In the Center of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3521

This huge swirling mass of stars, gas, and dust occurs near the center of a nearby spiral galaxy. Gorgeous spiral NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years distant, toward the constellation Leo. Spanning some 50,000 light-years, its central region is shown in this dramatic image, constructed from data from the Hubble Space Telescope. The close-up view highlights this galaxy's characteristic multiple, patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust and clusters of young, blue stars. In contrast, many other spirals exhibit grand, sweeping arms. A relatively bright galaxy in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small telescopes, but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies, like M65 and M66. via NASA http://ift.tt/1YDaWkq

XCOR: If At First You Don't Succeed ...

XCOR Co-Founders Establish New Company, Space News "The three left XCOR to found a new company, Agile Aero. That company, which, like XCOR, is based in Midland, Texas, will be focused on addressing a problem Greason says has afflicted XCOR...

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Fact Checking Hillary's Astronaut Letter to NASA

Hillary Clinton's often-told story that NASA rejected her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut, Washington Post "According to NASA and some space historians, the message in the response that Clinton claims to have received is consistent with NASA policy and...

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NASA Awards Contract for Administrative Support Services

NASA has selected Hanks, Hanks and Associates, LLC of Washington to provide professional administrative support services at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

November 30, 2015
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Lack of Diversity Among National Space Society Award Nominees

NSS Members: voting for the 2016 Heinlein Award closes Monday at midnight (Hawaiian time). https://t.co/zMmPOk822T http://pic.twitter.com/sQU2XCD9Fz— National Space Soc. (@nss) November 30, 2015 Pathetic: @NSS has 28 nominees for the 2016 Heinlein Award and they could only find 2...

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Cyber Monday Among Friends

One of the fun things about being a writer is having lots of friends who write, too. An even funner thing^* is that, as a writer, I can help promote their stuff.

Since today is Cyber Monday — a day promoting online shopping for the holidays — then I’ll take my chance now to help a few pals sell a few more books. And this is more than just cronyism; these truly are good books, even great ones. If you have a geek in your life (and let’s face it: you’re reading this blog, so look in the mirror) any and all of these makes perfect gifts.

Furiously Happy

[I’ll start off with this one, which isn’t really in the geek category, but Jenny is a great person, and a Doctor Who fan, so I’ll allow it.]

Sometimes, we can’t find any happiness in our lives. The deep, dark terrors within us make us broken, and devour that happiness.

But sometimes — not always, but sometimes — we can with help overcome those seemingly insurmountable problems, face down the wall blocking us from the light, and find the happiness that is, in fact, there.

Sometimes it’s those flaws themselves that cast that light into relief, show us that despite and even sometime because of our flaws, things can be OK. Better than OK.

That’s the lesson I got from my friend Jenny Lawson’s book, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book about Horrible Things. It may not be the lesson you get, but that’s part of the theme anyway: We all have our dragons to ride. Jenny encompasses that more than anyone I know, a woman who has self-admitted flaws that might keep a normal human down, but instead make her shine so brightly. Watch:

I get choked up watching that every time. Somehow, though, Jenny manages to take these terrible things and spin them into magic, writing a book that is as absurdly funny as it is uplifting. If you’ve read her first book, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, then you already know that, but if you haven’t, a) go buy it, and 2) buy this one and read them both. She’s a master of turning the horrible into the funny.

On top of all that, Jenny is profoundly NSFW. Man, I love her.   

You’re Never Weird on the Internet [almost]

If you need an introduction to Felicia Day then you should have your internet privileges revoked. Felicia is an actress, a producer of geek content, a gamer, a writer, and just an all-around good person. Also, apparently, a Mad Scientist, too.

It’s easy to think of her as a “celebrity”, someone larger than life. But in her book, You’re Never Weird on the Internet [almost], she talks candidly of her struggle with mental illness, including a crippling anxiety that has tried to take her down many times. And like Jenny’s book, it’s really funny and charming and endearing (which I think she can’t help).

I will guarantee someone you know has been or is going through the same sorts of things Felicia and Jenny have. At some level, we all have. Buy them these books.

Thing Explainer

For reasons I’ll never quite understand, I have a lot of really smart and creative friends. Even then, I don’t use the word “genius” much, but if it applies to anyone, it’s permanently affixed to Randall Munroe. Creator of xkcd and what if?, I’ve never met anyone who can absorb knowledge in so many disparate fields, integrate it, and then use it to make funny things.

His new book, Thing Explainer, is a wonder. I already wrote about it when he announced it, so go read that, come back here, and buy the book. You want it.

Full disclosure: I helped a bit with the space section of the book, but you should get it anyway.

Zen Pencils

Gavin Aung Than is another buddy of mine. He’s an artist who takes inspirational writings and speeches and draws comics around them; he calls his work Zen Pencils. He has a gift for taking strong words and amplifying them with art, and I love his work. I’ve written about his stuff many times. His first book, Zen Pencils: Cartoon Quotes from Inspirational Folks, is great, and now he has a second: Zen Pencils-Volume Two: Dream the Impossible Dream. He has cartoons about Amy Poehler, Chris Hardwick, Isaac Asimov, and many more.

He really is great. His drawings never fail to make me smile, and can be profoundly insightful.

Hollyweird Science

I met scientist and writer Kevin Grazier a long time ago at a scifi convention in LA. We hit it off right away. He got me a gig as a science consultant on a TV show for kids, and we’ve done eleventy bajillion panels together at various cons.

Like me, Kevin doesn’t like bad science on TV and movies, but also like me he’s more than willing to forgive the odd transgression or two when it helps the story along (and also gives points for stories that at least try to get things straight). Along with Steven Cass, Kevin wrote a book called Hollyweird Science: From Quantum Quirks to the Multiverse, which dissects the good, the bad, and the ugly in various programs.

It’s written for the interested layperson, but doesn’t shy away from the more mathy and sciencey bits as well. This book is a must-have for any science fiction fan who puts stress on the first word of that phrase.

Hawai’i Nights

Rogelio Bernal Andreo is a master astrophotographer; I’ve posted his work countless times on the blog (and he graciously allowed me to use several of his shots for Crash Course Astronomy, too). He has a book out with pictures he’s taken from Hawaii that shows the beautiful islands combined with the night skies there, and the results are gorgeous. It’s called Hawai’i Nights, and if you’re looking for a lush coffee table book, here you go. It’s available as a digital copy, softcover, and hardcover, too.

Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond

I’ve known Megan Watzke and Kimberly Arcand for forever, it seems. They’re fellow science communicators, working with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory where they do an excellent job educating the public about X-ray astronomy.

They’ve written a new book called Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond, which is pretty self-explanatory. It’s a coffee table book filled with fantastic images explaining all the different flavors of light and what they tell us about the Universe. It’s written in clear, readable text, and it’s entertaining as well as educational. I just checked the price, and it’s a flipping steal at $19.22! Hurry!

Breakthrough!: 100 Astronomical Images That Changed the World

I’ve featured Robert Gendler’s astronomical images on my blog here many times. He’s put together a book with Jay GaBany called Breakthrough!: 100 Astronomical Images That Changed the World. This is more than just a pretty picture book; they go through the history of photography and astrophotography, showing important pictures that really did change how we view the heavens.

I learned a lot reading this, and it was fascinating. Examples: The first known photo was taken in 1826/7, and it was an eight-hour exposure using a camera obscura. The first astrophotograph was taken of the Moon in 1845, and was destroyed in a fire. It goes on like that, with very cool photos loaded with information about them. They go through the history of technological improvements over time, and by halfway through the book you’re in the modern era of digital color imagery, and your jaw will hang open in awe at the progress we’ve made.

Me

Because why not: I wrote some books, too. Bad Astronomy, Death from the Skies!, and Nerd Disses are all still available, and I think they’re pretty good.

So that’s what I have for you. Mind you, this is a small slice of what’s out there, of course. If you have a favorite science/geek book, then feel free to leave a link in the comments! The point of all this is to share the joy and wonder, so go ahead and share them.

^* I am a professional writer, and I used that word; therefore it is a word.

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Fall issue of The Planetary Report is Here!

At last! The fall issue of The Planetary Report is off the press—or ready for Planetary Society members to download now.

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Water World

Although Enceladus and Saturn's rings are largely made up of water ice, they show very different characteristics. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IvHEuX

The Week in Climate Part 1: Remember When October Was the Start of Fall?

One of the hardest parts of writing about global warming — and there are lots and lots of hard parts — is simply keeping up with the news. Much of it comes in short newsy bits, worth knowing but difficult to write about as an individual full post. Since the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference is being held in Paris this week, I’m posting a week-long series of shorter articles about global warming and its fallout.

2015 has been a hot one. The hottest, in fact: It’s a cinch to be the hottest year on record. Several months this year have been the hottest of those months on record — looking at each month since 1880, 2015 had the hottest February on record, as well as the hottest March, May, June, July, August, and September.

We can now add October to that list, with a vengeance: It blows any previous October over the past 135 years out of the water, about 0.2° C hotter than the previous record holder… which was October of last year, in 2014.

Note the trend in that graph: Up, up, and away. And October 2015 was about 0.4°C hotter than the trend. Note too that this comes from two different agencies; both the Japan Meteorological Agency’s and NASA’s numbers agree.

