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

Fri Jul 2 09:23:11 CDT 2021

hi all,

 Good morning, everything is going great here…I hope most of you are enjoying your summer vacation although I know many teach and have other jobs during the summer…I think you should all get paid vacation for the summer…:-) We are celebrating our Independence Day this weekend, July 4th …traveling to so many other countries, sharing in their Independence Day has made me appreciate ours more…I always say we should share in each others holidays because we really are all alike…I see it over and over…it is simply amazing…it doesn’t matter the country or the culture…moms with their kids, teachers with their students, kids with each other…it is the same...

 Everything is going well with the space program…astronauts have been busy on the space station installing new solar panels as well as continuing experiments…I love living here…driving home from swim training I look up to see a rocket on its way to the ISS…so majestic on a beautiful blue sky…Curiosity, Perseverance, Ingenuity are sending back amazing videos, pictures, and sounds from Mars…China's Zhurong is rover using six science payloads to study the Red Planet, including its microphone. NASA is also showing 3D videos and pictures which are so amazing…

  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... J J  STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE, Love ya, Gabe

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICA

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration <https://www.facebook.com/NASA/?__tn__=%2Cd%3C-R>
Explore the universe and discover our home planet with the official NASA page on Facebook. Visit us at www.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/ <http://www.nasa.gov/?fbclid=IwAR3HADgeyImk48dM4rONDN1mEqsxCjkTa_vH835MGo9AGXUTY-_QACF1YR4>
public-inquiries at hq.nasa.gov <mailto:public-inquiries at hq.nasa.gov>

see the link below for an amazing video of NASA missions…it is about 30 minutes…I hope you can find the time to share with the students...
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=815889232391478&ref=notif&notif_id=1625072468185735&notif_t=live_video_explicit <https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=815889232391478&ref=notif&notif_id=1625072468185735&notif_t=live_video_explicit> 

Mars helicopter takes it to the limit with more groundbreaking flights

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/world/mars-helicopter-flight-updates-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR15igBz9PwRbQXOFXYj5_c8v0kjE9-I7TDuSQtlKK7CvfgWxW0q-X4Min0 <https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/world/mars-helicopter-flight-updates-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR15igBz9PwRbQXOFXYj5_c8v0kjE9-I7TDuSQtlKK7CvfgWxW0q-X4Min0> 

https://www.cnn.com/.../mars-helicopter-flight.../index.html <https://www.cnn.com/.../mars-helicopter-flight.../index.html> 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/world/mars-helicopter-flight-updates-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2NJgxkfMA2jyFz2JizJ6QJzN0Dxhp6CF0cSPIWqSzRLR3sE5HtOpziW80 <https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/world/mars-helicopter-flight-updates-scn/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2NJgxkfMA2jyFz2JizJ6QJzN0Dxhp6CF0cSPIWqSzRLR3sE5HtOpziW80> 

(CNN)Where are you now, Mars Ingenuity helicopter? While it seems like the little chopper has been quiet, it turns out that Ingenuity has aced more of its flights -- and even got a software update to fix an annoying issue that impacted some of its previous outings. 

The 4-pound helicopter has successfully flown eight times on Mars as of June 21, according to an update from Teddy Tzanetos <https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/status/>, the helicopter operations lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 
On its latest outing, Ingenuity flew 525 feet (160 meters) to the south and southeast to a new airfield. This was the copter's third flight of the operations demo phase, in which Ingenuity is proving its usefulness as an aerial scout without interfering with the Perseverance rover's science mission -- searching for evidence of ancient life on Mars <http://www.cnn.com/2021/06/09/world/perseverance-rover-mars-trip-scn/index.html>. 

