diseases (including Guillain-Barre Syndrome and multiple sclerosis), anaphylaxis, venous thromboembolism, and stroke.”

Mind you, all these things and more have been used by people who attack vaccines as an argument against it. And, just like essentially every claim made by the anti-vaccination movement, these arguments are wrong.

That doesn’t stop them from making them, or from them getting attention by mainstream media; attention they most assuredly do not deserve.

It’s very frustrating; mounds of data show these vaccinations are incredibly low-risk, but it only takes a little bit of doubt and fear to make vaccine rates drop. For example, a young girl died tragically not long after getting the vaccine, and it got a lot of press, but it was later found that she died of a completely unrelated cause. This, sadly, is expected; over 178 million doses of Gardasil have been given worldwide, and given that huge number it’s a statistical certainty that some young people will die not long after getting them. But as the saying goes, correlation is not causation. The vaccines are not to blame here.

Even more frustrating about this vaccine is that it’s being fought by an unusual group of people; while most anti-vax leanings are not affiliated with any particular political persuasion, Gardasil gets attacked additionally by conservatives who think that girls getting it will become more promiscuous, since HPV is a sexually transmitted disease.

However, this has been shown to be false. Worse, these same people tend to promote abstinence-only education, which has been shown conclusively to be the worst possible sex education; kids taught his way tend to have more pregnancies and more STDs than ones who are taught progressive, healthy sex ed.

It’s like Bizarro world, where everything is backwards. All the evidence shows Gardasil to be safe and to be effective against a virus that causes horrific illnesses. It also shows that the claims made by anti-vaxxers are wrong, and that people fighting the vaccine because of their own sexual biases are making things far worse.

And yet they dig in. They insist real science is wrong, that their anecdotes are better, that the entire medical industry is on the take (which is silly beyond reason).

But that’s where we are. When it comes to health issues, especially ones tied to sexuality, reason goes out the window and emotions take over.

That’s why I am very, very clear about this: I and my family are all up to date with our vaccinations, and my daughter has had all three stages of the Gardasil vaccine (we’d have done that if she had been a boy, too). As a parent, as someone who knows and loves someone with an autoimmune disorder, and as a person who knows just how truly awful so many diseases are and how easily and safely they can be prevented, I am a strong advocate for vaccinations.

It’s your body, but it affects literally everyone around you. Don’t listen to the anti-vaxxers, who just want to scare you. Get the facts. And please, talk to your board certified doctor and find out if there are any vaccinations you need.

How many lives will you save when you do?

Tip o’ the virion to the Refutations of Anti-Vaccine Memes group on Facebook.



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2015年7月26日 星期日

The Sombrero Galaxy from Hubble


Why does the Sombrero Galaxy look like a hat? Reasons include the Sombrero's unusually large and extended central bulge of stars, and dark prominent dust lanes that appear in a disk that we see nearly edge-on. Billions of old stars cause the diffuse glow of the extended central bulge. Close inspection of the bulge in the above photograph shows many points of light that are actually globular clusters. M104's spectacular dust rings harbor many younger and brighter stars, and show intricate details astronomers don't yet fully understand. The very center of the Sombrero glows across the electromagnetic spectrum, and is thought to house a large black hole. Fifty million-year-old light from the Sombrero Galaxy can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of Virgo. via NASA http://ift.tt/1GPP4Xq

3 Reasons Why Its Is Time to Turbocharge SETI

Looking for extraterrestrials - The optimistic gamble, Economist "Mr Milner reckons there are three reasons why the moment is right to go big on SETI. One is that Kepler, a space telescope run by NASA, has shown that there are...

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Journey From the Far Side of the Sun

Studying the Sun from Earth can be frustrating. From 150 million kilometers away, we can only see one side at a time. Sure, the Sun rotates, so we see the whole thing over the course of about a month, but sometimes you want to see it from different angles at the same time, like when it shoots out an explosive flare or coronal mass ejection.

What you want is a stereo view. Or STEREO.

STEREO is the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory, a pair of Sun-orbiting satellites; one is in a slightly smaller orbit than Earth so it travels ahead of our planet, and the other in a slightly larger one, so it lags behind. Over time, they get far enough apart to see the Sun from totally different viewpoints.

Right now, STEREO-A (A for Ahead) is almost directly opposite the Sun from us. In fact, it was behind the Sun for a few days, but even before and after that it was so close to our star that communicating with it was not possible.