As Tamino points out in that post linked above, October 2015 was the hottest month ever seen. Hotter than any July, any August. Think on that.

Incidentally, the faux “pause” is in the news again, mostly because of Lamar Smith’s (R-Texas) fanatical crusade against reality. To drive home just how embarrassingly wrong Smith is, a sixth study came out showing the “pause” doesn’t exist — and that’s the sixth study just this year. The Berkeley Earth group has chipped in as well, showing we’re warming up right on schedule. Even Smith's hometown paper lambastes him for his overreach and abuse of power.

Smith is not just wrong, he’s dangerous, pressuring scientists, sowing discord, and wasting great gobs of taxpayer money. Thanks to gerrymandering he’s unlikely to be voted out of office in Texas, but if the Republicans lose their House majority, he will no longer be Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology… and the US will no longer be quite as big a global laughing stock when it comes to politics and science.

I’ll add that Kathryn Sullivan, director of the NOAA, the environmental agency under attack by Smith, wrote a letter to Smith defending science and the scientists under her leadership, detailing his politically (and fossil fuel funded) shenanigans. In that letter, she writes (emphasis mine),

Finally, Mr. Chairman, let me assure you that I am not engaged in our associated with any “politically correct agenda”. I and the entire NOAA team take seriously the charge to provide the best environmental science and reliable data to the nation and the world. Our work is relied upon every day to drive commerce and to protect public safety and national security. I proudly serve President Obama, as I proudly served President Reagan, President Bush, President Clinton, and President Bush before him. I am a life-long public servant profoundly dedicated to using science to inform decision-making in the best interested of the nation. I have not and will not allow anyone to manipulate the science or coerce the scientists who work for me.

Holy. WOW. I know she’s defending the allegations about those scientists in that last line, but it also reads very much to me like an accusation directed at Smith.

Dr. Sullivan is a freakin’ national hero. When Smith’s comeuppance comes, and this long global nightmare is behind us, I hope she receives a medal for defending reality in this way.

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Favorite Astro Plots #3: The rate of lunar cratering

The third entry in my series of blog posts about Favorite Astro Plots contains one of the biggest discoveries from the Apollo program -- as well as one of the biggest questions in planetary science. The chart was nominated by planetary scientist Barbara Cohen. It has to do with the ages of surfaces on the Moon.

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Dark Sand Cascades on Mars

They might look like trees on Mars, but they're not. Groups of dark brown streaks have been photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on melting pinkish sand dunes covered with light frost. The above image was taken in 2008 April near the North Pole of Mars. At that time, dark sand on the interior of Martian sand dunes became more and more visible as the spring Sun melted the lighter carbon dioxide ice. When occurring near the top of a dune, dark sand may cascade down the dune leaving dark surface streaks -- streaks that might appear at first to be trees standing in front of the lighter regions, but cast no shadows. Objects about 25 centimeters across are resolved on this image spanning about one kilometer. Close ups of some parts of this image show billowing plumes indicating that the sand slides were occurring even while the image was being taken. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Oo0Vot

Adam Savage, Still Untitled

My Close Personal Friend Adam Savage™ does a lot of fun stuff with the folks at Tested.com, including a podcast with Tested founders Will Smith and Norman Chan called “Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project”. The three of them ostensibly have a topic to cover, but they always seem to wind up all over the place in the discussion, which is pretty much how all my conversations with Adam go.

It’s pretty entertaining, as you’d expect; getting three smart, interesting people together to talk about stuff is generally a good listen. But their episode from Nov. 24, titled “So About That UFO”, is especially good, for two reasons. One is that they talk about the Trident missile launch from early November that freaked so many people out in California.

The other reason is that they spend a full minute talking about what a great guy I am. Modesty prevents me from agreeing with them whole-heartedly and praising their obvious excellent taste, so instead why don’t you just give it a watch?

The good part starts at 4:07. Seriously, it was very kind of them to say such wonderful things, and honestly, back atcha, gents. I got a chance to hang with all three of them for a while at San Diego Comic Con this past summer, and it was a lot of fun. 

“Untitled” is great, and you can find it on the Tested site linked above, or the audio-only version is on iTunes. Subscribe! Enjoy!

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Rosetta and Comet Outbound

Not a bright comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko now sweeps slowly through planet Earth's predawn skies near the line-up of planets along the ecliptic. Still, this composite of telescopic images follows the comet's progress as it moves away from the Sun beyond the orbit of Mars, from late September (left) through late November (far right). Its faint but extensive coma and tails are viewed against the colorful background of stars near the eastern edge of the constellation Leo. A year ago, before its perihelion passage, the comet was less active, though. Then the Rosetta mission's lander Philae made it's historic landing, touching down on the surface of the comet's nucleus. via NASA http://ift.tt/1kYXBok

Uvula

Back in the olden days, when the Sun was slightly cooler and the Universe a fraction smaller, I lived in Virginia. At the time (and apparently still today), for a little extra money you could purchase a “vanity” car license plate, with up to seven letters on it. I like this idea, and it’s sometimes fun to try to figure out what other people’s plates mean.

As a bit of silliness, I decided to get UVULA, because why not? I happen to have one, and you probably do too, and I used to (and apparently still today) like to do things just because they’re off-kilter and weird.

So I filled out the form at the DMV, submitted it, and waited. After a few days I got a letter in the mail telling me my request was denied. No reason was given. Now, I happen to know that if the plate you wanted was already taken, they’d tell you (that happened to me once). So why did they refuse me?

To this day, I don’t know. But I have my suspicions. Despite its latitude, Virginia still thinks of itself as a southern state, and a genteel one. I strongly suspect someone at the DMV was confusing a uvula with a vulva, and denied me on the grounds of their own mistaken prurient metathesis.

Ah well. I went with another plate idea, and never looked back.

I’m reminded of all this because my friend, Hank Green — who himself, I presume, has a uvula — just made a SciShow episode about the dangly little throat projection. I have to admit I was never an expert on such things, but I was still surprised at the versatile little appendage and the multiple roles it plays in the back of the mouth.

So there you go. I suppose it’s easy to belittle the uvula, but you do so at your own risk. I’ll personally never downplay it again.

Oh — as for my license plate dilemma, I finally settled on one that befit my greenish streamlined Datsun B210: KLINGON. You can make fun of me if you want, but it was the envy of the Old Dominion. I stopped at a red light once, and a guy pulled up next to me. He caught my eye and said, “I wanted KLINGON but they told me it was taken!”

I laughed, yelled “Q’Plah!”, and drove away. In my rear view window I could see his mouth hanging open, but sadly I couldn’t see his uvula myself.

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Gravity's Grin

Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, published 100 years ago this month, predicted the phenomenon of gravitational lensing. And that's what gives these distant galaxies such a whimsical appearance, seen through the looking glass of X-ray and optical image data from the Chandra and Hubble space telescopes. Nicknamed the Cheshire Cat galaxy group, the group's two large elliptical galaxies are suggestively framed by arcs. The arcs are optical images of distant background galaxies lensed by the foreground group's total distribution of gravitational mass dominated by dark matter. In fact the two large elliptical "eye" galaxies represent the brightest members of their own galaxy groups which are merging. Their relative collisional speed of nearly 1,350 kilometers/second heats gas to millions of degrees producing the X-ray glow shown in purple hues. Curiouser about galaxy group mergers? The Cheshire Cat group grins in the constellation Ursa Major, some 4.6 billion light-years away. via NASA http://ift.tt/1HskNFu

A Precocious Black Hole

In July 2015, researchers announced the discovery of a black hole that grew much more quickly than its host galaxy. The discovery calls into question previous assumptions on development of galaxies. The black hole was discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope, and detected in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, by ESA's XMM-Newton and NASA's Chandra. via NASA http://ift.tt/1jnIyTy

Black Friday… on Mars

Today is the day after American Thanksgiving, considered to be the first shopping day of the Christmas season. Due to the onslaught of eager shoppers to stores, it’s been nicknamed Black Friday.

It’s not restricted to the US, though. The Curiosity rover is having its own Black Friday on Mars — in this case, a bit more literally: It’s reached the edge of the Bagnold Dunes, a windswept region in the vast Gale Crater with huge, towering dunes.

The image above was taken Nov. 25, 2015 (also called Sol 1174 — a “sol” is a day on Mars, which is about a half hour longer than an Earth day, and Curiosity has been on Mars for 1175 sols as I write this). Look at it! You can see the flat, grayish rocks in the foreground, and distant hills in the background, but the view is dominated by lush, gorgeous, rippling dunes (check out this mosaic of images showing a much wider angle, too, because wow).

The dunes are dark, likely due to the sand being basaltic — a dark rock created when lava cools. Over billions of years, the exposed Martian basalt has eroded, creating grains of sand that can be blown around by the wind. But not easily!

Mars has an atmosphere, but the pressure at the surface is less than one percent that of Earth. It has winds, but even though they can move rapidly, the air is so thin they don’t have much force to them. Still, it’s enough to blow around the ever-present Martian dust (made mostly of iron oxide, giving it a pinkish-red color… after all, it’s rust!), and finer grained sand particles.

Dune fields litter the surface, but a lot of them are inactive; the wind there isn’t enough to move the sand around. But some fields are active, and the dunes can be seen to move over time. At Bagnold, the dunes migrate at roughly 0.4 meters per year — a little over a foot annually. That’s not much, but it’s measurable.

