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

Tue May 14 23:18:50 CDT 2024

Hi all,

  I know it has been a while, I have to try to be better at getting this to you…as always super busy after being away for three weeks…the daily correspondence is increasing with so many people using Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook…I am so thankful for the kindness I receive on these visits. I’ve been back from Brazil for a little over 2 weeks…the time there was so special….I get treated so well and I and so grateful to everyone involved…it takes a lot of planning, scheduling, adjusting kids’ classes, transportation…I could not do any of this without support….my heartfelt thanks to all…  home is wonderful…back to swimming and the gym…try to stay fit and healthy…will be going to NYC for a few days the middle of June, then back to Brazil the last week in June…as always time is a blur…I blink, a day goes by, blink twice a week…so important to enjoy it all, one day at a time…we just celebrated Mother's Day…a little late but I hope all the moms around the world had a wonderful day including teachers who often view their students as their “kids”…

I have been fascinated with the Northern Light for many years, I‘ve been trying to see them going to Norway for 11 years with the help of so many friends…last weekend we had them throughout the US, even in Florida but I still missed them…the pictures shown have been so amazing…for those of you fortunate enough to see them, I know it was spectacular… still trying… :-) 

The space program, especially Space X, continues to provide awesome launches….every week, sometimes two or more a week, sometime 2 a day…it doesn’t have the same feeling as the shuttle but it never gets old…on Friday will be the attempted launch of the Boeing Capsule taking astronauts to the ISS…this has been a long overdue launch, hopefully all will go well and we will have more opportunities to take astronauts to space from the USA…I managed to get a pass and will be able to get 2 guests on KSC…during the last few years of the shuttle flights I was able to to get many teachers and friends VIP passes to see launches…it was one of the most rewarding things to be able to share the space program in such a special way…

 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

THIS SHOULD BE AMAZING 
https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/136484/nasa-photo-gallery/
NASA Has Made Their Entire Photo Gallery Available Online and Copyright Free
kidsactivitiesblog.com

GREAT SITES
nasa.gov <http://nasa.gov/>
jpl.nasa.gov <http://jpl.nasa.gov/>https://spotthestation.nasa.gov <https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/>

'Extreme' geomagnetic storm that painted Earth with auroras this weekend was the most powerful in 21 years
News
 <https://www.livescience.com/news>By Harry Baker <https://www.livescience.com/author/harry-baker> published 22 hours ago

Between Friday (May 10) and Sunday (May 12), people across the world were treated to stunning aurora displays as Earth's magnetic field experienced its biggest disturbance since October 2003. The supercharged storm also messed with satellites and caused power grid irregularities.

Vibrant auroras, like these above the Austrian alps, were visible across large parts of the world between May 10 and May 12. (Image credit: JFK/APA/AFP via Getty Images)
Earth has just experienced its most powerful geomagnetic storm in more than 20 years after a series of solar storms smashed into our planet. The extraordinary event triggered vibrant aurora displays as far south as Florida and caused power grid irregularities as well as temporary satellite issues. 

The prolonged disturbance to Earth's magnetic field <https://www.livescience.com/tag/earths-magnetic-field>, which lasted from Friday (May 10) to the early hours of Monday (May 13), started when at least five solar storms <https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/severe-geomagnetic-storm-will-bring-widespread-auroras-this-weekend-after-gigantic-sunspot-spits-out-5-solar-storms>, known as coronal mass ejections <https://www.livescience.com/what-are-coronal-mass-ejections> (CMEs), slammed into our planet's protective field one after the other. These CMEs were launched into space last week by solar flares <https://www.livescience.com/tag/solar-flare> from a single, massive sunspot, named AR3664, which is more than 15 times wider than Earth <https://www.livescience.com/space/the-sun/gargantuan-sunspot-15-earths-wide-shoots-powerful-x-class-flare-toward-earth-triggering-radio-blackouts>. A majority of these flares were X-class — the most powerful type of surface explosions the sun is capable of producing. 

The CME bombardment temporarily weakened Earth's protective field, which enabled charged particles from the sun to penetrate deep into the atmosphere and excite molecules of gas. These in turn triggered vibrant, multicolored auroras at latitudes much farther from Earth's polar regions than normal. In the Northern Hemisphere, auroras lit up the skies as far south as Florida, Mexico and Puerto Rico, as well as across parts of Europe, according to Spaceweather.com <https://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=11&month=05&year=2024>. Similar light shows were also spotted at equally unusual latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test
Mark Garcia <https://blogs.nasa.gov/boeing-crew-flight-test/author/magarcia/>May 10, 2024
Space Physics Aboard Station as Starliner Crew Returns to Houston <https://blogs.nasa.gov/boeing-crew-flight-test/2024/05/10/space-physics-aboard-station-as-starliner-crew-returns-to-houston/>

The space station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during its departure and flyaround on Nov. 8, 2021.

Space physics and life support maintenance topped the schedule at the end of the week for the Expedition 71 <https://www.nasa.gov/mission/expedition-71/> crew as the Starliner astronauts return to Houston. 3D printing and cargo operations also rounded out the operations aboard the International Space Station <https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/unity-module/>.

The coldest place in the universe may be the Cold Atom Lab <https://www.nasa.gov/mission/station/research-explorer/facility/?#id=7396> located aboard the orbital outpost’s Destiny laboratory module <https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/destiny-laboratory-module/>. NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt <https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/michael-barratt/>opened up the quantum physics research device Friday morning and inspected its cables and ports as part of broader science hardware replacement work. The ultra-cold laboratory chills atoms to near absolute zero to observe their fundamental characteristics and quantum behaviors.

