BBC News | Nasa's ambitious plan to save Earth from a supervolcano BBC News I was a member of the Nasa Advisory Council on Planetary Defense which studied ways for Nasa to defend the planet from asteroids and comets, explains Brian Wilcox of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology. |
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Nasa's ambitious plan to save Earth from a supervolcano - BBC News
Six astrophysics programs selected for further study by NASA have science goals across the universe, ranging from exoplanets to galaxies.
This round of choices for NASA's Explorers Program, announced Aug. 9, includes three Explorer missions ($250 million each) and three missions of opportunity ($70 million each).
Each team has the chance to do a concept study. Scientific evaluations will be performed on each study, then NASA will select one Explorer mission and one mission of opportunity to fund in 2019. The expected launch dates would fall in 2022. [The Biggest Space Missions to Watch in 2017]
The three mission proposals (each receiving $2 million for the concept study), according to a NASA statement, are:
The three missions of opportunity (each receiving $500,000 for the concept study) are:
Explorers is NASA's longest-running program. Its first mission was Explorer 1 in 1958, which also was the first U.S. satellite. Explorer 1 discovered the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. More than 90 missions have run under the program, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) missions that led to Nobel Prizes for their investigators.
"The Explorers Program brings out some of the most creative ideas for missions to help unravel the mysteries of the universe," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's science mission directorate, said in the statement. "The program has resulted in great missions that have returned transformational science, and these selections promise to continue that tradition."
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From exoplanets to galaxies: NASA chooses 6 missions for further study - Fox News
Thursday, August 17, 2017 at 10:54 a.m.
Illustration by Matt Griesmyer
An Oklahoma Congressman is President Donald Trumps choice to be the next NASA administrator, according to reports, but his plans for space may be pulled back to Earth by the man who hired him.
NASA Watch, a niche news organization that focuses on the space industry, reported Wednesday that Rep. Jim Bridenstine will be NASAs next leader. A Rice University graduate, Bridenstine is an aviator in the Navy Reserve and has served in Congress since 2012. He has not commented on speculation that hell soon join NASA.
In his five years in Congress, Bridenstine has shown an enthusiasm for space exploration, and said he wants the United States to reinvest in space and NASA, including more moon missions to explore the possibility of establishing a base there.
In 2016, the congressman sponsored the American Space Renaissance Act, which aims to project military strength through an American presence in space, spur commercial space innovation and provide clear goals and deadlines for NASA. In a website he created to promote the legislation, Bridenstine noted how often technology created for space travel has benefited the everyday lives of Americans and argued that the United States may cede influence over space by neglecting NASA.
Unfortunately, continued socioeconomic growth from space technology maturation and increased space access is no longer assured, Bridenstine wrote. Space is becoming more congested, contested, and competitive. We must establish responsible governance that will prevent mishaps, misperceptions, and mistrust, while assuring the use of space for all responsible parties. As a military pilot, I can attest that our national security and our very way of life require both military and commercial space capabilities.
The bill did not make it out of committee and received just a single co-sponsor, highlighting the struggle NASA has had finding the money it needs for its missions. Since the glory days of NASA, government investment in the space agency has dwindled. In 1966, in the middle of the Apollo Program, NASA spending accounted for 4.5 percent of the federal budget. Now, that figure is less than half a percent. Since the end of the shuttle program in 2011, American astronauts have had to hitch a ride with Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station.
Despite his ambitions for NASA and the American space industry, Bridenstine may be hamstrung by the administration that hired him. President Trumps FY 2018 budget includes $19.1 billion for NASA, a $561 million decrease from present levels that CBS News reported would eliminate some Earth science missions and put the kibosh on NASAs plan to retrieve a piece of an asteroid, an exercise that would prepare astronauts for the challenges of flying to Mars.
Where the president himself stands on NASA remains a mystery. In 2012, he criticized the Obama administration for cutting NASAs budget and forcing astronauts to hitchhike from Kazakhstan but he has yet to offer an alternative travel arrangement.
Trump did not articulate a clear vision for NASA during his presidential campaign. During a call with astronauts aboard the International Space Station, Trump asked astronauts to reach Mars "during my first term or, at worst, during my second term," after those same astronauts told him this would not be possible until the 2030s. Plus, they'd need more money.
So Bridenstine may soon inherit a problem shared by leaders across the government: a president with grand plans unwilling to invest the time, expertise or investment to reaching them.
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Likely NASA Administrator Has Big Space Ambitions But Trump May Hinder Them - Houston Press
NASA has selected six astrophysics proposals for concept studies under the agency's Explorers Program.
Six astrophysics programs selected for further study by NASA have science goals across the universe, ranging from exoplanets to galaxies.
This round of choices for NASA's Explorers Program, announced Aug. 9, includes three Explorer missions ($250 million each) and three missions of opportunity ($70 million each).
