The Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Mission Completes 14 Years of Exploring, Opportunity Roves into Year 15!

International Space Station Transits the Full Moon

The International Space Station, with a crew of six onboard, is seen in silhouette as it transits the moon at roughly five miles per second on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018. via NASA http://ift.tt/2DRQEDi

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/30/2018

Personal CO2 Monitor Sensor Calibration: Today the crew will perform a single point calibration of the Personal CO2 monitors using and iPad and readings from a Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) sample port. The Personal CO2 Monitor demonstrates a system capable of unobtrusively collecting and downlinking individual crew members’ CO2 exposure for weeks to months. This … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/30/2018"

January 31, 2018 at 12:00AM
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The First Explorer

Sixty years ago, on January 31, 1958, the First Explorer was successfully launched by the Army Ballistic Missile Agency on a Jupiter-C rocket. Inaugurating the era of space exploration for the United States, Explorer I was a thirty pound satellite that carried instruments to measure temperatures, and micrometeorite impacts, along with an experiment designed by James A. Van Allen to measure the density of electrons and ions in space. The measurements made by Van Allen's experiment led to an unexpected and then startling discovery of two earth-encircling belts of high energy electrons and ions trapped in the magnetosphere. Now known as the Van Allen Radiation belts, the regions are located in the inner magnetosphere, beyond low Earth orbit. Explorer I ceased transmitting on February 28, 1958, but remained in orbit until March of 1970. via NASA http://ift.tt/2Gxjab3

This Is What Happens When People Try To Work Together in DC

At a time when no one here in Washington seems to want to reach out and talk to people with different opinions so as to seek common ground and enable collaboration Jim Bridenstine and Bill Nye are. And the net result? The #stopbridenstine crowd complains. pic.twitter.com/p4M0hY5eZi

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 30, 2018

Keith's note: Yesterday @BillNye tweeted this statement: "Tomorrow night I will attend the State of the Union as a guest of Congressman Jim Bridenstine - nominee for NASA Administrator - who extended me an invitation in my role as CEO of The Planetary Society. The Society is the world's largest and most influential non-governmental nonpartisan space organization, co-founded by Carl Sagan. While the Congressman and I disagree on a great many issues - we share a deep respect for NASA and its achievements and a strong interest in the future of space exploration. My attendance tomorrow should not be interpreted as an endorsement of this administration, or of Congressman Bridenstine's nomination, or seen as an acceptance of the recent attacks on science and the scientific community. The U.S. Space Program has long been a source of American technical achievement, a symbol of our innovative spirit, and a source of national pride. There are extraordinary opportunities for our country, and for all humanity, in the continued exploration of space. Historically, the Space Program has brought Americans together, and during his address, I hope to hear the President's plans to continue exploring the space frontier."

Bill Nye and the State of a Polarized Union, Planetary Society

"Space exploration is one of the few areas of politics that still offers significant opportunities for bipartisan rapprochement. A shared passion for space can lay the groundwork for a relationship between individuals of very different political beliefs. This can help build trust and mutual respect between them, and potentially allow them to engage on more contentious issues that would otherwise be immediately dismissed or ignored. The current lack of mutual trust between the parties has been identified as one of the threats to a functioning democracy, and space provides a rare opportunity to try and reverse that trend."

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Bill Nye and the State of a Polarized Union

Is Falcon Heavy An SLS Killer?

Elon Musk is set to launch his Falcon Heavy rocket, a flamethrower of another sort, Washington Post

"It could also play a part in the Trump administration's plans to return to the moon. Over the weekend, Nick Ayers, Vice President Pence's chief of staff, tweeted that the rocket would have "major (positive) ramifications for US space industry if this goes according to plan." SpaceX has said that the Falcon Heavy would cost $90 million a launch, a fraction of what NASA's more powerful Space Launch System would cost. Last year, Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said the SLS rocket would cost about $1 billion per launch. With such a vast difference in price, some have wondered if the Falcon Heavy obviates the need for SLS. "If the SpaceX model works, it creates direct competition to SLS," said Howard McCurdy, a professor of public affairs at American University."

