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

Wed Oct 28 22:22:34 CDT 2020

Hi all,

 Good evening from Florida…I hope everyone is doing well…I don’t know how many of you tried to sign up for the #SeeingTheSeas…I only received one comment from a good friend, Carol, who told me when she tried to register my name came up in the registration….I sent her the original I received, my name still came up but she could add hers…I believe this should be good to go…  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nasas-sentinel-6-michael-freilich-registration-116123353075 <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nasas-sentinel-6-michael-freilich-registration-116123353075> 

Many of you participate in the #LaunchAmerica which was the Space X launch of NASA astronauts from the US…it was a tremendous success with so much insight as we followed all the prelaunch preparations, followed the astronauts to the launch pad, then watched an amazing launch…Space X and NASA are now ready for the first crew launch, November 14th….there is another opportunity to share in every aspect of this launch….see the registration below….

OSIRIS-REx mission was huge success, actually creating problems….Spacecraft Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample...see the story below

We have to remember to do our best, enjoy everything we do, believe in ourselves, and let those we care about most know (I always say this, we all need to take it to heart) …hugs & smiles... :-) :-) STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE, Love ya, Gabe

Sentinel-6 Mission Summary - Sentinel Online <https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/missions/sentinel-6/mission-summary>

On Nov. 10, Earth-observing satellite Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is set to launch to measure sea levels worldwide

once you register you will have access to: The live broadcast will be available here --https://go.nasa.gov/2EXB6dx <https://go.nasa.gov/2EXB6dx>-- on launch day. Be sure to log-on a bit early to catch the countdown and make sure all your systems are go! And get your virtual passport 

NASA, SpaceX Invite Media to Crew-1 Mission Update, Target New Launch Date
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/crew-1_ceitpt2-20200612-dsc05519_2_.jpg>
NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Victor Glover, and Mike Hopkins, and astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - who constitute the crew of NASA's Crew-1 mission - inside SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Credits: SpaceX
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NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 7:49 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 14, for the launch of the first crew rotation mission to the International Space Station <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html> as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Managers of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission will hold a media teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Oct. 28, to discuss the upcoming launch, including results from recent testing of the Falcon 9 Merlin engines following unexpected data SpaceX noted during a recent non-NASA launch. Audio of the teleconference will stream live on the agency’s website <http://www.nasa.gov/live>.

Briefing participants include:
Kathy Lueders, associate administrator, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington
Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston
Hans Koenigsmann, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX, Hawthorne, California
Media may ask questions via phone only. For the dial-in number and passcode, please contact the newsroom at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28, at ksc-newsroom at mail.nasa.gov <mailto:ksc-newsroom at mail.nasa.gov>. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission will launch the agency’s astronauts Michael Hopkins <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/michael-s-hopkins#_blank>, Victor Glover <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/victor-j-glover#_blank>, and Shannon Walker <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/walker-shannon#_blank>, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__iss.jaxa.jp_en_astro_biographies_noguchi_index.html&d=DwMFAg&c=ApwzowJNAKKw3xye91w7BE1XMRKi2LN9kiMk5Csz9Zk&r=vfQzjVkCY7QEjv-3EUt3o8ej2eKhbP6DI5OK1RQ8BfM&m=_CqysY7Ui83YSSMcuOxM3T5_YVXFpTj6juWYIM4UYm4&s=77422cgA19NF8mEyIFW0sLjxhIb4aXrzDmsrFJSMkys&e=#_blank>, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. Crew-1 astronauts will join the Expedition 64 crew of Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, and Flight Engineers Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kate Rubins. <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kathleen-rubins/biography> The arrival of Crew-1 will increase the regular crew size of the space station’s expedition missions from six to seven astronauts, adding to the amount of crew time available for research. The Crew-1 mission will launch a few days after the Nov. 10 scheduled launch of NASA’s Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, following a thorough review of launch vehicle performance. Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at: https://www.nasa.gov/live <https://www.nasa.gov/live> For more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew <https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew>

You are invited to be a NASA virtual guest for the launch of the NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission.

In the interest of health and safety, due to the coronavirus pandemic, NASA can’t invite you to Florida to watch the launch personally. However, you can virtually participate in many ways. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission will be the first operational flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket after certification, carrying Crew Dragon commander Michael Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Shannon Walker, all of NASA, along with JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) mission specialist Soichi Noguchi to the International Space Station for a six-month mission.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 launch is targeting 7:49 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 14, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. Click on the event below to register and learn more. All resources, participation, and registration are FREE.