The image above, taken in the far ultraviolet, was one of the first to come back from STEREO-A, on July 15 (around the same time New Horizons was sailing past Pluto 15 times farther away from us). At this wavelength, magnetic activity glows fiercely, and you can easily see the towering loops of the Sun’s complex magnetic field piercing the surface and arcing a hundred thousand kilometers above the surface.

This is the same magnetic activity, incidentally, that will not cause an ice age on Earth. Not that it isn’t dangerous.

STEREO has provided a huge amount of benefit to solar astronomers trying to figure out the ridiculously complicated behavior of our nearest tame nuclear inferno.

Sometimes, though, what it does is just plain cool… like the time it saw the Moon pass in front of the Sun. It’s a solar eclipse like you’ve never seen before.

We learn a vast amount of important, crucial, information from space-based astronomical observatories. But also, they just increase the coolness of our lives.

My apologies to Gerry Anderson for the title of this post.



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2015年7月25日 星期六

Infrared Trifid


The Trifid Nebula, also known as Messier 20, is easy to find with a small telescope, a well known stop in the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. But where visible light pictures show the nebula divided into three parts by dark, obscuring dust lanes, this penetrating infrared image reveals filaments of glowing dust clouds and newborn stars. The spectacular false-color view is courtesy of the Spitzer Space Telescope. Astronomers have used the Spitzer infrared image data to count newborn and embryonic stars which otherwise can lie hidden in the natal dust and gas clouds of this intriguing stellar nursery. As seen here, the Trifid is about 30 light-years across and lies only 5,500 light-years away. via NASA http://ift.tt/1D0ldk5

Hey! It's Not Rocket Science!

I mentioned in a recent post that I met astronaut Chris Hadfield at Comic Con in early July. Chris is the real deal: He is a friendly, funny, warm, intelligent, and hard-working human being who truly and passionately wants to make the world a better place.

One way to do that is to get more people interested in science. To do that, he’s helping create (and starring in!) an animated comedy science series called “It’s Not Rocket Science”, which will premier this fall.

The series is being made with the help of his son, Evan. It was Evan’s idea for his dad to make the “Space Oddity” video, in case you’re wondering if Evan is up to the task (he edited it all together, too). Evan has also been helpful to me a few times pinning down some of the photos from space Chris took when he was on the International Space Station, too.

As for the animation, rest assured that’ll be great too. How do I know? Because my friends Tracy King And DC Turner are doing that! They made Tim Minchin’s brilliant song “Storm” into an equally brilliant animated video.

The animated series will be free on YouTube, but they’re supporting it via Patreon. If you pledge to it you can get lots of bonuses, like graphics, wallpapers, mention in the credits, and even signed swag from Chris.

They’re making ten videos, and I am seriously really excited to see them! This is a fantastic team of people, and I know the series will be great.

So throw some filthy lucre their way, and keep your brain ready for this. You’ll be glad you did. In the meantime follow Chris, Evan, Tracy, and DC on Twitter, to keep up with the news on the show.

And because why not, here's "Storm". It's amazing.



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2015年7月24日 星期五

Ultraviolet Rings of M31


A mere 2.5 million light-years away the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, really is just next door as large galaxies go. So close and spanning some 260,000 light-years, it took 11 different image fields from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) satellite's telescope to produce this gorgeous portrait of the spiral galaxy in ultraviolet light. While its spiral arms stand out in visible light images of Andromeda, the arms look more like rings in the GALEX ultraviolet view, a view dominated by the energetic light from hot, young, massive stars. As sites of intense star formation, the rings have been interpreted as evidence Andromeda collided with its smaller neighboring elliptical galaxy M32 more than 200 million years ago. The large Andromeda galaxy and our own Milky Way are the most massive members of the local galaxy group. via NASA http://ift.tt/1MLHC4N

ESA's Director General Prefers The Moon Over Mars

Moon village would host first class research, Nature "[ESA Director General Johann-Dietrich Wörner]: The Americans are saying Mars is the ultimate goal, but I'm rather convinced that Mars is not the ultimate goal. If we continue on planet Earth, I'm...

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Looking back at Pluto

I don't think anyone was prepared for the beauty -- or the instant scientific discoveries -- in this "lookback" image of Pluto, captured by New Horizons shortly after it flew by.

