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

Fri May 24 02:22:56 CDT 2019

hi all,

 greetings from Missouri…it has been am amazing week from JPL, to visiting school in LA and Missouri…JPL is an amazing place, so much to see and do but I think what I liked most was the way everyone loves what they do…their excitement and enthusiasm was ever present and it was so much fun to hear their thoughts…in La I visited Marquez Charter School and Short Elementary school…it was awesome at both schools…I want to thank Akiko and Karen who did so much to make the lists possible…in Missouri I visited Wood Elementary on Fort Leonard Wood and East Elementary…I want to thank Kelly, who is such a special friend (I have always thought of her as somewhere between a daughter and a sister) who I have known ever since she was a young girl... when she became a teacher, she was the first teacher I ever sent anything from NASA…which was the beginning of this email that now reaches over 700 schools and friends…tonight I head home to Florida…

NASA often has great promotions to involve the public…the next mission to Mars leaves in July 2020….you can add your name to a microchip and go to mars on the Mars 2020 Rover…see below….most of you know all of these rovers or probes have name…these names are voted on by kids throughout the US and there will being coming out shortly on how to vote for a name…I will pass it along to you as soon as I get the 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

NASA Invites Public to Submit Names to Fly Aboard Next Mars Rover
this is a cool link….https://go.nasa.gov/Mars2020Pass <https://go.nasa.gov/Mars2020Pass>  the kids and teachers can sign up to be on the next mission to Mars...

From Sharon Bowers at NASA eClips, FYI.  

Several new NASA eClips videos about the Moon and Asteroids have just been approved and are now posted to the eClips website.  These new videos and other Apollo 50th resources are organized within this new NASA eClips newsletter:  https://conta.cc/2HISgOZ <https://conta.cc/2HISgOZ> 

This newsletter also helps teachers find Apollo 50th resources provided by:
Moon Trek
Eyes on the Solar System
My NASA Data
The NISE Network
Space Place

Ancient Collision with Unknown Dwarf Planet Left the Moon Lopsided, Study Suggests

An artist's depiction of a celestial body crashing into the moon.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The moon has two faces, and we may finally know why.  An ancient dwarf planet <https://www.livescience.com/63735-planet-x-is-lurking.html> or asteroid may have crashed into our satellite, giving one side an extra layer of thick skin that is pockmarked with craters, a new study suggests. Back in 2012, NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission used a pair of small satellites to map details on the moon. Mission scientists found that the farside has an extra layer of material on the crust and is etched with craters, while its nearside is full of open basins. [Photo Shows Far Side of Moon Like Never Before <https://www.livescience.com/13357-photo-side-moon-nasa-lunar-orbiter.html>]

NASA Moon Orbiter Tracks Chinese Rover on Lunar Farside (Photos) <https://feeds.livescience.com/~r/spaceheadlines/~3/AZCp3UHGIzo/nasa-moon-probe-chinese-farside-rover-photos.html>
Photos from the Moon's Far Side! China's Chang'e 4 Lunar Landing in Pictures <https://www.space.com/42887-china-moon-far-side-landing-photos-chang-e-4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+spaceheadlines+(SPACE.com+Headline+Feed)>
Israeli Lunar Lander Snaps Amazing Photos of the Far Side of the Moon <https://www.space.com/israeli-lander-moon-far-side-photos.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+spaceheadlines+(SPACE.com+Headline+Feed)>

Why Are Two Stars in Our Galaxy Suddenly Acting Very Strange?

This illustration shows what a binary star system with a red giant feeding material into a white dwarf might look like.
Credit: European Southern Observatory
There's a binary star system out there in the Milky Way, and it's acting very weird. "AG Draconis," as astronomers call it, is made up of two stars: a relatively cool giant <https://www.space.com/22471-red-giant-stars.html> and a relatively hot white dwarf <https://www.space.com/23756-white-dwarf-stars.html> — the stellar corpse of a low- to medium-size star. They're 16,000 l <https://www.livescience.com/56634-how-many-stars-are-in-the-universe.html>ight-years away <https://www.livescience.com/56634-how-many-stars-are-in-the-universe.html> from Earth. (A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, meaning everything we see happening on these stars happened 16,000 years ago). And that distance makes them difficult to observe in detail. But we do know some things about them. The two stars are probably interacting, with material flowing off the surface of the big, cool star and onto the surface of the small, hot star. And every once in a while, about once every nine to 15 years dating back to the 1890s, they become active — going through a period of several years where, once a year, they get much brighter in certain wavelengths that Earth's telescopes can detect. They're in an active period now, with flashes (or "outbursts" of energy) detected in April 2016, May 2017 and April 2018. (The 2016 outburst was a bit weird itself, having two peaks two weeks apart.) Researchers expect another outburst in April or May of this year, though it's too soon for any reports to have been published. But there's something weird about this period of activity, as researchers reported in a paper uploaded May 10 to the preprint server arXiv <https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1905/1905.04253.pdf>, which has not yet been through peer review. [15 Amazing Images of Stars <https://www.livescience.com/64955-stellar-star-images.html>]