These dunes are a juicy target for Curiosity. It’s the first time an active extraterrestrial dune field has ever been examined in situ, for one. For another, examining the material will tell scientists on Earth what minerals are in the sand, of course. Measurements from orbit show that there appear to be some minerals located in some parts of the dune field but not in others. Why?

Also, as wind blows the grains it sorts them naturally by size. The distribution of grain sizes around the dunes will indicate how the winds blow, how the grains deposit onto the ground, and more.

The dune field is pretty big, kilometers across. It’s right on the path of the rover, near the foothills on the northwest flank of Aeolis Mons, aka Mt. Sharp, Curiosity’s eventual goal. It’ll have to cross the dunes to get to the mountain.

I’m personally thrilled by this shot, and I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. I love dunes on Mars! They’re spectacular, and fascinating.

But more than that, they’re so Earth-like in so many ways. The shapes — horseshoe-shaped barchans dunes, or the more stereotypical transverse dunes in the picture above — look achingly like those on our own fair planet.

Mars was once wetter, warmer, and had thicker air. Now it’s all gone. That’s because of eons of pummeling by the solar wind, the flow of subatomic particles from the Sun. The Earth has a magnetic field, protecting us from that, so we’re still warm and wet, even after 4.56 billion years.

If you want to be thankful for something, be thankful for that. And also that in some places, Black Friday is actually and truly a beautiful thing.

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Planets of the Morning

Planet Earth's horizon stretches across this recent Solar System group portrait, seen from the southern hemisphere's Las Campanas Observatory. Taken before dawn it traces the ecliptic with a line-up familiar to November's early morning risers. Toward the east are bright planets Venus, Mars, and Jupiter as well as Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo. Of course the planets are immersed in the faint glow of zodiacal light, visible from the dark site rising at an angle from the horizon. Sometimes known as the false dawn, it's no accident the zodiacal light and planets both lie along the ecliptic. Formed in the flattened protoplanetary disk, the Solar System's planet's all orbit near the ecliptic plane, while dust near the plane scatters sunlight, the source of the faint zodiacal glow. via NASA http://ift.tt/1NvB8f9

Happy Goatsgiving

There’s a very long list of things I feel thankful for this holiday, far too many to actually itemize. But somewhere on that list, well above the median line, would be these goofy creatures:

We moved out to the country outside of Boulder a little while ago, and there was some extra space in the yard where the previous owners of the house had a small horse barn. We had no use for it, really, and couldn’t decide what to do with it. Then one day we were watching adorable goat videos, and my wife got this look in her eye…

And that’s how I became a goat person. We have two Nigerian Dwarfs and two pygmies. We picked up Clayton Forrester, one of the Nigerians^*, when he was still being weaned, so we bottle-fed him goat milk for a week or so. He still likes to sit on our laps and cuddle while he chews his cud. It’s ridiculously cute:

Seriously. C’mon. There's also this. 

I post pictures and videos of these dorks all the time on Instagram; follow me there if you want to see them. And you do.

I love these silly animals, and I love to share their antics with people online. It may not save the world, but you know what? Every little bit of joy we share, no matter how small, incrementally makes the world a better place. If a million people do that, even once or twice a week, it would add up.

Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Make the world better, even just a little.

* The other goats are Jack, Batman, and Sam. Someone asked me if Jack and Sam were from Stargate SG-1, and I could've kicked myself for never seeing that. But no, Jack is actually Jack Burton, from the single greatest movie ever made. I like to think that Clayton is named after a character in another favorite movie, but my daughter named him, so it's probably for this guy.

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Unusual Pits Discovered on Pluto

Why are there unusual pits on Pluto? The indentations were discovered during the New Horizons spacecraft's flyby of the dwarf planet in July. The largest pits span a kilometer across and dip tens of meters into a lake of frozen nitrogen, a lake that sprawls across Sputnik Planum, part of the famous light-colored heart-shaped region named Tombaugh Regio. Although most pits in the Solar System are created by impact craters, these depressions look different -- many are similarly sized, densely packed, and aligned. Rather, it is thought that something has caused these specific areas of ice to sublimate and evaporate away. In fact, the lack of overlying impact craters indicates these pits formed relatively recently. Even though the robotic New Horizons is now off to a new destination, it continues to beam back to Earth new images and data from its dramatic encounter with Pluto. via NASA http://ift.tt/1QHXIRV

How Can We Write About Science When People Are Dying?

Stories about exploration and wonder can be powerful antidotes to seemingly endless suffering and destruction.

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Americans Can Now Mine Asteroids

President Obama Signs Bill Recognizing Asteroid Resource Property Rights into Law, Planetary Resources "Planetary Resources, the asteroid mining company, applauds President Obama who signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act (H.R. 2262) into law. This law recognizes the right...

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In Pictures: LightSail Cameras Prepped for Flight

LightSail's flight cameras are being prepped for installation after receiving a software upgrade and checkout from their manufacturer.

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If This Can Happen to NOAA, It Can Happen to NASA

Standoff over government climate study provokes national uproar by scientists, Washington Post "Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, has subpoenaed scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and demanded that they...

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NASA’s Webb Space Telescope Receives First Mirror Installation

NASA has successfully installed the first of 18 flight mirrors onto the James Webb Space Telescope, beginning a critical piece of the observatory’s construction.

November 25, 2015
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On the Anniversary of Two Scientific Revolutions

This week marks the (very round number) anniversaries of two of the most important scientific papers ever published.

One you’ve heard of — or at least, you’ve heard of the author and its concepts. The other you probably haven’t. Yet it is equally as important, and tells as great a tale.

First things first: On November 25, 1915 — 100 years ago today — Albert Einstein submitted a paper to the Proceedings of the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin titled, “Die Feldgleichungen der Gravitation”, or “The Field Equations of Gravitation”.

If that doesn’t sound familiar, maybe it would help if I said that this paper laid the groundwork for Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

Oh, right. That paper.

Einstein published his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905. That groundbreaking work showed that space and time were relative, and that if you moved near the speed of light relative to another observer you’d see these two properties very differently. Since then, the Special Theory has since been experimentally verified countless times.

After publishing it, Einstein started working out how to add gravity to this mix. That’s extraordinarily difficult, and the math fiercely complicated. It took him many years, but he submitted the paper in Nov. 1915, and it was published in the next month. In it, he made a startling and fundamental claim: Gravity is not really a force as had been thought, but instead is a warping of space caused by matter.

Sound esoteric? Well, that’s because it is, a bit. Centuries earlier, Isaac Newton had proposed his theory of universal gravitation, describing gravity as a force, attracting one object to another. It depended on their mutual masses and distance from each other. Newton’s idea works pretty well, and in fact we still use it today to plot courses for spaceships!

The term “force” is difficult to accurately define in layman’s terms^*, but you can think of it as some sort of connection between objects, attracting them or repelling them. That’s how Newtonian mechanics works out.

But Einstein’s General Theory changed all that. He found that gravity is not a force between two objects, but a property of space itself, a geometric bending or warping of it. It’s usually described this way: Matter tells space how to bend, and space tells matter how to move.

It was a fundamental shift in how we thought of space and matter, and fit right in with Einstein’s previous Special Theory work in showing that space and time were connected. Their implications are wide-ranging as well; for example, the solutions to these General Theory field equations describe the structure of space, and naturally predict the existence of black holes. They also predict the existence of gravitational lensing (which we’ve seen, and which led to a confirmation of the existence of dark matter), gravitational radiation (which we’ve detected indirectly), and gravitational time dilation (which we’ve also seen).

An even more profound impact of these equations is that they lead the way to understanding how the Universe itself formed and evolves, and even of its ultimate fate.

Heck, without the General Theory your map app wouldn’t work!

So, yeah. It’s kindof a big deal.

The second anniversary we’re celebrating now is no less in stature, and has an equally deep practical impact on the world.

150 years ago, in late November, 1865, James Clerk Maxwell published his paper called “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field”, and in it he wrote down a set of equations we now call Maxwell’s Equations, which should hint at their importance. Why? They describe how electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin, actually the effects of a single force called electromagnetism. Up to that point they were treated separately. Maxwell united them.

The importance of this can’t be overstated! His equations show that electricity can be used to induce magnetism, and vice versa. We generate electrical power based on this.^† He showed that light is itself a wave, traveling through space as an oscillating electromagnetic field. Ever heard of the electromagnetic spectrum? Yeah. That’s from Maxwell. His equations show how light behaves, and in fact you can derive the speed of light from these equations if you can measure some other fundamental properties of space.

It is no exaggeration to say that Maxwell’s equations are at the very foundation of our modern civilization: Computers, electrical systems, global communication — all of this comes straight out of these equations. Einstein’s ideas about relativity derive from them as well.

But there’s more to this story. Maxwell wasn’t a university scientist, working under a research grant to investigate the disparate fields of electricity and magnetism.  Nor did he set out to revolutionize the entire planet’s civilization. He was just a curious person, someone who delighted in nature, who was puzzled by how it works, and who wanted to understand it.

And this led to the economic basis of a world.

This story is lovely and wonderful, and was best told by Carl Sagan in his opus, The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. I strongly urge you to buy and read that book; it’s magnificent, and many (including me) consider it Sagan’s best work. In one chapter, he talks about Maxwell and his equations, and it’s a paean to allowing scientists to study the Universe unfettered by politics (academic or governmental), allowing their imaginations to guide them.