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NASA Briefs President's Science Advisors

PCAST Discusses New Frontiers in Human Space Exploration, AIP "On July 14, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) met to discuss three topics, among them an update from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and...

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New Horizons Looks Over Its Shoulder at Pluto

I’ve been expecting — and seeing — amazing images of Pluto from the close approach flyby of the New Horizons probe from mid-July. And even though I knew the images taken once the spacecraft was past Pluto would be lovely, I still wasn’t quite prepared for just how awe-inspiring it would be.

Behold:

Oh, WOW.

That was taken when New Horizons was about two million kilometers (1.2 million miles) past Pluto, when the tiny rock and ice world passed between the spacecraft and the Sun. New Horizons looked over its shoulder, back at Pluto, to capture this breathtaking picture.

It’s a Plutonian solar eclipse!

The ring of light you are seeing? That’s Pluto’s atmosphere! Light passing through that cold, thin, nitrogen gas gets scattered, bent, and we see it as a halo surrounding the night side of Pluto.

This image is surreal; both familiar and alien. We see this sort of photo every time there’s a solar eclipse. But as rare and lovely an event that is, this is no moon… it’s Pluto. Five billion kilometers from Earth, we see an eclipse created by another world.

This image is more than just art. The brightness of the halo tells scientists how thick Pluto’s atmosphere is, how high it reaches. It also reveals the presence of haze, particles of ethylene and acetylene, in the atmosphere that extend up to 150 km above the surface! That’s unexpected; haze was expected lower in the atmosphere, but not so high up. Another mystery for scientists to ponder. Could this be pointing to weather, albeit ethereally thin weather, on Pluto?

Not only that, but another detector on New Horizons showed that the surface pressure on Pluto has decreased hugely over the past two years: The atmosphere has lost about half its mass! Pluto orbits the Sun on an ellipse, and is currently heading away from the Sun, getting colder. Its axis is tipped by 120° to its orbit (compare that to Earth’s 23° tilt), so it has extreme seasons as well. Did a huge amount of Pluto’s atmosphere freeze out over the past two years as parts of Pluto chill? That’s possible, but this is only one data point. We’ll be getting more data from the probe sent back to Earth over the next few months, and hopefully they will reveal what’s going on in Pluto’s air.

Art and science. Hand and hand, as always.

But there’s more.

This image makes me very very happy. It shows the northern part of Sputnik Planum (the upper left part of the heart-shaped feature on the surface), the ice plains we’ve seen in earlier images. I speculated that the area looks very much like there’s been fluid flow, flooding or seepage, where liquid has lapped up and filled in low lying areas near the hills and mountains nearby.

I was very close! Look specifically at the darker gray area where the flat region meets the hilly one. You can see swirls in the pattern, which is exactly what you expect if viscous ice has flowed around obstacles. What you’re seeing there is glacial flow on Pluto! But the ice in this case is not water ice, but nitrogen ice. At Pluto’s temperature, nitrogen ice should flow glacially much as water ice does on Earth.

That’s incredible.

Here’s another image, a mosaic of the Sputnik Planum region, this time to the south:

Again, powerful evidence that there’s bulk motion of fluids on Pluto. The infilled crater in the middle fills me with delight; the depression in the surface has been filled by nitrogen ice flowing into it. The glaciers appear to have flowed around and filled in the lower areas around the Hillary Montes as well.

The thin ice sheet is fascinating too; the polygonal shape to the segments indicates it can’t be too thick, which may be due to the surface cracking and making segmented sheets as the ice below it moves around.

Alan Stern, the New Horizons Principal Investigator, said that if the ice is thick enough (tens to hundreds of meters) it could liquefy underneath, so the ice is moving on top of liquid nitrogen. This is not at all clear yet though.

All of this may be easier to see if you watch this amazing 3D flyover animation made using the geometry deducted from these images:

Amazing. Simply amazing.

And as always, let me say that these are still a drop in the bucket of the data we’ve received so far from New Horizons. These are still relatively low-resolution images; the high-resolution data still sit on the probe’s hard drive, slowly being transferred across the vast distance of the solar system back to Earth. It’ll be months before it’s all down, and as it dribbles in we’ll see more and more incredible features on Pluto, and in much more detail than we have now.

