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

[Gabe Gabrielle]

good morning all,

 Tomorrow I am off to Pasadena to visit the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for an open house tour, it should be fascinating…then on Monday and Tuesday I will be at schools in LA, Monday evening I will be at a buddy’s house for a birthday party for his daughter…A Solar System B-Party :-) Then I’ll be going to Missouri for 3 days of visiting schools…I mentioned that I am a Solar System Ambassador for the Jet Propulsion Lab….we get great educational opportunities and info to share…I know there isn’t much time but something to think about…(see below). Space X launch tonight, I hope you can watch it live or share the replay with the kids tomorrow… remember to go to the subject links for the latest info…we have to remember to always do our best, enjoy everything we do, believe in ourselves, and let those we care about most know…hugs & smiles...     love ya, Gabe

to see the ISS: www.spotthestation.nasa.gov


SpaceX Is Launching 60 Starlink Internet Satellites tonight
https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-megaconstellation-launch-webcast.html
A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 spacecraft in SpaceX's "Starlink" megaconstellation <https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-launching-may-2019.html> is scheduled to launch tonight at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT on May 16) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Watch it live here at Space.com <https://www.space.com/17933-nasa-television-webcasts-live-space-tv.html> courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the spaceflight company <https://www.spacex.com/webcast>.

The 60 tightly packed satellites nearly fill the Falcon 9's payload fairing, as SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk showed in a photo posted on Twitter  <https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1127388838362378241>over the weekend. That same post included an image of Musk's Tesla Roadster looking tiny inside its fairing ahead of its launch on the first test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket back in February 2018. (The Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy use fairings of the same size.)

Related: SpaceX's Falcon 9: Rocket for the Dragon <https://www.space.com/18962-spacex-falcon-9.html>


From Sarah Eyermann of NASA/Goddard, FYI.  Please share this opportunity announcement with any interested informal and formal educators.  A few spaces still available.  Deadline for registration is May 19…
 Would you like to take middle school children beyond the solar system? With Afterschool Universe you can!
 Afterschool Universe is a freely available curriculum for an out-of-school-time astronomy program for middle school students (roughly grades 6-8 or ages 11-14) developed by NASA. Using hands-on activities and interdisciplinary teaching techniques, it explores basic astronomy concepts and takes participants on a journey through the universe. Afterschool Universe offers an opportunity to run a well-tested and easily implemented program in your own local community. Designed for flexible implementation, it can be run as a science club, a summer camp, as a regular afterschool program, or many other formats. The materials to run this program mostly consist of stuff that is easily obtainable at the grocery store, Kmart, etc., with only a few materials that need to be purchased at specialized retailers.
 If this sounds interesting to you, check out the resources on our website (https://universe.nasa.gov/afterschool/ <https://universe.nasa.gov/afterschool/>) or consider joining us at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD for an upcoming training on May 28-29.
 This will be a 2-day comprehensive, in-person training that will prepare you to lead our program or train others to do so. It is free to all participants, and contingent upon sufficient signups. We cover a lot of material in this time, so please plan to be on time and stay all day on both days. Unfortunately, at this time there is no way to participate in this training at a distance. After successfully completing this training, you will receive a certificate which documents your participation. The deadline for registration is May 19.
 Please note that we cannot cover travel expenses if you need to travel to attend one of these trainings.  Also please note that due to government facility security considerations, we will only be accepting US Citizens and people with valid permanent resident cards for this training. You can sign up for this training on our website athttps://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/programs/au/training/ <https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/programs/au/training/>
 As an additional note, Afterschool Universe is targeted at kids in out-of-school-time programs in the middle-school age range (rising fifth graders to eighth graders). While anybody can attend this training or use the resources, this training will be tailored towards people that work with those groups.
 Find out more about Afterschool Universe and view the available online resources at https://universe.nasa.gov/afterschool/ <https://universe.nasa.gov/afterschool/>
 If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Eyermann at Sarah.E.Eyermann at nasa.gov <mailto:Sarah.E.Eyermann at nasa.gov>