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Saying Goodnight

Astronaut Mark Vande Hei took this image of the eastern U.S. and Canada at night, writing, "Good night from @Space_Station. DC, NY, Toronto, Cleveland, and surrounding areas!" via NASA http://ift.tt/2BDVLRC

Engineering Qualification Model confirms performance of the Mastcam-Z!

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/29/2018

USOS ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) 48 status:  Over the weekend, ground teams were able to identify a root cause and a fix for the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) Latching End Effector (LEE) anomaly seen after USOS EVA 47.  Because of this, the EVA to return the LEE to the configuration prior to EVA 47 … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/29/2018"

January 30, 2018 at 12:00AM
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NASA TV to Air Russian Spacewalk at the International Space Station

Two veteran Russian cosmonaut spacewalkers will venture outside the International Space Station on Friday, Feb. 2, for a planned 6.5-hour station servicing session. Live coverage of the spacewalk will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website beginning at 9:45 a.m. EST.

January 30, 2018
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Venus at Night in Infrared from Akatsuki

Why is Venus so different from Earth? To help find out, Japan launched the robotic Akatsuki spacecraft which entered orbit around Venus late in 2015 after an unplanned five-year adventure around the inner Solar System. Even though Akatsuki was past its original planned lifetime, the spacecraft and instruments were operating so well that much of its original mission was reinstated. Also known as the Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki's instruments investigated unknowns about Earth's sister planet, including whether volcanoes are still active, whether lightning occurs in the dense atmosphere, and why wind speeds greatly exceed the planet's rotation speed. In the featured image taken by Akatsuki's IR2 camera, Venus's night side shows a jagged-edged equatorial band of high dark clouds absorbing infrared light from hotter layers deeper in Venus' atmosphere. The bright orange and black stripe on the upper right is a false digital artifact that covers part of the much brighter day side of Venus. Analyses of Akatsuki images and data has shown that Venus has equatorial jet similar to Earth's jet stream. via NASA http://ift.tt/2DKlFVr

Sen. Nelson's Effort To Undermine NASA

NASA has gone a year without a formal leader--with no end in sight, Ars Technica

"Five months ago, the Trump administration finally put forward a nominee for the post of administrator, Oklahoma Congressman and pilot James Bridenstine. Although he was confirmed along a party-line vote twice during Senate confirmation hearings, he has yet to receive a vote before the full Senate. Increasingly, it is obvious that the White House does not have the votes to confirm Bridenstine in a Senate where Republicans hold only a narrow margin. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, has led opposition to Bridenstine, saying he is too politically polarizing a figure to lead NASA. Nelson has convinced his fellow Floridian Senator, Republican Marco Rubio, to oppose Bridenstine as well."

Plan that @SenBillNelson promotes blocks Bridenstine and prevents #NASA from having a confirmed Administrator. This will make it harder for @NASA during this year's budget process. This is not good for Nelson's constituents on Florida's Space Coast or for the rest of the country. pic.twitter.com/ezAufB25vt — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 29, 2018

FYI during his 3rd term in the House @SenBillNelson overtly used his political office to force @NASA to fly him in space. If a lawyer with zero aerospace experience can use politics to become an astronaut then a fighter pilot congressman like Bridenstine with an MBA can run #NASA pic.twitter.com/m1WikI9gTh — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 18, 2018

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Reconstructing the Viking '75 Mars lander Surface Sampler Collector

NASA Television to Air Live Coverage of Upcoming Rare Lunar Eclipse

Sky-gazers are in for a rare treat Wednesday, Jan. 31, when three celestial events combine to create a super blue blood moon. NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide live coverage of the celestial spectacle beginning at 5:30 a.m. EST.

January 29, 2018
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NASA Invites Media to Upcoming NOAA GOES-S Satellite Launch

Media accreditation is open for the launch Thursday, March 1, of the second in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) series of next-generation geostationary weather satellites.

January 29, 2018
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Space Exploration Educators to Speak with NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

Teachers from across the nation will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 9:35 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 1.

