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

[Gabe Gabrielle]

hi all,
 I have completed my second week in Norway…I have 2 more days this week, then fly home on Wed at 3:30pm. It has been so very amazing…it is impossible for me to explain the joy I receive from seeing the kids' smile and excitement in their eyes…each presentation is so special because the kids make it that way…it seems something extraordinary happens at each one…a special comment by one of the kids, so many hugs, such genuine affection…I always talk with the kids about the space program but really focus on dreams and goals…reinforcing in them that dreams can come true…turn them into goals, to set their goals as high as possible, plan small steps to achieve them…then do it…during question periods, I get so many different questions…I never plan anything, basically wing it to see where it takes me...on Friday, one of the kids said…"Gabe, what are your dreams"….without even thinking I said to all of them…for you to be happy and for all your dreams to come true…it just came out...then I could see in the kids eyes…a little bewilderment change to a very special twinkle, smile, and lots of hugs…the connection with them is so very special, I don’t understand it…but I always feel it...it is simply magical…for all ages…I have included the link to see the ISS as I have spoken with so many about it as well as seeing Curiosity on Mars… Also, NASA TV will show the launch of the Space X supply ship, scheduled for 11:46 a.m. EST, Dec. 12. In addition to the nasa.gov site, https://spaceflightnow.com is excellent for seeing all launches from all countries. Since there are so many new teachers added, I’ve listed some of the many sites which can be used to share special activities with the kids. Wishing you a wonderful day...we have to always remember to do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, be appreciative of the good in our lives, let those we care about most know, make each day special, smile & have fun! Hugs & Smiles...love ya, Gabe


To watch the next launch... https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-television-to-air-launch-of-next-space-station-resupply-mission-2
NASA TV… https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
To see the ISS from your home… https://spotthestation.nasa.gov
This is an awesome site to learn about Curiosity… https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/
To learn about or share astronomy with your students… http://stellarium.org/ <http://stellarium.org/>
NASA Television to Air Launch of Next Space Station Resupply Mission
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/m17-145.jpg>
A SpaceX Dragon loaded with about 4,800 pounds of research, hardware and crew supplies bound for the International Space Station is targeted to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida no earlier than 11:46 a.m. EST, Dec. 12.
Credits: NASA
 <applewebdata://708BEF39-5519-42D1-A31F-8874B3FA3A88>
NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is now targeting its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station for no earlier than 11:46 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 12. Mission coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website <http://www.nasa.gov/live> Monday, Dec. 11 with two news briefings. Packed with almost 4,800 pounds of research <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/resupply_critical_science_to_ISS>, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

NASA TV mission coverage is as follows:
Monday, Dec. 11
11 a.m. – Prelaunch news conference with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program, SpaceX, and the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base
3:30 p.m. – “What’s on Board” science briefing, highlighting research testing: fiber optic filaments <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2421.html>, how plants <https://www.nasa.gov/ames/research/space-biosciences/plant-gravity-perception-spacex-13>respond to microgravity, the accuracy of a biosensor used for diabetes management <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2636.html>, a drug delivery system for combatting muscle atrophy <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2465.html> and instruments to measure the Sun’s energy input <https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/tsis-1> to Earth and orbital debris <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2145.html>.
Tuesday, Dec. 12
11:15 a.m. – Launch commentary coverage begins
1:15 p.m. – Post-launch news conference with representatives from NASA’s International Space Station Program and SpaceX
Friday, Dec. 15
4:30 a.m. – Dragon rendezvous at the space station and capture
7:30 a.m. – Installation coverage
About 10 minutes after launch on Dec. 12, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit and deploy its solar arrays. A carefully choreographed series of thruster firings are scheduled to bring the spacecraft to rendezvous with the space station. NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba will capture Dragon using the space station’s robotic arm. Ground controllers will then send commands to robotically install the spacecraft on the station’s Harmony module. The Dragon spacecraft will spend approximately one month attached to the space station, returning to Earth on Jan. 13 with results of previous experiments. The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed, but more information about media accreditation is available by contacting Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or jennifer.p.horner at nasa.gov <mailto:jennifer.p.horner at nasa.gov>. For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:  https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-13-briefings-and-events <https://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-13-briefings-and-events> Learn more about the SpaceX CRS-13 mission at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex <https://www.nasa.gov/spacex>


SpaceX Updates <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex> <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/feed/>
SpaceX CRS-13 Launch Set For No Earlier Than Dec. 12 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2017/12/05/spacex-crs-13-launch-set-for-no-earlier-than-dec-12/>