This is all still a taste of what’s to come. And even then, this will be the best data we’ll have of Pluto for decades to come. Scientists will be planning their careers over these data.

As well they should. There are lifetimes worth of science to explore at Pluto. 



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More Pluto Discoveries Revealed

Nightside Image Reveals Pluto's Hazy Skies "Speeding away from Pluto just seven hours after its July 14 closest approach, the New Horizons spacecraft looked back and captured this spectacular image of Pluto's atmosphere, backlit by the sun. The image reveals...

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NASA’s New Horizons Team Finds Haze, Flowing Ice on Pluto

Flowing ice and a surprising extended haze are among the newest discoveries from NASA’s New Horizons mission, which reveal distant Pluto to be an icy world of wonders.

July 24, 2015
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Help map Mars' south polar region!

The science team of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter wants your help in mapping out the weird and wonderful features of Mars' south polar region!

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Full-On Pluto

While I’m waiting for a press conference on Pluto in a couple of hours (18:00 UTC), I thought I’d show you this beautiful image of Pluto’s face released by NASA this morning. It’s a composite of high-resolution data from the black-and-white (well, grayscale) LORRI camera combined with color data from the Ralph camera.

The colors have been enhanced to bring out overall patterns and regional differences. The images were taken on July 14, when New Horizons was 450,000 kilometers from Pluto—not much farther than the Moon is from Earth!

Several things strike me right away. We see lots of craters, many of which look eroded from time. It looks like there are faults or canyons running here and there across the surface. Also, some of the colors appear as “streaks,” making them look wind-blown or the result of some kind of fluid flow.

Having said that, I am totally guessing here. We must have a care not to overinterpret low-res data like this! Also, I’m no expert, but I hope that the experts today will comment on some of these features. No doubt more detailed images will be released soon, so stay tuned!



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Crew of Underwater NASA Mission Available for Interviews

NASA currently is working in the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to evaluate tools and techniques in preparation for future spacewalks on a variety of surfaces and levels of gravity, ranging from asteroids to the moons and surface of Mars.

July 24, 2015
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NASA Hosts ‘Quest for Quakes’ Data Challenge

A new NASA challenge is looking for evidence to support a theory that electromagnetic pulses (EMP) may precede an earthquake, potentially offering a warning to those in the quake’s path.

July 24, 2015
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Pluto Dazzles in False Color


Four images from New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with color data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced color global view of Pluto. via NASA http://ift.tt/1VF7vsW

Jupiter's changing face, 2009-2015

Damian Peach's photo-documentation of Jupiter helps us monitor the giant planet's ever-changing patterns of belts, zones, storms, and barges, during a time when no orbiting missions are there to take pictures.

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That New NASA Moon Plan

To the Moon - Again, Paul Spudis "A NASA-sponsored study has been released which outlines a plan to return to the Moon with people and set-up an outpost at one of the poles to mine water for propellant. This report...

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Crash Course Astronomy: Stars

You’re the only star in heaven,
You’re the only star that shines,
You’re the only star in heaven,
Now that only star is mine.
            Frankie Goes to  Hollywood, “The Only Star in Heaven”

Stars are the building blocks of the visible Universe. They’re the fundamental unit, like atoms in matter. Stars make up galaxies, and galaxies make up the Universe.

They are also why we’re here, quite literally. Stars make planets, and stars make the elements that make you and me. We owe our existence to stars.

So understanding them is kinda critical to understanding, well, everything. Wanna know more? Then do I have a Crash Course Astronomy episode for you!

Mea culpa: In the “Focus On” segment, I say that the Sun’s spectrum peaks in the green. To be fair, it peaks in the blue-green part, and atmospheric absorption makes the light that hits the ground peak more in the blue. But when you add it all up, the Sun emits more green than blue light, which is what I meant. I should’ve been more clear.

I wrote about why there are no green stars in a post a few years back. Not that there aren’t green objects in space. But those are different. Comets can look green too.

And don’t confuse any of this with Hank Green in space. That’s a completely different topic.



