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

Wed Feb 21 21:20:08 CST 2018

Hi all,
 I hope your week is gong great and the kids are enjoying learning…I have been staying very busy preparing for more school visits…tomorrow evening I will be participating in an Astronomy night at Wedgefield K8 sponsored by the Central FL Astronomical Society…it should be way fun…I am not really into astronomy but know so many kids and adults who love it so I am enjoying learning about it…on Friday evening I will be participating in a Boy Scouts Blue & Gold Award Ceremony, and on Monday I will be with the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville for the Exceptional Student Center School. I have been here before and it is simply amazing what the teachers do for and with these special kids…also a huge reminder to keep things in perspective and be so appreciative of the good in our lives…wishing you all a wonderful day…. we have to always remember to do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, make each day special, smile & have fun! Gabe

Tomorrow is a special event at KSC and NASA…I only found out about it yesterday but I think it is a wonderful opportunity and hope some of you can find a way to participate…see below….these times are US Eastern Time Zone…I will try to find out if they will replay them so at least some of you who may not be able to see it live can still share it with the girls...

NASA's New Spacesuit Has a Built-In Toilet <https://www.space.com/39710-orion-spacesuit-waste-disposal-system.html#?utm_source=ls-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=02-21-ls>

Crews inside a mockup of the Orion spacecraft test hand controller and cursor devices. As NASA prepares its next human spaceflight system, it is investing in a spacesuit that astronauts could live in for up to six days.

NASA engineers are working on a new spacesuit that includes a long-term waste-disposal system — effectively, a built-in toilet. Such a system hasn't been a part of NASA spacesuits since the Apollo era <https://www.space.com/22597-space-poop-astronaut-toilet-explained.html>, and the new waste-disposal system will likely have a lot in common with those used in the 1970s.

The new suits <https://www.space.com/35576-space-poop-system-orion-deep-space.html>, called the Orion Crew Survival Systems Suits (OCSSS), will be worn by astronauts on NASA's next-generation human spacecraft, Orion, which will be able to carry humans well beyond low Earth orbit <https://www.space.com/39422-nasa-space-launch-system-orion-update-2018.html>. While the vehicle isn't big enough to support a nine-month trip to Mars, Orion could carry humans around the moon and back. 

Like the space shuttle before it, Orion will be equipped with a toilet, but NASA is making contingency plans in case of emergencies, including the possibility that the Orion capsule depressurizes and the astronauts have to remain in their suits to survive. In fact, the agency wants astronauts to be able to survive in their suits for up to six days — meaning the men and women would have to be able to do things like eat, urinate and defecate without taking them off.

NASA's Next Planet Hunter Arrives in Florida Ahead of April Launch <http://www.space.com/39734-nasa-tess-exoplanet-spacecraft-arrives-ksc.html#?utm_source=sdc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=test-02-21-sdc>

Artist's illustration of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which will hunt for exoplanets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system.

NASA's next exoplanet-hunting space telescope has arrived in Florida, two months ahead of its planned launch.

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite <https://www.space.com/33573-nasa-tess-exoplanet-hunting-mission.html> (TESS) was delivered via truck to NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Monday (Feb. 12), agency officials said. The spacecraft made the journey from the Dulles, Virginia, facilities of the aerospace company Orbital ATK, which had spent the last year building and testing TESS.

TESS is scheduled to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket <https://www.space.com/39542-spacex-launches-govsat-1-used-rocket.html> no earlier than April 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is next door to KSC.

Pulsating Aurora Mysteries Uncovered with Help from NASA’s THEMIS Mission
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/728501main_themis-magnetosphere.jpg>
Illustration of three THEMIS satellites and Earth's magnetosphere.
Credits: NASA
Sometimes on a dark night near the poles, the sky pulses a diffuse glow of green, purple and red. Unlike the long, shimmering veils of typical auroral displays, these pulsating auroras are much dimmer and less common. While scientists have long known auroras to be associated with solar activity, the precise mechanism of pulsating auroras was unknown. Now, new research, using data from NASA’s Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms — or THEMIS — mission and Japan’s Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace — shortened to ERG, or also known as Arase — satellite, has finally captured the missing link thought responsible for these auroras. The answer lies in chirping waves that rhythmically pulse the particles that create the auroras.

 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/b5f0ff0e8debcb478993d26ed62463f4.jpg>
Illustration of the ERG satellite in orbit.
Credits: ISAS/JAXAEarth’s magnetic bubble — the magnetosphere — protects the planet from high-energy radiation coming from the Sun and interstellar space, but during particularly strong solar events, particles can slip through. Once inside, the particles and the energy they carry are stored on the nightside of the magnetosphere, until an event, known as a substorm, releases the energy. The electrons are then sent speeding down into Earth’s upper atmosphere where they collide with the other particles and produce the characteristic glow.

Pulsating auroras, however, have a slightly different cause. The magnetosphere is home to a type of plasma wave known as whistler mode chorus. These waves have characteristic rising tones — reminiscent of the sounds of chirping birds — and are able to efficiently disturb the electrons. When these waves make their appearance within the magnetosphere, some of the electrons scattered by the wave careen down into Earth’s atmosphere, causing the pulsating auroras.

While scientists have long believed this mechanism to be responsible for pulsating auroras, they had no definitive proof until now. The multipoint observations from the ERG satellite and ground-based all-sky cameras from the THEMIS mission allowed scientists to pinpoint the cause and effect, seeing the event from start to end. The results were published in the journal Nature <https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25505>.

Research done with NASA’s ground-based camera and Japan’s spacecraft in the near-Earth laboratory has applications further afield. Chorus waves have been observed around other planets in the solar system, including Jupiter and Saturn. Likely, the processes observed around Earth can help explain auroral features on these gas giants as well as on planets around other stars. The results also help scientists better understand how plasma waves can influence electrons — something that occurs in processes across the universe.

Related Links

Learn more about the THEMIS Mission <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/main/index.html>
Learn more about NASA’s research on the Sun-Earth environment <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/index.html>

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launch from California delayed to Thursday <https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/16/falcon-9-paz-mission-status-center/>
February 16, 2018

 <https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/02/16/falcon-9-paz-mission-status-center/>

SpaceX scrubbed a planned Falcon 9 rocket launch Wednesday due to unfavorable upper level winds over Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The mission is now scheduled to lift off at 9:17 a.m. EST (6:17 a.m. PST; 1417 GMT) Thursday. The rocket will carry into orbit a Spanish radar observation satellite named Paz and two prototype payloads for SpaceX’s planned Starlink broadband satellite network.
February 16, 2018

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