On the ground at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations continue ahead of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test launch to the microgravity laboratory. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, still in quarantine ahead of the flight test, will return to Houston this weekend as work progresses on a valve replacement <https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2024/05/07/nasas-boeing-crew-flight-test-targets-new-launch-date/> on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Centaur upper stage. Crew will return to NASA Kennedy prior to the next launch opportunity, which is targeted for no earlier than May 21, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX fires up Starship rocket for upcoming 5th test flight (photos, video)

The fourth test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket hasn't happened yet, but the company is already gearing up for launch number five.
SpaceX <https://www.space.com/18853-spacex.html> conducted a "static fire" with a Starship <https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-super-heavy.html> upper stage today (May 8) at its Starbase site in South Texas, briefly igniting all six of the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) vehicle's Raptor engines while it remained anchored to the pad.

SpaceX commonly conducts static fires in the leadup to launch, but this vehicle isn't next in line to leave Earth. That would be the Flight 4 Starship, which could launch as soon as this month <https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-fourth-test-flight-possible-may-2024>. SpaceX has already static-fired both of its elements — the upper stage, known as Ship, and its giant Super Heavy first-stage booster, which sports 33 Raptors.

The Flight 4 vehicle is therefore presumably ready to go. But SpaceX still needs to secure a launch license from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is apparently still looking into what happened <https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-third-test-flight-faa-investigation> on Starship's most recent liftoff.

'God's Hand' interstellar cloud reaches for the stars
 <https://r.smartbrief.com/resp/rWvaCKojllDCbYoqCigydsCicNrLJs?format=multipart>
 <https://r.smartbrief.com/resp/rWvaCKojllDCbYoqCigydsCicNrLJs>
(CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA)

The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) has captured an ominous and ghostly hand reaching from the Milky Way from a distant edge-on spiral galaxy. But don't panic; despite its nickname, "God's Hand," there is nothing supernatural about this structure - yet that doesn't make it any less awe-inspiring….Full Story: Space <https://r.smartbrief.com/resp/rWvaCKojllDCbYoqCigydsCicNrLJs?format=multipart> (5/7)

Japan captures 1st image of space debris from orbit, and it's spookily stunning
News <https://www.livescience.com/news>

A private Japanese company has taken the world's first close-up photo of an individual piece of space debris, by parking another satellite next to it in orbit. This orbital photo op is the first step in an ongoing mission to capture and destroy potentially hazardous pieces of space junk that are clogging up our sky. 

It's easy to imagine space as a vast, empty frontier. But since the first satellite launched in 1957, the space surrounding our planet has gotten more and more crowded. Human-made space junk <https://www.livescience.com/what-is-space-junk> — including used rocket stages, decommissioned satellites, frozen fuel and flecks of paint — has been steadily accumulating in Earth's orbit over the past seven or so decades. Now, the space industry is trying to find ways to remove it.

There is currently more than 9,900 tons (9,000 metric tons) <https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/faq/#:~:text=More%20than%2025,000%20objects%20larger,Earth%20exceeded%209,000%20metric%20tons.> of space junk hanging out in Earth's orbit. That debris is a veritable minefield for newly launched satellites and spacecraft; even a tiny piece of debris can tear a hole through a spacecraft <https://www.livescience.com/tiny-space-junk-damage.html> with enough momentum. It can even pose a threat to people on the ground <https://www.space.com/object-crash-florida-home-iss-space-junk-nasa-confirms> when it falls from orbit. And the longer that space debris stays in orbit, the more it multiplies. Collisions between defunct satellites or parts of rockets can break larger debris into smaller pieces, making the resulting fragments harder to track and increasing their chances of hitting an active satellite.

Understandably, space agencies around the world are interested in cleaning up some of that floating garbage before it damages functioning spacecraft. A private Japanese company recently took some of the first steps. 

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser prepares for pre-launch journey to the Cape
May 14, 2024 <https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/05/> Will Robinson-Smith <https://spaceflightnow.com/author/will-the-robinson-smith/>

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane shown inside a test chamber at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Image: Sierra Space
Sierra Space is getting one step closer to finally seeing its Dream Chaser spaceplane reach the launch pad. The spacecraft completed its environmental testing at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, last week.

The test campaign began back in January, when the vehicle arrived at the center to undergo shock and vibration testing in February, which lasted about five weeks.

That was followed by thermal vacuum testing, where the spaceplane named “Tenacity” and its Shooting Star cargo extension went through more than a month of being exposed to a range of temperatures, ranging from -150°F to 250°F.

“Successful completion of an incredibly rigorous environmental testing campaign in close partnership with NASA is a significant milestone and puts Dream Chaser on track for operations later this year,” said Sierra Space CEO, Tom Vice, in a statement. “This is the year that we transition from rigorous research and development to regular orbital operations and – in doing so – transform the way we connect space and Earth.”

With this campaign behind them, Sierra Space is now preparing to load up Dream Chaser and Shooting Star for shipment down to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Once it arrives at the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF), teams will finish adding the thermal protection tiles and perform additional checkouts, like acoustic testing.

https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/05/14/sierra-spaces-dream-chaser-preparing-for-pre-launch-journey-to-the-cape/

Space Snapshot
 <https://secure.planetary.org/site/R?i=fBD_5ZA3UHC83jxa59Ij7FdhynuyMVnNIZlvvKzHBFft8_OTLFNDsg>

Imagine a cross between the Sun and Jupiter, and you’d get this. This view of Jupiter <https://secure.planetary.org/site/R?i=6sj0nIO2liOSzaIk-05stVAexBgVEmO7np9WWza7gxjgDumHnCx5GQ> in the infrared makes the gas giant look like a swirling ball of fire, but what you’re seeing is actually just a distinction between warmer (brighter) and cooler (darker) regions. The image was captured by the Near-InfraRed Imager at the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii in 2017. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory et al.
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