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2015年7月23日 星期四

Comet PanSTARRS, Moon, and Venus


It is the object to the left of the big tree that's generating much recent excitement. If you look closely, there you can see Comet PanSTARRS, complete with two tails. During July, this comet has increased markedly in brightness and has just passed its closest approach to Earth. The statuesque tree in the center is a Norfolk Island Pine, and to either side of this tree are New Zealand Pohutukaw trees. Over the trees, far in the distance, are bright Venus and an even brighter crescent Moon. If you look even more closely, you can find Jupiter hidden in the branches of the pine. The featured image was taken a few days ago in Fergusson Park, New Zealand, looking over Tauranga Harbour Inlet. In the coming days and weeks, Comet C/2014 Q1 (PANSTARRS) will slowly move away from the Sun and the Earth, drift deep into southern skies, and fade. via NASA http://ift.tt/1DwLGRg

Dragging Star Trek Into Election 2016

What Ted Cruz gets wrong about Star Trek, Washington Post "Star Trek" Captain James T. Kirk is a Republican. That's what Ted Cruz wants you to think, anyway. In an interview with the New York Times, Cruz argues that what...

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NASA Pluto Flyby Internet Statistics

"Potential reach and Number of Mentions of all social media posts(NASA & non-NASA) across 21 different social media platforms using one or more of the following keywords between July 13-17, 2015: Pluto, "New Horizons", #PlutoFlyby, or #Pluto:" Download NASA presentation...

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NASA Awards Contract for Office Support Services

NASA has selected American Paragon Protective Services, LLC, of Austin, Texas to receive a contract to support the Protective Services Office Support Services at the agency's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

July 23, 2015
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A New Way to Prepare Samples of Mars for Return to the Earth

Mars 2020, NASA’s next and yet-to-be-named Mars rover, will be the first mission to collect and prepare samples of the martian surface for return to Earth. The rover's engineering team has proposed a new sampling caching strategy that differs from previous concepts in some interesting ways.

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NASA Invites Media to Emergency Locator Transmitters Crash Test

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will crash test a small plane Wednesday, July 29, to test the performance of five emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) installed onboard.

July 23, 2015
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NASA Invites Media to Emergency Locater Transmitters Crash Test

Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, will crash test a small plane Wednesday, July 29, to test the performance of five emergency locater transmitters (ELTs) installed onboard.

July 23, 2015
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ISS Daily Summary Report – 7/23/15

