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

Mon Jun 1 06:22:26 CDT 2015

Good morning all,
 I hope you had a wonderful weekend...I know for so many of you this is your last week of school so I would imagine it will be mainly fun although I also realize many of you will have to completely remove everything from your classroom, box it, then put it in storage until the beginning of the next school year...I have seen this process and know it is not easy as well as it takes considerable time...I will try to give you as much info as I can regarding the New Horizons mission...the kids are so excited about Pluto...one of the great benefits of being on KSC is there are always some kind of briefings given to the work force so we can get the latest info from the people who are directly involved...I will attend the meeting below to see what I can pass on to you...wishing you a wonderful day...we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, let the people we care about most know, be thankful for the good in our lives, smile & have fun....Gabe

New Horizons: Mission to Pluto!
It's been almost a decade since the New Horizons mission launched from KSC on Jan. 19, 2006. Find out what the mission has been up to by joining us for a special employee event Tuesday, June 2, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the KSC Training Auditorium. You'll learn more about this exciting mission through an engaging panel discussion with some key players and hear a special presentation by the New Horizons chief investigator, Alan Stern. Don't miss out on this great opportunity! Also, save the date for July 14, New Horizon's closest approach to Pluto! Learn more<http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/NHMissionFS082114HiPrint.pdf> about the mission.

Actor Jon Cryer Voices New NASA Film to Help Celebrate 50 Years of Spacewalks
On June 3, 1965, NASA astronaut Ed White became the first American to walk in space. NASA is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United States' first extravehicular activity (EVA) -- better known as a spacewalk -- through a number of commemorative features on NASA Television and NASA.gov.
[http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/side_image/public/thumbnails/image/m15-086.jpg]
Astronaut Bruce McCandless II, STS 41-B mission specialist, participates in the first use of a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which allows for much greater mobility than that afforded previous space walkers who had to use restrictive tethers. He is pictured a few meters away from the cabin of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger.
Credits: NASA

On Monday, June 1, NASA will premiere a documentary narrated by actor Jon Cryer on the history and future of humans working on a tether in space. The film, Suit Up, marks five decades of spacewalks and will air on NASA Television starting at 10 a.m. EDT, and be available on the agency's website and YouTube account<https://www.youtube.com/NASA>.
The documentary features interviews with NASA Administrator and astronaut, Charles Bolden, NASA Deputy Administrator and spacesuit designer, Dava Newman, as well as other astronauts, engineers, technicians, managers and luminaries of spacewalk history. They share their personal stories that cover the full EVA experience-- from spacesuit manufacturing to spacewalk maneuvering -- all brought to life through historical and HD footage.
Visitors to NASA.gov's Suit Up<http://www.nasa.gov/suitup> site can view special features and videos spanning NASA's 50 years of spacewalks and spacesuits.
>From 7:15 to 9:15 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 2, NASA astronaut and veteran spacewalker Mike Foreman<http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/foreman.html> is available to discuss with media the dramatic history and exciting future of spacewalking. The public can watch Foreman live from the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston where astronauts do EVA training. Foreman will talk about the first U.S. spacewalk and answer media questions about the past 50 years of spacewalks through the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
-end-
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May 28, 2015
Share on facebook<http://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/blue-aurorae-in-mars-sky-visible-to-the-naked-eye> Share on twitter<http://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/blue-aurorae-in-mars-sky-visible-to-the-naked-eye> Share on google_plusone_share<http://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/blue-aurorae-in-mars-sky-visible-to-the-naked-eye> Share on pinterest_share<http://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/blue-aurorae-in-mars-sky-visible-to-the-naked-eye> More Sharing Services<http://www.nasa.gov/langley/feature/blue-aurorae-in-mars-sky-visible-to-the-naked-eye>
Blue Aurorae in Mars' Sky Visible to the Naked Eye

