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

[Gabe Gabrielle]

hi all,

 I know it has been a while, been crazy busy as well as dealing with Covid…first from being around others who tested positive, then getting it myself…it hasn’t been too bad…thankfully, I’ve been vaccinated, have no underlying conditions, and in decent shape so not overly concerned but cautious about giving it to others…I know there are so many different ways we see this…so many variables that we all use to make decisions…I try to be cautious since I really am not sure what is “most right” but people still die from this, we can’t seem to get it behind us, whenever we think we are making progress a new strain appears, and we go backwards…for those of us who have lost relatives and friends to this virus…we understand how serious it is…I think we are more cautious of giving it to others…hopefully, within a few days I will be back to normal and can resume a fully active life style…

 The space program continues to go forward with so many amazing accomplishments…it has been an active launch month with both Space X (Falcon) and ULA (Atlas) launches…another launch this Thursday…Space X…

I know the Astronomy world and most waited so many years for the James Webb telescope to launch….we saw an amazing launch and series of critical events with getting it unfolded and to its permanent site….it will take another 6 months of cool down and alignment before it is operational.

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 and smiles… STAY SAFE, TAKE CARE, Love ya, Gabe :-) :-) 




USS Constitution has its first female commanding officer in its 224-year history


(CNN)Cmdr. Billie Farrell on Friday became the first female to captain the USS Constitution <https://www.cnn.com/2012/08/19/us/gallery/uss-constitution/index.html> in the historic warship's 224-year history.  Farrell assumed duties as the 77th commanding officer of Old Ironsides following a change-of-command ceremony held Friday at Boston's Charlestown Navy Yard. A native of Paducah, Kentucky, Farrell was a sixth grader when she happened to watch a US Naval Academy graduation on TV, she told CNN in a recent interview. In awe of the ceremony, she told her parents that's where she'd attend school. Later as a sophomore in high school, she and her family road-tripped to visit the Naval Academy in Annapolis, before vacationing in Boston and touring the USS Constitution. Wearing a Navy hat and all white, Farrell posed for a photo before the ship. 







James Webb Space Telescope arrives at new home in space
By Chelsea Gohd  <https://www.space.com/author/chelsea-gohd>published about 23 hours ago

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, seen here in an artist's illustration, has arrived at its new home in space: L2, the second Lagrange point. (Image credit: NASA)
After traveling almost a million miles, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reached its final destination today (Jan. 24).

The most powerful observatory ever to launch to space, the James Webb Space Telescope <https://www.space.com/21925-james-webb-space-telescope-jwst.html> lifted off on Dec. 25, 2021 to explore the cosmos and our universe's earliest milestones. Since its successful takeoff, the $10 billion telescope has been busy deploying its various systems and structures and traveling over 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) to its new home: L2, the second sun-Earth Lagrange point, which it will orbit. Lagrange points are gravitationally stable points in space.

Today, 30 days after launch (and after a one-day delay), Webb arrived at L2.

"Webb, welcome home!" NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an agency blog post <https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/24/orbital-insertion-burn-a-success-webb-arrives-at-l2/>. "Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webb’s safe arrival at L2 today. We’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can’t wait to see Webb’s first new views of the universe this summer!"




The James Webb Space Telescope has begun its MCC2 maneuver, an insertion burn into orbit around L2 on Jan. 24, 2022. (Image credit: NASA)
Webb has spent the past 30 days slowly and carefully unfolding its sunshield and other vital parts. On Thursday (Jan. 19), for example, the telescope finished deploying the 18 hexagonal segments that make up its glorious gold primary mirror. The overall deployment process has been anxiety-inducing, for it includes hundreds of potential single-point failures that could each spell disaster for Webb. But despite any nerves, Webb has made it through deployment spectacularly, and its arrival in orbit around L2 is another huge milestone to check off. Once it arrived near L2, Webb began what's called a mid-course correction burn (MCC2), which is an insertion burn, a maneuver that saw scope fire its small thrusters to get into orbit around L2. The burn took about five minutes (297 seconds) and began at about 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) today, according to the blog post. This maneuver was built into the mission plan for safety's sake. The Ariane 5 rocket that launched Webb to space didn't send it all the way to L2, because the mission team wanted to make sure the observatory didn't overshoot its final destination. That situation would require turning Webb around to thrust back toward Earth, which would expose its instruments to the sun, overheating them, according to NASA <https://webb.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/deploymentExplorer.html>. Webb and its instruments need to stay extremely cold in order to work as designed and pick up on the ultra-faint heat signatures from the early universe.So, they launched Webb with not quite enough thrust to get all the way to its final stop, allowing it to complete the final leg of the journey with its own small thrusters and the small amount of propellant that's onboard.