Each team has the chance to do a concept study. Scientific evaluations will be performed on each study, then NASA will select one Explorer mission and one mission of opportunity to fund in 2019. The expected launch dates would fall in 2022. [The Biggest Space Missions to Watch in 2017]
The three mission proposals (each receiving $2 million for the concept study), according to a NASA statement, are:
The three missions of opportunity (each receiving $500,000 for the concept study) are:
Explorers is NASA's longest-running program. Its first mission was Explorer 1 in 1958, which also was the first U.S. satellite. Explorer 1 discovered the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. More than 90 missions have run under the program, including the Uhuru and Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) missions that led to Nobel Prizes for their investigators.
"The Explorers Program brings out some of the most creative ideas for missions to help unravel the mysteries of the universe," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA's science mission directorate, said in the statement. "The program has resulted in great missions that have returned transformational science, and these selections promise to continue that tradition."
Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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From Exoplanets to Galaxies: NASA Chooses 6 Missions for Further Study - Space.com
Image Courtesy of Montana State University
Mondays total solar eclipse will provide some much-needed wholesome enjoyment for all of us here in the United States. To make things even sweeter, NASAin collaboration with researchers at Montana State Universitywill be seizing the opportunity to launch some giant balloons during the event.
Scientists arent sending up balloons because theyre super stoked about the eclipse, though they are (probably). These enormous balloons are part of a project aptly named the Eclipse Ballooning Project, and will be used to run several experiments, one of which could help researchers preparing for a mission to Mars.
Out of the total fleet of roughly 75 balloons, over 30 of them will carry small samples of an extremely resilient strain of bacteria called Paenibacillus xerothermodurans over80,000 feet above Earth. The P. xerothermodurans samples will be attached to thin, aluminum coupons and attached to the outside of the balloons. According to the researchers, Earths stratosphere is similar to the surface atmosphere on Mars, so theyll be able to get some idea of how bacteria might behave there.
We have to be extremely careful that we dont bring bacteria or other tiny Earth organisms to other planets, project leader Angela Des Jardins, Director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), told Gizmodo. While most of these tiny forms of life that exists in abundance around us wont survive the trip through space, its understood that some resilient types could go dormant on the trip and then survive on the surface of the other planet. Therefore, in order to be prepared to keep planets we visit absolutely pristine, its important to understand how bacteria might behave there.
In addition to testing out some hearty bacteria, the balloons will have cameras attached to them in order to capture cloud video. The team hopes this will be useful to scientists looking to understand cloud formation during a solar eclipse. Some balloons will also carry tiny weather stations called radiosondes, which researchers can later use to study how Earths atmosphere responds to an eclipse.
We anticipate having high-quality video and images back from the balloons flights within a day or two, Jardins said. Analysis of the bacteria experiment will be done by scientists at Cornell and it will likely be a month or two before results are ready. Analysis of the atmospheric response to the eclipse (from our special set of weather balloons) will similarly take a month or two.
So if youre watching the eclipse this Monday, dont forget to look up: you might just see a giant ball of bacteria floating in the sky. Just kidding, you wont. Also, dont look up without wearing eclipse glasses or youll go blind.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the balloons would be traveling 80,000 miles above Earth. It is actually 80,000 feet. Our bad! Weve edited the text to reflect the change.
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Why NASA Is Launching Massive Balloons of Bacteria During the Eclipse - Gizmodo
Back in the optimistic early days of space exploration, everyone thought it was a great idea to offer aliens a chart telling them how to find Planet Earth.
But now the man who sent four maps into deep space fears this decision could prove to be disastrous.
Frank Drake, an American astronomer and famed alien hunter, worked with Nasa to design maps which were placed inside Pioneer 10 and 11 as well as Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 probes.
All four of these spaceships have now left the solar system and are speeding through deep space.
The plaque placed aboard the Pioneer craft shows a man and a woman alongside a basic map which plots the position of Earth compared to a distant pulsar stars, which are bright and long-lasting so could still direct aliens our way if they are found millions of years from now.
Voyager was fitted with "golden records", which can be played to reveal natural sounds and even images from Earth.
A similar pulsar map is engraved on the front of the records.
Frank Drake now fears it may have been a bad idea to send the maps into space.
Responding to a request for comment by Fox News, a NASA spokesperson said:"[T]he so-called Golden Records are unlikely to be found anytime soon, as space is largely empty and the Voyagers will not be encountering any other planets or stars in our lifetimes."
"In those days, all the people I dealt with were optimists, and they thought the ETs would be friendly,"Drake told National Geographic.
"Nobody thought, even for a few seconds, about whether this might be a dangerous thing to do."
The article about Drake was actually written by his daughter Nadia, who asked whether it may one day be seen as "foolish and dangerous" to have broadcasted details of our whereabouts to aggressive aliens.
Many scientists now believe contacting extraterrestrials is a spectacularly bad idea.
Professor Stephen Hawking recently warned that "meeting an advanced civilisation could be like Native Americans encountering Columbus".
