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

Tue Apr 9 10:53:50 CDT 2019

 good morning all,

 I know many of you are still cycling through spring break, I hope enjoying your little “down time" as I know it is so deserving…I applaud you all for what you do... I truly believe you have the most challenging profession in the world… also the most rewarding…you are asked to take 20-25 kids with different backgrounds, different educational goals, different learning abilities, different personalities…teach them the same thing, at the same speed while dealing with administrators, state testing, micro managing parents…in a classroom environment that you create with your own funds and on evenings or weekends. I visit so many schools…your creativity in the way you inspire kids to want to learn is amazing…your enthusiasm and care for "your kids” is so heartwarming…i want to say thank you and know how much you are appreciated…

On Saturday I attended SunNFun, an amazing week long event in Lakeland, Florida which is not only an awesome air show but also a wonderful event for teachers with so many workshops, educational opportunities, and recognition for you…I hope you will attend in the future and would like to thank all who attended my presentation…the room was full and I appreciate you taking the time to attend…

the space program is so exciting with many missions and a new directive…to go to the moon, establish a base with permanent residence, and use it as a gateway to Mars…also include all commercial companies in this directive which will open so many more opportunities for those interested in being a part of the space program…tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10, at 6:35 PM EDT, Space X will launch it Falcon heavy and will land the rocket and boosters…I hope you will share the with the kids as there will be replays on the the Space X site. you can also goth the NASA site: nasa.gov <http://nasa.gov/> to see relays and get updates on the next space walk…

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, smile and have fun…:-) :-) love ya, Gabe

www.spotthestation.nasa.gov

Click Here for: "How to Get to Mars. Very Cool !

https://www.spacex.com <https://www.spacex.com/> 

NASA Launches Two Rockets Studying Auroras

From the ground, the dance of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, can look peaceful. But those shimmering sheets of colored lights are the product of violent collisions between Earth’s atmosphere and particles from the Sun.

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Aurora as seen from Talkeetna, Alaska, on Nov. 3, 2015.
Credits: Copyright Dora Miller
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One of two Black Brant XI rockets leaves the launch pad at the Andøya Space Center in Norway.
Credits: NASA/Lee Wingfield
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Colorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientist to measure auroral winds.
Credits: NASA/Lee Wingfield
NASA successfully launched the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment or AZURE mission on April 5 from the Andøya Space Center in Norway.

Two Black Brant XI-A sounding rockets were launched at 6:14 and 6:16 p.m. EDT on April 5 carrying scientific instruments for studying the energy exchange within an aurora.

The AZURE mission <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/sounding-rocket-mission-will-trace-auroral-winds> is designed to make measurements of the atmospheric density and temperature with instruments on the rockets and deploying visible gas tracers, trimethyl aluminum (TMA) and a barium/strontium mixture, which ionizes when exposed to sunlight. The vapors were released over the Norwegian Sea at 71 through 150 miles altitude.

These mixtures, using substances similar to those found in fireworks, created colorful clouds that allow researchers to track the flow of neutral and charged particles with the auroral wind. By tracking the movement of these colorful clouds via ground-based photography and triangulating their moment-by-moment position in three dimensions, AZURE will provide valuable data on the vertical and horizontal flow of particles in two key regions of the ionosphere over a range of different altitudes.

Many people believe the Earth’s atmosphere “ends” some 20-30 miles above the ground. However, the air we breathe does not abruptly end at some predefined point — instead, it gradually thins. At 150 to 200 miles above Earth, the “air” is extremely thin and these vapor clouds disperse rapidly and follow the winds which can be moving at a few hundred miles per hour.

AZURE is one of nine missions being conducted as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) – Cusp <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/science-on-the-cusp-sounding-rockets-head-north>, a series of international sounding rocket missions planned for launch in 2018 - 2020.

NASA and U.S. scientists are joining those from Norway, Japan, Canada and other countries to investigate the physics of heating and charged particle precipitation in this region called the geomagnetic cusp — one of the few places on Earth with easy access to the electrically charged solar wind that pervades the solar system.

NASA previously conducted two missions in December 2018 and two in January 2019 as part of the Initiative.  The final two NASA missions — the Cusp Heating Investigation and the Cusp Region Experiment — are scheduled for November 2019.

