<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class="">Good morning all,</font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""> It has been an amazing last three days of supporting events around Florida...Astronomy night at Wedgefield K8 on Thursday; a Boy Scouts Blue & Gold Award Ceremony on Friday; and with the Police Athletic League of Jacksonville for the Exceptional Student Center School on Monday…each was so special in it’s own way…I do the same thing all the time yet it is so different…always fun….the audiences at the Astronomy night, Blue & Gold, & ESC School were great..it was a successful opening of their first Astronomy night; the Blue & Gold also celebrating space had everything decorated in space themes and this kids are in such a positive environment; my special friends at ESC gave me a wonderful gift, a magical drawing and picture from my visit last year. </font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""> There are so many special things that happen, too many to list but at the Blue & Gold event, a very kind and so nice woman came up to me to say she has been receiving this newsletter for 10 years and has finally met me... How awesome :-) :-) I was thrilled, i wanted to find out more but had no time to talk…please email me :-) :-) </font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""> Plenty of activity in the space program, we have a lunch on Thursday, an Atlas V at 5:02 PM, you can see it on <a href="https://spaceflightnow.com" class="">https://spaceflightnow.com</a> and shortly after a Space X, check the site for an update…three astronauts returned safely from the iSS, landing in Russia…always happy when they return safely, there are dangers along the way…remember to go the the subject links for all the latest info...</font><span style="font-size: large;" class="">wishing you all a wonderful day…. we have to always remember to do our best, enjoy everything we do, live in the present, be appreciative of the good in our lives, make each day special, smile & have fun! Gabe</span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: large;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><span style="font-size: large;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.space.com/39734-nasa-tess-exoplanet-spacecraft-arrives-ksc.html#?utm_source=sdc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=test-02-21-sdc" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-weight: bold;" class=""><strong class=""><font color="#000000" class="">NASA's Next Planet Hunter Arrives in Florida Ahead of April Launch</font></strong></a></div><div class=""><table class="devicewidth" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: auto; margin: auto; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><tbody class=""><tr class=""><td valign="top" width="100%" style="margin: auto; padding: 0px;" class=""><a href="http://www.space.com/39734-nasa-tess-exoplanet-spacecraft-arrives-ksc.html#?utm_source=sdc-newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=test-02-21-sdc" class=""><img st-image="banner-image" class="deviceWidth" src="https://img.purch.com/rc/680x250/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zcGFjZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA3NC8yMDUvb3JpZ2luYWwvbHNwX3Rlc3NfaW1hZ2UuanBn" alt="NASA's Next Planet Hunter Arrives in Florida Ahead of April Launch" border="0" width="680" style="padding: 0px; display: block; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; width: 100% !important;"></a></td></tr><tr class=""><td valign="top" class="bodyContent" style="margin: auto; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: Helvetica; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 5px; color: rgb(32, 32, 32) !important;"></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><div class="title-bar" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2em 0px;"><div class="title-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 738.75px; padding: 0px;"><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 2.2em; margin: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.1; color: inherit;">NASA Astronauts Return to Earth, Land Safely in Kazakhstan</h1></div></div><section id="ember788" class="opened collapsible ember-view" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: none; overflow-y: hidden;"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto 2em;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/exp54_crew.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""><img typeof="foaf:Image" width="985" height="753" alt="ISS Expedition 54 crew" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px;" apple-inline="yes" id="7CC0242C-36DD-4BA0-AE97-173D28E4F2B2" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:FCE93A47-7B12-42CC-8E3E-0C58107AE495" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;">NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei relax after their return trip from the International Space Station to their landing site southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan, where they touched down at 9:31 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018.</div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Credits: NASA Television</div><div class="link" style="font-size: 11px; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-size: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; padding: 0px;"></div></div></div><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-side_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5em 0em 3em 2em; max-width: 320px; float: right; clear: right; width: 320px;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/acaba.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""><img typeof="foaf:Image" width="320" height="246" alt="NASA astronaut Joe Acaba" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px;" apple-inline="yes" id="6B66550B-6375-4F86-A558-9C7BE43BDFDD" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:157A567D-B42C-46BD-BDD3-083DA26D4599" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;">NASA astronaut Joe Acaba gives a thumbs-up to the cameras after landing with his fellow International Space Station Expedition 54 crew members near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 9:31 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, after 168 days in space.</div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Credits: NASA Television</div><div class="link" style="font-size: 11px; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-size: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; padding: 0px;"></div></div></div><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-side_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5em 0em 3em 2em; max-width: 320px; float: right; clear: right; width: 320px;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/vande_hei.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class=""><img typeof="foaf:Image" width="320" height="246" alt="NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 10px;" apple-inline="yes" id="5D74EFE5-99F2-475B-9A86-3F4E54C11423" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:DC6A4D04-FA70-4A05-B058-D351F17CB90B" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;">NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei enjoys his first moments of fresh air on Earth after landing with his fellow International Space Station Expedition 54 crew members near Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 9:31 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, after 168 days in space.</div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Credits: NASA Television</div><div class="link" style="font-size: 11px; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-size: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; padding: 0px;"></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Three members of the Expedition 54 crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS), including NASA astronauts <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/mark-t-vande-hei" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Mark Vande Hei</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/joseph-m-acaba" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Joe Acaba</a>, returned to Earth on Tuesday after months of performing research and spacewalks in low-Earth orbit.