Long term, they said, this illustrates the importance of keeping a careful eye on stars like these, so that astronomers may one day crack the code of their behavior. It also demonstrates the difficulty of parsing events in solar systems light-years away <https://www.livescience.com/65297-powerful-superflare-tiny-star.html>.
11 Fascinating Facts About Our Milky Way Galaxy <https://www.livescience.com/63847-facts-about-the-milky-way.html>
Big Bang to Civilization: 10 Amazing Origin Events <https://www.livescience.com/41923-top-ten-origin-events.html>
Spaced Out! 101 Astronomy Photos That Will Blow Your Mind <https://www.livescience.com/37291-amazing-astronomy-images.html>
NASA Awards $106 Million to US Small Businesses for Technology Development
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/s95015632.jpg>
This illustration depicts how important precision landing is to a successful lunar mission. The identification of level ground near scientifically important and hazardous sites is essential for the success of long-term missions.
Credits: Pat Rawlings/NASA

Managing pilotless aircraft and solar panels that could help humans live on the Moon and Mars are among the technologies NASA is looking to develop with small business awards totaling $106 million. In all, NASA has selected 142 proposals from 129 U.S. small businesses from 28 states and the District of Columbia to receive Phase II contracts as part the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program <https://sbir.nasa.gov/>. “Small businesses play an important role in our science and exploration endeavors,” said Jim Reuter, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “NASA’s diverse community of partners, including small businesses across the country, helps us achieve our mission and cultivate the U.S. economy. Their innovations will help America land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024, establish a sustainable presence on the lunar surface a few years later, and pursue exciting opportunities for going to Mars and beyond.” NASA selected the proposals based on a range of criteria, including technical merit and feasibility, as well as the organizations’ experience, qualifications, and facilities. Additional criteria included effectiveness of proposed work plans and the commercial potential of the technologies. The selected proposals will support the development of technologies in the areas of human exploration and operations, space technology, science, and aeronautics. The proposals offer a breadth of applications, including:

Solar panels that deploy like venetian blinds. The technology behind these panels can be used as a surface power source for crewed missions on the Moon and Mars. It offers benefits such as efficient power generation, lower procurement costs and reduced mass and stowed volume.
Sensor technology for autonomous entry, descent and precision landing on planetary surfaces — a critical advancement for next generation human lunar landers.
A type of permanent magnet that creates a bonding force between two halves with no moving parts, enabling in-space assembly of large platforms.
A high-resolution X-ray instrument to analyze surface rocks and core samples on planets and asteroids. This technology could advance our understanding of the Moon, Mars and even Earth by providing unique analysis and reconstruction of samples.
A suite of technologies for managing autonomous aircraft. The proposed solution aims to have a single dispatcher simultaneously monitor multiple flights, leading the way for future airspace and vehicle concepts.

Only small businesses awarded a Phase I contract are eligible to submit a proposal for a Phase II funding agreement. Phase II is focused on the development, demonstration, and delivery of the innovations previously selected during Phase I. These projects are chosen as a result of competitive evaluations and based on selection criteria provided in the solicitation. Phase II contracts last for 24 months, with a maximum funding of $750,000.The SBIR program is a three-phase program. Phase I work and results provide a sound basis for the continued development, demonstration and delivery of the proposed innovation in Phase II and follow-on efforts. Phase III is the commercialization of innovative technologies, products and services resulting from either a Phase I or Phase II contract.The SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs encourage small businesses and research institutions to develop innovative ideas that meet the specific research and development needs of the federal government. The programs are intended to stimulate technological innovation in the private sector, increase the commercial application of research results, and encourage participation of socially and economically disadvantaged companies and women-owned small businesses. Since the 1970s, small businesses have created approximately 5 5 percent of all jobs in the United States. NASA's Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley manages the SBIR and STTR programs for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). STMD is responsible for developing the cross-cutting, pioneering new technologies and capabilities needed by the agency to achieve its current and future missions. For more information about the SBIR and STTR programs, including the selection list, visit: https://sbir.nasa.gov/ <https://sbir.nasa.gov/>  For more information about NASA's investment in space technology, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech <https://www.nasa.gov/spacetech>