Jeff Bezos unveils ‘Blue Moon’ lander

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, reveals the “Blue Moon” moon lander during an event Thursday in Washington, D.C. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, discussed his vision for spaceflight and lunar exploration Thursday in Washington, revealing new details about a privately-developed lunar lander he said will help NASA achieve the Trump administration’s goal of returning astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2024. During an invitation-only event in Washington on Thursday afternoon, Bezos unveiled a full-scale mock-up of the Blue Moon lander, a vehicle designed to initially deliver cargo, and eventually astronauts, to the lunar surface. “This is Blue Moon,” Bezos said, moments after a curtain dropped to reveal a model of the lander. “We’ve been working on this lander for three years, it’s a very large lander. It’ll soft land in a precise way, 3.6 metric tons (7,936 pounds) onto the lunar surface. The stretched tank variant of it will soft land 6.5 metric tons (14,330 pounds) onto the lunar surface.” Blue Origin, Bezos’s space company, previously announced the existence of the Blue Moon lander project. But Bezos disclosed additional details about the landing craft Thursday, including a new engine named the BE-7 to power the Blue Moon descent stage. With Apollo 17 moonwalker Jack Schmitt, NASA officials, scientists, reporters, and school children in the audience, Bezos said the Blue Moon lander could help NASA achieve a goal set by the Trump administration to land astronauts on the moon by 2024. “I love this,” Bezos said of Vice President Mike Pence’s speech in March announcing the accelerated lunar landing timeline. “It’s the right thing to do … and we can help meet that timeline, but only because we started three years ago. It’s time to go back to the moon, this time to stay.”


NASA Names New Moon Landing Program Artemis After Apollo's Sister <http://click.emails.purch.com/?qs=287d6866679d544c39ea2604f56182efa7afdd28103201b6c7988e10be5f88a82e88639a86ba8a8c702d4ab85cb51aa720d4ad788fe231f2>


Half a century after NASA sent men to the moon under project "Apollo <https://www.space.com/12669-45-apollo-moon-landing-photos-nasa.html>," the space agency is now working to land men — and women — on the lunar surface as part of its "Artemis" program.NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine revealed the new moniker on Monday (May 13) during a call with reporters that was primarily focused on the budget for the newly named moon program <https://www.space.com/nasa-2024-moon-landing-budget-boost.html>.

"It turns out that Apollo had a twin sister, Artemis. She happens to be the goddess of the moon," said Bridenstine, referring to Greek mythology. "Our astronaut office is very diverse and highly qualified. I think it is very beautiful that 50 years after Apollo, the Artemis program will carry the next man — and the first woman — to the moon."

Related: Can NASA Really Put Astronauts on the Moon in 2024? <https://www.space.com/nasa-astronauts-moon-2024-feasibility.html>
The Artemis program, which was previously only referred to by its component names — including the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, Orion crew vehicle and Gateway lunar outpost <https://www.space.com/41763-nasa-lunar-orbiting-platform-gateway-basics.html> — began when President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1 in 2017, directing NASA to return astronauts to the moon.

Two years later, in March 2019, Vice President Mike Pence further defined the program by announcing a five-year deadline <https://www.space.com/us-astronauts-moon-return-by-2024.html> for the first crewed lunar landing. The 2024 mission, he said, should land at the south pole with the "first woman and the next man on the moon.” 


From Big Bang to Present: Snapshots of Our Universe Through Time

In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, around 13.7 billion years ago, the universe formed. We still don't know the exact conditions under which this happened, and whether there was a time before time <https://www.livescience.com/65254-what-happened-before-big-big.html>. But using telescope observations and models of particle physics, researchers have been able to piece together a rough timeline of major events in the cosmos's life. Here we take a look at some of our universe's most important historical moments, from its infancy to its eventual death.

The Universe Is Moving Too Fast and Nobody Knows Why <http://click.emails.purch.com/?qs=87efb3d19fcb1a383c236b75be9a01b47acfb3f9b78a145ee5616f9ee41b247492d0f0c29b5c89110acd6adb223d62077b0fced97bd6d5af>


The universe is moving too fast and nobody knows why.