RELATED STORIES:
— NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope launches on epic mission to study early universe <https://www.space.com/nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-launch-success>
— James Webb Space Telescope: The scientific mysteries no other observatory could unravel <https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-science-overview>
— James Webb Space Telescope: The engineering behind a 'first light machine' that is not allowed to fail <https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-engineering-challenges> 
Once orbiting L2, Webb will begin cooling down and turning on its four scientific instruments. It will take weeks still for this cooling to be completed and for Webb to reach a stable temperature. Following this cooldown, Webb will spend about five months perfectly aligning and calibrating its optics and scientific instruments.  Webb will spend its lifetime at L2. It was previously thought that the observatory might operate for just 5 to 10 years in space because of its limited propellant supply and the fact that it was not intended to be refueled. However, after launch <https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-fuel-lifetime>, the mission team now expects that Webb will have "significantly more than a 10-year science lifetime," thanks to the job the Ariane 5 did on launch day, NASA officials wrote <https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2021/12/29/nasa-says-webbs-excess-fuel-likely-to-extend-its-lifetime-expectations/> in a post-launch statement.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd at space.com or follow her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd <https://twitter.com/chelsea_gohd>. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom <https://twitter.com/SPACEdotcom> and on Facebook. Join our Space Forums <https://forums.space.com/> to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community at space.com. <mailto:community at space.com>



Space Snapshot

 <https://secure.planetary.org/site/R?i=sKUi3mnmL9Du_r5y6dxzeu-alyjhDET4kFjwqotTjF7nuM4064phDQ>

 	

Comet Leonard is on its way out of the solar system now, and is no longer visible to the naked eye. But boy, did it ever give us a great show for a while there! This spectacular image from Planetary Society member Blake Estes, taken earlier this month from Australia, shows the beautiful array of colors in the comet’s tail. Farewell, Leonard, and good luck with the rest of your journey through the cosmos! Image credit: Blake Estes.



NASA Pays Tribute to Fallen Heroes with Day of Remembrance
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/38997007935_cc38846be2_k.jpg>
The graves of Apollo 1 crew members Virgil Grissom and Roger Chaffee seen during a wreath laying ceremony as part of NASA's 2018 Day of Remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery.
Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA will honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives while furthering the cause of exploration and discovery, including the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia, during the agency's annual Day of Remembrance Thursday, Jan. 27. This year’s NASA Day of Remembrance also marks 55 years since the Apollo 1 tragedy.

“NASA’s Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives in our shared endeavor to advance exploration and discovery for the good of all humanity,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “Every day, we have an opportunity to further uplift the legacies of those who gave their lives in pursuit of discovery by taking the next giant leap, meeting every challenge head-on, as they did. In doing so, we also must never forget the lessons learned from each tragedy, and embrace our core value of safety.”

Nelson will lead an observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, which will begin with a traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by observances for the Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia crews.

Shortly after the Arlington event, Nelson will join NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Associate Administrator Bob Cabana in moderating a panel discussion with agency employees on the topic of safety and lessons learned from the agency’s tragedies. The panel will air live on NASA Television, the agency’s website <https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive>, and the NASA app <https://www.nasa.gov/nasaapp> beginning at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Various NASA centers also will hold observances for NASA Day of Remembrance. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, this year’s events across the agency will be limited to invited guests and closed to media.

Kennedy Space Center, Florida
NASA Kennedy, in partnership with The Astronauts Memorial Foundation, will host a Day of Remembrance ceremony at the Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy’s Visitor Complex with limited in-person invited guests. The ceremony will feature remarks by Kennedy Center Deputy Director Kelvin Manning, as well as Astronauts Memorial Foundation President and CEO Thad Altman. The ceremony will livestream at 10 a.m. on Kennedy’s Facebook channel <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNASAKennedy%2F&data=04%7C01%7Chqnews%40newsletters.nasa.gov%7C4025601ec2254ed3840008d9df794ad2%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637786534303333997%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=AH79U5VUGfplQcokcqVF%2BbJmEpxKLxptc38cj%2Bpsrl0%3D&reserved=0>.

Johnson Space Center, Houston
NASA Johnson will hold a commemoration at the Astronaut Memorial Grove with limited in-person invited guests. The ceremony will feature remarks by Johnson Center Director Vanessa Wyche, as well as NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik and former Johnson Center Director George Abbey.

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
NASA Marshall will observe Day of Remembrance with a prerecorded observance featuring remarks from Marshall Center Director Jody Singer and Bill Hill, director of Marshall’s Office of Safety & Mission Assurance, as well as a moment of silence. The event will appear on Marshall’s YouTube channel <https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2FNASAMarshallTV&data=04%7C01%7Chqnews%40newsletters.nasa.gov%7C4025601ec2254ed3840008d9df794ad2%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C637786534303333997%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=j1Z1%2BLD0TLIJTAsKy2B7ZfoQ60ggqt8G%2Fq4aAYNg5p4%3D&reserved=0> and will be shared on the center’s social media account.