 <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/world/mars-helicopter-flight-anomaly-scn/index.html>
 <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/world/mars-helicopter-flight-anomaly-scn/index.html>Mars helicopter survives to tell the tale of stressful flight <https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/28/world/mars-helicopter-flight-anomaly-scn/index.html>
The mission's seventh flight occurred on June 8.
Ingenuity continues to do well, and the team is planning for more flights that will push its capabilities. And the helicopter is doing even better now that its troublesome "watchdog" software issue has been fixed. That was deployed before the eighth flight.
The watchdog issue occurred before Ingenuity's first flight in April. Essentially, this watchdog timer acts like a safe mode when it detects a timing issue, preventing the helicopter's software from moving into flight mode and allowing the chopper blades to reach full speed or ascend.
While a temporary workaround was developed to bypass this issue, it was still possible that the watchdog timer would go off 15% of the time. 
Last week, the helicopter's team successfully deployed a flight software update to Ingenuity to permanently fix the issue, providing more reliability as future flights are planned. 
"Flight 8 confirmed that the FC flight software update was a success and that Ingenuity is ready to proceed with confidence into the next flights of the ops demo," according to an update from Tzanetos.

The Perseverance rover took these 3D images using its cameras on June 8. 
Ingenuity is also due for a navigation computer software update that will fix the issue that occurred during the chopper's sixth flight. Images captured by the navigation camera, which feed into the helicopter's navigation computer, had timing delays. Those images help Ingenuity to track its location, among other critical factors during flight. When the incorrect times and images were associated, it caused the chopper to wobble in the air.

Operations Underway to Restore Payload Computer on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/18-1990_s31_imax_view_of_hst_release-1.jpg>
The Hubble Space Telescope is deployed on April 25, 1990 from the space shuttle Discovery. Avoiding distortions of the atmosphere, Hubble has an unobstructed view peering to planets, stars and galaxies, some more than 13.4 billion light years away.
Credits: NASA/Smithsonian Institution/Lockheed Corporation

NASA is taking additional steps to investigate the Hubble Space Telescope’s payload computer issue that began on June 13, suspending science observations. In parallel with the investigation, NASA is preparing and testing procedures to turn on backup hardware onboard the spacecraft.  The telescope itself and science instruments remain healthy and in a safe configuration. The source of the computer problem lies in the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit, where the payload computer resides. A few hardware pieces on the SI C&DH could be the culprit(s). The team is currently scrutinizing the Command Unit/Science Data Formatter (CU/SDF), which sends and formats commands and data. They are also looking at a power regulator within the Power Control Unit, which is designed to ensure a steady voltage supply to the payload computer’s hardware. If one of these systems is determined to be the likely cause, the team must complete a more complicated operations procedure to switch to the backup units. This procedure would be more complex and riskier than those the team executed last week, which involved switching to the backup payload computer hardware and memory modules. To switch to the backup CU/SDF or power regulator, several other hardware boxes on the spacecraft must also be switched due to the way they are connected to the SI C&DH unit.

Over the next week or so, the team will review and update all of the operations procedures, commands and other related items necessary to perform the switch to backup hardware. They will then test their execution against a high-fidelity simulator. The team performed a similar switch in 2008, which allowed Hubble to continue normal science operations after a CU/SDF module failed. A servicing mission in 2009 then replaced the entire SI C&DH unit, including the faulty CU/SDF module, with the SI C&DH unit currently in use. Since that servicing mission, Hubble has taken over 600,000 additional observations to exceed 1.5 million during its lifetime.  Those observations continue to change our understanding of the universe.
Launched in 1990, Hubble has been observing the universe for over 31 years. It has contributed to some of the most significant discoveries of our cosmos, including the accelerating expansion of the universe, the evolution of galaxies over time, and the first atmospheric studies of planets beyond our solar system. Read more about some of Hubble’s greatest scientific discoveries <https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/2017/highlights-of-hubble-s-exploration-of-the-universe>.