More information on NASA’s use of vapor tracers in scientific studies is available at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sounding-rockets/index.html <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sounding-rockets/index.html>

This Single Mission Could Solve 2 of the Biggest Mysteries of the Universe

ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 Plan is designed to give us new understanding and new views of the Universe.
Credit: NASA/ESA/ESO/W. Freudling (ST-ECF)

Our universe is incredibly vast, mostly mysterious, and generally confusing. We're surrounded by perplexing questions on scales both great and small. We have some answers, for sure, like the Standard Model of particle physics, that help us (physicists, at least) understand fundamental subatomic interactions, and the Big Bang theory of how the universe began <https://www.livescience.com/1774-greatest-mysteries-universe.html>, which weaves together a cosmic story over the past 13.8 billion years.

But despite the successes of these models, we still have plenty of work to do. For example, what in the world is dark energy, the name we give to the driving force behind the observed accelerated expansion of the universe? And on the opposite end of the scale, what exactly are neutrinos <https://www.livescience.com/64827-neutrinos.html>, those ghostly little particles that zip and zoom through the cosmos without hardly interacting with anything? [The 18 Biggest Unsolved Mysteries in Physics <https://www.livescience.com/34052-unsolved-mysteries-physics.html>]

At first glance, these two questions seem so radically different in terms of scale and nature and, well, everything that we might assume that we need to answer them.

But it might be that a single experiment could reveal answers to both. A European Space Agency telescope is set to map the dark universe — looking as far back in time, some 10 billion years, when dark energy is thought to have been raging. Let's dig in.

Go big and go home

To dig in, we need to look up. Way up. On scales much, much bigger than galaxies (we're talking billions of light-years here, folks), where our universe resembles a vast, glowing spider web. Except, this spider web isn't made of silk, but of galaxies. Long, thin tendrils of galaxies linking dense, clumpy nodes. Those nodes are the clusters, bustling cities of galaxies and hot, rich gas — enormous, broad walls of thousands upon thousands of galaxies. And between these structures, taking up most of the volume in the universe, are the great cosmic voids, celestial deserts filled with nothing much at all.

It's called the cosmic web, and it's the biggest thing in the universe <https://www.livescience.com/62530-biggest-object-in-universe.html>.

This cosmic web was slowly constructed over the course of billions of years by the weakest force in nature: gravity <https://www.livescience.com/37115-what-is-gravity.html>. Way back when the universe was the tiniest fraction of its current size, it was almost perfectly uniform. But the "almost" is important here: There were tiny variations in density from spot to spot, with some corners of the universe being a little bit more crowded than average and others a little less so. [The 12 Strangest Objects in the Universe <https://www.livescience.com/64993-weirdest-celestial-objects.html>]

By looking at a combination of the densest, busiest places in the universe (the galaxy clusters) and the loneliest, emptiest places in the cosmos (the voids), we might get answers to both the nature of dark energy (which will herald an era of brand-new physics knowledge) and the nature of neutrinos (which will do the exact same thing). We might learn, for example, that dark energy is getting worse, or getting better, or maybe even just being the same. And we might learn how massive neutrinos are or how many of them are flitting around the universe. But no matter what, it's hard to tell what we'll get until we actually look.

15 Amazing Images of Stars <https://www.livescience.com/64955-stellar-star-images.html>
Spaced Out! 101 Astronomy Images That Will Blow Your Mind <https://www.livescience.com/37291-amazing-astronomy-images.html>
8 Ways You Can See Einstein's Theory of Relativity in Real Life <https://www.livescience.com/58245-theory-of-relativity-in-real-life.html>
Dead Planet's Heavy Metal Core Found Rocketing Around a Dead Sun in a Distant Solar System

Astronomers discovered what they suspect to be a heavy metal fragment of a broken planet (seen in this artist’s rendering), swirling through the dusty ring of death near a white dwarf.
Credit: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick

In case you forgot that nature is totally metal, astronomers have discovered the shattered remains of a dead planet orbiting a dead sun in a distant, desolate solar system.

The dead planet's broken heart consists of heavy metal, and it orbits at breakneck speed through a dirty cosmic boneyard full of other chunks of dead planets. Mourn the dead planet and its dead star if you like, but do not pity them; one day, astronomers say, our solar system will probably look much the same. (Happy spring <https://www.livescience.com/65057-spring-equinox-from-space.html>!)