In many fields of science there must be moral and ethical guidance, of course, but in theoretical physics it is the math and physics themselves that are the guide. Maxwell followed them and revolutionized a world. Einstein followed them and revolutionized our thinking about the Universe.

And today we celebrate the anniversary of both.

For science!

^* Although, in this case, one could quote Kenobi et al, 1977: “[A force] surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” While widely admired and quoted, many find Kenobi’s dabbling in mysticism a bit off-putting.

^† To be fair, scientists before Maxwell knew that electricity and magnetism influenced each other, but Maxwell quantified it, defined it, and it’s from there that our modern power systems are derived.

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Hubble Captures a Galactic Waltz

This curious galaxy — only known by the seemingly random jumble of letters and numbers 2MASX J16270254+4328340 — has been captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope dancing the crazed dance of a galactic merger. The galaxy has merged with another galaxy leaving a fine mist, made of millions of stars, spewing from it in long trails. via NASA http://ift.tt/1P8Z0p1

ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/24/15

Sprint Ultrasound:  Kelly performed his Flight Day 240 thigh and calf ultrasound scans today with assistance from Lindgren and guidance from the Sprint ground team.  Ultrasound scans are used to evaluate spaceflight-induced changes in the muscle volume. The Sprint investigation evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise training to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function in ISS crewmembers during long-duration missions. Upon completion of this study, investigators expect to provide an integrated resistance and aerobic exercise training protocol capable of maintaining muscle, bone and cardiovascular health while reducing total exercise time over the course of a long-duration space flight. This will provide valuable information in support of the long term goal of protecting human fitness for even longer space exploration missions.   Fine Motor Skills:  Kornienko completed a session of the Fine Motor Skills experiment.  During the experiment he performed a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet. This 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 gravity. Fine Motor Skills sessions completed by Kelly and Kornienko will provide data for identification of trends or variations in fine motor performance in microgravity over the duration of their year-long space mission and upon their return to earth.   EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station) Rack 6 Laptop Software Load:  Yui supported the ongoing software updates to ISS EXPRESS Rack laptops by copying a software load to the EXPRESS Rack 6 laptop.  These software updates include enhanced security with the Windows 7 operating system, new features and support for new capabilities.   Crew Handover Conference:  Kelly, Volkov, and Kornienko conducted a video conference with Soyuz 45 Crew (Malenchenko, Kopra, and Peake) in order to pass along lessons learned. The purpose was to begin the handover process prior to the arrival on orbit through video conferences and data exchanges between the current crew and the upcoming crew.  Soyuz 45 is scheduled to launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 15 December 2015.   Cygnus Robotics Onboard Trainer (ROBoT) Session 1:  Kelly, Lindgren, and Yui utilized a Robotic Trainer in order to practice nominal and off nominal Cygnus rendezvous and capture scenarios.  Orbital ATK (OA)-4 is scheduled to launch on December 3rd with rendezvous and berthing occurring December 6th.   Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS):  Today robotic ground controllers commanded the SSRMS to grapple the PMM Flight Releasable Grapple Fixture (FRGF) using Latching End Effector (LEE) B in support of the investigation into the rigidize mechanism anomaly that occurred during HTV-5 release.   Unloaded checkouts were performed on October 23rd.   Loaded checkouts were successfully performed today and the data gathered will be assessed by the team.  Then controllers performed LEE-B diagnostics on the prime string and SSRMS brake and joint diagnostics on both strings, in preparation for OA-4 capture and berthing in December.   Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. HMS – Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Setup Virus Definition File Update on Auxiliary Computer System (ВКС) Laptops USND2 – Hardware Activation Fluid Integrated Rack (FIR) – Review SPRINT – Scanning Ops Fine Motor Skills Eye Examination [Deferred] On MCC Go БД-2 Test SPRINT – Operator Assistance Photography of SM window 02, 12, and EV2 hatch glass in MRM2 FIR – ELC Hardware Setup HMS – OCT Equipment Stowage Removal of Video Equipment Used to capture БД-2 Exercise and Downlink the file Soyuz 717 Samsung Tablet Charge – start Evaluation of Orthostatic Stability with LBNP ER6 – Closeout Ops Clean Bench (CB)  Checkout WRS – Recycle Tank Fill [Deferred] JRNL – Journal Entry [Unmarked] Crew handover conference USND2 – Hardware Deactivation Disassembly of КЦП Unit (#10Ю=А805), S/N 004/СРС Health Maintenance System (HMS) – Blood Pressure Cuff Troubleshooting Fluid Integrated Rack (FIR) – Hardware Reconfiguration Symbolic Activity / r/g 0645 Express Rack Label Updates Filling (separation) EDV (KOV) No.1106 (00063570R, ФГБ1ПГО_1_111) from EDV No.1169 (00068247R, ФГБ1ПГО_1_107) for Elektron system Date and Time Synchronization on 6 RS photo cameras to the station time Repairs of SM Interior Panel 326 by Installing Overlay Panel – Day 2 Closing Lab window shutter within 3 meters of SSRMS operation ROBoT OBT  Session 1 Soyuz 717 Samsung tablet charging – end INTERACTION-2. Experiment Ops ER6 –  DVD insertion and SW load Unlatching N2 Nadir Hatch Hard Stops IMS Delta File Prep Fundoscope Exam Setup (instilling eye drops for a pupil dilation) СОЖ Maintenance WRS – Recycle Tank Fill HABIT – Experiment Ops [Unmarked] Fundoscope Setup for exam Disassembly of КЦП Unit (#10Ю=А805), S/N 004/СРС (FM) Fundoscope – Eye Exam Symbolic Activity Equipment stowage after Fundoscope Eye Imaging BLR48 – starting measurement Health Maintenance System (HMS) Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire FIR – Reconfig for nominal ops ER6 – DVD Removal from the Laptop Preparation of Reports for Roscosmos Web Site and Social Media ECON-M. Observation and Photography URAGAN Observations and Photography Installation of inserts to ease opening of SM interior panel locks (Unstow Structural Elements kit)   Completed Task List Items None   Ground Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. SSRMS LEE-B Grapple of PMM FRGF and Data Gather NORS Heater Test   Three-Day Look Ahead: Wednesday, 11/25: Cygnus Robotics OBT, 44S Emergency OBT, HAPTICS-1 Ops, Port TRRJ Survey, ISS Reboost Thursday, 11/26: Crew Holiday Friday, 11/27:  RRM Transfer Cage Install, HAPTICS-1 Ops, Crew Departure Prep, Stbd CQ Cleaning, IMAX File D/L   QUICK ISS Status – Environmental Control Group:                               Component Status Elektron On 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 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) Norm Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Lab Full Up Trace Contaminant Control System (TCCS) Node 3 Off  

November 25, 2015 at 12:58AM
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Aurora over Clouds

Auroras usually occur high above the clouds. The auroral glow is created when fast-moving particles ejected from the Sun impact the Earth's magnetosphere, from which charged particles spiral along the Earth's magnetic field to strike atoms and molecules high in the Earth's atmosphere. An oxygen atom, for example, will glow in the green light commonly emitted by an aurora after being energized by such a collision. The lowest part of an aurora will typically occur at 100 kilometers up, while most clouds usually exist only below about 10 kilometers. The relative heights of clouds and auroras are shown clearly in the featured picture from Dyrholaey, Iceland. There, a determined astrophotographer withstood high winds and initially overcast skies in an attempt to capture aurora over a picturesque lighthouse, only to take, by chance, the featured picture along the way. via NASA http://ift.tt/1IdvuGN

What Blue Origin Did

ICYMI @BlueOrigin recreated Alan Shepard's 1st flight - without Alan Shepard - but they can re-use the rocket - unlike Alan Shepard's rocket— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 25, 2015...

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Katherine Johnson Awarded The Medal of Freedom

NASA Statements on Katherine Johnson's Medal of Freedom, NASA "Katherine Johnson once remarked that even though she grew up in the height of segregation, she didn't think much about it because 'I didn't have time for that don't have a...

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Billionaire Space Nerds Duke It Out On Twitter

The rarest of beasts - a used rocket. Controlled landing not easy, but done right, can look easy. Check out video: http://ift.tt/1XdpwBV Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 24, 2015 Jeff maybe unaware SpaceX suborbital VTOL flight began 2013. Orbital water...

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When Smart People Say Stupid Things

Neil deGrasse Tyson: 'The delusion is thinking that SpaceX is going to lead the space frontier', The Verge "The delusion is thinking that SpaceX is going to lead the space frontier. That's just not going to happen, and it's not...

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NASA Statements on Katherine Johnson’s Medal of Freedom

The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about former NASA mathematician and physicist Katherine Johnson being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom Tuesday.

November 24, 2015
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Blue Origin Milestone: Rocket Lands Safely After Trip to Space

Jeff Bezos’s rocket company Blue Origin just surprised everyone by revealing their New Shepherd rocket reached an incredible milestone yesterday: In a test run, the rocket took off vertically, reached space, then landed again vertically minutes later.

The rocket launched from their site in west Texas, accelerating to a top speed of about 4600 kph, and achieving an altitude of just over 100 kilometers, the technical height defined to be the start of space (called the Kármán line). They also deployed the crew capsule at a height of about six km above ground, which parachuted safely back to Earth.