January 29, 2018
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Eroded Layers in Shalbatana Valles

Layers, probably sedimentary in origin, have undergone extensive erosion in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) of Shalbatana Valles, a prominent channel that cuts through Xanthe Terra. via NASA http://ift.tt/2DWtLh3

The Spider and The Fly

Will the spider ever catch the fly? Not if both are large emission nebulas toward the constellation of the Charioteer (Auriga). The spider-shaped gas cloud on the left is actually an emission nebula labelled IC 417, while the smaller fly-shaped cloud on the right is dubbed NGC 1931 and is both an emission nebula and a reflection nebula. About 10,000 light-years distant, both nebulas harbor young, open star clusters. For scale, the more compact NGC 1931 (Fly) is about 10 light-years across. via NASA http://ift.tt/2DHUQS2

Has Space Commercialization Finally Arrived?

What Trump Gets Right About NASA, Space Exploration, Eric Stallmer, CSF

"Today, a new generation of commercial space companies is taking the lead on space exploration and aerospace innovation. ... Other firms are developing commercial spacecraft systems to reach the moon and asteroids, land on the surface of other planets and preparing to deploy commercial habitats in space. Despite this progress, some inside the space community remain nostalgic about the government owning and controlling space assets. Late last year at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' Space annual conference, for instance, then-NASA administrator Charlie Bolden told audience members that he "is not a big fan of commercial investment in large launch vehicles. ... The alternative, which lawmakers need to begin insisting on? Firm, fixed price contracts. Under this model, which works best with privately owned space hardware, taxpayers shoulder far less risk - and companies are incentivized to complete projects on time and under budget."

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Thinking Of Challenger

Thirty Two Years Of Resonance With Challenger, SpaceRef

"On this day in 1986 I was sitting at my desk as a grad student in the Biology Department at Central Connecticut State University. Everyone knew of my interest in space. I had the radio on. I listened to the launch and then stepped out for a moment. I came back and heard the announcer said that debris could be sighted falling into the water. I was crushed. I had a class to teach in 20 minutes or so. We got word that classes were cancelled for the day so I had to go tell my class that they could leave. The day after Challenger was lost I wrote a letter to President Reagan and sent a cc: to my member of Congress. I asked them to name the new moons of Uranus that Voyager 2 had just discovered during its flyby 5 days earlier after the crew of Challenger. The correspondence chain that followed is shown below. Alas they went with the traditional IAU naming convention."

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SpaceX Fans In The Vice President's Office?

Major (positive) ramifications for US space industry if this goes according to plan https://t.co/zGSKk9ZLhT

— Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) January 27, 2018

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Astronaut James Reilly Nominated To Head USGS

The White House is going to nominate former astronaut James Reilly to head the US Geological Survey

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 27, 2018

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Mark Vande Hei's 'Space-Selfie'

On Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018, spacewalker Mark Vande Hei snapped his own portrait, better known as a “space-selfie,” during the first spacewalk of the year. via NASA http://ift.tt/2ngOe66

NASA People Like To Work At NASA

AGENCY REPORT National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Best Places To Work

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Searching For Zuma Someone Found IMAGE

Search For Zuma Unearths Lost NASA Satellite, Aviation Week (Paywall)

"An amateur astronomer on the hunt for the classified Zuma satellite has discovered a long-lost NASA science satellite. "Over the past week. the station has been dedicated to an S-band scan looking for new targets and refreshing the frequency list, triggered by the recent launch of the mysterious Zuma mission," amateur visual and radio astronomer Scott Tilley wrote on his blog skyriddles.wordpress.com." ... Tilley set to work to identify the signal and soon revealed the source: a NASA science satellite known as IMAGE, which disappeared from radar tracking on Dec. 18, 2005.