LET NASA BRING THE UNIVERSE TO YOU
https://www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome/index.html <https://www.nasa.gov/specials/nasaathome/index.html> 

NASA to Air Departure of SpaceX Cargo Dragon from Space Station
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/2_-_iss065e086833.jpg>
The SpaceX Cargo Dragon resupply ship is pictured approaching the International Space Station June 5, 2021, carrying over 7,300 pounds of new science, supplies and solar arrays to replenish the Expedition 65 crew.
Credits: NASA
NASA’s SpaceX Dragon cargo freighter, loaded with approximately 5,000 pounds of scientific experiments and other cargo from the International Space Station <http://www.nasa.gov/station>, will depart Tuesday, July 6, bound for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean Thursday, July 8, completing the company’s 22nd commercial resupply services mission for NASA.

Live coverage of the departure will begin at 10:45 a.m. EDT Tuesday, July 6, on NASA Television, the agency’s website <https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive>, and the NASA app <https://www.nasa.gov/nasaapp/>. NASA will not provide coverage of the splashdown.
Ground controllers at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, will command Dragon to undock from the space-facing port on the station’s Harmony module at 11 a.m., with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough <https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/robert-shane-kimbrough> monitoring aboard the station. The cargo craft will physically separate from the station five minutes later before firing its thrusters to move a safe distance away prior to a deorbit burn that will begin its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. Dragon is expected to make its parachute-assisted splashdown around 12 a.m. Thursday, July 8.
Splashing down off the coast of Florida enables quick transportation of the science aboard the capsule to NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and back into the hands of the researchers. This shorter transportation timeframe allows researchers to collect data with minimal sample exposure to gravity.
Dragon launched <https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/science-solar-arrays-launch-on-nasa-s-spacex-cargo-mission> June 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy, arriving at the station a little less than 16 hours later. The spacecraft delivered more than 7,300 pounds of research investigations, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware to the orbiting outpost. Dragon’s external cargo “trunk” carried six new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-solar-arrays-to-power-nasa-s-international-space-station-research/> (iROSAs), two of which Expedition 65 crew members Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet, an ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut, installed during three spacewalks June 16, 20, and 25.
Some of the scientific investigations Dragon will return to Earth include:
Lyophilization-2 <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8329> examines how gravity affects freeze-dried materials and could result in improved freeze-drying processes for pharmaceutical and other industries. Freeze-drying also has potential use for long-term storage of medications and other resources on future exploration missions.
Molecular Muscle Experiment-2 <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8454> tests a series of drugs to see whether they can improve health in space, possibly leading to new therapeutic targets for examination on Earth.
Oral Biofilms in Space <https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=8160> studies how gravity affects the structure, composition, and activity of oral bacteria in the presence of common oral care agents. Findings could support development of novel treatments to fight oral diseases such as cavities, gingivitis, and periodontitis.
Learn more about SpaceX missions for NASA at: https://www.nasa.gov/spacex <https://www.nasa.gov/spacex>

NASA Releases Image Of The ISS As It Transited Sun
by Adam N. Rivera <https://theubj.com/author/adam/>  June 27, 2021 <https://theubj.com/science/15155/nasa-3/> in Science <https://theubj.com/science/>
 0 <https://theubj.com/science/15155/nasa-3/>

NASA shared a hypnotizing image of the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the Sun when two astronauts were out on a spacewalk on Friday. The ISS is found in layout, like a little object, against the yellow-orange background of the stunningly colossal Sun. NASA got the ISS at seven interesting spots of time and made a composite picture. The American space agency said the ISS was moving at a speed of roughly five miles (eight km) each second around 410 kilometers above Earth.

Blue Origin will fly female aviator Wally Funk, one of the Mercury 13, on 1st crewed launch <https://futureplc.slgnt.eu/optiext/optiextension.dll?ID=aIJaJhbDVaWxeJ7rqiNFVZuKllkL4ANgtZYpcR1d21JWxYDqP0m%2Bq2KQNeBoYRrgrlAhRNsD7sVNvNqH5sZoNmL2o3Ua4ntGz43BKGaq>

Aviator Wally Funk wanted to be an astronaut in the earliest days of spaceflight. Sixty years later, on July 20, she'll finally go to space with Blue Origin <https://www.space.com/19584-blue-origin-quiet-plans-for-spaceships.html>.