Blue Origin put together a nice — if somewhat misleading — video of the event. I say that because in the middle of the real footage they inserted CGI animation of a crew inside the rocket’s capsule; this was an uncrewed flight. Still, the video is cool:

I like the shots of the landing from various angles at the video’s end; it looks more like a Hollywood scifi movie than reality! But real it is. The descent is unnerving; the rocket engines don’t reignite until it’s only about 1600 meters above the ground, and it decelerates pretty hard. That saves a lot of fuel and makes perfect sense, but it’s a little scary to see it! Still, the rocket performed extremely well, and landed only a little over a meter from the center of the launch pad. Amazing.

Blue Origin attempted a similar test flight in April 2015, but the landing system hydraulics failed and the booster crashed. Apparently, and happily, this issue has been addressed.

So congratulations to Jeff Bezos and his team on this incredible test! This is very exciting to see.

However, I’m seeing some confused coverage of this event, and I want to clear a couple of things up.

First, yes, this launch is a big deal! It shows that Blue Origin is making excellent strides towards commercial space launches, a field currently dominated by SpaceX. Getting up to the Kármán line is a major achievement at all, let alone successfully deploying the capsule and then landing the rocket again. SpaceX itself is based on the idea of competing against big government contractors, so competition for them is good.

Bezos himself took to Twitter to announce the success, and made a subtle dig at Elon Musk and SpaceX at the same time:

I smiled, but I have to point out that, as great a technical achievement as this was, what Bezos has accomplished here is quite different than what Musk has been attempting.

The Blue Origin New Shepherd is a suborbital rocket, designed to go straight up into space and back down again. The SpaceX Falcon 9 is an orbital rocket, which takes vastly more energy (in other words, much higher speed) to achieve its goal.

Musk responded on Twitter pointing this out:

He’s right. Landing a booster from an orbital flight is hugely harder than from a suborbital one. For orbital flights, the booster not only has to move far faster, it also will have a large horizontal speed relative to the ground to get to orbit, so slowing it is more difficult as well. SpaceX has not yet achieved a successful landing this way, but what they’re doing is literally an order of magnitude more difficult than what Blue Origin did.

Then, in my opinion, Musk made something of an unfair comparison himself. He tweeted:

True, but Grasshopper (a test vehicle designed to launch and land vertically) only got 744 meters above the ground, wasn’t designed for high-altitude flights (it’s a testbed for the F9 landing tech), and didn’t deploy a capsule. The later F9R tests based on Grasshopper were very successful as well, but only got a kilometer off the ground. What Bezos did yesterday was far more technically difficult.

Mind you, suborbital flights are important. It’s more than just a tourist attraction (though a pricey one); real science can be done on such flights, even though weightlessness only lasts a few minutes. Blue Origin looks to be getting quite close to having the ability for these kinds of launches.

The company is known for secrecy, tending to announce achievements only after they’ve been reached. That’s understandable, and it can work to Blue Origin’s advantage in the media as a tortoise-and-hare story (one I think Bezos is happy with). That means details about their future goals are unclear, but the goal itself is obvious: getting in on the lucrative orbital satellite market as well. As I pointed out, the physics of this is quite different, and it’s a long journey there… but they just took a solid step in the right direction. Up. And back down again.

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NASA TV to Air Event Marking Arrival of Test Orion Powerhouse

NASA Television will broadcast an event marking the arrival of a full-size test version of the service module provided by the European Space Agency (ESA) for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at 12:30 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 30 at the agency’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

November 24, 2015
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Historic Formation Flight of NASA's WB-57s Over Houston

NASA's three WB-57s fly over foggy downtown Houston, Texas during their historic formation flight over the area on Nov. 19, 2015. This photo flight was the first time that all three WB-57s have been aloft simultaneously since the early 1970s, when the U.S. Air Force had an operational squadron of WB-57s. via NASA http://ift.tt/1ji4Q97

Blue Origin Lands Spent Suborbital Rocket Stage in Texas

Secretive spaceflight company Blue Origin flew its New Shephard launch vehicle to the edge of space, deployed a suborbital spacecraft and returned the spent booster rocket to Earth for an upright landing.

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2015 Reviews of childrens' books about space

Continuing an annual tradition, Emily Lakdawalla reviews children's books about space -- what's out there, how we explore, and why. Many of the books on this list aren't just for kids!

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NASA TV Coverage Set for Fourth Orbital ATK Resupply Mission to Space Station

NASA commercial partner Orbital ATK is targeting Thursday, Dec. 3, for the launch of its fourth contracted mission to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 4:30 p.m. EST.

November 24, 2015
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NASA Announces Early Stage Innovations Space Technology Research Grants

NASA has selected 15 university-led proposals for the study of innovative, early stage technologies that address high priority needs of America's space program.

November 24, 2015
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Just Another Day on Pluto

Pluto is an odd little beast.

You knew this, if you’ve been paying attention at all these past few months. But one thing that struck me recently is its 6.4-day rotation rate. That’s weird; most free bodies in the solar system spin either much faster than Earth or much slower. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune have days that are shorter than Earth’s, ranging from 10 to 17 or so hours. But Mercury takes 60 days, Venus a whopping 243 days. Mars spins at almost the same rate as Earth, with a day 24 hours 37 minutes long.

So Pluto’s week-long spin is an oddity. If you could watch it, what would it look like?

Well, it would look like the photo at the top of this post. Those images were taken by the New Horizons probe as it passed Pluto in July 2015. As the spacecraft approached, it took a lot of snapshots of the little world, and over time was able to see it at various points in its day. These were collected, scaled to the same size, and arrayed to show a day in the life of the frozen iceball.

Each shot shows the highest-resolution image taken for that particular point in the day. The shot at the 3:00 position was taken from farthest away (about eight million km), and the one at the 6:00 position was the hemisphere seen by the probe when it passed a mere 12,500 km over the surface.

You can see the familiar heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, a flatter region that is covered in nitrogen ice (the left lobe, Sputnik Planum, is much smoother than the right lobe). I like how you can see different resolutions blurring the features at different times; it is physically showing you what can and cannot be seen clearly during various points in the flyby.

Charon, Pluto’s outsized biggest moon, orbits the world in that same 6.4-day period, and also spins at the same rate (this is not a coincidence). The New Horizons team also put together a similar mosaic for Charon:

I’ll be honest: Despite the somewhat lower contrast and details, I like this one better. I think it’s because the north pole of Charon is so clearly marked by the dark spot nicknamed Mordor Macula. It’s not clear why Mordor is dark (and red), but it may have to do with organic molecules from Pluto raining down on it.

Geez. Pluto and Charon are weird.

Which brings me back to the length of the day/month there. Charon and the littler moons may have formed by a huge impact; a big chunk of ice and rock smacked Pluto hard long ago, and the debris coalesced to form those moons. The impact could have changed Pluto’s rotation rate, and then tidal interactions with the newly-born Charon would have modified it as well. Once everything locked into place, we got this week-long spin of the three systems (Pluto itself, Charon itself, and the two together orbiting each other).

Most small objects in the solar system have had their spin rate modified. Earth spun much faster before our own Moon formed in much the same way as Charon. Venus spins slowly and backwards, so it may have been flipped over by an impact (or some other process we haven’t quite figured out). Mercury’s proximity to the Sun played havoc with its spin. Asteroids spin up due to sunlight.

So perhaps Pluto isn’t all that odd after all. It’s actually quite normal in its weirdness… or, at least, that’s my spin on it.

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Blue Origin New Shepard Completes First Reusable Suborbital Flight

Blue Origin Makes Historic Rocket Landing [With Video] "Blue Origin today announced that its New Shepard space vehicle successfully flew to space, reaching its planned test altitude of 329,839 feet (100.5 kilometers) before executing a historic landing back at the...