NASA and our commercial cargo provider SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Dec. 12 at 11:46 a.m. EST for their 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. This new launch date takes into account pad readiness, requirements for science payloads, space station crew availability, and orbital mechanics. Carrying about 4,800 pounds of … https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacex/2017/12/05/spacex-crs-13-launch-set-for-no... class="more-link">Continue reading "SpaceX CRS-13 Launch Set For No Earlier Than Dec. 12”

Found: Most Distant Black Hole
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/quasar20171206.jpg>
This artist's concept shows the most distant supermassive black hole ever discovered. It is part of a quasar from just 690 million years after the Big Bang.
Credits: Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science
Scientists have uncovered a rare relic from the early universe: the farthest known supermassive black hole. This matter-eating beast is 800 million times the mass of our Sun, which is astonishingly large for its young age. Researchers report the find in the journal Nature. "This black hole grew far larger than we expected in only 690 million years after the Big Bang, which challenges our theories about how black holes form," said study co-author Daniel Stern of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Astronomers combined data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) with ground-based surveys to identify potential distant objects to study, then followed up with Carnegie Observatories' Magellan telescopes in Chile. Carnegie astronomer Eduardo Bañados led the effort to identify candidates out of the hundreds of millions of objects WISE found that would be worthy of follow-up with Magellan. For black holes to become so large in the early universe, astronomers speculate there must have been special conditions to allow rapid growth -- but the underlying reason remains mysterious. The newly found black hole is voraciously devouring material at the center of a galaxy -- a phenomenon called a quasar. This quasar is especially interesting because it comes from a time when the universe was just beginning to emerge from its dark ages. The discovery will provide fundamental information about the universe when it was only 5 percent of its current age. "Quasars are among the brightest and most distant known celestial objects and are crucial to understanding the early universe," said co-author Bram Venemans of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany. The universe began in a hot soup of particles that rapidly spread apart in a period called inflation. About 400,000 years after the Big Bang, these particles cooled and coalesced into neutral hydrogen gas. But the universe stayed dark, without any luminous sources, until gravity condensed matter into the first stars and galaxies. The energy released by these ancient galaxies caused the neutral hydrogen to get excited and ionize, or lose an electron. The gas has remained in that state since that time. Once the universe became reionzed, photons could travel freely throughout space. This is the point at which the universe became transparent to light.  Much of the hydrogen surrounding the newly discovered quasar is neutral. That means the quasar is not only the most distant -- it is also the only example we have that can be seen before the universe became reionized. “It was the universe's last major transition and one of the current frontiers of astrophysics,” Bañados said.  The quasar's distance is determined by what's called its redshift, a measurement of how much the wavelength of its light is stretched by the expansion of the universe before reaching Earth. The higher the redshift, the greater the distance, and the farther back astronomers are looking in time when they observe the object. This newly discovered quasar has a redshift of 7.54, based on the detection of ionized carbon emissions from the galaxy that hosts the massive black hole. That means it took more than 13 billion years for the light from the quasar to reach us.  Scientists predict the sky contains between 20 and 100 quasars as bright and as distant as this quasar. Astronomers look forward to the European Space Agency's Euclid mission, which has significant NASA participation, and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) mission, to find more such distant objects. "With several next-generation, even-more-sensitive facilities currently being built, we can expect many exciting discoveries in the very early universe in the coming years," Stern said.



Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft at Sunrise


NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik photographed Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo spacecraft at sunrise, prior to its departure from the International Space Station at 8:11 a.m., Dec. 6, 2017. Expedition 53 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA gave the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm the command to release Cygnus <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2017/12/06/astronauts-command-robotic-arm-to-release-cygnus-cargo-craft/>.


Hubble Frames an Explosive Galaxy
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/potw1749a.jpg>
Don’t be fooled! The cosmic swirl of stars in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image may seem tranquil and unassuming, but this spiral galaxy, known as ESO 580-49, actually displays some explosive tendencies.

In October of 2011, a cataclysmic burst of high-energy gamma-ray radiation — known as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB — was detected coming from the region of sky containing ESO 580-49. Astronomers believe that the galaxy was the host of the GRB, given that the chance of a coincidental alignment between the two is roughly 1 in 10 million. At a distance of around 185 million light-years from Earth, it was the second-closest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected. Gamma-ray bursts are among the brightest events in the cosmos, occasionally outshining the combined gamma-ray output of the entire observable Universe for a few seconds. The exact cause of the GRB that probably occurred within this galaxy, catalogued as GRB 111005A, remains a mystery. Several events are known to lead to GRBs, but none of these explanations appear to fit the bill in this case. Astronomers have therefore suggested that ESO 580-49 hosted a new type of GRB explosion — one that has not yet been characterized.
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