"That didnt turn out so well," he said.He claimed alien life could be "rapacious marauders roaming the cosmos in search of resources to plunder, and planets to conquer and colonize.
This story has been updated with NASA's comment.
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Aliens could conquer Earth by following 'dangerous' maps NASA 'foolishly' sent into space - Fox News
The initial discovery. Screenshot via News 6
Talia Rappa and Skyer Ashworth were searching through the piles of clothes at a Salvation Army in Florida that was going out of business, when they came upon a white suit with a NASA logo on it. Underneath were five more suits, in blue, that also came from NASA.
They bought the suits for 20 cents a piece, $1.20 in total. Their thrift store find has now been authenticated, News 6 reports: These were authentic NASA suits worn by ground crew and astronauts in the early 1980s.
No one knows how the suits came to be at the thrift store; they may have been there for years. Rappa and Ashworth found them under a pile of sweaters. The labels on the suits indicate that they were worn by astronauts George Nelson, Robert A. Parker, and Charles D. Walker.
The thrifters stand to make a substantial profit on their discoveries: According to News 6, a local TV channel, the suits could be worth $5,000 a piece. Theyll be auctioned through the American Space Museum in November. Rappa and Ashworth say theyll donate a portion of their profits to the museum, and the rest of the money will go towards their college tuition. Ashworth, whose parents have worked for NASA communications, will be studying aerospace.
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Found: Authentic NASA Spacesuits in the Corner of a Thrift Store - Atlas Obscura
Enlarge / Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) is likely to be NASA's next administrator.
NASA may finally be close to getting some clarity about its leadership during the Trump administration. On Tuesday, NASA Watch reported that the President will nominate US Representative Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) as administrator and Aerojet Rocketdyne Vice President John Schumacher as deputy administrator. Both men have been rumored to be nominated for these posts in recent weeks, but there have been no official confirmations as yet.
Two sources familiar with Washington, DC, space politics confirmed the choices to Ars, but one of them offered a caveat. "I have heard same from multiple sources, but this is Trump world," one DC-based source said.
A formal announcement has been in the works for September, but a date and location have not yet been set. "To the best of my knowledge, there have been no White House announcements on this subject matter at this time," NASA's associate administrator for communications, Jen Rae Wang, told Ars on Tuesday evening.
John Logsdon, a noted space historian and author of several books, includingAfter Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program, said he has been hearing the same names. "Appointing Jim Bridenstine and John Schumacher as the top two NASA officials is an intriguing and potentially very productive move," Logsdon told Ars, via e-mail. "Bridenstine, for several years, has been conceptualizing what is needed for, as he suggests, an 'American Space Renaissance' and has been testing his ideas with multiple audiences. Schumacher is a Washington space community veteran, with years of both senior NASA and space industry executive experience. Together, they can bring both fresh ideas and a sense of political and policy realism to the space agency."
Since President Obama left office in January, a civil servant named Robert Lightfoot has been guiding the agency through the transition. Lightfoot was among the candidates for both positions, and it is not clear whether he will remain on at NASA. By all accounts, Lightfoot has done a good job at maintaining NASA's programs through the last eight months. His most critical decision came in May, when Lightfootdecided against putting crew on the maiden launch of the Space Launch System (SLS).
An aviator in the US Navy Reserve, Bridenstine is serving his third term as a US Representative for Oklahoma. From almost the beginning of his tenure in Congress, Bridenstine has shown an interest in civil, commercial, and military space policy. The conservative has previously outlined broad goals to modernize the US spaceflight enterprise with his American Space Enterprise Act.
He is a big-picture guy and seen as a potential changemaker. Bridenstine, 42, was championed by several commercial space companies because he is open to increased privatization of US civil and military space activities. "Our civil and defense space enterprises must not compete with the private sector, but enable domestic, commercial launch, and space capabilities," he has said.
The Oklahoma Congressman has also openly advocated for a human return to the Moon before NASA embarks upon a mission to Mars. In speeches and in a blog post on his Congressional website, Bridenstine has called the opening of the Moon for commercial activity the "Sputnik moment" for this generation.
"From the discovery of water ice on the Moon until this day, the American objective should have been a permanent outpost of rovers and machines at the poles with occasional manned missions for science and maintenance," Bridenstine wrote. "The purpose of such an outpost should have been to utilize the materials and energy of the Moon to drive down the costs and increase the capabilities of cis-lunar space."
Bridenstine checks several boxes for the Trump administration and space: a conservative Trump supporter, someone who would prioritize lunar exploration, build upon the commercialization of space, and be willing to push NASA back toward human exploration at the expense of some activities, such as Earth science. Some ardent supporters of NASA's large, government-led exploration programsthe SLS rocket and Orion spacecrafthave balked at Bridenstine since January due to his pro-commercialization views. However, the likely choice of a deputy administrator, Schumacher, may alleviate some of those concerns.