For the first time, an international team of scientists from NASA, the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble (IPAG), the European Space Agency and Aalto University in Finland, have predicted that colorful, glowing aurorae can be seen by the naked eye on a terrestrial planet other than Earth - Mars.
Visible Martian aurorae seemed possible after the SPICAM imaging instrument on-board the ESA satellite Mars Express spotted aurorae from space in 2005. Those observations were confirmed in March 2015 by the NASA-led MAVEN mission, which completed 1,000 orbits around the red planet on April 6, 2015.
Through laboratory experiments and a physical numerical model developed at NASA and IPAG, the study shows that, on Mars, aurorae also occur in the visible range. The most intense color is deep blue. As on Earth, green and red colors are also present. Several times during a solar cycle, after intense solar eruptions, these lights are bright enough to be seen with the naked eye.
 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/marsblueaurorae1.jpg>
This is an artist interpretation of what aurorae may look like close to magnetic anomalies on Mars.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS and CSW/DB
Aurorae occur when charged solar particles reach local magnetic field lines, where they enter the planetary atmosphere and excite its atoms and molecules. As they deactivate, the particles produce light emission. On Earth, aurorae are essentially green or red (excitation of atomic oxygen), but even blue-purple (excitation of ionized molecular nitrogen) can be seen.
At the beginning of Mars' existence and up until 3.5 billion years ago, the red planet hosted a global magnetic field. Although this global field somehow shut down, local spots of increased magnetic fields, called crustal magnetic anomalies, still remain in Mars' surface. These anomalies are concentrated in the southern hemisphere, where aurorae are predicted to occur.
It is predicted that an astronaut walking on the red soil of the planet could look up to see the southern night sky glow blue, with red and green hues.
Perhaps NASA astronauts who plan to make their way towards the Mars' surface by the 2030s aboard Orion will be the first to provide first-hand confirmation of the prediction. And to think, Mars' southern lights could eventually become as much of a draw to aurorae admirers as Earth's northern lights.
"Our planetary research gives us good insight on physics in the Martian atmosphere - how it evolved, why Mars' mass is different than Earth's," said Guillaume Gronoff, a research scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center who helped to lead the study. "It helps us to better understand planetary atmosphere emissions, ultimately helping us to discover habitable planets."
The Planeterella:
The Planeterella simulates aurorae using a magnetic field, charged particles and a sphere. For this study, they replaced the terrestrial atmospheric gas with CO2, the major component of the Martian atmosphere, and then created a discharge in a vacuum similar to Mars' upper atmosphere.  There are seventeen Planeterellas worldwide. One is located at NASA Langley's official Visitors Center - the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Va. - where Guillaume occasionally exhibits the simulation.
Prediction of blue, red and green aurorae at Mars by J. Lilensten, D.
Bernard, M. Barthélemy, G. Gronoff, C. Simon Wedlund, A. Opitz,
Planetary and Space Science, May 2015, PII : S0032-0633(15)00130-0, DOI : 10.1016/j.pss.2015.04.015
The Planeterella sphere simulates a magnetized planet with an atmosphere of CO2 and bombarded by the solar wind. Blue aurorae develop according to its magnetic field configuration.
Credits: D. Bernard/IPAG - CNRS

View the Latest Edition of "This Week at NASA" (Published May 29, 2015)

View the latest "This Week at NASA" produced by NASA Television for features on agency news and activities. Stories in this program include:

*       Science Instruments Selected for Europa Mission
*       Commercial Crew Update
*       Space Station Module Relocated
*       Bolden Visits Space Companies
*       SLS Engine Test
*       Supersonic Vehicle Test
*       2015 World Science Festival

 To watch this edition of "This Week at NASA" dated May 29, 2015, click on the image below:

 <https://youtu.be/Rxhv5lzXUgc>

Watch the Video

You also may access this edition of "This Week at NASA" at:
https://youtu.be/Rxhv5lzXUgc

For more information on these and other stories, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/twan

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