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/25/2018

FemtoSat Assembly and Deployment: Using onboard components printed from the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF)-Manufacturing Device, today the crew demonstrated FemtoSat deployment trajectories. This experiment consists of a 3D printed deployer, four FemtoSats and a 0.050” L-wrench. The four FemtoSats will be loaded in the deployer and locked in place with the L-wrench.  When the L-wrench … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/25/2018"

January 26, 2018
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Selfie at Vera Rubin Ridge

On sol 1943 of its journey of exploration across the surface of Mars, the Curiosity Rover recorded this selfie at the south rim of Vera Rubin Ridge. Of course a sol is a Martian solar day, about 40 minutes longer than an Earth day. Curiosity's sol 1943 corresponds to Earth date January 23, 2018. Also composed as an interactive 360 degree VR, the mosaicked panorama combines 61 exposures taken by the car-sized rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). Frames containing the imager's arm have been edited out while the extended background used was taken by the rover's Mastcam on sol 1903. At the top of the rover's mast, sitting above the Mastcam, the laser-firing ChemCam housing blocks out the distant peak of Mount Sharp. via NASA http://ift.tt/2EbPy23

Sierra Nevada to Develop Ground Prototype Deep Space Main Habitat

Sierra Nevada Corporation Signs Two NextSTEP-2 Contracts with NASA, Sierra Nevada Corporation

"Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has formalized its agreement with NASA under Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP-2), signing a contract to design and develop a prototype for a deep space habitat. The formal signing of the contract under NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement, Appendix A: Habitat Systems, aimed at enabling potential long-duration human missions in deep space, clears the way for actual production of SNC's prototype in the coming months."

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/24/2018

Arthrospira-B (Batch Culture): Today concluded the incubation of three Arthrospira-B experiment containers (ECs), one that began two weeks ago, and two that began last week. The ECs were removed from the BioLab Incubator and disassembled inside of the BioLab Glovebox, prior to the samples being inserted into the Minus Eighty Degree Celsius Laboratory Freezer for ISS … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/24/2018"

January 25, 2018 at 12:00AM
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Reaction To Proposed OMB Space Station Funding Cuts

Statement by Sen. Bill Nelson Regarding Administration Space Station Plans

"If the Administration plans to abruptly pull us out of the International Space Station in 2025, they're going to have a fight on their hands. Such a move would likely decimate Florida's blossoming commercial space industry, which is one of the reasons why Congress directed NASA to look at extending the ISS to 2028 and to provide a plan to help scientists and researchers continue experimenting in low-Earth orbit beyond that."

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Day of Remembrance 2018

On the last Thursday in January, NASA pays tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA colleagues who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery. via NASA http://ift.tt/2GiIbGQ

Creating a guidebook for Earth's hypothetical twin

International meetings: Moon initiatives

Cartwheel of Fortune

By chance, a collision of two galaxies has created a surprisingly recognizable shape on a cosmic scale, The Cartwheel Galaxy. The Cartwheel is part of a group of galaxies about 500 million light years away in the constellation Sculptor. Two smaller galaxies in the group are visible on the right. The Cartwheel Galaxy's rim is an immense ring-like structure 150,000 light years in diameter composed of newly formed, extremely bright, massive stars. When galaxies collide they pass through each other, their individual stars rarely coming into contact. Still, the galaxies' gravitational fields are seriously distorted by the collision. In fact, the ring-like shape is the result of the gravitational disruption caused by a small intruder galaxy passing through a large one, compressing the interstellar gas and dust and causing a a star formation wave to move out from the impact point like a ripple across the surface of a pond. In this case the large galaxy may have originally been a spiral, not unlike our own Milky Way, transformed into the wheel shape by the collision. But ... what happened to the small intruder galaxy? via NASA http://ift.tt/2DB4lGF

NASA FY 2019 Budget Hints: SLS Alternatives Sought

Sources report that the #NASA FY 2019 budget will advise @NASA to look into non-SLS options to launch missions to Europa. One would assume that @CongCulberson will have an opinion on this. #astrobiology pic.twitter.com/K1YG9sgXg1

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 24, 2018

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NASA FY 2019 Budget Hints

Sources report that the @NASA FY 2019 budget request may include a runout projection that shows continued support from #NASA for ISS making a strong drop perhaps as early as 2025. It is unclear if the commercial sector is expected to pick up the budget shortfall. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/63QFM1r4GW — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 25, 2018

Sources report that the #NASA FY 2019 budget will advise @NASA to look into non-SLS options to launch missions to Europa. One would assume that @CongCulberson will have an opinion on this. #astrobiology pic.twitter.com/K1YG9sgXg1 — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 24, 2018