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/23/15

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Troubleshooting:  Kelly and Lindgren attempted to restore full functionality to the slide mechanism that allows the MSG work volume to be extended for crew access but were not successful.  The MSG Ground Team is working with a ground unit to develop additional procedures for correcting the problem.  The slide mechanism initially malfunctioned last Tuesday, November 17th.   EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station) Rack 7 Laptop Software Load:  Yui supported the ongoing software updates to ISS EXPRESS Rack laptops by copying a software load to the EXPRESS Rack 7 laptop.  These software updates include enhanced security with the Windows 7 operating system, new features and support for new capabilities.   Biological Rhythms 48 Hours:  Lindgren donned the Holter Electrocardiogram to support JAXA’s Biological Rhythms 48 Hours investigation.  He then synchronized data between the Actiwatch and Holter.  This investigation studies the effects of long-term microgravity exposure on heart function by analyzing an astronaut’s electrocardiogram for 48 hours. While the ISS schedule follows Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), it is not known whether a separate biological rhythm is imposed on long-term flight crews. To study this, astronauts wear an Actiwatch for 96 hours and a Holter electrocardiograph for 48 hours.   Intracranial Pressure and Visual Impairment (IPVI):  For JAXA’s IPVI investigation, Lindgren took front and side photos of his face with a USB camera attached to the Medical Laptop.  He then participated in a conference with the ground to discuss any current medical conditions and upcoming IPVI operations.  Long-duration spaceflight may cause an elevation of intracranial pressure (ICP), resulting in changes in the optic nerve and ocular structure. The aim of this study is to non-invasively estimate the changes in intracranial pressure and brain circulation induced by long-duration spaceflights, by analyzing the arterial blood pressure and brain blood flow waveforms before and after space flight.  In addition, researchers hope to correlate the occurrence of abnormalities of the eye (e.g. optic disc edema) with ISS crewmembers experiencing an increase in intracranial pressure.   Veggie (Veg-01):  Kelly thinned seedlings today so that each Veg-01 Plant Pillow has one plant, and then refilled the pillows with water.  The Veg-01 investigation is used to assess on-orbit function and performance of the Veggie facility, focusing on the growth and development of seedlings in the spaceflight environment and the composition of microbial flora on the plants and the facility.  For this run, Zinnias will be grown for 60 days and are expected to produce flowers.   Story Time From Space:  Yui read “Atmospheres and Telescopes” from the book Max Goes to the Moon,” discussed the subject on camera, and demonstrated the scientific principles involved. Video recording of the activity will be downlinked to the ground and used for educational purposes.   Integrated Resistance and Aerobic Training Study (Sprint) Volume of Oxygen Utilized (VO2) Max:  For his Return minus 30 day (R-30) Sprint VO2 session, Yui attached Electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes to himself, set up and donned Heart Rate Monitor hardware, performed Portable Pulmonary Function System calibrations, and then performed the VO2 protocol.  The Sprint VO2 investigation evaluates the use of high intensity, low volume exercise to minimize loss of muscle, bone, and cardiovascular function in ISS crewmembers while reducing total exercise time during long-duration space missions.   Fine Motor Skills:  Kelly completed a session of the Fine Motor Skills experiment.  During the experiment he performed a series of interactive tasks on a touchscreen tablet. This 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 gravity. Fine Motor Skills sessions completed by Kelly and Kornienko will provide data for identification of trends or variations in fine motor performance in microgravity over the duration of their year-long space mission and upon their return to earth.  Kelly’s results will also be compared with a closely matched participant on Earth.   Cygnus/Orbital ATK (OA)-4 Preps:  Kelly, Yui, and Lindgren participated in a conference with Robotics Ground Controllers to discuss rendezvous operations for the OA-4 flight.  Following the conference, the crew completed a procedure review and then Kelly and Lindgren performed a Computer Based Training session.   Russian Joint Research (RJR) Microbiological Sampling:  On Saturday, Kornienko used the Microbial Air Sampler (MAS) and Surface Sample Kit (SSK) to take surface and air samples in the ISS to support a microbiological assessment of the ISS.  These activities are performed as part of a joint cooperative research program between NASA and the Russian Space Agency. The results of incubation and analysis of these samples will be used to identify ISS locations and surfaces prone to microbial contamination and will provide a scientific basis for decisions about future microbial monitoring on ISS and on future spacecraft used for human exploration.   Cognition:  Lindgren performed his Flight Day 122 session of the Cognition experiment on Saturday.  The Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) investigation is a battery of tests that measure 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 used allows for real-time measurement of cognitive performance while in space.   Journals:  Kelly completed a Journals entry on Saturday. The Journals investigation obtains information on behavioral and human issues that are relevant to the design of equipment and procedures used during astronauts during extended-duration missions. Study results provide information used in preparation for future missions to low-Earth orbit and beyond.   Water Processing Assembly (WPA) Fault:  Over the weekend on Saturday, WPA experienced a fault associated with the pre-heater in the Catalytic Reactor unit not staying above the required temperature.  Ground Teams assessed then modified temperature limits in order to allow WPA operations to continue, while longer term plans are discussed.   Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. Calf Volume Measurement IPVI – Photography […]

November 24, 2015 at 12:32AM
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A 212 Hour Exposure of Orion

The constellation of Orion is much more than three stars in a row. It is a direction in space that is rich with impressive nebulas. To better appreciate this well-known swath of sky, an extremely long exposure was taken over many clear nights in 2013 and 2014. After 212 hours of camera time and an additional year of processing, the featured 1400-exposure collage spanning over 40 times the angular diameter of the Moon emerged. Of the many interesting details that have become visible, one that particularly draws the eye is Barnard's Loop, the bright red circular filament arcing down from the middle. The Rosette Nebula is not the giant red nebula near the top of the image -- that is a larger but lesser known nebula known as Lambda Orionis. The Rosette Nebula is visible, though: it is the red and white nebula on the upper left. The bright orange star just above the frame center is Betelgeuse, while the bright blue star on the lower right is Rigel. Other famous nebulas visible include the Witch Head Nebula, the Flame Nebula, the Fox Fur Nebula, and, if you know just where to look, the comparatively small Horsehead Nebula. About those famous three stars that cross the belt of Orion the Hunter -- in this busy frame they can be hard to locate, but a discerning eye will find them just below and to the right of the image center. via NASA http://ift.tt/1YplPWR

Asteroid Redirect Mission FAST Draft Report Released

Asteroid Redirect Mission FAST Draft Report Available for Public Comment "The Formulation Assessment and Support Team (FAST) for the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) was a two-month effort that NASA chartered to provide timely inputs for mission requirement formulation in support...

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NASA Orders First Official SpaceX Crew Flight to ISS

NASA placed its first official order for a SpaceX Crew Dragon to carry astronauts to the International Space Station, the agency announced Friday.

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NASA Awards Contract to Restart Development of Engines to Power Agency’s Journey to Mars

NASA selected Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, to restart production of the RS-25 engine for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket in the world, and deliver a certified engine. SLS will use four RS-25 engines to carry the agency’s Orion spacecraft and launch explorers on deep space missions.

November 23, 2015
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Lori Garver Takes Issue With Current Space Policies

Former NASA official: NASA must shed "socialist" approach to space exploration, Ars Technica "NASA was a very symbol of capitalist ideals when we went to the Moon and beat the Russians," [Lori Garver] said. "Now what we're working with is...

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Springtime in the South Atlantic

The springtime phytoplankton communities shown in this image were spotted between the Falkland Islands to the west and South Georgia Island to the east by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite on November 16, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1QEaqkM

Surveyor Digitization Project Hints at Long-Lost Lunar Treasures

A project to digitize more than 90,000 images taken by NASA’s five Surveyor spacecraft in the 1960s has revealed early hints of never-before-seen treasures captured by America’s first robotic lunar landers.

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Mastcam-Z has passed its Preliminary Design Review!

A panel of outside experts reviewed the design of the Mars 2020 rover's color cameras, and approved the progress of Mastcam-Z. It still exists only as an idea in the cloud, but it's one significant step closer to being sent to Mars.

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Congressman Lamar Smith Continues His Harassment of Scientists

The saga of The Man In Congress In Charge of Science But Who Doesn’t Understand It continues.

For those new to this, Congressperson Lamar Smith (R-Texas) — Chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee — doesn’t think global warming is real. He thinks it’s a huge conspiracy by climate scientists who fudge the data to make it look like the planet is heating up, because Obama.

I wish I were being hyperbolic. But this is literally true.

In Part 1 of our tale, Smith subpoenaed Kathryn Sullivan, the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, claiming that scientists in her agency were “altering the data”. Smith got this idea after a paper was published in Science showing that the global warming “pause” so lauded by climate change deniers didn’t, in fact, exist. This research was done by a team of NOAA scientists and, I’ll note, is correct. The “pause” isn’t real.

That didn’t stop Smith. He also demanded the data, methodology, and emails of NOAA scientists be released (despite the first two already being publicly available). We also learned that Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) — who is the senior Democrat on the Committee — sent Smith a letter accusing him of harassing and second guessing scientists, and also pointed out he’s not qualified to assess the data or methods. This, too, is correct.

In Part 2, Smith made public his conspiracy theories about scientists fiddling with the data (they did this, Smith claims, “to advance this administration’s extreme climate change agenda”, in case you were wondering just how far removed from reality Smith is on this), and I showed why these ideas are nonsense (to be very very very very polite). In Part 3 I went into more detail, showing that Smith doesn't understand even the most basic principles of scientific data measurement.

And now here we are, at Part 4 of a presumably infinite series. His new claim? That the NOAA Science paper in question was rushed into publication, and that Smith has “whistleblowers” who will attest to it.

However, that’s at odds with the facts. Rep. Johnson wrote yet another letter to Smith, outlining where his claims are clearly wrong. She lays out a timeline, showing that the paper was submitted to the journal in late 2014, and took months to publish. Not only that, it relied on data from papers submitted to the journal in 2013 — hardly a rush job.

I’ll note that these alleged whistleblowers had ample opportunity to file a complaint with the NOAA itself. Yet no complaints have been registered (even though the NOAA has an obvious and easy-to-find scientific integrity policy). 

Not only that, Smith has sent several letters to the NOAA and other groups — seven in total — with his demands, but only just now, in his most recent one, did he mention whistleblowers. That’s curious; Johnson has asked him repeatedly why he thinks the scientists have fiddled with the data, but he’s been silent on that.

It’s also curious, as Johnson notes, that Smith has declined to share any of the information about his alleged whistleblowers with any of the Democratic minority on the committee. If he’s not purely politically motivated, why wouldn’t he give this information to them? Who are these whistleblowers? What are their specific claims? Why has Smith waited so long to mention them?