This grim conclusion, which is described today (April 4) in the journal Science <http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aat5330>, comes from observing a dead planet chunk (or "planetesimal") circling a white dwarf <https://www.space.com/23756-white-dwarf-stars.html?_ga=2.163615420.2031823438.1554127998-909451252.1546961057> star in a solar system about 410 million light-years away from Earth. [9 Times Nature Was Totally Metal <https://www.livescience.com/64357-nature-is-metal-2018.html>]

The Event Horizon Telescope Is Trying to Take the First-Ever Photo of a Black Hole

Astronomers orchestrated radio dish telescopes across the world into an Earth-size virtual camera for a bold new experiment attempting to deliver the first-ever image of a black hole. The telescope collaboration is set to make a big announcement of results this week <https://www.space.com/event-horizon-telescope-black-hole-announcement-coming-soon.html>, and members also described their research approach at a talk in March.

Black holes are extreme warps in space-time that are so strong, their massive gravity doesn't even let light escape once it gets close enough. 

The astronomers' idea is to photograph the circular opaque silhouette of a black hole <https://www.space.com/36360-black-hole-image-event-horizon-telescope.html> cast on a bright background. The shadow's edge is the event horizon, a black hole's point of no return. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a photograph of a black hole would be an important tool for understanding astrophysics, cosmology and the role of black holes in the universe. 

Astronauts Conducting Third Spacewalk to Upgrade Station Power System <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/04/08/astronauts-conducting-third-spacewalk-to-upgrade-station-power-systems/>

Astronauts Anne McClain (left) and David Saint-Jacques work outside the International Space Station during their spacewalk on April 8, 2019.
Expedition 59 <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition59/index.html> Flight Engineers Anne McClain <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/anne-c-mcclain> of NASA and David Saint-Jacques <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.asc-2Dcsa.gc.ca_eng_astronauts_canadian_active_bio-2Ddavid-2Dsaint-2Djacques.asp&d=DwMFAg&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=DjCOY7g3Ql3dG1aBogkWRnB4XogRnuoZFZAyoFHDGSI&m=yNof3-1cNx2nGZ22K3Mz9axD40H-lWbPjJqW9Pbg3qA&s=tKsOPx6FWfJ7D6jL8GE_nJUnDuDclpp-_7OEEclVIdQ&e=> of the Canadian Space Agency concluded their spacewalk at 2 p.m. EDT. During the six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, the two astronauts successfully established a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and installed cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability. The duo also relocated an adapter plate from the first spacewalk in preparation for future battery upgrade operations.

This was the third spacewalk in just under a month on the space station. The first two spacewalks installed powerful lithium-ion batteries for one pair of the station’s solar arrays. On March 22, the first spacewalk <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/03/22/spacewalkers-complete-battery-swaps-for-station-power-upgrades/> was completed by McClain and fellow NASA astronaut Nick Hague <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/tyler-nick-hague>. On March 28, the second spacewalk <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/03/29/nasa-astronauts-complete-215th-spacewalk-at-station/> was completed by Hague and NASA astronaut Christina Koch <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-h-koch>.