With more than three decades of experience inmilitary, civil, and commercial space, Schumacher understands how Washington, DC, works. He also has previous NASA experience, serving aschief of staff for former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe from 2003 to 2005 and as NASA's Associate Administrator for External Relations from 1994 to 2003.
Schumacher hasworked at Aerojet Rocketdyne for the last 11 years, joining Aerojet in 2006 asvice president of the company's Washington, DC, operations. Aerojet is one of the prime contractors on the SLS rocket. In 2015, the engine-builder received a $1.16 billion contract from NASA to re-start production of the RS-25 engine to power the core stage of the SLS rocket.
In addition to demonstrating the administration's support for traditional aerospace contractors, Ars understands that Schumacher is seen as someone with the political connections and experience to manage NASA and push forward its agenda in Congress.
So what does this mean, if true? It suggests that Vice President Mike Pence and the Space Council will seek to innovate with NASA going forward. For example, it seems likely that the space agency will, over the next 12 to 18 months, revamp its exploration plans to include study the lunar surface for ice deposits and the ease at which those might be recovered. Human missions to the surface of the Moon are also likely to be planned for the 2020s.
Congress has maintained strong support for the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, and White House seems willing to go along with both, at least for now. (The new executive secretary of the space council, Scott Pace, favors such an approach). At the same time, a Bridenstine-led NASA would likely continue to look for innovative ways to increase commercial partnerships, such as offering opportunities for traditional aerospace contractors, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as well as new space firms, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, to deliver cargo to the Moon and build landers for that purpose.
The always simmering traditional space versus commercial space dynamic will be one of the most interesting areas to watch under the new leadership. The appointment of Bridenstine and Schumacher indicates that Pence has not fully made a decision yet on how much to commercialize NASA beyond its existing commercial crew and cargo programs.
Planetary science also seems relatively safe under NASA's likely leadership, given the strong support in Congress such missions enjoy. Climate science, of course, has been under siege at other federal agencies, and it likely would face similar funding cuts under Bridenstine's leadership.
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NASA may finally be getting a leaderOklahoma pilot Jim Bridenstine - Ars Technica
Good news, everyone! The Earth is still like a car with the windows rolled up, and it doesnt seem like anyone is coming by with the keys anytime soon.
July 2017 is statistically tied with July 2016 for the title of hottest July in 137 years of records, Mashable reported, which is especially concerning because there was no El Nioa complicated climate cycle in which the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean floods with warmer than usual water, and raises the average temperature across the globe.
According to a NASA press release, July 2017 was 1.49 degrees Fahrenheit (0.83 degrees Celsius) warmer than the 1951 to 1980 baseline average, beating out July 2016 by an incredibly slim margin. El Nio was ongoing in 2016, which means that this years July was able to match a predecessor with extra help. Alarmingly, NASA noted all previous months of July were more than a tenth of a degree cooler.
NASA added their data is collected from some 6,300 meteorological stations around the world, ship- and buoy-based instruments measuring sea surface temperature, and Antarctic research stations.
The data is preliminary and may change, Mashable noted. But climate scientist Gavin Schmidt tweeted what data is already available predicts that there is a 77% chance 2017 will duel with 2016 as the hottest year on record.
Scientists are increasingly able to demonstrate higher rates of extreme weather eventslike massive storm systems or a southern European heat wave this year locals dubbed Luciferare linked to climate change. One of the key findings of a draft of an upcoming federal scientific survey was that uncertainty in this field is diminishing, and changes to the climate caused by humans dumping massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are primarily responsible.
Thousands of studies conducted by tens of thousands of scientists around the world have documented changes in surface, atmospheric and oceanic temperatures; melting glaciers; disappearing snow cover; shrinking sea ice; rising sea level; and an increase in atmospheric water vapor, the reports executive summary read. ... The last few years have also seen record-breaking, climate-related weather extremes, as well as the warmest years on record for the globe.
As Mashable noted, the last cooler than average month in the 137 years of recorded data was December 1984.
The good news is that most of the worlds nations have agreed to work together to start dealing with the problem, ratifying the 2015 Paris accords. The bad news is the US federal government under Republican leadership is continuing to do its best to destroy decades of environmental regulations and undermine climate science.
[NASA via Mashable]
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NASA: July 2017 Didn't Even Need an El Nio to Tie For Hottest July in Recorded History - Gizmodo
NASA Astronauts Set To Get Sweet Treat With Next Delivery To International Space Station NPR This week, a rocket bound for the International Space Station lifted off with 6,400 pounds of supplies. Along with the provisions, medical supplies and experiments, NASA astronauts will be getting a special care package with ice cream. Facebook; Twitter. |
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NASA Astronauts Set To Get Sweet Treat With Next Delivery To International Space Station - NPR
This NASA artist's illustration shows Cassini between Saturn and its rings.
At the ripe old age of 19, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will die next month. That would be young for a human, but it's old for a space probe.