43 Soyuz (43S) Launch/Dock: 43S launched at 4:02 PM CDT today and docked at 9:46 PM CDT. Hatch opening occurred at 11:56 PM CDT. With the arrival of Kjell Lindgren, Kimiya Yui and Oleg Kononenko the ISS returns to 6-crew operations. Following crew ingress, the ISS Safety Briefing will be performed to familiarizes the newly arrived crew with potential hazards and safety measures. The crew will also review emergency actions, roles and responsibilities and response to depressurization, fire and toxic events. Fine Motor Skills: Kelly and Kornienko performed their Flight Day 120 session of Fine Motor Skills today.  In this experiment crew members perform a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet. The investigation is the first fine motor skills study to measure long-term microgravity exposure, different phases of microgravity adaptation, and sensorimotor recovery after returning to Earth’s gravity. The goal of the experiment is to answer how fine motor performance in microgravity trend/vary over the duration of a six-month and year-long space mission; how fine motor performance on orbit compare with that of a closely matched participant on Earth; and how performance trend/vary before and after gravitational transitions, including the periods of early flight adaptation and very early/near immediate post-flight periods. Space Headaches: Yui and Lindgren will perform their first Space Headaches questionnaire following their arrival on ISS.  They will complete the questionnaire daily for their first week on orbit then once per week for the remainder of their mission. Headaches can be a common complaint during spaceflight. The Space Headaches experiment improves the understanding of such conditions which helps in the development of methods to alleviate associated symptoms and improve the well-being and performance of crew members in orbit. This can also improve the knowledge of similar conditions on Earth. Russian Segment (RS) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Preparations: Kelly gathered and transferred US tools in preparation for RS EVA #41 currently planned for August 10.  Battery maintenance for Rechargeable EVA Battery Assemblies (REBA), Helmet Lights (HL), and Pistol Grip Tools (PGT) started last week will conclude this Friday. Today’s Planned Activities All activities are were completed unless otherwise noted. Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time Test (morning) Morning Inspection. RSS 1, 2 Reboot / r/g 7437 Laptop RS1(2) Reboot / Onboard Computer System (БВС) CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor / r/g 9277 FINEMOTR – Experiment Ops Replacement of SM Unit 800А АБ Module 3. Checkout of air duct sealing screws r/g 9395 Replacement of SM unit 800А Storage Battery Module No.3 – assistance / SM IVA Fine Motor Skills – Experiment Ops / See OSTPV for Procedure VEG-01 PLANT – Plant Photo WRS Water Sample Analysis TEPC Transfer Replacement of SM unit 800А Storage Battery Module No.3 – assistance / SM IVA IMF Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) – EVA Battery Assembly (REBA) CALCIUM. Experiment session 10. / r/g 9396 Gathering US tools to support RS EVA Transfer of Urine from RS/USOS EDV-U and brine from EDV-US to ТГК 425 (Aft) Rodnik БВ2 Tank r/g 9394 Verification of ИП-1 Flow Sensor Position / Pressure Control & Atmosphere Monitoring System (СКДС) USOS EVA tools Transfer to support RS EVA Medical Locket Kit Audit / r/g 9386 Battery Stowage Assembly (BSA) Battery Recharge Terminate Start BSA Battery Charge Closing USOS Window Shutters Physical Fitness Evaluation (on treadmill) CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor TOCA Data Recording Soyuz 717 ODF Procedures Closing USOS Window Shutters ISS HAM RADIO Power Down Review Hatch Opening from MRM1 and Arrival of Expedition 44 TV Coverage procedure. MERLIN – Desiccant Swap Scheduled Maintenance of Compound Specific Analyzer- Combustion Products (CSA-CP) Activation of Soyuz 716 (MRM2) Gas Analyzer CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor Closure of window shutters 6,8,9,12,13,14 СОЖ Maintenance CONTROL. Switching Indicator-ISS P/L measuring modes CQ outfitting after arrival OTKLIK. Hardware Check MPEG2 Multicast Test via Ku-band (Activation/Deactivation of TV data and MPEG2 Multicast controls) Preparation of ТК 717 for Docking to MRM1 Comm Config before ТК 717 docking Monitoring Soyuz 717 Rendezvous with ISS (MRM1) Activation of MPEG2 Multicast TV Monitoring Activation of mpeg2 multicast video recording mode Video recording of capture and retraction through DC1 EV2 hatch during Soyuz 717 docking to MRM1 Switch MRM1 PEV – ТК to ELECTR CONTR position Closing Applications and Downlink of MPEG2 Multicast video via OCA Gathering exercise equipment ТК 717 – MRM1 Interface Leak Check Start Drying 2 space suits Comm Reconfiguration for Nominal Ops after 717 Docking Respiratory Support Pack Checkout HABIT – Hardware activation Hardware Setup in SM for Expedition 44 Arrival TV Coverage from SM VEG-01 PLANT – Plant Photo Equipment Setup in MRM1 for Hatch Opening TV Coverage from MRM1 JRNL – Journal Entry Soyuz-MRM1 Hatch Opening TV Coverage of Expedition 44 Arrival Soyuz-MRM1 Hatch Opening ‘ TV Coverage of Expedition 44 Arrival Handover of the 3rd space suit and gloves for drying in ТПК 716 Closing Applications, Deactivation of camcorders and TV data monitors Drying the 3rd spacesuit in ТК 716 – start Safety briefing after ТК 717 docking Photo of a scuff mark left by Active Docking Mechanism probe on the MRM1 Passive Mechanism Receiving Cone Video downlink via OCA of capture and retraction during Soyuz 717 docking to MRM1 Handover of Expedition 43 Crew Termination of Suit 1,2 Drying (ТК 717) Installing the 1st pair of gloves for drying (ТК 717) Download docking cone internal surface photos to OCA CASKAD. Manual Mixing in Bioreactor ТК 717 Deactivation (without GA deactivation) Terminate drying the first pair of gloves and start drying the second pair (ТК 717) ТК 717 Deactivation (without GA deactivation) SHD1ST – Survey Completion Terminate drying the second pair of gloves (ТК 717) Stowage of the 1st  and 2nd space suits and gloves after drying Terminate the 3rd suit drying, start drying the 3rd pair of gloves (Soyuz 716) Terminate drying the 3rd pair of gloves (ТК 716) Handover of the 3rd space suit and gloves after drying in ТК 716 Stowage of the 3rd suit and gloves in TK 717 after drying Closing USOS Window Shutters Self-Reaction Test. Reaction Time […]

July 23, 2015 at 09:22AM
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Astronomers Find a Near-Earth-Size Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Very Sunlike Star

One of the biggest goals in the search for exoplanets—alien worlds—is finding an Earth-size planet orbiting its star in the “habitable zone,” where liquid water might exist on its surface. In other words, finding another Earth.

