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

Thu Dec 16 20:03:24 CST 2021

good evening all,

 I started this on Sunday, today is Thursday…I know many of you will be having Christmas vacation soon...

 I’ve been home for a week….it is strange how I enter such different worlds…the time in Norway was simply amazing…the connection with the kids so special….I can never explain it but I feel and they do too…as much as I love the heat and sun, the snow is so magical….Christmas decorations with white snow…it is so pretty….I want to thank everyone who shared time on this visit…you all are so helpful, so considerate…without you, it would not be possible…in my current world, I  have been catching up…if there is such a thing…with the yard, the shop, Christmas decorations, which grew from 3 days to 6…and about a k-zillion steps up and down ladders…challenging, on the best of days…finished, looks pretty good….also today was my first day back in the gym, tomorrow I will swim, Wed gym….hopefully get back to 6 days a week…it is easy to get out of the routine, I never have time when traveling….Christmas is 10 days away…time simply does not exist…I am in a time warp…it is going so fast…I am holding on for the ride, it is crazy fun, every day is an adventure…I am so thankful…

So many interesting things with the Space Program, last week I supported a Space X launch from KSC…it is wonderful to have this opportunity to still do things on the Space Center…escorting Foreign Nationals to launches…the last 4 I have seen have been night launches…on Wednesday I will be able to go to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) on Kennedy Space Center to see the SLS Fully Stacked Artemus 1 Rocket that will take astronauts to the Moon and Mars with the Orion Crew Capsule….this is the largest and most powerful rocket ever assembled….I saw some of the modifications to the inside…I know it will be absolutely amazing  to see…it was great…being in the VAB is an adventure all its own…I spent many hours inside inventorying and exploring…as well as seeing shuttles assemble, then taken to the launch pad…

We have to stay positive and always be thankful… remembering 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… STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE, Love ya, Gabe :-) :-) 

SLS Fully Stacked Artemus 1

NASA's Perseverance rover finds organic chemicals on Mars
It's not a detection of Mars life, but it's certainly intriguing.

A selfie snapped by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet's Jezero Crater since February 2021. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has found life's building blocks on the Red Planet.

Perseverance <https://www.space.com/perseverance-rover-mars-2020-mission> has identified carbon-containing organic chemicals in some of the rocks it has examined on the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater, mission team members announced on Wednesday (Dec. 15). 

To be clear: This is not a detection of Mars <https://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html> life. Organics can be produced by both biological and non-biological means, and more work is needed to figure out what processes generated the Jezero compounds. 

 NASA's Perseverance rover mission to Mars in photos <https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-perseverance-rover-mission-photos.html>
Perseverance won't have to do all that work by itself; the rover is collecting samples that will be hauled to Earth by a joint NASA/European Space Agency campaign, perhaps as early as 2031 <https://www.space.com/mars-sample-return-plan-nasa-esa.html>.

"This is a question that may not be solved until the samples are returned to Earth, but the preservation of organics is very exciting," Luther Beegle, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, said in a statement <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-makes-surprising-discoveries>.  

"When these samples are returned to Earth, they will be a source of scientific inquiry and discovery for many years," added Beegle, the principal investigator of Perseverance's SHERLOC ("Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals") instrument. 

See Perseverance's view of Jezero Crater's Delta on Mars 

https://videos.space.com/m/VjizjF5Q/see-perseverances-view-of-jezero-craters-delta-on-mars?list=9wzCTV4g <https://videos.space.com/m/VjizjF5Q/see-perseverances-view-of-jezero-craters-delta-on-mars?list=9wzCTV4g> 

How to see the Cold Moon, the longest full moon of the year, this Saturday
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(Image credit: YouraPechkin via Getty Images)
December's Cold Moon, the longest full moon of the year, will debut this Saturday night (Dec. 18), making it the last full moon before the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. 

To catch the Cold Moon at its fullest, look up at 11:36 p.m. EST (0432 GMT on Dec. 19). If you miss that moment, you'll still get a chance to see the lunar show; although the moon isn't officially full until Saturday, it will appear full for three days, from Friday evening (Dec. 17) through Monday morning (Dec. 20), making this "a full moon weekend," according to NASA. Full Story: Live Science <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDwxCKojllDroqdCCifPauBWcNLQRH?format=multipart> (12/16

TOP SCIENCE NEWS
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'Humanity has touched the sun' in a pioneering achievement for space exploration
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(NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben)
A NASA probe has entered the sun's atmosphere and "touched" the blazing corona, in a first for solar science. 

