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

Gabe Gabrielle gabe at educatemotivate.com
Sun Aug 21 23:20:38 CDT 2016


Good morning all,
 I know it has been a while and it is almost beyond comprehension how fast your summer break has passed... so many schools have started and many will be cycling back as we come to the end of August and into September…welcome back everyone, I know many of you are excited to be back and enjoy the challenge the new school year brings…I am always in awe of what you do….you shape young minds and impact lives forever, impacting the kids in so many ways…..I really believe you have the most difficult challenge in the world and admire you tremendously….many exciting events ahead in the space program….I hope you will be able to share them with the kids…this week was awesome as two astronauts performed a space walk installing a new docking mechanism for future ships to the ISS, if you have time you may be able to share a replay on NASA TV:  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public  There is a mission to an astroid which launches on Sept 8th, i hope by then you are settled in enough to share the launch with the kids as this is an amazing mission that will send a ship to as asteroid, get a sample and return it to earth...we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, make each day special, let those we care about most know, keep things in perspective, smile and have fun! gabe


Spacewalk Concludes After Commercial Crew Port Installation <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2016/08/19/spacewalk-concludes-after-commercial-crew-port-installation/>

Astronaut Jeff Williams is conducting the fourth spacewalk of his career. Astronaut Kate Rubins is conducting her first 

Spacewalker Kate Rubins works outside the International Space Station with the SpaceX Dragon space freighter just below her. Credit: NASA TV <http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv>
Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins concluded their spacewalk at 2:02 EDT. During the five-hour and 58-minute spacewalk, the two NASA astronauts successfully installed the first of two international docking adapters (IDAs). The IDAs will be used for the future arrivals of Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew spacecraft in development under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research, which is helping prepare astronauts for deep space missions, including the journey to Mars. Space station crew members have conducted 194 spacewalks in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 1,210 hours and 46 minutes working outside the station. Keep up with the International Space Station, and its research and crews, at: www.nasa.gov/station <http://www.nasa.gov/station> Get breaking news, images, videos and features from the station on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/ISS <https://www.facebook.com/ISS> http://instagram.com/iss <http://instagram.com/iss> http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station <http://www.twitter.com/Space_Station%C2%A0%C2%A0>
NASA Prepares to Launch First U.S. Asteroid Sample Return Mission
 <http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/16-019_0.png>
OSIRIS-REx will travel to near-Earth asteroid Benn on a sample return mission
Credits: NASA
NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to return a sample of an asteroid to Earth. The mission will help scientists investigate how planets formed and how life began, as well as improve our understanding of asteroids that could impact Earth. The Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft will travel to the near-Earth asteroid Bennu and bring a sample back to Earth for intensive study. Launch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 8 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. “This mission exemplifies our nation’s quest to boldly go and study our solar system and beyond to better understand the universe and our place in it,” said Geoff Yoder, acting associate administrator for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “NASA science is the greatest engine of scientific discovery on the planet and OSIRIS-REx embodies our directorate’s goal to innovate, explore, discover, and inspire.” The 4,650-pound (2,110-kilogram) fully-fueled spacecraft will launch aboard an Atlas V 411 rocket during a 34-day launch period that begins Sept. 8, and reach its asteroid target in 2018. After a careful survey of Bennu to characterize the asteroid and locate the most promising sample sites, OSIRIS-REx will collect between 2 and 70 ounces (about 60 to 2,000 grams) of surface material with its robotic arm and return the sample to Earth via a detachable capsule in 2023. "The launch of OSIRIS-REx is the beginning a seven-year journey to return pristine samples from asteroid Bennu," said OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson. "The team has built an amazing spacecraft, and we are well-equipped to investigate Bennu and return with our scientific treasure.”

OSIRIS-REx has five instruments to explore Bennu:

OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) – A system consisting of three cameras provided by the University of Arizona, Tucson, will observe Bennu and provide global imaging, sample site imaging, and will witness the sampling event.
OSIRIS-REx Laser Altimeter (OLA) – A scanning LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) contributed by the Canadian Space Agency will be used to measure the distance between the spacecraft and Bennu's surface, and will map the shape of the asteroid.
OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES) – An instrument provided by Arizona State University in Tempe that will investigate mineral abundances and provide temperature information with observations in the thermal infrared spectrum.
OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) – An instrument provided by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and designed to measure visible and infrared light from Bennu to identify mineral and organic material.
Regolith X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (REXIS) – A student experiment provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University in Cambridge, which will observe the X-ray spectrum to identify chemical elements on Bennu’s surface and their abundances.
Additionally, the spacecraft has two systems that will enable the sample collection and return:
Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) – An articulated robotic arm with a sampler head, provided by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, to collect a sample of Bennu's surface.
OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule (SRC) – A capsule with a heat shield and parachutes in which the spacecraft will return the asteroid sample to Earth, provided by Lockheed Martin. 
"Our upcoming launch is the culmination of a tremendous amount of effort from an extremely dedicated team of scientists, engineers, technicians, finance and support personnel," said OSIRIS-REx Project Manager Mike Donnelly at Goddard. "I'm incredibly proud of this team and look forward to launching the mission's journey to Bennu and back."Goddard provides overall mission management, systems engineering, and safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Lockheed Martin Space Systems built the spacecraft. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA's New Frontiers Program. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages New Frontiers for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For images, video, and more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-re <http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-re> and http://www.asteroidmission.org <http://www.asteroidmission.org/>
Hubble Views a Galaxy Fit to Burst
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hubble_monday_07252016.jpg>
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image reveals the vibrant core of the galaxy NGC 3125. Discovered by John Herschel in 1835, NGC 3125 is a great example of a starburst galaxy — a galaxy in which unusually high numbers of new stars are forming, springing to life within intensely hot clouds of gas. Located approximately 50 million light-years away in the constellation of Antlia (The Air Pump), NGC 3125 is similar to, but unfathomably brighter and more energetic than, one of the Magellanic Clouds. Spanning 15,000 light-years, the galaxy displays massive and violent bursts of star formation, as shown by the hot, young, and blue stars scattered throughout the galaxy’s rose-tinted core. Some of these clumps of stars are notable — one of the most extreme Wolf–Rayet star clusters in the local Universe, NGC 3125-A1, resides within NGC 3125. Despite their appearance, the fuzzy white blobs dotted around the edge of this galaxy are not stars, but globular clusters. Found within a galaxy’s halo, globular clusters are ancient collections of hundreds of thousands of stars. They orbit around galactic centers like satellites — the Milky Way, for example, hosts over 150 of them.
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