So far, a dozen such planets have been found. All of those planets may be very much like Earth (we can’t be sure, as I’ll get to in a sec), but they orbit smaller, cooler stars than our Sun.

On Thursday, astronomers announced they have found another planet in its star's habitable zone: Kepler-452b. But this one is different: It orbits a star much more like the Sun. The star and planet are about 1,400 light-years away.

The planet was discovered using what’s called the transit method; as it orbits its star, we see that orbit edge-on. Once every orbit, the planet passes directly in front of the star and we see a tiny dip in sunlight. The size of that dip tells us the size of the planet, and the time it takes tells us the planet’s orbital period.

Kepler-452b orbits its star at a distance just 5 percent more than Earth orbits the Sun, with a year 385 days long. While the star is similar to the Sun, it’s older, and stars brighten as they age. That means Kepler-452b actually receives more heat from the star than we do from the Sun, so it’s likely warmer than we are.

Note, though, that a couple of billion years ago the star was cooler, pretty much like the Sun is now. That means that a long time ago, 452b was getting the same amount of light and heat we do. Interesting.

This doesn’t mean the planet is Earthlike, though. For one thing, it’s bigger than we are: Its diameter is 1.6 times that of Earth. We don’t know its mass, unfortunately, and without that we can’t know its density. The density is what gives us our first clue about what the planet’s made of; water has a density of 1 gram per cc, but iron is 8. Rock is 2–3.

If the planet has the same stuff in it as Earth does, it’ll be more massive; four times Earth’s mass*. In that case, its surface gravity would be 1.6 times Earth. If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you’d weight 160 pounds there. But only if it’s rock and metal like we are. If it’s less dense (more rock) than, the surface gravity will be lower; if it’s denser (more metallic), it’ll be even higher.

It’s not clear what that means for a planet’s atmosphere. All other things being equal, more gravity means it can hold on to more gas, so the air there could be much thicker. If so—and remembering it’s receiving more light and heat from its star than we do—it might be suffering a runaway greenhouse effect. Or, it may not have any air at all. Or or or. Without more information, we can only guess.

This is an exciting discovery, since this is the first exoplanet roughly Earth-size in the habitable zone of a star so much like our own. The last time we found one this good was Kepler-186f, which orbits a red dwarf. That planet is much closer to our size than 452b is, and may be more similar to us. It’s not clear there how orbiting a red dwarf would make it different. Would the atmosphere be different? If life existed there, how might it look?

I’m a little torn about this discovery. For decades we had no idea if other planets even existed around other stars. Now we know of thousands! And we also know of many that are the size of our Earth, meaning they aren’t too hard to make. In fact, we think there are billions of Earth-size planets in our galaxy alone! Most will be too hot or cold for life, or have other issues making them likely to be uninhabitable.

Searching for a planet with conditions as close to ours is a clear goal here. Kepler-452b is a big step in that direction.

But it’s not perfect. It’s bigger, the star is hotter, and so on. I suspect 186f might be more Earthlike, but again we can’t know for sure. So I don’t want to overhype this discovery.

We need bigger telescopes, ones capable of teasing out the planet’s light from the star’s, taking its spectrum, and analyzing that spectrum for tell-take signs of chemistry. From that we can gauge its temperature better, what it’s made of, and even if there are biological markers (like, say the presence of oxygen molecules, which are hard to keep around without biology). Until then, we just don’t know enough about these planets to say much more about them with certainty.

And I think what may be even more important is to see just how diverse Earth-size planets are! Some bigger, some smaller, some hotter, some cooler. The interesting point here is that nature is cooking planets with all sorts of different flavors here, and while looking into the heavens and seeking out one that looks like us is natural, we should also be careful to delight in the varying recipes out there.

The big question we ask is, Are we alone? The answer, I suspect, hangs on what you mean by “alone.” We are in a galaxy brimming with planets, many of which look like us, and many of which don’t. But even the ones that look different at first may be more like us than we know.

* The volume of a sphere increases with the cube of the radius. Since Kepler-452b is 1.6 times the radius of Earth, its volume is 1.6 x 1.6 x 1.6 = 4.1 times Earth's volume.