Funk was one of 13 female aviators later dubbed the Mercury 13 <https://www.space.com/mercury-13.html> who, in 1961, passed all the exams necessary for admission to NASA's astronaut corps and lobbied the federal government to send women into space. NASA and Congress demurred and women were excluded from becoming U.S. astronauts for more than a decade; Sally Ride <https://www.space.com/16756-sally-ride-biography.html> became the first American woman to fly in space in 1983.

But, if all goes according to plan, in just three weeks, Funk will spend four minutes beyond the bounds of gravity. "I'll love every second of it," Funk said of her flight in a video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDyakSKpBmU> released by Blue Origin. "I can hardly wait."

Hear the 1st sounds from China's Mars rover Zhurong and watch it drive in new video

https://www.space.com/china-mars-rover-zhurong-first-sounds-video?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SDC_Newsletter&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=2868862&m_i=pAsP%2BkPEh8bnuWxwFT4r1Ld%2BK898LGPRzKCbhpzrbTyqDYbjj9H0uTIu_G7lOFWkJyTOFiuILAqZYeAf64tqzIvhBGtzpYFq8dZYKssppn&lrh=c5c2033fddb5f89e2ffdebb5de4f9e121161d9aff4e02b4d11fe2ee47d708417 <https://www.space.com/china-mars-rover-zhurong-first-sounds-video?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SDC_Newsletter&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=2868862&m_i=pAsP+kPEh8bnuWxwFT4r1Ld+K898LGPRzKCbhpzrbTyqDYbjj9H0uTIu_G7lOFWkJyTOFiuILAqZYeAf64tqzIvhBGtzpYFq8dZYKssppn&lrh=c5c2033fddb5f89e2ffdebb5de4f9e121161d9aff4e02b4d11fe2ee47d708417> 
China's first Mars <https://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html> rover has captured its first sounds of the Red Planet and beamed back stunning views of a drive on the dusty world.

A new video <https://videos.space.com/m/UjJzoFdx/chinas-rover-moves-on-mars-in-awesome-new-video-with-audio-of-deployment?list=9wzCTV4g> released by China's state-run CCTV news channel today (June 27) shows the first sounds recorded by the Mars rover Zhurong as it drove off its Tianwen-1 <https://www.space.com/tianwen-1.html> lander and onto the Martian surface on May 22 <https://www.space.com/china-mars-rover-zhurong-rolls-on-martian-surface>. It also includes stunning video of Zhurong driving on Mars captured by stitching together images from a small camera deployed the rover.

"In fact the sounds were made when the pinion of the Mars rover rotates on the rack, or say the clashing sounds between metals," Jia Yang,  Tianwen-1 system deputy chief designer, said in the video according to a CCTV translation <https://www.cctvplus.com/news/20210627/8206799.shtml#!language=1>. "The purpose we [installed] the recording device is to capture the sounds of wind on Mars during its windy weathers. We really want to hear how the winds sound like on a planet other than the Earth."

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: beach flag.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 106303 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: safe_image.jpeg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 128236 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment.jpeg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 210527155950-01-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-sixth-flight-medium-plus-169.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 6653 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 210625164558-mars-ingenuity-helicopter-3d-image-0606-exlarge-169.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 44923 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0002.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 18-1990_s31_imax_view_of_hst_release-1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 17340 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0003.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 2_-_iss065e086833.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 38396 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0004.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: large_Bk2bCtbTv0OkYNkPQf5HzXjODd7dWjquesHVnA130ms-750x375.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 16242 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0005.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 8mjcxBTdyoRti9CC9rQe3E-970-80.png
Type: image/png
Size: 422919 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: China rvr.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 80574 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://educatemotivate.com/pipermail/spacetalk_educatemotivate.com/attachments/20210702/adeee99e/attachment-0006.jpg>