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

Thu Jan 15 06:36:42 CST 2015

Good morning all,
 I hope your week is going great...as you get ready for your 3 day weekend...we work selected holidays through the year so we get off between Christmas and New Year's...so we will be working on Monday but it is fine, it's all good and really enjoy that week off. We had the opportunity to view the Orion Capsule after its short, successful test flight....it is always so much fun here because we have access to so many interesting things....as I like to say, not many places have tour busses passing through their work place :) and we are here "for free" every day...there was concern aboard the ISS as an alarm indicated a possible ammonia leak causing the astronauts to evacuate the US segment...also check out the story of the year long stay on the ISS, prior to this the length of stay was 6 months...wishing everyone a wonderful day...we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, make each day special, be thankful for the good in our lives, let those we care about most know, smile & have fun! gabe
You can click on the links above the pictures for additional info

To see some interesting pictures of the Orion Capsule: Orion: America's Next Generation Spacecraft Photos<https://plus.google.com/photos/105544358186546315627/albums/6104164404990995313?authkey=CJSf2-Kp5pTQuwE> thanks to my buddy Bill, for sharing....

KSC Employee Update:
Expedition 42 Update: Crew Safe After Alarm, Data points to faulty MDM reading
The International Space Station mission management team, including NASA's international partners, met this afternoon and directed the station's residents to return to the U.S. segment of the complex before the end of the day, systems permitting. The decision was made hours after the crew members retreated to the Russian segment following an alarm that could have been indicative of an ammonia leak. The crew is in good condition, was never in any danger and no ammonia leak has been detected on the orbital laboratory. They were informed of the plan during their afternoon daily planning conference with flight controllers in Houston, Moscow and the other international partner flight control centers.
Around 4 a.m. EST, Expedition 42 Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency were directed to don protective masks and move into the Russian segment, closing hatches behind them to the U.S. segment due to an alarm that is part of the environmental systems software on the station designed to monitor the cabin's atmosphere. At the same time, the station's protection software shut down one of two redundant cooling loops (Thermal Control System Loop B).
Data received from a variety of system sources onboard have been studied by flight controllers throughout the day and indicate no leakage of ammonia on the station. The alarms are suspected to have been caused by a transient error message in one of the station's computer relay systems, called a multiplexer-demultiplexer. A subsequent action to turn that relay box off and back on cleared the error message, and the relay box is reported by flight controllers to be in good operating condition.
The crew will re-enter the station's U.S. segment today wearing the same protective masks they wore earlier today and will conduct measurements of the atmosphere to ensure no traces of ammonia are present. Assuming no indication of ammonia, the crew will remove their masks and return to normal operations.
Flight controllers continue to analyze data in an effort to determine what triggered the alarm that set today's actions in motion. Work to reactivate cooling loop B on the station will continue throughout the night and into tomorrow. The crew is expected to resume a normal complement of research activities on Thursday as well.

<http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/cassini/nasa-and-esa-celebrate-10-years-since-titan-landing/index.html>
10 Years Since Huygens' Titan Landing
 <http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/cassini/nasa-and-esa-celebrate-10-years-since-titan-landing/index.html>
Ten years ago, an explorer from Earth parachuted into the haze of an alien moon toward an uncertain fate. After a gentle descent lasting more than two hours, it landed with a thud on a frigid floodplain, surrounded by icy cobblestones. With this feat, the Huygens probe accomplished humanity's first landing on a moon in the outer solar system. Huygens was safely on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.
<http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/crystal-rich-rock-mojave-is-next-mars-drill-target/index.html>
Crystal-Rich Rock 'Mojave' Is Next Mars Drill Target
 <http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/crystal-rich-rock-mojave-is-next-mars-drill-target/index.html>
A rock target where NASA's Curiosity rover is using its sample-collection drill this week may have a salty story to tell. This target, called "Mojave," displays copious slender features, slightly smaller than grains of rice, that appear to be mineral crystals. A chance to learn their composition prompted the Curiosity science team to choose Mojave as the next rock-drilling target for the 29-month-old mission investigating Mars' Gale Crater. The features might be a salt mineral left behind when lakewater evaporated.
<https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/>
Crew Safe After False Alarm on Station
 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/>
The International Space Station mission management team, including NASA's international partners, met this afternoon and directed the station's residents to return to the U.S. segment of the complex before the end of the day, systems permitting. The decision was made hours after the crew members retreated to the Russian segment following an alarm that could have been indicative of an ammonia leak. The crew is in good condition, was never in any danger and no ammonia leak has been detected on the orbital laboratory.
<http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/asteroid-to-fly-by-earth-safely-on-january-26/index.html>
Asteroid to Fly By Earth Safely on January 26
 <http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/asteroid-to-fly-by-earth-safely-on-january-26/index.html>
An asteroid, designated 2004 BL86, will safely pass about three times the distance of Earth to the moon on January 26. From its reflected brightness, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is about a third of a mile (0.5 kilometers) in size. The flyby of 2004 BL86 will be the closest by any known space rock this large until asteroid 1999 AN10 flies past Earth in 2027. At the time of its closest approach on January 26, the asteroid will be approximately 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Earth.
<http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/rivers-are-draining-greenland-quickly-nasa-ucla/index.html>
Rivers Are Draining Greenland Quickly
 <http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/rivers-are-draining-greenland-quickly-nasa-ucla/index.html>
Rivers of glacial meltwater flowing over Greenland's frozen surface may be contributing as much to global sea level rise as all other processes that drain water from the melting ice sheet combined, according to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and NASA. Eighty percent of Greenland, which is about the size of the United States west of the Rocky Mountains, is covered by ice, which has the potential to make a significant contribution to sea level rise as it melts.

Astronaut Twins Available for Interviews about Yearlong Space Station Mission, Health Study

        [http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/673xvariable_height/public/m15-009_0.jpg] <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/m15-009_0.jpg>
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and his twin, former astronaut Mark Kelly, are pictured in the check-out facility at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on May 6, 2008.
Image Credit: NASA/JSC
NASA will host an opportunity for media to conduct in-person interviews with astronaut Scott Kelly and his twin brother, former astronaut Mark Kelly, Monday, Jan. 19.
The twins will be available for in-person interviews from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. EST at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The opportunity previously had been planned for Tuesday, Jan. 20, but was changed due to a scheduling conflict.
Scott and his Russian colleague, cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, embark March 27 on the first-ever yearlong mission to the International Space Station. Mark, who flew four space shuttle missions and commanded the final flight of space shuttle Endeavour, will participate in biomedical studies on the ground while his twin is aboard the orbiting laboratory.
The valuable scientific data collected will provide insight into how the human body responds to longer durations in space, supporting the next generation of space exploration. In addition to a full suite of investigations to be conducted during the mission, scientists plan to compare medical data from the twins to better understand the results gleaned from Scott's extended mission.
To participate in the interviews, reporters must contact Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters at 281-483-5111 or nicole.cloutier-1 at nasa.gov<mailto:nicole.cloutier-1 at nasa.gov> no later than 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15.
More information about the International Space Station and its crews is available at:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Scott Kelly is sharing his mission preparation and journey to space on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/StationCDRKelly
For Scott Kelly's full biography, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellysj.html
For Mark Kelly's full NASA biography, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellyme.html

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