No in-person or on-center activities are available or included with registration.

Sincerely,

NASA Guest Operations
Register <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VD2Z0mvEAU5cFbZ1SHm4nMhsMKoKm8xE7C7uWL_XYLZfJl1ecBB7I5U3ijLwBPikq5yK2GgEK-3CWGkT-mW78abEuYrZiofsz1uFqIdzNNJ1StVbVcX56mL-3n8bK54HcO80Pc1K24ZjgTDDVkfYwazOS3tNLqFzF-ePE3CWzsV9ETzM80bTOjio3Lfm0mTeD0286aVjBHZio5s9GG192VBdkqjOfnYA&c=DwCKvvMxxWboc84Nv4iuVnC_4a6LBTj_AcDVgNR-mzywhF2Gs1JkgQ==&ch=k2eBu5IABsc8fJpwmyAiW_rlOe3trMr4rJ38eZGPu-20zeR7Z_vglw==>

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NASA's Perseverance Rover Is Midway to Mars 
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This illustration of the Mars 2020 spacecraft in interplanetary space was generated using imagery from NASA's Eyes on the Solar System. The image is from the mission's midway point between Earth and Mars.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Full image and caption <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA24231>
Sometimes half measures can be a good thing – especially on a journey this long. The agency's latest rover only has about 146 million miles left to reach its destination.    

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission has logged a lot of flight miles since being lofted skyward on July 30 – 146.3 million miles (235.4 million kilometers) to be exact. Turns out that is exactly the same distance it has to go before the spacecraft hits the Red Planet's atmosphere like a 11,900 mph (19,000 kph) freight train on Feb. 18, 2021. "At 1:40 p.m. Pacific Time today, our spacecraft will have just as many miles in its metaphorical rearview mirror as it will out its metaphorical windshield," said Julie Kangas, a navigator working on the Perseverance rover mission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "While I don't think there will be cake, especially since most of us are working from home, it's still a pretty neat milestone. Next stop, Jezero Crater <https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8549/nasas-mars-2020-will-hunt-for-microscopic-fossils/?site=insight>."
The Sun's gravitational influence plays a significant role in shaping not just spacecraft trajectories to Mars (as well as to everywhere else in the solar system), but also the relative movement of the two planets. So Perseverance's route to the Red Planet follows a curved trajectory <https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/chapter4-1/> rather than an arrow-straight path.
JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers. For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ <http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance>nasa.gov/perseverance <http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance>  For more information about NASA's Mars missions, go to: https://www.nasa.gov/mars <https://www.nasa.gov/mars> 