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
NASA Glenn will observe Day of Remembrance with a virtual observance for Glenn staff only.

Images and multimedia from this year’s events will be added to NASA’s online image and video library <https://images.nasa.gov/> following the events. The agency also is paying tribute to its fallen astronauts with special online content, which will be updated on Day of Remembrance, at: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dor2022 <https://www.nasa.gov/specials/dor2022>

Science mission begins for NASA’s new eye on the X-ray universe

Artist’s concept of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Credit: NASA
A NASA astronomy satellite that launched Dec. 9 from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX rocket has started observing the X-ray universe, beginning a mission to study the nature of black holes and the super-dense skeletons left behind by exploded stars.

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, or IXPE, mission launched Dec. 9 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which delivered the satellite to a unique equatorial orbit at an altitude of about 373 miles (600 kilometers).

After separating from the Falcon 9 launcher, the 727-pound (330-kilogram) IXPE spacecraft unfurled its solar panels and sailed through a series of tests. On Dec. 15, less than a week after launch, IXPE extended an origami-like boom holding the satellite’s three X-ray telescopes, giving the satellite a length of about 17 feet (5.2 meters) end-to-end.

The extendable boom is the right length to allow the telescopes’ mirrors to focus X-ray light back on detectors inside the main body of the spacecraft, giving IXPE satellite the ability to register high-energy waves emitted from black holes, neutron stars, and X-ray sources invisible to telescopes tuned to observe in other wavelengths.

“The commissioning has been successfully completed,” said Martin Weisskopf, IXPE’s principal investigator from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The two most nerve-racking elements of the commissioning were the solar panels deploying and the boom deploying.”

With the boom extension complete, ground teams spent about three weeks checking the observatory’s maneuvering and pointing capabilities and aligning the telescopes, according to NASA.

“All spacecraft functions have been activated and verified during commissioning,” Weisskopf said in a Jan. 10 press briefing at an American Astronomical Society meeting.


This image from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory shows Cassiopeia A, the remnants of a star the exploded in a violent supernova event around 350 years ago. NASA’s IXPE mission is observing Cassiopeia A as its first scientific target. Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO
IXPE is one of several X-ray astronomy missions in NASA’s portfolio, but it’s the first tuned to measure the polarization signal of X-ray light. Previous telescopes, which must in space to detect cosmic X-rays, have imaged X-ray sources in high angular resolution, measured their spectroscopy, or chemical fingerprints, and studied the time variation of X-ray signals.

“By doing this mission, we are adding two variables to the astrophysics toolkit to understand these sources,” Weisskopf said before IXPE’s launch. “That’s the degree of polarization, and the direction associated with polarization.”

The polarization of X-ray light a measurement of the direction of its electromagnetic field, a telltale signal that can inform astrophysicists about the extreme environments around black holes and supermassive objects, including the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Weisskopf said Jan. 10 that IXPE’s detectors, which are the first designed to measure X-ray polarization from space, observed bright calibration sources with known properties to help ground teams fine-tune the alignment of the missions’s telescopes.

IXPE’s three identical telescopes can measure the energy, position, time of arrival, and polarization of each X-ray photon they collect.

Satisfied that the IXPE mission is ready for its science campaign, NASA managers gave the green light for the spacecraft to begin the first of its regular astronomical observations Jan. 11.

IXPE’s first target is named Cassiopeia A, or Cas A, a giant debris cloud surrounding a super-dense neutron star around 11,000 light years away. Cassiopeia A formed around 350 years ago, when a star estimated to be five times more massive than the sun exploded in a violent supernova.

The explosion sent matter from the star’s interior out into space in all directions at nearly the speed of light, leaving behind the star’s collapsed core, a neutron star. IXPE’s observations will yield insights into the magnetic field surrounding the neutron star.

The observatory will observe Cassiopeia A for about three weeks. It’s the first of 33 planned science targets selected for the first year of IXPE’s mission, Weisskopf said.


Nine Merlin main engines power SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket off pad 39A on Dec. 9 with NASA’s IXPE mission. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography
Mission planners have also set aside observing time for IXPE to turn its telescopes toward “targets of opportunity,” such as features or objects that suddenly brighten in the sky, Weisskopf said. “So if something interesting comes up, we can go and look at it.”

The flight plan has time for observations of about 40 targets overall in IXPE’s first year of operations. IXPE will aim its telescopes at each targets for days or weeks at a time, collecting long X-ray exposures to allow scientists to sort out polarized signals from background noise.

