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

Sun Jan 31 12:02:04 CST 2021

Hi all, 

 Good afternoon from Florida….a new month tomorrow, time continues to go so fast….I am always so thankful and appreciative of each day…so many struggle with the basics and the pandemic hurts those who have the least, the most…everything is focused on the landing of Perseverance, Feb 18th….I love living here because of the weather, beaches, Kennedy Space Center, and NASA TV which we get daily…it offers so much insight into the day to day activities on the ISS as well as every facet of current and future missions…now we are seeing so many amazing videos & graphics of the landing….I hope you will all be able to enroll in the many links NASA has to follow along…maybe even make some class projects to bring the kids together even though so many are going virtually…the pandemic is still in control, we have it open in Florida, many areas around the world don’t…but we are struggling to get it under control…I think for kids and teachers…it is especially difficult…for the students who struggle, I think it is the most challenging…it will be wonderful to get back to some normalcy for schools with all kids attending…and at some point allow visitors…to all of you reading this, every one…teachers, students, friends…the time visiting school is, without a doubt, the most magical time in my life…because of you and what we shared…equally…to all…I only hope I have brightened your life as you have mine…I will try to send a few more newsletters as the landing gets closer or if something significant occurs...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 & smiles... :-) :-) STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE, Love ya, Gabe
> 

THE SADDEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF NASA’S SPACE PROGRAM… Teacher, Christa McAuliffe, the first non astronaut to go to space was so special…she brought us all along as she trained giving us insight as to what it is like to be a “real person” on the adventure of a lifetime…it was easy to see why she was selected for NASA’s  Teacher in Space Mission…she brought a different kind of life, enthusiasm, excitement, and wonder to the space program…we followed along and were so looking forward to her lessons from space…she was with the crew of Challenger on the tragic day of January 28th, 1986. So many of the schools in Florida gave the kids and teachers permission to go outside to watch…it was huge event…I can’t imagine what the teachers had to deal with as they had to try to maintain composure while also trying to explain to the kids what they saw...
On January 27, 1967, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee perished in a fire during a pre-launch test for what was to be the first crewed Apollo mission. 
On January 28, 1986, the launch of STS-51-L ended in tragedy when Space Shuttle Challenger and crew were lost 73 seconds after liftoff. Crew of STS-51-L: Ellison Onizuka, Mike Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Dick Scobee, Greg Jarvis, Ron McNair, and Judith Resnik. 
On February 1, 2003, the seven-astronaut crew of STS-107 was lost when Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry. The crew of STS-107: David M. Brown, Rick D. Husband, Laurel B. Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, William C. McCool, Ilan Ramon

NASA’s Perseverance Rover 22 Days From Mars Landing

WATCH: Perseverance Land on Mars, February 18

Atmosphere, parachutes, descent, oh my! Join NASA as the Mars Perseverance Rover slows from over 12,000 mph to landing on Mars in just over seven minutes of suspense and excitement on Thursday, February 18 at 3:30 p.m. EST. Commentary will begin at 2:15 p.m. EST.

Don’t miss a minute by registering for email updates <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eventbrite.com%2Fe%2Fnasas-perseverance-rover-mars-landing-registration-137598182869&data=04%7C01%7Cmegan.v.keener%40nasa.gov%7C4f79f1f1b5e148350d1e08d8c2eb9594%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637473664365739095%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=EeocW9an81cPi3kqWNHPzfcaEf6qomWAXuhBUYZHsl4%3D&reserved=0> (use this method for a virtual passport stamp!) or joining the Facebook group <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffb.me%2Fe%2F1w1VEvSQy&data=04%7C01%7Cmegan.v.keener%40nasa.gov%7C4f79f1f1b5e148350d1e08d8c2eb9594%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637473664365739095%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=WVKp%2BHAgaklpbRQyuUoFClvesuAur2XbmM5pFna%2Bmjc%3D&reserved=0> to learn more about opportunities to participate and curated resources.

This illustration shows the events that occur in the final minutes of the nearly seven-month journey that NASA’s Perseverance rover takes to Mars. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land on Mars safely on Feb. 18, 2021.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Seven minutes of harrowing descent to the Red Planet is in the not-so-distant future for the agency’s Mars 2020 mission.  

