[Spacetalk] http://www.nasa.gov/

Tue Aug 26 06:27:43 CDT 2014

Good morning all,
 I hope everything is going great as many of you have settled in for the year :) while others still have not started but we are approaching the end of August and soon everyone will be back. The kids are always asking about Pluto, especially since it is no longer classified as a "planet" and so many of them seem upset...the New Horizons Mission, launched in 2005, is just a year away from reaching its objective of arriving at Pluto, has just passed Neptune... 2.75 billion miles from earth...I hope you will find ways to share this with the kids as I'm sure they will enjoy hearing and seeing the mission as it nears Pluto. Wishing you a wonderful day...we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, be appreciative of the good in our lives, smile and have fun! gabe

NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Crosses Neptune Orbit En Route to Historic Pluto Encounter<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwODI1LjM1MzI2ODcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDgyNS4zNTMyNjg3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTQyNDI1JmVtYWlsaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/nasa-s-new-horizons-spacecraft-crosses-neptune-orbit-en-route-to-historic-pluto> NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has traversed the orbit of Neptune. This is its last major crossing en route to becoming the first probe to make a close encounter with distant Pluto on July 14, 2015.
<http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/nasa-s-new-horizons-spacecraft-crosses-neptune-orbit-en-route-to-historic-pluto/index.html>
New Horizons Spacecraft En Route to Pluto Encounter
 <http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/august/nasa-s-new-horizons-spacecraft-crosses-neptune-orbit-en-route-to-historic-pluto/index.html>
NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft has traversed the orbit of Neptune. This is its last major crossing en route to becoming the first probe to make a close encounter with distant Pluto on July 14, 2015. The sophisticated piano-sized spacecraft, which launched in January 2006, reached Neptune's orbit -- nearly 2.75 billion miles from Earth -- in a record eight years and eight months. New Horizons' milestone matches precisely the 25th anniversary of the historic encounter of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft with Neptune on Aug. 25, 1989.

25 Years Ago, Voyager 2 Captures Images of Neptune<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwODI1LjM1MzE1MjgxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDgyNS4zNTMxNTI4MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTQyMTIzJmVtYWlsaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://www.nasa.gov/content/25-years-ago-voyager-2-captures-images-of-neptune>

[http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/946xvariable_height/public/thumbnails/imageneptune_full.jpg?itok=xB2eO-jo]
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humanity its first glimpse of Neptune and its moon Triton in the summer of 1989. This picture of Neptune was produced from the last whole planet images taken through the green and orange filters on the Voyager 2 narrow angle camera. The images were taken on Aug. 20, 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles from the planet, 4 days and 20 hours before closest approach on Aug. 25. The picture shows the Great Dark Spot and its companion bright smudge; on the west limb the fast moving bright feature called "Scooter" and the little dark spot are visible. These clouds were seen to persist for as long as Voyager's cameras could resolve them. North of these, a bright cloud band similar to the south polar streak may be seen. In the summer of 2015, another NASA mission to the farthest zone of the solar system, New Horizons, will make a historic first close-up study of Pluto. Although a fast flyby, New Horizons' Pluto encounter on July 14, 2015, will not be a replay of Voyager but more of a sequel and a reboot, with a new and more technologically advanced spacecraft and, more importantly, a new cast of characters. Those characters are Pluto and its family of five known moons, all of which will be seen up close for the first time next summer. Image Credit: NASA

<http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-captures-images-of-a-late-summer-flare/index.html>

NASA Captures Images of a Late Summer Flare
 <http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-captures-images-of-a-late-summer-flare/index.html>
On Aug. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

Back Shell Tile Panels Installed on NASA's Orion Spacecraft<http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTQwODIyLjM1MjYzNTIxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE0MDgyMi4zNTI2MzUyMSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTQxMDkwJmVtYWlsaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9Z2VvcmdlLmdhYnJpZWxsZS0xQGtzYy5uYXNhLmdvdiZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://www.nasa.gov/content/back-shell-tile-panels-installed-on-nasas-orion-spacecraft>
08/22/2014 12:00 PM EDT
[http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/946xvariable_height/public/thumbnails/image14776416319_aab7c2b3f3_o.jpg?itok=5EoUXkzb]
Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians dressed in clean-room suits have installed a back shell tile panel onto the Orion crew module and are checking the fit next to the middle back shell tile panel. Preparations are underway for Exploration Flight Test-1, or EFT-1. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch later this year atop a Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to an altitude of 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface. The two-orbit, four-hour flight test will help engineers evaluate the systems critical to crew safety including the heat shield, parachute system and launch abort system. > Engineers and Technicians Install Protective Shell on NASA's Orion Spacecraft Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

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