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Bridenstine Nomination Update

Trump has picked a politician to lead NASA. Is that a good thing?, Science

"Although the Trump administration has proposed stiff cuts to earth science at NASA, the Senate has so far warded them off. [Kelvin Droegemeier, vice president for research at the University of Oklahoma in Norman] does not expect Bridenstine to support slashing the agency's budget, especially given that much of NASA's mission can be framed in terms of collecting data that are as applicable to understanding weather patterns as to understanding climate change. "He won't come in and say we're going to discontinue climate financing and take earth science and trash it," Droegemeier predicts. "He absolutely believes the planet is warming, that [carbon dioxide] is a greenhouse gas, and that it contributes to warming." ...

... "But Bridenstine's political chops could serve the agency well, says Laurie Leshin, the president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, and a former high-ranking NASA official who was set to help lead Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's potential transition. "NASA tends to value people who are geeks like them, in a good way," she says. But NASA often has plenty of technical expertise while lacking political savvy. "Somebody with that background, I think we should give him a chance to be successful."

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Falcon Heavy Roars To Life

First static fire test of Falcon Heavy complete--one step closer to first test flight! pic.twitter.com/EZF4JOT8e4

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 24, 2018

Falcon Heavy hold-down firing this morning was good. Generated quite a thunderhead of steam. Launching in a week or so. pic.twitter.com/npaqatbNir

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2018

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New Horizons prepares for encounter with 2014 MU69

Next Mars Lander Spreads Its Solar Wings

This image shows NASA's InSight lander after it was commanded to deploy its solar arrays to test and verify the exact process that it will use on the surface of the Red Planet. via NASA http://ift.tt/2n8D7Mx

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/23/2018

USOS Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) #47:  Today, Mark Vande Hei (as EV1) and Scott Tingle (as EV2) successfully completed USOS EVA #47 with a Phased Elapsed Time (PET) of 7 hrs 24 min. The primary goal of the EVA was to swap the Latching End Effector (LEE) from the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/23/2018"

January 24, 2018 at 12:00AM
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Spinoff 2018 Highlights Space Technology Improving Life on Earth

The 2018 edition of NASA’s annual Spinoff publication, released Tuesday, features 49 technologies the agency helped create that are used in almost every facet of modern life. These include innovations that help find disaster survivors trapped under rubble, purify air and surfaces to stop the spread of germs, and test new materials for everything fr

January 24, 2018
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Rocket Lab Reveals Its New Kick Stage

Rocket Lab successfully circularizes orbit with new Electron kick stage, Rocket Lab

"Rocket Lab, a US aerospace company with operations in New Zealand, has successfully tested a previously unannounced kick stage on the Still Testing Electron launch vehicle, using it to circularize the orbits of the two Spire Lemur-2 CubeSats on board. The kick stage was flown and tested on board the recent Still Testing flight that was successfully launched on 21 January 2018 NZDT from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The complex mission was a success, with the new apogee kick stage coasting in orbit for around 40 minutes before powering up and igniting Rocket Lab's new restartable liquid propulsion engine called Curie, then shutting down and deploying payloads. With the new kick stage Rocket Lab can execute multiple burns to place numerous payloads into different orbits."

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NASA Media Call Previews Upcoming Mission to Explore Atmospheric Border

NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Wednesday, Jan. 24, to discuss the upcoming launch of the agency’s mission to study where Earth’s atmosphere meets space.

January 23, 2018
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Celebrating 60 Years of America in Space on Jan. 31

Late in the evening of Jan. 31, 1958, the United States took its first step into space with the launch of the Explorer 1 satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The slender, 30-pound satellite would yield a major scientific discovery -- the Van Allen radiation belts circling our planet -- and ushered in six decades of U.S. space science.

January 23, 2018
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NASA Honors Its Fallen Heroes, Marks 15th Anniversary of Columbia Accident

NASA will pay will tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, as well as other NASA colleagues who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, during the agency's annual Day of Remembrance on Thursday, Jan. 25.