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission is just 22 days from landing on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft has about 25.6 million miles (41.2 million kilometers) remaining in its 292.5-million-mile (470.8-million-kilometer) journey and is currently closing that distance at 1.6 miles per second (2.5 kilometers per second). Once at the top of the Red Planet’s atmosphere, an action-packed seven minutes of descent awaits – complete with temperatures equivalent to the surface of the Sun, a supersonic parachute inflation, and the first ever autonomous guided landing on Mars. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ <http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/> nasa.gov/perseverance <http://nasa.gov/perseverance> 

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-22-days-from-mars-landing <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-perseverance-rover-22-days-from-mars-landing> 

https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/ <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/> 

Ways to Use this Toolkit
On Feb. 18, 2021, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover makes its final descent to the Red Planet. Here are some of the ways you can take part in this landing.
Now through February 2021:
Get Your Landing Resources <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/resources/>
Posters, stickers, fact sheets, mission patches and more.
Ways To Participate <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/participate/>
Try the Photo Booth, Send Your Name on the next mission to Mars, and check out other interactive experiences.
Watch Online <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/watch-online/>
Our quick guide to the TV programs coming up you can watch online.
Mission to Mars Student Challenge <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/mission-to-mars-student-challenge/>
Get Mars-related webcasts for learners of all ages, along with lessons and activities for students.
On Landing Day, Feb. 18, 2021:
Tune in to Watch Live <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/watch-online/>
The NASA TV broadcast from Mission Control starts at 11:15 a.m. PST/2:15 p.m. EST.
After Landing:
Explore Mars with Perseverance
As the rover begins its mission at Jezero Crater, visit the mission website <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/>for the latest news and images every day.
The Perseverance Rover Landing 
Perseverance will touch down on Mars on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at approximately 12:30 p.m. PST (3:30 p.m. EST). During landing, the rover plunges through the thin Martian atmosphere, with the heat shield first, at a speed of over 12,000 mph (about 20,000 kph). A parachute and powered descent slow the rover down to about 2 mph (three-fourths of a meter per second). A large sky crane then lowers the rover on three bridle cords to land softly on six wheels. Landing on Mars is hard. Read all about the rover’s harrowing entry, descent and landing <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/entry-descent-landing/>.
Landing at Jezero Crater
The rover’s new home is Jezero Crater <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/science/landing-site/>, a large impact crater about 28 miles wide (45 kilometers wide) just north of the Martian equator. Jezero once contained a lake, which scientists think is one of the most ideal places to find evidence of ancient microbial life. If life exists anywhere else in our solar system, chances are, it might be at Jezero Crater. The main question Perseverance is trying to answer is: Was there ever ancient life on Mars? To answer that question, the rover will collect and store the most compelling rock and soil samples for return to Earth by a future mission. Once on Earth, scientists can use a variety of sophisticated instruments, many of them too large and bulky to transport to Mars, to help answer this question.
Landing on Mars is Hard Landing on Mars is challenging. Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars – by any space agency - have been successful. Perseverance is only the fifth NASA rover to attempt landing on Mars. Will you be watching? Tune in to our Watch Online <https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/news/watch-online/> page.

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance is in the home stretch of its journey to Red Planet
By Mike Wall - Space.com Senior Writer <https://www.livescience.com/author/mike-wall> 2 days ago

An artist's depiction of NASA's Mars 2020 rover, Perseverance, storing samples of Martian rocks in tubes for future delivery to Earth. Perseverance will land inside Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.
(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)
The long deep-space journey of NASA's next Mars rover is nearly over. The car-size Perseverance rover <https://www.space.com/perseverance-mars-2020-rover.html>, which launched on July 30 of last year, is scheduled to land inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18. "I am thrilled to be here today as our countdown to Mars winds down from months to just weeks," Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said during a news conference on Wednesday (Jan. 27). "Perseverance is closing in on the Red Planet, and our team is preparing for her to touch down in Jezero Crater <https://www.space.com/42754-nasa-mars-rover-2020-landing-site-video-tour.html>."