Back in the early years of the universe, right after the Big Bang <https://www.livescience.com/65254-what-happened-before-big-big.html>, everything blasted away from everything else. We can still see the light from that blast, by observing very faraway parts of the universe where light takes billions of years to reach our telescopes <https://www.livescience.com/16248-speed-light-special-relativity-neutrinos.html>. And we can measure how fast things were moving in those faraway spotsBased on that speed, we can calculate how fast the universe should be expanding today.

But when astronomers have tried to directly measure how fast the universe is expanding today <https://www.livescience.com/57643-universe-expanding-faster-hubble-constant.html> — a more difficult task, because everything is farther apart now — things seem to be moving faster than those calculations would predict. And a new paper, based on highly detailed observations taken using the Hubble Space Telescope <https://www.livescience.com/65081-hubble-billions-of-stars-photos.html>, appears to confirm that finding: Everything is moving about 9 percent too fast

Behold the Southern Lights!

As the International Space Station orbited 265 miles above the southern Indian Ocean about halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica, the crew snapped this image of the Aurora Australis

As the International 

How Mission Control Used Robotics to Successfully Restore Full Power for the Space Station


SpaRobotics ground controllers in NASA’s Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston successfully replaced a failed Main Bus Switching Unit (MBSU) on the International Space Station with a spare using robotic operations on Thursday, May 2. The operation to replace the failed unit was conducted using the station’s Canadarm2 and Dextre, both part of Canada’s contribution to the International Space Station <http://www.nasa.gov/station>.

Using complex robotic work to perform critical maintenance allows astronauts to spend more time working on scientific experiments <http://www.nasa.gov/iss-science> and helps develop better technologies and procedures for future human and robotic exploration beyond low-Earth orbit.

“Developing new robotic systems is extremely important to get our astronauts back to the Moon by 2024,” Robotics Operations Systems Officer Mike Ferullo said. “The techniques and methods that we are developing with Dextre and Canadarm2 are directly applicable to future missions, and the construction and repair of any Moon-based mission will be done with robotics wherever possible. It’s an extremely exciting time to be involved in space robotics.

Dextre <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/special-purpose-dextrous-manipulator/> is a versatile robot used to perform routine maintenance on the station. Equipped with lights, video equipment, a tool platform, and four tool holders, Dextre’s dual-arm design and precise handling capabilities reduces the need for spacewalks to conduct maintenance outside the orbiting laboratory.

The Canadarm2 <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/remote-manipulator-system-canadarm2/> serves as the station’s robotic arm. It’s used to move supplies, equipment, Dextre and even astronauts. The robotic arm is also used to capture visiting spacecraft and attach them to the station.

The completion of the robotics work was the second time an MBSU was swapped out without the need for a spacewalk.

“Previous replacements allowed us to review different arm configurations and the force with which we pulled the unit out,” Ferullo said. “Every operation we do gives us a better understanding about how to move forward with future repairs and the support of payloads.”

The failure on April 29 of the station’s MBSU-3, one of four power distributors on the station’s backbone truss structure, reduced the station’s power supply by nearly 25 percent. Following the failure, the station crew installed a series of jumpers in the station’s Unity connecting module (Node 1) to reroute power to experiments and hardware and ensure limited impact to continued station operations.

“Installing the power jumpers allowed the recovery of several critical pieces of equipment,” Power and Thermal Flight Controller Jay Boucher said. “Even though the jumpers helped continue station operations, replacing the failed unit would be required to regain the redundant power supply required for the US robotic arm to capture SpaceX’s Dragon cargo spacecraft that was scheduled to launch.”

Dragon launched successfully <https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/spacex-dragon-heads-to-space-station-with-nasa-science-cargo/> on May 4 and was captured and installed on the Earth-facing side of the station two days later to deliver more than 5,500 pounds of research, crew supplies, and hardware to the International Space Station.   ce Station orbited 265 miles above the southern Indian Ocean about halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica, the crew snapped this image of the Aurora Australis.

As the International Space Station orbited 265 miles above the southern Indian Ocean about halfway between Madagascar and Antarctica, the crew snapped this image of the Aurora Australis.