March 22 was the first spacewalk for NASA astronauts Hague and McClain. McClain became the 13th female spacewalker in history.
March 29 also was the first spacewalk for NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who became the 14th female to complete a spacewalk.
Saint-Jacques became the first Canadian Expedition astronaut to walk in space and the fourth Canadian astronaut to spacewalk overall.
Space station crew members have conducted 216 spacewalks <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/spacewalks/> in support of assembly and maintenance of the orbiting laboratory. Spacewalkers have now spent a total of 56 days 10 hours and 53 minutes working outside the station.
Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/>, @space_station <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_space-5Fstation&d=DwMFAg&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=HHdfv6z0ihNC4iRv2hTjRN_u4_nDpO3vIOdFs1yThYk&m=S6lwoXlP4pRXAKoh1MkSyncnt1aT-eCEWPd2hjssgMw&s=l75wMv2DGws8AqWCcDShYMGjZU974kqJGUA6gpzcDJw&e=> and @ISS_Research <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_ISS-5FResearch&d=DwMFAg&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=HHdfv6z0ihNC4iRv2hTjRN_u4_nDpO3vIOdFs1yThYk&m=S6lwoXlP4pRXAKoh1MkSyncnt1aT-eCEWPd2hjssgMw&s=44ypT3blBWCxSh14KnB2VlBVE0VXs_sbeNz8Dz59V2c&e=> on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.facebook.com_ISS&d=DwMGaQ&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=DjCOY7g3Ql3dG1aBogkWRnB4XogRnuoZFZAyoFHDGSI&m=cnmscJbsVdsCdcsGL_7w5DXEOVDxWnjbKq5QfxwllnQ&s=gf_LecYTrhfTYb0Bk3zz1l8eHTCWDW9UBle7dcWq1B0&e=> and ISS Instagram <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_ISS_&d=DwMGaQ&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=DjCOY7g3Ql3dG1aBogkWRnB4XogRnuoZFZAyoFHDGSI&m=cnmscJbsVdsCdcsGL_7w5DXEOVDxWnjbKq5QfxwllnQ&s=_MEZaY4Yy9o8d6tVPnrbyflOtoJnHcZRMf2DxUzPKPw&e=> accounts.

AuthorMark Garcia <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/author/magarcia/>
Posted onApril 8, 2019
Categories
 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/04/08/u-s-and-canadian-astronauts-wrap-up-power-upgrades-spacewalk/>Expedition 59 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/category/expedition-59/>
TagsCanadian Space Agency <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/canadian-space-agency/>, European Space Agency <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/european-space-agency/>, International Space Station <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/international-space-station/>, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/japan-aerospace-exploration-agency/>, NASA <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/nasa/>, Roscosmos <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/roscosmos/>, spacewalk <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/spacewalk/>
Leave a comment <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/04/08/u-s-and-canadian-astronauts-wrap-up-power-upgrades-spacewalk/#respond>on U.S. and Canadian Astronauts Wrap Up Power Upgrades Spacewalk <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/04/08/u-s-and-canadian-astronauts-wrap-up-power-upgrades-spacewalk/#respond>
 <https://flic.kr/p/RyH7Hk>
NASA astronaut Anne McClain works outside the U.S. Quest airlock during a March 22, 2019, spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station’s power storage capacity.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/anne-c-mcclain> and David Saint-Jacques <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.asc-2Dcsa.gc.ca_eng_astronauts_canadian_active_bio-2Ddavid-2Dsaint-2Djacques.asp&d=DwMFAg&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=DjCOY7g3Ql3dG1aBogkWRnB4XogRnuoZFZAyoFHDGSI&m=yNof3-1cNx2nGZ22K3Mz9axD40H-lWbPjJqW9Pbg3qA&s=tKsOPx6FWfJ7D6jL8GE_nJUnDuDclpp-_7OEEclVIdQ&e=> have begun the third spacewalk in under a month on the exterior of the International Space Station <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html>. Today’s spacewalk will work to establish a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and install cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability.

Watch the spacewalk on NASA TV and on the agency’s website <http://www.nasa.gov/ntv>.

The spacewalkers set their spacesuits to battery power this morning at 7:31 a.m. EDT then exited the Quest airlock into the vacuum of space. The team will spend about six-and-a-half hours installing truss jumpers to provide a redundant power source for the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

This is the 216th spacewalk in support of space station assembly and maintenance. McClain will be designated extravehicular crew member 1 (EV 1), wearing the suit with red stripes. Saint-Jacques will be designated extravehicular crew member 2 (EV 2), wearing the suit with no stripes.

Learn more about station activities by following @space_station <https://twitter.com/Space_Station> and @ISS_Research <https://twitter.com/ISS_Research> on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/ISS> and ISS Instagram <https://instagram.com/iss> accounts.

AuthorMark Garcia <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/author/magarcia/>
Posted onApril 8, 2019 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/04/08/astronauts-conducting-third-spacewalk-to-upgrade-station-power-systems/>
CategoriesExpedition 59 <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/category/expedition-59/>
TagsCanadian Space Agency <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/canadian-space-agency/>, European Space Agency <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/european-space-agency/>, International Space Station <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/international-space-station/>, NASA <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/nasa/>, Roscosmos <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/roscosmos/>, spacewalk <https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/tag/spacewalk/>
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