January 23, 2018
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Signs of Ships in the Clouds

Ships churning through the Atlantic Ocean produced this patchwork of bright, criss-crossing cloud trails off the coast of Portugal and Spain. via NASA http://ift.tt/2rwOAuH

ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/22/2018

Light Microscopy Module (LMM) Petri Plants Plate Operations: Over the weekend, the crew used the light meter in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) to take light intensity measurements before transporting the plates to the Lab to photograph the plates with and without lids.  Plants cultivated in microgravity look mostly normal, but space-grown plants have a … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/22/2018"

January 23, 2018 at 12:00AM
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Ribbons and Pearls of Spiral Galaxy NGC 1398

Why do some spiral galaxies have a ring around the center? Spiral galaxy NGC 1398 not only has a ring of pearly stars, gas and dust around its center, but a bar of stars and gas across its center, and spiral arms that appear like ribbons farther out. The featured image was taken with ESO's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile and resolves this grand spiral in impressive detail. NGC 1398 lies about 65 million light years distant, meaning the light we see today left this galaxy when dinosaurs were disappearing from the Earth. The photogenic galaxy is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Furnace (Fornax). The ring near the center is likely an expanding density wave of star formation, caused either by a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, or by the galaxy's own gravitational asymmetries. via NASA http://ift.tt/2G3GXiy

Zuma Update: SpaceX Exonerated by USAF

SpaceX gets good news from the Air Force on the Zuma mission, Ars Technica

"A little more than two weeks have passed since the apparent loss of the highly classified Zuma mission. Since then, SpaceX has publicly and privately stated that its Falcon 9 rocket performed nominally throughout the flight--with both its first and second stages firing as anticipated. Now, the US Air Force seems to be backing the rocket company up. "Based on the data available, our team did not identify any information that would change SpaceX's Falcon 9 certification status," Lieutenant General John Thompson, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, told Bloomberg News. This qualified conclusion came after a preliminary review of data from the Zuma launch. That's according to Thompson, who said the Air Force will continue to review data from all launches."

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Here's our rolling list of space things affected by the U.S. government shutdown

Today's Shutdown News From NASA: We're Shut Down

Today's news from @NASA pic.twitter.com/LcNKwMoysg

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 22, 2018

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Government Shutdown Shuts Down Falcon Heavy Test

SpaceX Can't Test Falcon Heavy During U.S. Government Shutdown, Newsweek

"A statement from the 45th Space Wing read: "Due to the shutdown removing key members of the civilian workforce, the 45th Space Wing will not be able to support commercial static fires taking place on KSC. Without our civilian workforce, the 45th SW is unable to support launch operations as well." The 45th Space Wing is a department of the Air Force supporting space missions. The Verge reported that it was initially unclear if the static test could take place without the 45th's support, or if the test will be on hold until civilian staff are no longer restricted. Today, however, SpaceX confirmed the launch will halt the static fire. "This shutdown impacts SpaceX's Falcon Heavy demonstration, which is critical for future [national security space] missions," John Taylor, a SpaceX spokesperson, said in a statement to The Verge."

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An Immersive Visualization of the Galactic Center

What if you could look out from the center of our Galaxy -- what might you see? Two scientifically-determined possibilities are shown in the featured video, an immersive 360-degree view which allows you to look around in every direction. The pictured computer simulation is based on infrared data from ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile and X-ray data from NASA's orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory. As the video starts, you quickly approach Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole in the Galactic center. Then looking out, this 500-year time-lapse simulation shows glowing gas and many points of light orbiting all around you. Many of these points are young Wolf-Rayet stars that have visible hot winds blowing out into surrounding nebulas. Clouds approaching close become elongated, while objects approaching too close fall in. Toward the video's end the simulation repeats, but this time with the dynamic region surrounding Sgr A* expelling hot gas that pushes back against approaching material. via NASA http://ift.tt/2BhIheh