I strongly urge you to read Johnson’s letter; it really shows that Smith’s actions are the results of political grandstanding. The NOAA had been complying with his requests, as silly and wasteful as those requests were, but Smith ignored this and kept making more and more unreasonable demands. Finally, the NOAA put their foot down; NOAA Administrator Sullivan has refused to comply any further.

I’ve been saying that Smith is harassing scientists, and he’s abusing his power of Congressional subpoena. Now we have even more evidence: He’s been pressuring Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzger over all this, trying to get her to in turn pressure the NOAA to turn over the scientists’ emails. If NOAA doesn’t comply, he’s threatened to subpoena the Secretary herself.

Not only that, but his threats of Sullivan are atrocious. As Johnson points out, in what may be my favorite part of her letter:

I think it might be informative to take note of whom you are threatening. Dr. Kathryn Sullivan is PhD [sic] geologist, former naval reserve officer, former three-time NASA astronaut, former chief scientist of NOAA, and former member of the National Science Board. As an astronaut, Dr. Sullivan became the first American woman to ever “walk” in space. Dr. Sullivan is the very definition of service to country, and she is a role model for us all. I highly doubt Dr. Sullivan is intimidated by your threats, but it is an indication of how low the Majority is willing to stoop to perpetuate their anti-science agenda when a legitimate American icon is dragged through the mud in furtherance of an ideological crusade.

Boom.

Smith is out of control. I earlier likened him to Senator Joseph McCarthy, who, in the 1950s, went on a huge and reckless witch hunt, looking for Communists in government, running people’s careers and lives in the process. That likeness grows ever clearer into focus.

I don’t see any reason to change my assessment of Smith now. He is a demagogue, using and abusing his power to stifle scientific research, to create a climate of fear and pressure for those scientists, and to obfuscate and further cast doubt in the public’s mind about the reality of climate change and its effects (an effort which has of course found purchase with the usual right-wing media suspects).

This behavior is as appalling as it is damaging and clearly based on falsehoods. The world is warming up. We are seeing the effects of that now. And we know that it’s because of the damage humans are doing, pumping billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the air every year. These are facts.

But the majority Republican Senators and Congresspeople in charge of critical committees reject these facts, replacing them with their own fantasies of conspiratorial scientists. These people are putting our nation’s security at risk. It’s good news that some of the GOP in Congress are willing to be swayed by facts, but the sad and embarrassing truth is the ones in key positions are not. And while they fiddle, the world burns.

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Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars

This moon is doomed. Mars, the red planet named for the Roman god of war, has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, whose names are derived from the Greek for Fear and Panic. These martian moons may well be captured asteroids originating in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or perhaps from even more distant reaches of the Solar System. The larger moon, Phobos, is indeed seen to be a cratered, asteroid-like object in this stunning color image from the robotic Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recorded at a resolution of about seven meters per pixel. But Phobos orbits so close to Mars - about 5,800 kilometers above the surface compared to 400,000 kilometers for our Moon - that gravitational tidal forces are dragging it down. A recent analysis of the long grooves indicates that they may result from global stretching caused by tides -- the differing force of Mars' gravity on different sides of Phobos. These grooves may then be an early phase in the disintegration of Phobos into a ring of debris around Mars. via NASA http://ift.tt/1XiNczv

Can Students Fix What NASA Can't?

This week, @NASA gave MIT a humanoid robot to develop for future space missions. https://t.co/yHzmChXRpX http://pic.twitter.com/SEhj2JDC7d— MIT (@MIT) November 22, 2015 Without cables this #NASA robot falls over. Hopefully #MIT Students can fix what NASA can't. https://t.co/I5F9rFHy4U http://ift.tt/1HgydEy NASA...

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The Milky Way, in 46 Billion Pixels

Well, this is cool: Astronomers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany have created a ridiculously huge 46 billion pixel map of the sky! According to the press release, it’s the largest astronomical picture ever created in terms of pixel size (I have not heard of any larger, for what it’s worth).

Even better? It’s interactive. You can pan around, zoom in and out, and fiddle with the colors, too.

Here’s the link to the map. But, a couple of caveats. It’s not lightning-fast; I had to wait many times for it to load (I checked; my download speeds are around 20 Mbps). Also, without instructions it’s a little tricky to use, but if you play with it for a while you’ll get the hang of it. You can also type the name of an object into the finder box on the lower left; try “M 20” (the Trifid Nebula, screenshot shown below), “eta car” (for the bright star embedded in the Carina Nebula), or “M 16” (the Eagle Nebula, shown at the top of this post). By the way, nebulae appear green due to the filters they used to make the map.

The map isn’t of the whole sky; it’s actually a series of fields located along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Still, the numbers are impressive:

• Total number of fields making up the mosaic: 268
• Area of sky covered: 6° x 220° for a total of 1323 square degrees (that’s over 6500 times the area of the full Moon on the sky!)
• Total file size: 194 Gigabytes
• Total number of stars: Around 16 million
• Number of variable sources: 64,151

That last one was part of the reason why they did the survey. Here’s the scoop: The observations were made with a pair of small, 15-cm (6-inch) robotic telescopes located in Chile. Each ‘scope has a very wide 2.7° field of view, and they observe each of the 268 fields roughly once per month. They can detect stars down to about 18^th magnitude, which is pretty faint: the dimmest star you can see with your naked eye is about 60,000 times brighter!

Many surveys go fainter, but then bright stars tend to blow those observations out. This survey was done specifically to reach middle brightness stars at high enough resolution to distinguish tightly spaced objects well.

By spreading out the observations over time, they can detect objects that change brightness. Some stars are variable, getting brighter and dimmer with time. Others are in binaries where one star blocks the other every orbit (called eclipsing binaries). Stars explode, asteroids fly by, and so on.

Analyzing this new dataset for his PhD work, Moritz Hackstein found a total of 64,151 stars that changed their brightness, and nearly 57,000 of them were previously unknown! That’s pretty astonishing.

Surveys like this are precious and valuable. If an object changes catastrophically, we only get one chance to observe that event. This survey keeps a record of everything that happened in that section of the sky for nearly five years.

It’s also just fun to play with. I enjoyed scanning along its length, trying to see how many objects like nebulae I could identify. Only one big one stumped me (the Running Chicken nebula, yes, seriously), but a couple of bright stars got past me, like Alpha Centauri.

It also gives you a sense of just how flippin’ huge the sky is. Zoom in, zoom out, pan around, but bear in mind: The total sky is about 40,000 square degrees. This map is therefore only about three percent of it.

There’s still a lot more to see.

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Recycling NGC 5291

Following an ancient galaxy-galaxy collision 200 million light-years from Earth, debris from a gas-rich galaxy, NGC 5291, was flung far into intergalactic space. NGC 5291 and the likely interloper, also known as the "Seashell" galaxy, are captured near the center of this spectacular scene. The sharp, ground-based telescopic image looks toward the galaxy cluster Abell 3574 in the southern constellation Centaurus. Stretched along the 100,000 light-year long tidal tails, are clumps resembling dwarf galaxies, but lacking old stars, apparently dominated by young stars and active star forming regions. Found to be unusually rich in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, the dwarf galaxies were likely born in intergalactic space, recycling the enriched debris from NGC 5291 itself. via NASA http://ift.tt/1jcVCee

More #JourneyToMars Hype

#JourneyToMars Facebook hype from @LockheedMartin As if Orion with only a service module will be in Mars orbit http://pic.twitter.com/Mwyjk1E5I6— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) November 22, 2015...

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Black Holes Make Me Drool

Nobody’s perfect. Some people come closer than others, but that’s usually because of good editing. In my case, I have proof: Here’s the fourth Crash Course Astronomy blooper reel, showing that we don’t just bang these episodes out. We have to edit them a lot.

Ironically, even these outtakes are edited; not all of them are funny. My editor Nicole Sweeney, only picks the ones that a) make her laugh, and 2) make me look like a dork. Her job is way too easy.

Can’t get enough of this sort of thing? Then watch the first, second, and third blooper reels, too. And all the currently aired episodes of Crash Course Astronomy are available in one easy-to-binge list. Ten straight hours of astronomy!

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Leonids and Friends

Leonid meteors rained down on planet Earth this week, the annual shower of dusty debris from the orbit of Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. Leonids streak through this composite night skyview from a backyard observatory in southern Ontario. Recorded with camera fixed to a tripod, the individual frames capture the bright meteor activity throughout the night of November 16/17, about a day before the shower's very modest peak. The frames are registered to the fixed field of view, so the meteor trails are not all aligned to the background star field recorded that same evening when nebula-rich Orion stood above the southern horizon. As a result, the trails don't appear to point back to the shower's radiant in Leo, situated off the left edge of the star field frame. In fact, some trails could be of Taurid meteors, a shower also active in November, or even sporadic meteors, including a bright fireball with its reflection near the horizon. via NASA http://ift.tt/1Mrzass

DPS 2015: Solar System Formation

At the 47th Division of Planetary Systems meeting, many presentations touched on some of the most contentious and poorly known aspects of how planets form.

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Cabana's Role in Illegal KSC Hirings

NASA: Cabana played role in illegal hires at KSC, Florida Today "Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana and other senior leaders were more involved than previously disclosed in illegal spaceport hires that may still be subject to federal investigation, according...

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NASA Buys Crew Flight From SpaceX

NASA Orders SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station "NASA took a significant step Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil....