Cassini launched on Oct. 15, 1997 on a very specific mission to study Saturn, its rings and its moons. On Sept. 15, it will plunge into Saturn's atmosphere. But why do we have to say goodbye? The answer involves fuel and the potential for contamination of some of Saturn's most intriguing moons.
Cassini is running low on rocket fuel. NASA needs that fuel in order to steer the spacecraft. Cassini can't be left to float unmoored out in space due to the remote possibility it could accidentally crash into Saturn's moons Titan or Enceladus.
Cassini's studies have shown the two moons might have the ingredients to support life. NASA doesn't want to contaminate either one with Earth microbes that could have hitched a ride on Cassini. So Cassini pretty much sealed its own fate with the data it sent back.
It took Cassini seven years to reach Saturn and it has spent 13 years traveling around the ringed planet's neighborhood. Thanks to Cassini, we know there's a snowman shape on Enceladus and what an aurora looks like on Saturn.
The spacecraft is deep into its grand finale phase, which includes daring dives between the planet and its rings and a dip into Saturn's outermost atmosphere.
Cassini has had a great run and it will continue to collect and send back data up until it is destroyed. The spacecraft has given us an intimate view of a very fascinating alien planet. It feels like a old, long-distance friend who is constantly in touch. It's hard to see it go, but Cassini's legacy of discovery will live on.
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Relive Cassini's most spectacular Saturn images
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And you thought you had a nose for bargains. Two college students discovered a set of NASA flight suits at a thrift store in Titusville, Florida, and paid 20 cents per outfit for the rare finds. WKMG in Orlando shared news of the bonanzaon Monday.
Talia Rappa and Skyler Ashworth hit up the blow-out discounts at a Salvation Army thrift shop that was going out of business, and Rappa discovered five blue flight suits and one white suit below a pile of sweaters. The American Space Museum in Florida says the suits are authentic. Names on the uniforms match those of NASA astronauts George Nelson and Robert Parker and payload specialist Charles Walker, all of whom flew on space shuttle missions in the 1980s.
Rappa and Ashworth both have connections to space. Rappa studies astrophysics at the University of Central Florida. Ashworth told WKMG his parents were involved with NASA communications during the shuttle program era and he plans to enter an aerospace program at Eastern Florida State College.
A tag inside one of the blue suits identifies it as a "launch/entry coverall" made by ILC Space Systems. The Smithsonian Institute says this type of suit was used in the shuttle program from late 1982 to 1986.
You may have missed out on picking up the NASA suits for a killer deal, but you can still own one. The American Space Museum is scheduled to auction the suits off on November 4. You'll just have to pay a lot more for them than Rappa and Ashworth did. The museum estimates they could sell for $5,000 (3,900, AU$6,400) each.
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Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 moon gear rediscovered (pictures)
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Rare NASA flight suits sell for pennies at thrift store - CNET
As the Moon blocks the Suns light completely next week in a total solar eclipse, more than 50 high-altitude balloons in over 20 locations across the US will soar up to 100,000 feet in the sky. On board will be Raspberry Pi cameras, weather sensors, and modems to stream live eclipse footage. Theyll also have metal tags coated with very hardy bacteria, because NASA wants to know whether they will survive on Mars.
Every time we send a rover to the Red Planet, our own microorganisms latch on to them and hitch a ride across space. What happens to these bacteria once theyre on Mars? Do they mutate? Do they die? Or can they continue living undisturbed, colonizing worlds other than our own? To answer these questions we need to run experiments here on Earth, and the eclipse on August 21st provides the perfect opportunity.
I said, oh my god, thats like being on Mars!
The balloons are being sent up by teams of high school and college students from across the US as part of the Eclipse Ballooning Project, led by Angela Des Jardins of Montana State University. When Jim Greene, the director of planetary science at NASA, first heard that over 50 balloons were being flown to the stratosphere to live stream the eclipse, he couldnt believe his ears. I said, oh my god, thats like being on Mars! Greene tells The Verge. NASA couldnt pass on the opportunity.
The upper part of the Earths stratosphere just above the ozone layer is very much like the surface of Mars: its about minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, with very rarified air, and its hammered by the Suns ultraviolet radiation. During the eclipse, conditions will get even more Mars-like: the temperatures will go down even further, and the Moon will buffer some of those ultraviolet rays to better resemble the radiation on the Red Planet. Its really quite an outstanding astrobiology and planetary protection experiment, Greene says.
The bacteria that will fly to the edge of space is a particular strain called Paenibacillus xerothermodurans. It was first isolated from soil outside a spacecraft-assembly facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1973, says Parag Vaishampayan, an astrobiologist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. These bacteria form shields of spores that allow them to survive even when conditions turn deadly. It takes around 140 hours at 257 degrees Fahrenheit to kill 90 percent of these bacteria, Vaishampayan tells The Verge.