The Upper Michigan Blizzard of 1938

Yes, but can your blizzard do this? In Upper Michigan's Storm of the Century in 1938, some snow drifts reached the level of utility poles. Nearly a meter of new and unexpected snow fell over two days in a storm that started 80 years ago this week. As snow fell and gale-force winds piled snow to surreal heights; many roads became not only impassable but unplowable; people became stranded; cars, school buses and a train became mired; and even a dangerous fire raged. Fortunately only two people were killed, although some students were forced to spend several consecutive days at school. The featured image was taken by a local resident soon after the storm. Although all of this snow eventually melted, repeated snow storms like this help build lasting glaciers in snowy regions of our planet Earth. via NASA http://ift.tt/2rqTSYA

Rocketlab Makes It To Orbit

Rocketlab Places Three Satellites Into Orbit (with video), SpaceRef

"Rocketlab conducted its second Electron launch today placing three cubesats into orbit. The launch occurred from the remote Māhia Peninsula in New Zealand. Mission control is located in Auckland, New Zealand. On board was a Planetlab cubesat named Dove Pioneer which will conduct Earth resource imaging and two Lemur-2 cubesats for Spire which will be used for weather and ship tracking. In all of its social media postings the company used #stilltesting tag to denote the fact that these initial launches still involve significant testing and proof-of-concept studies."

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Life Goes On Aboard ISS During The Shutdown

Don't worry about the crew aboard the International Space Station during the U.S. government #shutdown They are managing to find productive things to do up there. https://t.co/4PhwkyK7DE

— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 20, 2018

Очень часто спрашивают, а летаем ли мы на пылесосе по станции? Приходилось отвечать, что не пробовал. А тут во время субботника подумал, что уже третий полет... пора провести летные испытания пылесоса ✌😉🚀 // Flight tests of vacuum cleaner aboard the International Space Station pic.twitter.com/qQpoQx5OLL

— Anton Shkaplerov (@Anton_Astrey) January 20, 2018

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Old Moon in the New Moon s Arms

Also known as the Moon's "ashen glow" or the "Old Moon in the New Moon's arms", earthshine is earthlight reflected from the Moon's night side. This stunning image of earthshine from a young crescent moon was taken from Las Campanas Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile, planet Earth near moonset on January 18. Dramatic atmospheric inversion layers appear above the Pacific Ocean, colored by the sunset at the planet's western horizon. But the view from the Moon would have been stunning, too. When the Moon appears in Earth's sky as a slender crescent, a dazzlingly bright, nearly full Earth would be seen from the lunar surface. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans in turn illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. via NASA http://ift.tt/2FXjHml

Space Policy & Advocacy Program Quarterly Report - January 2018

Internal Memo: How NASA Will Shut Down

NASA ARC Internal Memo: Informal Notice of Employee Furlough Status - Non Excepted

"Annual funding for the Government will expire at midnight on January 19, 2018. In the event no further agreement is reached to fund Federal agencies, Federal departments and agencies will not be permitted to incur further financial obligations performing activities funded by annual appropriations, except those related to the orderly suspension of operations or performance of excepted activities. This means that employees who do not perform activities excepted by law will be furloughed and unable to work.

Our contingency plan assumes that International Space Station (ISS) activities will continue to protect the lives of the crew members on orbit and the safety and security of the ISS. Existing satellite missions in operation also will continue to protect the satellites and the data being collected. In addition, other activities involving protection of life and property will continue. All other Agency activities not determined to be legally exempt will stop."

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JSC Center Director Ellen Ochoa Is Retiring

NASA JSC Internal Memo: Center Director Ellen Ochoa Is Retiring

"Earlier today at the All Hands, I let people know that I am going to retire from NASA at the end of May. It's a really tough decision to determine when to make that transition; for me, it comes down to my personal situation. I reach 30 years at NASA, and my younger son turns 18, so this summer is a natural point for our family in which to move on to the next phase. We'll be moving to Boise, ID, and I intend to be involved with a number of activities that interest me (including getting back to playing flute, which I once considered for a career!). Of course, I'll continue - always -- to be a strong proponent of NASA and STEM activities in general."