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July 23, 1999, Chandra X-ray Observatory Awaits Deployment


This 70mm frame shows the 50,162-pound Chandra X-ray Observatory before it was tilted upward for its release from the Space Shuttle Columbia's payload bay on July 23, 1999, just a few hours following the shuttle's arrival in Earth orbit. Chandra was spring-ejected from a cradle in the payload bay at 6:47 a.m. Central time. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IgnfbE

Kepler Finds Earth-Sized Worlds In Habitable Zones

NASA Media Teleconference to Announce Latest Kepler Discoveries "NASA will host a news teleconference at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT) Thursday, July 23 to announce new discoveries made by its planet-hunting mission, the Kepler Space Telescope. The teleconference audio...

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NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

NASA's Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the “habitable zone” around a sun-like star. This discovery and the introduction of 11 other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another “Earth.”

July 23, 2015
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Summer 2015 edition of The Planetary Report is here

The summer edition of The Planetary Report has printed and will soon be at your door.

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Space Walking at Comic Con with Adam Savage

Every year, I go to San Diego Comic Con, the annual nerd bash where something like a mole of people converge on the town to celebrate pop culture. It’s a lot of fun, and one of the joys for me is to get together with friends I don’t get a chance to see otherwise.

I’m also privileged that all of my friends there are supremely talented, smart, and interesting people. One of them is My Close Personal Friend Adam Savage™; we’ve known each other for many years (so much so that he is starting to look like me).

As you might know, Adam is something of a celebrity, and getting around at the con can be a challenge for him; the huge crowds guarantee he’ll get stopped, and once that happens it’s all over. That’s how he got the idea of “Adam Incognito”, where he wears a full head-to-toe costume that conceals his identity. He then walks the exhibit hall of the con (where tens of thousands of fans visit exhibitors, goods dealers, artists, and more), and anyone who spots him and correctly IDs him wins some sort of prize, usually a VIP pass to one of Adam’s talks at the con.

This year he walked as Judge Dredd. But he threw in a twist: The next day, he decided to do it again, but this time bringing along a very special guest. The whole thing was recorded for Entertainment Weekly and Tested.com, and it’s pretty fun. Watch!

Commander Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut; he worked three stints on the space station (commanding it the third time), covered David Bowie while up there, and is an all-around nice guy—I highly recommend his book, too.

I’d never met him, so when I got a note from Adam asking if I’d like to sit behind the scenes and watch them prep for the con walk, I said YES. On the Saturday morning of the con I headed over to Adam’s hotel, met Chris, and watched with some amusement as they suited up. I wasn’t able to walk the con with them (Adam eschews anyone going with him, since it might give away the show, though in this instance they happened to run into Andy Weir, author of The Martian (soon to be a major motion picture) and they let him tag along) but I was around when they got back to the hotel room.

The suits were amazing, as you can see in the photos here. I put together an album of pictures on Flickr for your perusal as well. I think my favorite part of all this, besides the coolers Adam built to prevent them from overheating (a lesson he learned last year in his full-blown Alien space suit, complete with face-hugger), was the fact that they made sandwiches for the trip as well. That’s right out of the Moonbus scene from 2001, where Heywood Floyd and the other travelers eat lunch on the way to seeing the Monolith. Adam even made sure the crusts were cut off, an homage to the sandwiches in that scene!

Full disclosure: I ate the last sandwich. It was better than astronaut ice cream. As is everything.

And that wasn’t the end of it: That evening Adam did a one-hour Q&A on stage in the huge Room 6 of the exhibit hall, and asked several friends to come on stage and ask him questions as special guests. I was first, then Andy Weir, then Alton Brown, and finally Chris came on. It was a huge amount of fun, as you can see:

It was an honor to be able to watch this unfold and to be a part of it. Commander Hadfield really is as nice as he seems, a wonderful thing to behold. He is a true gentleman, and someone who honestly and openly wants to share his joy of the world with that world. Adam is the same way; erudite and charming, he just loves what he does, and his enthusiasm is as infectious as his smile and laugh.

Although I wouldn’t say it’s a requirement, it’s a great bonus that my friends inspire me to be a better person, to work harder, to just do more. To all of them, I say: thanks.

And special thanks to Will Smith and Norman Chang of Tested for their patience, and for taking some of the pictures in the album.



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