These are some of the most resilient types of bacteria that we know of, says David J. Smith, a researcher in the Space Biosciences Division at NASA's Ames Research Center.
Last week, Smith finished mailing the bacteria which are not dangerous for people or the environment to the student groups. (Only 34 of the balloons will carry the bacteria.) The microorganisms are dried onto the surface of two metal cards the size of a dog tag. One card will fly to the stratosphere, while one will remain on the ground to function as a control group. On eclipse day, the balloons will launch every 15 minutes or so from states that are in the path of the Moons shadow, Des Jardins says. Theyll fly for about two hours, reaching the stratosphere and eventually popping because of the pressure drop. Once theyre back on the ground (a parachute will slow down descent), the students will track them by GPS, recover the metal tags, and mail them back to NASA.
Thats when Vaishampayan and Smith will get to analyze how many bacteria have died, and whether their DNA has changed in any way. If some of them survive the flight, that might mean that these bacteria may have already survived a trip to the Red Planet as hitchhikers on a Mars rover. We dont know for sure whether Paenibacillus xerothermodurans is actually on any Mars rover. (It was found outside the spacecraft-assembly facility, not on the spacecraft themselves, Vaishampayan says.) But even if its not, learning more about these resilient bacteria could help us understand how similar ones could behave on Mars, and help NASA better understand the risk of infecting other worlds.
After all, we send million-dollar spacecraft to other planets and moons to search for alien life, so it makes sense that wed want to make sure these places are protected from Earths germs. Pushing organisms to the known limits of life can also help NASA find that life. If we know that resilient bacteria cant withstand certain conditions, then we wont look for life when those same conditions are found on other planets, Smith says.
I dont think its ever been done.
NASA has conducted very few experiments with high-altitude balloons, and none with this particular strain of bacteria. So flying over 30 balloons at once, under such perfect Mars-like conditions that wont be possible to replicate in the lab, is an amazing opportunity. I dont think its ever been done in terms of a coordinated astrobiology experiment happening across the entire continental United States on the same day, Smith says. This is spatial coverage that one could never dream of in other circumstances.
Greene hopes the experiment will also inspire the next generation of astrobiologists and planetary protection officers. He got into science when he was in high school and had the chance to use an observatory telescope to observe the Sun. Taking part in the Eclipse Ballooning Project might do the same for the students flying the balloons. You never know what turns kids on [to science], Green says. You never know how excited they can be.
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Why NASA is sending bacteria into the sky on balloons during the eclipse - The Verge
NASAs Voyager 1 spacecraft is one of the universes only unproblematic faves. For over 39 years, its been cruising along in space, flying by Saturn and the Kuiper Belt, doing nothing but beaming back beautiful photos and scientific research. Now, the intrepid spacecraftskirting serenely in interstellar spaceis being bombarded with requests for nudes, the pee tape, and least predictably, questions about peoples dads.
For context: this September marks the big 4-0 for Voyager 1, which means it remembers the time before the internet, so it couldnt tweet lewd demands at the pope or look up Lemony Snickets real identity. So as Voyagers anniversary approaches, NASA is celebrating by asking the public to share messages for the wholesome spacecraft, using the hashtag #MessageToVoyager. One lucky winners message will be beamed to the space probe, which is nearly 13 billion miles from Earth.
This, predictably, was a mistake.
Join NASA in celebrating the Voyager missions 40 years of exploring space. Inspired by the messages of goodwill carried on Voyagers Golden Record, youre invited to send via social media a short, uplifting #MessageToVoyager and all that lies beyond it, NASA wrote. With input from the Voyager team and a public vote, one of these messages will be selected for NASA to beam into interstellar space on Sept. 5, 2017the 40th anniversary of Voyager 1s launch. (Emphasis ours because, well, youll see).
While some people tweeted pleasant platitudes at the innocent spacecraft, others were a bit more imaginative. Here are just some of the tweets that, for the sake of humanity, we hope NASA will not send into interstellar space:
And lastly:
Weve said it before, but Voyager is probably better off without us.
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Here Are the Messages NASA Should Not Beam Into Deep Space - Gizmodo
NASA's new Planetary Protection Officer role is responsible for making sure we don't contaminate other planets with Earth microbes, and avoid alien contamination of ours over the course of space exploration.
NASA's recent job posting for a planetary protection officer inspired a fourth-grader to become the next real-life guardian of Earth.
Nine-year-old Jack Davis, a self-proclaimed "guardian of the galaxy" from New Jersey, wrote a letter to the space agency highlighting his many qualifications for the position, which is intended to prevent interplanetary contamination during space missions.
"I may be nine but I think I would be a fit for the job. One of the reasons is my sister says I am an alien. Also, I have seen almost all the space movies and alien movies I can see," Davis wrote in the letter to NASA. [Best Space Movies in the Universe]
Fourth grade student Jack Davis wrote to NASA applying to be their new Planetary Protection Officer.