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Vande Hei, Acaba and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos landed at 9:31 p.m. EST (8:31 a.m. Feb. 28 in Kazakhstan) southeast of the remote town of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Their time on station marked the beginning of the first long-term increase in crew size on the U.S. segment, enabling NASA to double the time dedicated to research and achieve a record-setting week of research that <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/wklysumm_week_of_05feb18" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">surpassed 100 hours</a>. Highlights from this research include investigations into the manufacturing of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7388" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">fiber optic filaments</a> in microgravity, improving the accuracy of an implantable <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7703" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">glucoses biosensor</a>, and measuring the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=1907" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Sun’s energy input to Earth</a>.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">The crew also welcomed four <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/visiting-vehicle-launches-arrivals-and-departures" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">cargo spacecraft</a> delivering several tons of supplies and research experiments. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft arrived at the station in November on the company's eighth commercial resupply mission, followed in December by SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft on the company’s thirteenth resupply mission. Two Russian ISS Progress cargo craft arrived at the station in October and February.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Vande Hei logged 168 days in space on this, his first, mission. He ventured outside the space station on four <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/spacewalks" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">spacewalks</a> to perform work that included replacing and lubricating the Latching End Effectors on both ends of the Canadarm2. Acaba completed one spacewalk to lubricate an end effector and install new cameras on the station’s arm and truss. He now has accrued 306 days in space on three flights. Acaba and Vande Hei also participated in dozens of educational events while in space as part of NASA’s <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/stem-on-station/year-of-education.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Year of Education on Station</a>.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Misurkin conducted one record-setting spacewalk with fellow cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov to replace an electronics box for a high-gain communications antenna on the Zvezda service module in February. The spacewalk timed out at 8 hours and 13 minutes, the longest in Russian space program history. Misurkin now has spent 334 days in space on two flights.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Now operating the station are Expedition 55 crew members Commander Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos and Flight Engineers <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/scott-d-tingle" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Scott Tingle</a> of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Astronauts <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/richard-r-arnold" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Ricky Arnold</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/andrew-j-feustel" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(66, 139, 202);" class="">Drew Feustel</a> of NASA, and Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos are scheduled to launch March 21 and arrive at the space station two days later, returning the crew size to six.</font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Learn more about the International Space Station at: </font><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;" class=""><font size="4" color="#0433ff" class=""><span style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/station" class="">https://www.nasa.gov/station</a></span> </font></strong><span style="font-size: large;" class="">Get breaking news, images and features from the station on social media at: </span><font size="4" class=""><a href="https://instagram.com/iss" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;" class=""><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><font color="#0433ff" class="">https://instagram.com/iss</font></strong></a><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""> </strong>and <a href="https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;" class=""><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""><font color="#0433ff" class="">https://www.twitter.com/Space_Station</font></strong></a><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;" class=""> </strong></font></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></font></div></div></section></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> <font size="4" class="">For those of you who have signed up for the Insight Mission….it is scheduled in May…. visit the site below to get the latest info:</font></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/insight/main/index.html" class="">https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/insight/main/index.html</a></font></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><img height="360" width="640" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" apple-inline="yes" id="B44B9B9C-96CB-4ADE-ACAA-51C8CE57F834" src="cid:12C0FB49-AE03-4881-AF92-5E4220744B7C" class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></blockquote><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="title-bar" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2em 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Titillium Web', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="title-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 738.75px; padding: 0px;"><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 2.2em; margin: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.1; color: inherit;">Three of the 'Thirty-Five New Guys'</h1><div class=""><br class=""></div></div></div><img height="477" width="596" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" apple-inline="yes" id="6C1B1006-2F83-4500-ABD1-731E931C8E17" src="cid:A73E8DCA-E4F1-47A1-AA9B-1FC4D9280464" class=""></div><div class=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><font size="4" class="">On January 16, 1978, NASA announces the first astronaut class in nine years. Dr. Ronald McNair, Guy Bluford and Fred Gregory were among those selected, the first African Americans in NASA's astronaut program. The Astronaut Class of 1978, otherwise known as the “Thirty-Five New Guys,” was NASA’s first new group of astronauts since 1969. This, the eighth astronaut group, was the first to include not only African Americans, but also women and Asian Americans.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Learn more about the Astronaut Class of 1978:<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/1978-astronaut-class" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none;" class=""><font color="#428bca" class=""> </font><font color="#0433ff" class="">https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/1978-astronaut-class</font></a></font></p></div><div class=""><font size="4" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><br class=""></div></body></html>