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NASA Orders SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station

NASA took a significant step Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil.

November 20, 2015
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New NASA OIG Data System Tracks Everyone and Everything

NASA OIG: Notice of a new system of records: Data Analytics System (ADAS) "In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (Privacy Act), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) publishes this notice of a new system of...

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Northwest Australia From the Space Station's EarthKAM

This image of the northwest corner of Australia was snapped by a student on Earth after remotely controlling the Sally Ride EarthKAM aboard the International Space Station. The program allows students to request photographs of specific Earth features, which are taken by a special camera mounted on the station when it passes over these features. via NASA http://ift.tt/1S95YrK

Watch the entire Cassini mission image catalog as a movie

If you were to download the entire catalog of photos taken at Saturn to date by Cassini and then animate them like a flipbook, how long would it take to watch them all pass by? The Wall Street Journal's Visual Correspondent Jon Keegan has your answer: nearly four hours.

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Great Photo of a Twisty Rainbow Cloud - Iridescent Pileus

Regular readers know how much I love a) clouds, and 2) optical phenomena in the sky, so I can say with complete honesty that this is by far the coolest pileus cloud with iridescence you’ll see all day.

OK, what?

Right. You’ll probably want some details.

This photo was taken by Beckie Bone Dunning on Oct. 29, 2015 when she was in Jamaica. There were storm clouds approaching, almost covering the Sun, when she snapped this shot. Being the huge dork that I am, I knew right away what was what here.

First, the colors are from iridescence, a complicated physical phenomenon. I’ve written about this before:

Iridescence is a weird phenomenon. You need lots of tiny raindrops (or ice crystals) all the same size over a large portion of the cloud. In a rainbow, the lights goes into the droplets and gets bent (twice) to create colors. In iridescence, though, the light actually bends (diffracts) around the droplets. Different colors bend by different amounts, splitting the colors apart. The size of the raindrop needs to be roughly the same size as the wavelength of light, so when I say “tiny” I mean it: The drops must be less around a micron in size! A human hair, by the way, is about 100 microns in width, so these really are teensy drops.

But it’s more complicated than just that. The cloud also has to be what’s called optically thin; that is, mostly transparent so that on average a beam of light only hits one droplet and only gets bent once. If it hits multiple drops the colors get washed out. That’s why this happens more often near the edges of clouds, where they’re thinner. On top of that, the light waves interfere with each other, similar to how waves in a bathtub add together or subtract from each others’ wave heights as you wiggle around (and please, don’t deny you’ve ever done this playing in the tub; it’s fun, and educational!). These processes combine in complicated ways to produce these different colors.

Note that the colors in iridescence are different than the ones in rainbows because they're generated in a different way; you can get teal, pink, and more from iridescence.

So that explains the colors. What about the weird, twisty shape?

Ah, that’s because this isn’t just a cloud, it’s a pileus cloud. These are thin, cap-shaped sheets of cloud that form above rapidly rising columns of air. For example, in a cumulonimbus cloud, the shaft you see is due to the warm air rising, which usually bubbles into that cauliflower-shape head at the top. If there is a humid layer of air above it, the rising air will push it up (like a fist pushing through a rubber sheet), where it expands and cools. If it cools below the dew point, droplets form, and you get a pileus cloud.

Pileus clouds are thin, and have tiny water droplets in them. Perfect to make iridescence! You have to be at the right spot to see them, when the clouds are near the Sun… which is exactly where Dunning was. Voilà.

Amazing. I’d LOVE to see something like this. I’ve seen both pileus and iridescence before, but never at the same time. I’d expect it’s rare where I live; we tend to get cumulonimbus clouds forming to our east, as air rises over the Rockies and picks up moisture as it crosses the plains. That happens in the afternoon, when the Sun is to the west, so they happen in opposite spots in the sky. Ah well.

But that arrangement does supply us with a lot of rainbows, so I can be pretty happy with that, too.

More cool weather stuff:

Double Rainbow… with Lightning!
Dancing Lights Against the Sky (seriously, VERY COOL STUFF)
Chromatic Clouds
Cloud Fingers
Rainbow Falls
Glory Be!

Tip o’ the nebular hat to Jacob Black.

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/19/15

Columbus A1 Express Rack 3 (ER3) Combustion Event:   This morning at approximately 2:14AM CST, a Potential Fire Alarm associated with Columbus A1 Express Rack 3 (ER3) came into alarm.  The crew sampled the fire port associated with the European Modular Cultivation System (EMCS) since the crew had been working at that location minutes earlier.  Fire port Compound Specific Analyzer (CSA)-Combustion Products (CP) readings for EMCS showed elevated Carbon Monoxide (CO) levels of 19ppm, increasing to 22ppm. The Crew and Ground executed Emergency Book fire procedures and obtained background readings in Columbus and Node 2, which were all negative.  During the event, lockers in the rack were all unpowered and the crew switched the Rack Power Switch to off.  The CO readings in the EMCS fire port stabilized at 22ppm.  Ground Teams conducted a controlled repower of ER3, with the exception of EMCS, to support the Veggie payload.   Cognition:  Yui performed his Flight Day 122 session of the Cognition experiment today.  The Individualized Real-Time Neurocognitive Assessment Toolkit for Space Flight Fatigue (Cognition) investigation is a battery of tests that measure 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 used allows for real-time measurement of cognitive performance while in space.   Biochemical Profile:  Kelly collected his Flight Day 240 Biochemical Profile blood sample and stowed it in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI) for return on a later flight. 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.   Story Time:  Yui read from the books “Begin” and “Color,” discussing the subject of the book on camera and demonstrated the scientific principles involved.  Kelly obtained a picture of Yui while he is reading the book, with the Cupola in the background.  The video recording will be downlinked to the ground and used for educational purposes.   Twins Study:  In support of the Twins Study, Kelly completed a 24 hour period of collecting and stowing urine samples in a Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI).  This investigation is an integrated compilation of ten different studies led by multiple investigators.  The studies take advantage of a unique opportunity to look at the effects of space travel on identical twins, with one of them experiencing space travel for a year while the other remains earth-bound for that same year.  The study looks at changes in the human body that are important in the fields of genetics, psychology, physiology, microbiology, and immunology.   Sleep Actiwatch Configuration:  Kelly configured Kornienko’s Actiwatch Spectrum for active data collection. The actiwatches have a photodiode that measures ambient light and an accelerometer to measure the movement of the arm or leg that the watch is attached to.  The actiwatch data recorded on the watch supports the Sleep ISS-12 experiment, which assesses the effects of space flight and ambient light exposure on sleep during a year-long mission on the ISS.   Veggie (Veg-01) Wick Opening:  Lindgren opened the wicks for the Veg-01 experiment which was started on Monday, November 16th.  For this run, Zinnias will be grown on the ISS for 60 days and are expected to produce flowers.  The primary goal of Veg-01 testing will be to demonstrate plant growth in the Veggie facility.  Lettuce was previously grown and harvested as part of Veg-01 testing.   Haptics-1:  Lindgren set up equipment and performed experiment protocols for the vest-mounted configuration of European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Haptics-1 investigation. The Haptics-1 experiment is performed in two different configurations to evaluate hardware and human performance under varying mounting conditions: wall-mounted on rack seat tracks and body-mounted in a vest assembly.  Haptics-1 supports analysis of engineering parameters and the merits of body-grounded versus non-body grounded force feedback to a crewmember within a microgravity environment.  The physiological property analysis will identify changes in human kinesthetic perception and performance in position and force-torque control tasks and in cognitive performance.   EXPRESS (EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station) Rack 1 Laptop Software Load: Lindgren supported the ongoing software updates to ISS EXPRESS Rack laptops by copying a software load to the EXPRESS Rack 1 laptop.   Sleep Log:  Kornienko recorded a Sleep Log entry today.  The Sleep ISS-12 experiment monitors ambient light exposure and crew member activity and collects subjective evaluations of sleep and alertness.  The investigation examines the effects of space flight and ambient light exposure on sleep during a year-long mission on the ISS.   Common Communications for Visiting Vehicle (C2V2) Cable Route:  Kelly and Yui removed Lab Aft Closeout Panels, temporally closed the Lab Aft Hatch, then routing the W2687 cable through the Aft Endcone and Port/Deck Standoffs.  Once the cable was routed, they opened the Lab Aft Hatch and re-installed the closeout panels.  C2V2 is an integrated communications system to be used specifically for communicating with future visiting vehicles. This system will utilize both an S-Band based radio frequency system, and hard-line connections to visiting vehicles such that secure, reliable communications will be available for all phases of rendezvous, docking, and mated operations.   Waste and Hygiene Compartment (WHC) Urine Receptacle (UR) Routine Maintenance:  Yui performed a change out of the WHC UR and insert filter. Following the change out, a WHC functionality test was successfully performed.   Today’s Planned Activities All activities were completed unless otherwise noted. TWIN – Urine Sample Collection HRF – Sample MELFI Insertion HRF Blood Sample Collection and Cold Stowage HRF – Blood Sample collection operator assistance HRF Refrigerated Centrifuge Configuration HRF – Blood Sample Collection Closeout Ops Soyuz 718 Samsung tablet charge – start 24-hour ECG Monitoring (termination) EMCS […]

November 20, 2015 at 12:45AM
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