Davis also described his video game skills and ability to quickly learn new things. "I'm great at video games," he wrote. "I am young, so I can learn to think like an alien."
NASA responded to Davis' handwritten application, encouraging him to study hard and do well in school.
"At NASA, we love to teach kids about space and inspire them to be the next generation of explorers," Jim Green, NASA's planetary science director, said in a statement accompanying the letter. "Think of it as a gravity assist a boost that may positively and forever change a person's course in life, and our footprint in the universe."
In addition to the follow-up letter from Green, Davis received a phone call from Jonathan Rall, NASA's planetary research director. Rall congratulated Davis on his interest in working for NASA in the newly posted role.
NASA's planetary protection officer is responsible for protecting Earth from extraterrestrial microbes contained in samples brought back from human and robotic space missions to the moon, asteroids or Mars, according to the statement. It is also intended to prevent Earth visits from contaminating other planets that might host life.
Although Davis will have to wait a few years before he can work at NASA, the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey invited him to be the official kid science adviser of the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium that is opening in a few months.
"I want you to know, I am standing in a space in which, in a few months, we are going to open the largest planetarium in the Western Hemisphere," Paul Hoffman, president and CEO of the Liberty Science Center, said in a video invitation to Davis. "I'd like you to be our first kid science adviser to the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium here at Liberty Science Center."
Follow Samantha Mathewson @Sam_Ashley13. Follow us@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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9-Year-Old 'Guardian of the Galaxy' Applies to Be NASA Planetary Protection Officer - Space.com
August 15, 2017 by Frank Tavares NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson collects images of the back of the eye during a routine check into astronaut eyesight. Crew members' bodies change in a variety of ways during space flight, and some experience impaired vision. Credit: NASA
NASA's future deep space exploration including to Mars is an unprecedented venture in spaceflight, requiring us to tackle challenges we've never faced before. For instance, we know the human body changes significantly while in space, and we'll need to find ways to address those effects. NASA is conducting research to learn more about the long-term impact of extended human spaceflight. One experiment that just launched, Rodent Research-9, is contributing to this goal by sending rodents to the International Space Station, to study how a lack of gravity in space affects blood vessels, eyes and joints.
Using transport and habitat technology developed at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, the mice will fly to the space station aboard the 12th SpaceX resupply mission, and return to Earth about a month later. Due to biological similarities to humans, the mouse is a good choice of model organism for research aimed at understanding biological changes caused by the space environment. By studying rodents in the short term, NASA can make predictions about long-term human biological change in space, with applications here on Earth as well.
"Space biology scientists have observed accelerated changes in mouse physiology in the space environment that are characteristic of some human diseases, such as osteoporosis and aging," said Kevin Sato, the project scientist for the space biology project at Ames. "Similar changes have been observed in astronauts, so the space environment allows scientists to study physiological changes in the astronauts using the mice as a model."
"We can also investigate physiological disease processes, which normally take years to develop, during the duration of a space flight investigation," said Sato. "The changes we see during this rodent research experiment will allow us to better prepare our astronauts for long-term exposure to low-gravity environments."
Three-in-One Mission Supports Future Human Space Exploration
With limited opportunities to send experiments to the space station the only true microgravity laboratory that exists NASA must use each mission to its full capacity.
For Rodent Research-9, the agency's space biology program is sponsoring three scientists from different universities to address different issues. NASA's bio-specimen sharing allows the three investigators to work with the same group of mice, without having to send three different missions to the space station. The three complementary research investigations will be combined into one cost-effective mission, addressing questions that are fundamental to human space exploration.
Two of the investigations will identify how microgravity affects blood vessels in the brain and in the eyes. Some astronauts on long missions on the space station find that their vision becomes impaired. The leading theory to explain this suggests that, without Earth's gravity, fluids shift from the lower to the upper body, causing an increase in pressure in the head and eye, leading to visual impairment. The experiments with mice will help test this theory.
Exposure to weightlessness also can cause tissue degeneration in hip and knee joints. The third experiment on RR-9 will look at cartilage loss in these joints. Researchers will study how the gait of the mice their manner of walking is changed by these conditions. Understanding how weightlessness affects cartilage will help NASA develop ways to counter these adverse effects, allowing humans to stay healthier in space for longer periods of time.
For humans here on Earth, rodent research related to limited mobility and degrading joints can help scientists understand how arthritis develops in people, and a better understanding of the visual impairments experienced by astronauts can help identify causes and treatments for eye disorders.
Don't Redesign the Wheel
NASA's ongoing series of rodent research investigations use a proven and standardized hardware system. For decades, Ames has designed, constructed and tested hardware for rodent research experiments, including rodent habitats, transporters and an animal access unit. This hardware is versatile and reusable, providing ongoing support for space-related rodent research carried out by NASA and its partners in industry and academia.