The Parker Solar Probe, which launched in 2018, conducted seven flybys of the sun before dipping into the corona during its eighth flyby on April 28, 2021. It made three trips into the sun's atmosphere, one of which lasted for 5 hours, mission scientists reported at a press briefing on Tuesday (Dec. 14) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). Full Story: Live Science <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDrPCKojllDroewYCifPauBWcNHkSV?format=multipart> (12/15)  
 <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDrPCKojllDroexsCifPauBWcNwdgf>  <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDrPCKojllDroextCifPauBWcNzCmS>  <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDrPCKojllDroexuCifPauBWcNEvVt>  <http://r.smartbrief.com/resp/oDrPCKojllDroexvCifPauBWcNKKbi>

 	December 16, 2021 
RELEASE 21-172
Two Astronauts Receive Assignments for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Mission
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/crew6_bowen_hoburg.jpg>
NASA crew members of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station. Pictured from left are NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg.
Credits: NASA

NASA has assigned two crew members to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission – the sixth crew rotation flight aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/stephen-g-bowen> and Woody Hoburg <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/warren-hoburg> will serve as spacecraft commander and pilot, respectively, for the mission. The agency’s international partners will assign additional crew members as mission specialists in the future. The mission is expected to launch in 2023 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Bowen, Hoburg, and the international crew members will join an expedition crew aboard the space station. This will be Bowen’s fourth trip into space as a veteran of three space shuttle missions: STS-126 in 2008, STS-132 in 2010, and STS-133 in 2011. Bowen has logged more than 40 days in space, including 47 hours, 18 minutes during seven spacewalks. He was born in Cohasset, Massachusetts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a master’s degree in ocean engineering from the Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. In July 2000, Bowen became the first submarine officer selected as an astronaut by NASA. Hoburg was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2017 and this will be his first trip to space. He is from Pittsburgh and earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. At the time of his selection as an astronaut, Hoburg was an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. Hoburg's research focused on efficient methods for design of engineering systems. He also is a commercial pilot with instrument, single-engine, and multi-engine ratings. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program <https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-crew-program-the-essentials> works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil. For more than 21 years <https://www.nasa.gov/station20/>, humans have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. As a global endeavor, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the unique microgravity laboratory that has hosted more than 3,000 research and educational investigations from researchers in 108 countries and areas. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low-Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and developing a robust low-Earth orbit economy <https://www.nasa.gov/leo-economy/low-earth-orbit-economy>, NASA is free to focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions to the Moon and Mars <https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars>.

Follow Hoburg on Twitter <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fastro_woody%3Flang%3Den&data=04%7C01%7Chqnews%40newsletters.nasa.gov%7C406188433d9b48bc84f008d9c0d687ee%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637752849899577214%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=iFZB3QCF57%2FsbFOFj0TNTq8BzIAHzwMw5dQOPrdB6AM%3D&reserved=0> and Instagram <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fwhoburg%2F%3Fhl%3Den&data=04%7C01%7Chqnews%40newsletters.nasa.gov%7C406188433d9b48bc84f008d9c0d687ee%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637752849899577214%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=7LBaczXLFzwRYg8ueWsHfbhkf6l9vDTo6tdA%2F6hX1Js%3D&reserved=0>. Find more information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew <https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew>

NASA Sets Coverage, Invites Public to Virtually Join Next Cargo Launch

NASA commercial cargo launch provider SpaceX is targeting 5:06 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 21, to launch its 24th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff will be from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment for the international crew. Live coverage will air on NASA Television, the NASA app <https://www.nasa.gov/connect/apps.html>, and the agency’s website <https://www.nasa.gov/live>, with prelaunch events starting Monday, Dec. 20. Dragon’s 6,500 pounds of cargo include a variety of NASA investigations <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/spacex-24-research-highlights>, such as a protein crystal growth study <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8616> that could improve how cancer treatment drugs are delivered to patients and a handheld bioprinter <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8552> that could one day be used to print tissue directly onto wounds for faster healing. There are also experiments from students at several universities as part of the Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science (SPOCS <https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem_on_station/spocs.html>) program and an investigation <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8595> from the makers of Tide that examines detergent efficacy in microgravity. About 12 minutes after launch, Dragon will separate from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station. Arrival to the station is planned for Wednesday, Dec. 22. Dragon will dock autonomously to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony>, with NASA astronauts Raja Chari <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/raja-chari/biography> and Thomas Marshburn <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn/biography> monitoring operations from the station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv <https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv> 

Tuesday, Dec. 21

4:45 a.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins for the 5:06 a.m. launch
Wednesday, Dec. 22
3 a.m. – NASA TV coverage begins for Dragon docking to space station
4:30 a.m. – Docking
Attend the launch virtually

Members of the public can register <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Fnasas-24th-spacex-cargo-resupply-mission-launch-registration-214959879787%3Faff%3Dpr&data=04%7C01%7Chqnews%40newsletters.nasa.gov%7Cde3b58f0af0541cbf19208d9bfe75e1e%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637751822725878400%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=igg4OwXDwzteIUdiVwtFDUEnHy79odIxnzc6%2FSF%2FPC4%3D&reserved=0>:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nasas-24th-spacex-cargo-resupply-mission-launch-registration-214959879787?aff=pr <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nasas-24th-spacex-cargo-resupply-mission-launch-registration-214959879787?aff=pr> to attend this launch virtually. Registrants will receive mission updates and activities by email. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities, and a virtual guest passport <https://www.nasa.gov/specials/virtualguest/img/Virtual-Guest-Passport_2nd.pdf> stamp following a successful launch.

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