 <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/mobile-launcher-arrives-at-launch-pad-39b-for-tests-preps-for-artemis-i/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/mobile-launcher-arrives-at-launch-pad-39b-for-tests-preps-for-artemis-i/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/mobile-launcher-arrives-at-launch-pad-39b-for-tests-preps-for-artemis-i/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/mobile-launcher-arrives-at-launch-pad-39b-for-tests-preps-for-artemis-i/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/mobile-launcher-arrives-at-launch-pad-39b-for-tests-preps-for-artemis-i/#>
Mobile Launcher Arrives at Launch Pad 39B for Tests, Preps for Artemis I 
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/ml_roll_to_pad_1.jpg>
The mobile launcher for Artemis I begins rollout from the Vehicle Assembly Building atop crawler-transporter 2 in the early morning on Oct. 20, 2020, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
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By Linda Herridge
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s mobile launcher <https://www.nasa.gov/content/mobile-launcher> that will carry the Space Launch System <https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html>(SLS) and Orion <https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html> spacecraft for Artemis I <https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artemis> is on the road again. The Exploration Ground Systems <https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/index.html> and Jacobs teams rolled the mobile launcher, atop crawler-transporter 2 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/crawler-transporter2_factsheet_508compliant.pdf>, out of the Vehicle Assembly Building for its slow trek to Launch Pad 39B <https://www.nasa.gov/content/launch-pad-39b> at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 20. The roll began just after midnight, and the mobile launcher arrived at the top of the pad Tuesday morning. This trek to the pad will help prepare the launch team for the actual wet dress rehearsal and launch of SLS and Orion on Artemis I next year. The wet dress rehearsal is when SLS and Orion will be rolled out to the pad atop the mobile launcher to practice fueling operations a couple months before launch. The last time the mobile launcher was rolled to the pad was in December 2019 <https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/mobile-launcher-returns-to-vehicle-assembly-building>.   During its two-week stay at the pad, engineers will perform several tasks, including a timing test to validate the launch team’s countdown timeline, and a thorough, top-to-bottom wash down of the mobile launcher to remove any debris remaining from construction and installation of the umbilical arms <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/fs-2018-02-250-ksc-ml_umbilical_fact_sheet.pdf>. “While these tasks have been rehearsed individually, the return to Pad 39B allows the team to perform this sequence altogether,” said Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis launch director.  To begin, technicians will lower the engine service platform that is under the core stage RS-25 engines from the mobile launcher and move it to the launch position. The platform allows access to the engines for routine work or inspections. Engineers and technicians will rehearse a timely completion of removing platforms used to access SLS core stage engines. They will position both side flame deflectors in the flame trench <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/launchpad39b_factsheet_013018_508.pdf> and raise the extensible columns to launch configuration that are critical to support an on-time launch. The extensible columns are designed to provide extra support to the mobile launcher at liftoff, when the loads are the greatest. The team also will perform preparations of mobile launcher umbilical arms along with other mobile launcher and pad subsystems. “During the Artemis launch countdown, this work will be performed prior to tanking,” Blackwell-Thompson said. “As part of this demonstration, the team will exercise the ground hardware in order to determine the timing of these critical elements.” During its time at the pad, the mobile launcher also will receive a bath. “The wash down will reduce the risk to the SLS/Orion during launch,” said Cliff Lanham, EGS flow director. “Some of the debris are inaccessible without using high-pressure water, available at the pad, to get into hard-to-reach areas.” To accomplish the wash down, the team will use the mobile launcher’s fire protection system, which has hoses on each level and the deck. The high-pressure flow rate will wash debris into the flame trench, industrial wastewater retention tanks, and percolation ponds. Lanham said this is an added safety measure, in addition to the walk downs performed prior to launch. While at the pad, the mobile launcher’s fire suppression system also will be recertified. The last certification was in December 2019 and is due before launch in November 2021. Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program <https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artemis>, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. 

Last Updated: Oct. 20, 2020 Editor: Linda Herridge

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/stowstill_1.jpg>
OSIRIS-REx Sample Stow Illustration
This illustration shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft stowing the sample it collected from asteroid Bennu on Oct. 20, 2020. The spacecraft will use its Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) arm to place the TAGSAM collector head into the Sample Return Capsule (SRC).
Credits: NASA/University of Arizona, Tucson
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx <https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex> mission is ready to perform an early stow on Tuesday, Oct. 27, of the large sample it collected last week from the surface of the asteroid Bennu to protect and return as much of the sample as possible. On Oct. 22, the OSIRIS-REx mission team received images that showed the spacecraft’s collector head overflowing with material collected from Bennu’s surface – well over the two-ounce (60-gram) mission requirement – and that some of these particles appeared to be slowly escaping from the collection head, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM). A mylar flap on the TAGSAM allows material to easily enter the collector head, and should seal shut once the particles pass through. However, larger rocks that didn’t fully pass through the flap into the TAGSAM appear to have wedged this flap open, allowing bits of the sample to leak out.  Because the first sample collection event was so successful, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has given the mission team the go-ahead to expedite sample stowage, originally scheduled for Nov. 2, in the spacecraft’s Sample Return Capsule (SRC) to minimize further sample loss. "The abundance of material we collected from Bennu made it possible to expedite our decision to stow,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. “The team is now working around the clock to accelerate the stowage timeline, so that we can protect as much of this material as possible for return to Earth.” Unlike other spacecraft operations where OSIRIS-REx autonomously runs through an entire sequence, stowing the sample is done in stages and requires the team’s oversight and input. The team will send the preliminary commands to the spacecraft to start the stow sequence and, once OSIRIS-REx completes each step in sequence, the spacecraft sends telemetry and images back to the team on Earth and waits for the team’s confirmation to proceed with the next step. Signals currently take just over 18.5 minutes to travel between Earth and the spacecraft one-way, so each step of the sequence factors in about 37 minutes of communications transit time. Throughout the process, the mission team will continually assess the TAGSAM’s wrist alignment to ensure the collector head is properly placed in the SRC. A new imaging sequence also has been added to the process to observe the material escaping from the collector head and verify that no particles hinder the stowage process. The mission anticipates the entire stowage process will take multiple days, at the end of which the sample will be safely sealed in the SRC for the spacecraft’s journey back to Earth. “I’m proud of the OSIRIS-REx team’s amazing work and success to this point,” said NASA’s Associate Administrator for Science Thomas Zurbuchen. “This mission is well positioned to return a historic and substantial sample of an asteroid to Earth, and they’ve been doing all the right things, on an expedited timetable, to protect that precious cargo.” NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. The University of Arizona, Tucson leads the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace, in Tempe, Arizona, are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program, which is managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Water molecules detected on moon’s sunlit surface, adding impetus to Artemis