SEE PERSEVERANCE LAND ON MARS
https://www.livescience.com/mars-rover-perseverance-home-stretch-to-landing.html?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LST_Newsletter&utm_content=LST_Newsletter+&utm_term=2868862&m_i=iJBhtC6vR%2BDmLROID%2B4f48lLkYhdbs9ZVTd7Fjbb65jDtBLtiDX7k926XxpPbRV0eD%2B1_nmYwS_rK72FsFppAvkRUQYxjaoKRt453nSiiK <https://www.livescience.com/mars-rover-perseverance-home-stretch-to-landing.html?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LST_Newsletter&utm_content=LST_Newsletter+&utm_term=2868862&m_i=iJBhtC6vR+DmLROID+4f48lLkYhdbs9ZVTd7Fjbb65jDtBLtiDX7k926XxpPbRV0eD+1_nmYwS_rK72FsFppAvkRUQYxjaoKRt453nSiiK> 

Perseverance is the centerpiece of NASA's $2.7 billion Mars 2020 mission, which will break new ground in Red Planet exploration. For example, the rover will hunt for evidence of ancient Mars life <https://www.space.com/17135-life-on-mars.html> on the floor of Jezero, which hosted a lake and a river delta billions of years ago. No previous Red Planet robot has done such work (though NASA's twin Viking landers, which touched down in 1976, did look for signs of extant organisms).

It will probably be difficult for Perseverance to make a definitive detection of ancient life, if it indeed existed, mission team members have said. But another pioneering aspect of the rover's mission could enable this longed-for breakthrough, if Perseverance's on-site observations alone don't suffice.

Perseverance will kick off humanity's first-ever Mars sample-return effort. The robot will collect and cache several dozen samples, which a joint NASA-European Space Agency campaign will haul to Earth as early as 2031 <https://www.space.com/mars-sample-return-plan-nasa-esa.html>. 

Boeing says assembly complete on first set of new space station solar arrays
January 13, 2021 <https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/> Stephen Clark <https://spaceflightnow.com/author/stephen-clark/>
If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member <http://spaceflightnow.com/subscribe-to-spaceflight-now/>. If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further.
 <https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/13/boeing-says-assembly-complete-on-first-set-of-new-space-station-solar-arrays/#> <https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/13/boeing-says-assembly-complete-on-first-set-of-new-space-station-solar-arrays/#> <https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/13/boeing-says-assembly-complete-on-first-set-of-new-space-station-solar-arrays/#> <https://spaceflightnow.com/2021/01/13/boeing-says-assembly-complete-on-first-set-of-new-space-station-solar-arrays/#>

An artist’s concept shows the International Space Station with new solar arrays in place. Credit: Boeing
Engineers from Boeing and a team of subcontractors have finished building the first pair of six new solar arrays to bolster the International Space Station’s aging electrical system ahead of their launch to the orbiting outpost as soon as May aboard SpaceX’s next Cargo Dragon mission.

Astronauts will begin a series of spacewalks as soon as the end of January to ready the space station’s solar array truss for the arrival of the new wings, among other outfitting and maintenance tasks.

The six new solar array wings will be installed over the space station’s existing U.S. solar panels, which were designed for 15-year service lives. The oldest of the station’s current solar arrays — built by Lockheed Martin — launched in 2000, with more pairs of wings added in 2006, 2007, and 2009.

The older solar arrays are showing some signs of degradation, as expected, according to NASA.

The space station has eight power channels, each drawing from one solar array wing mounted to the research lab’s long truss structure. Six of those channels will get an upgrade with the new solar arrays supplied by Boeing, Deployable Space Systems, and a team of subcontractors.

The six solar array wings, coupled with 24 new lithium-ion batteries launched to the station on a series of Japanese resupply missions, will help ensure the lab’s power system can support continued operations through 2030.

The six new solar panels will be one of the most visible changes to the space station’s appearance since NASA completed assembly of the outpost a decade ago. Two small commercial modules from Bigelow Aerospace and Nanoracks have been attached to the station in recent years, and new modules from Russia and the commercial company Axiom are scheduled for launch in the next few years.

“From a visual standpoint, it’s big,” said John Mulholland, ISS vice president and program manager at Boeing, which provides engineering support for the station under contract with NASA. “With the new batteries that we developed and deployed last year, that really solidifies the power going forward for at least the next decade.”

The six new solar array wings will launch two at a time inside canisters stowed in the trunks of SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsules. Astronauts will head outside on spacewalks to assist the the lab’s Canadian-built robotic arm in mounting and configuring the wings for deployment.

Largest sea on Titan could be more than 1,000 feet deep
By Elizabeth Howell - Live Science Contributor <https://www.livescience.com/author/elizabeth-howell> 6 days ago

An artist's depiction of a sea on Saturn's moon Titan.
(Image: © NASA/John Glenn Research Center)
NASA's epic Cassini mission <https://www.space.com/17754-cassini-huygens.html> at Saturn is still generating valuable scientific data more than three years after its demise.