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Prepping the Parker Solar Probe for Space

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the Parker Solar Probe is lowered into the 40-foot-tall thermal vacuum chamber. The thermal vacuum chamber simulates the harsh conditions that the spacecraft will experience on its journey through space, including near-vacuum conditions and severe hot and cold temperatures. via NASA http://ift.tt/2Dl77LM

The Precise Moment A Young Woman's Space Career Began

The moment @ScheferAbby learned she is #BoulderBound! So excited to have her accepted to @CUBoulder and @CUEngineering in her dream aerospace program! pic.twitter.com/AoXwQVEeXv

— Carol Scott (@carolscott05) January 18, 2018

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ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/18/2018

Plant Habitat Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Hose Connection: Today the crew removed and replaced the acoustic blanket and growth chamber door before retrieving the GN2 filter and connecting it to the EXpedite the PRocessing of Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) Rack nitrogen. The other end was connected to the GN2 hose in order to perform a … Continue reading "ISS Daily Summary Report – 1/18/2018"

January 19, 2018 at 12:00AM
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Clouds in the LMC

An alluring sight in southern skies, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is seen in this deep and detailed telescopic mosaic. Recorded with broadband and narrowband filters, the scene spans some 5 degrees or 10 full moons. The narrowband filters are designed to transmit only light emitted by hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Ionized by energetic starlight, the atoms emit their characteristic light as electrons are recaptured and the atoms transition to a lower energy state. As a result, in this image the LMC seems covered with its own clouds of ionized gas surrounding its massive, young stars. Sculpted by the strong stellar winds and ultraviolet radiation, the glowing clouds, dominated by emission from hydrogen, are known as H II (ionized hydrogen) regions. Itself composed of many overlapping H II regions, the Tarantula Nebula is the large star forming region at the left. The largest satellite of our Milky Way Galaxy, the LMC is about 15,000 light-years across and lies a mere 160,000 light-years away toward the constellation Dorado. via NASA http://ift.tt/2Dm6ENt

NASA Announces Updated Crew Assignments for Space Station Missions

NASA is announcing an addition to the NASA lineup for upcoming launches, and making changes to some assignments for International Space Station missions in 2018.

January 18, 2018
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Jupiter’s Swirling South Pole

This image of Jupiter’s swirling south polar region was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it neared completion of its tenth close flyby of the gas giant planet. via NASA http://ift.tt/2mM8M68

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye to Attend the State of the Union Address

Is Democratic Opposition To Bridenstine Wavering?

Interestingly only one Democrat spoke at all about Bridenstine and it was @SenBillNelson. 4 Republicans spoke out in support of Bridenstine. — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 18, 2018

Looks like a lot of democrats did not bother to show up for today's Executive Session on nominees to support @SenBillNelson — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 18, 2018

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Why Should One Senator Boss NASA Around?

FYI during his 3rd term in the House @SenBillNelson overtly used his political office to force @NASA to fly him in space. If a lawyer with zero aerospace experience can use politics to become an astronaut then a fighter pilot congressman like Bridenstine with an MBA can run #NASA pic.twitter.com/m1WikI9gTh — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 18, 2018

Plan that @SenBillNelson promotes blocks Bridenstine and prevents #NASA from having a confirmed Administrator. This will make it harder for @NASA during this year's budget process. This is not good for Nelson's constituents on Florida's Space Coast or for the rest of the country. pic.twitter.com/D3xdFcq4TV — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 18, 2018

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Long-Term Warming Trend Continued in 2017: NASA, NOAA

Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2017 ranked as the second warmest since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA.

January 18, 2018
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Bridenstine Nomination Version 2.0

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Executive Session: Bridenstine Nomination

"The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold an executive session on Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. in Hart 216 to consider the following presidential nominations. ..."

Keith's note: In addition to Bridenstine there here are 7 other nominees to be considered at this executive session. During his confirmation hearing in November 2017, the bulk of the questions went to Bridenstine and not to the other nominees sitting at the table. Bridenstine's nomination passed along party lines. With an even larger group of nominees one might expect that there will be fewer questions directed at Bridenstine this time. One would expect, that is.

A live video of the markup and additional information will be available at http://ift.tt/1dX5KON. The session will be live tweeted at @NASAWatch

- Bridenstine Survives His Confirmation Hearing
- Bridenstine's Written Answers To Questions From Congress

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