NASA is funding IXPE for a two-year primary mission, which the agency says adds up to $214 million, including development, the launch, and operations. The spacecraft doesn’t need any rocket fuel for pointing or orbital maneuvers.

IXPE is a partnership between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, which provided the mission’s X-ray detectors and a ground station Kenya to receive science data from the satellite when it flies overhead.

According to Weisskopf, X-ray polarization can tell scientists about the spin of a black hole. Theoretical calculations show that the degree of polarization of an X-ray signal varies with the energy of the magnetic field at its source.

“Black holes don’t have many properties, but one of them is spin,” he said. “So this is a very fascinating use of the polarimetry to determine something about the nature of its source, and that story holds true in many other cases.”

Other targets for IXPE include the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, known as Sagittarius A*. IXPE’s measurements may confirm whether the black hole was much brighter just a few hundred years ago, as some scientists believe.

IXPE will also look at more distant targets, such as blazers at the centers of other galaxies. Blazars have powerful jets of radiation that happen to be aimed directly at Earth.

The mission will also study the polarization of X-rays coming from magnetars, which have the strongest magnetic fields of any star, some one thousand trillion times more intense than Earth’s magnetic field.

Email <mailto:sclark at spaceflightnow.com> the author...Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1 <http://www.twitter.com/stephenclark1/>

 <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-solar-sail-mission-to-chase-tiny-asteroid-after-artemis-i-launch/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-solar-sail-mission-to-chase-tiny-asteroid-after-artemis-i-launch/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-solar-sail-mission-to-chase-tiny-asteroid-after-artemis-i-launch/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-solar-sail-mission-to-chase-tiny-asteroid-after-artemis-i-launch/#> <https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-solar-sail-mission-to-chase-tiny-asteroid-after-artemis-i-launch/#>
NASA Solar Sail Mission to Chase Tiny Asteroid After Artemis I Launch
 <https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/1_triptych-nea-scout.jpg>
NEA Scout is composed of a small, shoebox-sized CubeSat (top left) and a thin, aluminum-coated solar sail about the size of a racquetball court (bottom left). After the spacecraft launches aboard Artemis I, the sail will use sunlight to propel the CubeSat to a small asteroid (as depicted in an illustration, right).
Credits: NASA
 <applewebdata://E4589198-9D3C-4E29-9DD3-0C42AFAE4DDA>
NEA Scout will visit an asteroid estimated to be smaller than a school bus – the smallest asteroid ever to be studied by a spacecraft.

Launching with the Artemis I uncrewed test flight, NASA’s shoebox-size Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will chase down what will become the smallest asteroid ever to be visited by a spacecraft. It will get there by unfurling a solar sail to harness solar radiation for propulsion, making this the agency’s first deep space mission of its kind.

The target is 2020 GE, a near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that is less than 60 feet (18 meters) in size. Asteroids smaller than 330 feet (100 meters) across have never been explored up close before. The spacecraft will use its science camera to get a closer look, measuring the object’s size, shape, rotation, and surface properties while looking for any dust and debris that might surround 2020 GE.

Because the camera has a resolution of less than 4 inches (10 centimeters) per pixel, the mission’s science team will be able to determine whether 2020 GE is solid – like a boulder – or if it’s composed of smaller rocks and dust clumped together like some of its larger asteroid cousins, such as asteroid Bennu <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-spacecraft-provides-insight-into-asteroid-bennus-future-orbit>.

“Thanks to the discoveries of NEAs by Earth-based observatories, several targets had been identified for NEA Scout, all within the 16-to-100-foot [5-to-30-meter] size range,” said Julie Castillo-Rogez, the mission’s principal science investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “2020 GE represents a class of asteroid that we currently know very little about.”

2020 GE was first observed on March 12, 2020, by the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey <https://catalina.lpl.arizona.edu/> as part of its search for near-Earth objects for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office <https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense>.

Developed under NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Division <https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/aes/index.html> by Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and JPL, NEA Scout is a science and technology demonstration mission that will enhance the agency’s understanding of small NEAs. Using a six-unit CubeSat form factor <https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/topics/cubesats>, it will ride as one of 10 secondary payloads <https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/10/04/all-artemis-i-secondary-payloads-installed-in-rockets-orion-stage-adapter/> aboard the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will launch no earlier than March 2022 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NEA Scout will then be deployed from a dispenser <https://www.nasa.gov/marshall/news/releases/2021/nasa-solar-sail-asteroid-mission-readies-for-launch-on-artemis-i.html> attached to the adapter ring that connects the rocket and Orion spacecraft.

The mission will act as a nimble scout for future human and robotic missions that may utilize asteroid resources – and will gain important planetary defense insights about this class of NEA.



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