This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water. Credits: NASA/Daniel Rutter
Water molecules have been directly detected across sunlit regions of the moon, not just in ultra-cold, permanently shadowed polar craters, scientists announced Monday, indicating the precious resource may be more easily accessible to future astronauts than previously thought. “Several studies have showed that water on the moon surface is in its permanently shadowed craters,” said Paul Hertz, director of astrophysics at NASA Headquarters. “Today, we are announcing that for the first time, water has been confirmed to be present on a sunlit surface of the moon. “This is exciting, because the expectation is that any water present on a sunlit surface of the moon would not survive the lunar day. This discovery reveals that water might be distributed across the lunar surface and not limited to the cold, shadowed places near the lunar poles.” While the amount of water detected by the airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is small — the Sahara desert is 100 times “wetter,” NASA said in a statement — the discovery will add impetus to the agency’s plans to launch rovers and astronauts to the moon under the agency’s Artemis program. The program’s goal, in part, is to scout out the availability of ice in shadowed craters near the moon’s south pole to support a sustained human presence on the lunar surface before eventual flights to Mars. The first Artemis moon landing, carrying two astronauts to the south polar region, is targeted for 2024, budgets and political support permitting. “NEWS: We confirmed water on the sunlit surface of the Moon for the 1st time using @SOFIAtelescope,” NASA Administrator JIm Bridenstine tweeted. “We don’t know yet if we can use it as a resource, but learning about water on the Moon is key for our #Artemis exploration plans.” Scientists have long believed ice is present in craters at the moon’s south pole where sunlight, coming in at very low angles, never reaches the deep interiors and permanent, ultra-low temperatures are the rule. But those conclusions were based on spectral signatures indicating, but not directly confirming, the presence of water. The new discovery, using SOFIA’s 100-inch telescope, detected a clear signature of water molecules at high lunar latitudes in abundances ranging from 100 to 400 parts per million. A second paper in the journal Nature Astronomy concludes more than 15,000 square miles of the moon’s surface have the capacity to maintain deposits of water ice, presumably locked up in the lunar soil in so-called “cold traps.” The authors concluded small-scale deposits are hundreds to thousands of times more common than large reservoirs. “We know that water exists in some of the darkest and coldest locations on the moon, inside craters that have never seen sunlight,” said said Jacob Bleacher, chief exploration scientist at NASA Headquarters. “Those cold and dark environments are difficult to reach, and they can be even harder to work in for long periods of time. “So finding water that’s easier to reach is really important to us. This could involve finding easier-to-reach small craters that have the water, or, as these SOFIA results show, that we can find water outside of these craters. Understanding the state in which the water exists is quite important.” Finding water on the moon is a major driver for the Artemis program to send astronauts back to the lunar surface as the first step toward establishing a sustained human presence and to learn more about Earth’s satellite while developing and testing the rockets, spacecraft and life support infrastructure needed for piloted flights to Mars. The presence of ice would allow future astronauts to “live off the land,” in a sense, by mining ice deposits and using solar electric power to break it down into hydrogen and oxygen. “Water is extremely critical for deep space exploration,” Bleacher said. “Water can be turned into oxygen for (astronauts) to breathe. It could be a fuel supply that they use later. But obviously, it can be water they can drink, or you could use it for other purposes.” But it’s not yet know how the water molecules are formed or how deep or intermixed with the lunar soil they might be. The water may be trapped in glass beads that can form when micrometeorites carrying small amounts of water are heated during impact. The water also could be the result of chemical reactions triggered by the solar wind. Regardless of the water’s source, it’s not yet known how difficult it might be to extract useable amounts from the moon or how NASA and its international partners might go about building the required infrastructure. But simply knowing it is present outside of hard-to-reach permanently shadowed craters is a step forward. “It’s hard to answer the question straight up, is this discovery going to provide us with enough water to do anything specific?” Bleacher said. “It’s part of a process in moving forward and understanding (water and water cycles) on the moon. But he called it an “important discovery” because “now we know that water does exist outside of some of these places in these dark craters that are really hard to get into and really hard to operate in. So this might be an avenue for us to to get to water a little bit easier.”

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