Data from one of the spacecraft's last flybys of Titan <https://www.space.com/15257-titan-saturn-largest-moon-facts-discovery-sdcmp.html>, a large moon with the precursors of life's chemistry, reveals that a huge lake on the surface called Kraken Mare is more than 1,000 feet ( 300 meters) deep — that's roughly the equivalent of the height of New York City's Chrysler Building. In fact, the lake is so deep that Cassini's radar couldn't probe all the way to the bottom.

Back in 2014, preliminary data from this flyby suggested that Kraken Mare was at least 115 feet (35 meters) deep but extend farther <https://www.space.com/27725-saturn-moon-titan-sea-depth.html>; the newly released results show the lake is nearly 10 times deeper than that early estimate.

Related: Dazzling views show Saturn moon Titan's surface like never before <https://www.space.com/41217-saturn-moon-titan-cassini-infrared-photos.html>
NASA finally makes contact with Voyager 2 after longest radio silence in 30 years
By Peter Dockrill - ScienceAlert <https://www.livescience.com/author/peter-dockrill> November 05, 2020

Here, an illustration of the interstellar spacecraft Voyager 2.
(Image: © NASA/JPL-Caltech)
There's never been a radio silence quite like this one. After long months with no way of making contact <https://www.sciencealert.com/voyager-2-already-isolated-in-interstellar-space-is-about-to-become-even-more-alone> with Voyager 2, NASA has finally reestablished communications with the record-setting interstellar spacecraft.

The breakdown in communications – lasting since March, almost eight months and a whole pandemic ago – wasn't due to some rogue malfunction, nor any run-in with interstellar space weirdness (although there's that too <https://www.sciencealert.com/for-some-reason-the-density-of-space-is-higher-just-outside-the-solar-system>).

In this instance, it was more a case of routine maintenance. And yet, when you're one of the farthest-flying spacecraft in history <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_objects_leaving_the_Solar_System> – leaving Earth and even the entire solar system behind you <https://www.sciencealert.com/voyager-2-is-officially-out-of-the-solar-system-and-sailing-through-interstellar-space> – nothing much is ever truly routine.

In March, NASA announced <https://www.sciencealert.com/voyager-2-already-isolated-in-interstellar-space-is-about-to-become-even-more-alone> that Deep Space Station 43 <https://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/Antennas/dss43.html> (DSS-43) in Australia, the only antenna on Earth that can send commands to Voyager 2, required critical upgrades and would need to shut down for approximately 11 months for the work to be completed.

During this window, Voyager 2, which is currently over 18.7 billion kilometers (11.6 billion miles) away from Earth and getting farther all the time, wouldn't be able to receive any communications from Earth, although its own broadcasts back to us would still be received by scientists.

'Starman' just zipped past Mars in his rapidly-decaying Tesla Roadster
By Rafi Letzter - Staff Writer <https://www.livescience.com/author/rafi-letzter> October 21, 2020
He probably doesn't look so pretty anymore.

Starman sent pictures home before leaving Earth orbit.
(Image: © SpaceX)
Starman — the dummy riding a cherry-red Tesla Roadster through space — has made his closest approach ever to Mars.

That electric convertible with its mannequin passenger bolted to the top of a Falcon Heavy rocket as a stunt during the SpaceX rocket's first test launch Feb, 6, 2018. (It's common for test launches to include heavy payloads, but they're usually more boring than cherry-red sportscars.) Two years later, the Falcon Heavy upper stage and the vehicle at its tip are making their second trip around the sun. Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astrophysicist who tracks space objects as a side project, found that Starman passed 4.6 million miles (7.4 million kilometers) from Mars at 2:25 a.m. EDT Oct. 7. That's about 19 times the distance from Earth <https://www.livescience.com/earth.html> to the moon, and 35 times closer than anyone on Earth has gotten to Mars.

(The closest recent approach between the two planets was 34.8 million miles (56 million km) in 2003, according to World Atlas <https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-far-is-it-from-earth-to-mars.html>, though the planets are often hundreds of millions of miles apart.)

https://www.livescience.com/starman-tesla-mars-approach.html <https://www.livescience.com/starman-tesla-mars-approach.html> 

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