"This kind of in-depth research is possible because of the unique hardware Ames has been able to provide for rodent research," said Janet Beegle, rodent research project manager. "By transitioning from a payload system where a researcher's team would start from scratch each time we send up an experiment to a permanent hardware facility provided by NASA, we can have an ongoing and consistent rodent research presence on the station."
Through well-designed and cost-effective experiments such as Rodent Research-9, NASA is tackling the obstacles in our path to reaching Mars and beyond. With the knowledge gained by understanding how human biology thrives and changes in space, we can better serve human needs on Earth and beyond.
Explore further: NASA completes Rodent Research-1 operations on the International Space Station
More information: For the RR9 technical mission page, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sta xperiments/2440.html
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WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Less than a week away! The total solar eclipse slated for August twenty-first has Americans preparing for the rare event. It's the first time in nearly 100 years that a total solar eclipse will be visible across the entire United States.
"Most people don't get to see a total solar eclipse," said Hakeem Oluseyi, an astrophysicist at NASA.
Get it while it's hot, this rare event will not disappoint according to Oluseyi. A NASA astrophysicist, Oluseyi says the last time the U.S. had a coast-to-coast total solar eclipse was 1918. But why are they so rare?
"When the earth and the moon exactly lineup, that is a finite time in earth's history and we're here to witness it," said Oluseyi.
He says the moon will place itself perfectly in between the earth and the sun, blocking out the sun's light, turning day into night. Oluseyi wants this to be an education opportunity for every American...
"The people are the ones who have the interests and who put the passion in and become NASA scientists ultimately," said Oluseyi.
A fun, educational activity for every age group, Oluseyi says there are precautions that need to be taken. He says looking at the sun isn't safe and your regular sunglasses won't protect people during this eclipse.
"You don't want to look at the total solar eclipse with the naked eye. The only time you can do that is at the moment of totality itself. Other than that you have to use protective eyewear," said Oluseyi.
He says Americans should be wary of companies trying to take advantage of consumers by selling knockoff versions of these special shades.
"You have to get ISO certified glasses. And also, I encourage a person to look at the NASA website because their guidance is given in order to allow a person to determine what's fake and what's real," said Oluseyi.
For all official eclipse information on safety, science and more visit https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/.
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ByBen Johnson and Kristin Schwab
August 14, 2017 | 11:11 AM
Scientists in space have computers, but they don't exactly look like the one you might be reading this on. Computers in space have highly specific functions. There is no consumer-grade Mac or PC up in space. A lot of that has the do with the fact that laptops in space degrade quickly out there.
But NASA wants to fix that problem by creating new supercomputers, developed in partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The technology is being tested on the International Space Station in hopes that the computer can withstand trips to Mars.
Marketplace Tech's Ben Johnson spoke with Hewlett Packard Enterprise'sMark Fernandez, the lead developer for the NASA project, about the mission. Below is an edited excerpt of their conversation.
Ben Johnson: What is the spaceborne computer?
Mark Fernandez:The spaceborne computer is a joint effort between NASA and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. And one of the goals is to get state-of-the-art technology on board the International Space Station and to test it for at least a year. One year is the length of time we anticipate that it will take for a mission to Mars. And we kinda want to make sure that our computers, supercomputers and IT components can endure that trip.
Johnson:I understand that you guys have had a long partnership with NASA. But I think some people would wonder to themselves: The government's computers seemed to have worked pretty darn good on spacecraft for the entirety of the American space program. Why does a private company need to get involved with something like this?
Fernandez:Most of the computers on board the International Space Station are purpose-built for specific functions related to the flight and operation of the ISS. For example, they have a navigation computer and it only does navigation. This one is unique in that it's a general-purpose, high-performance computer system. So scientists can now have a platform with which they're familiar and begin to exploit those capabilities while in orbit rather than bringing all that data back down to Earth.
Johnson:Interesting. So it's not a mission-critical? This is something that might be a little more similar to what they have in their offices?
Fernandez:Yes, absolutely.
Johnson:Does it let them surf Facebook though?
Fernandez:We're pretty nerdy scientists. There are no games on board. There is no keyboard or monitor. This is strictly for crunching numbers for the benefit of the scientist and the community.
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NASA is testing supercomputers to send to Mars - Marketplace.org
Sixteen-year-old Murad Rahimov peered down into a gigantic space he had only dreamed about before: the world's largest clean room, kept scrupulously free of any dust or contamination, where NASA assembles and tests spacecraft before launch.
Murad's eyes gleamed and a smile played on his face as he took it all in the scientists encased in sterile white suits; the replica of the massive new space telescope, the most powerful ever built, that will study the first galaxies born after the Big Bang.
Murad is obsessed with space. He has been ever since he was three, back in his home country Uzbekistan. His young imagination was sparked when his aunt gave him a picture book about space, and he couldn't stop looking at the images of the solar system. Soon after, he told his parents his dream: He wanted to become an astronaut and work for NASA.
On this recent day, he was getting a private tour of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., thanks to an NPR listener who heard about Murad's passion for space in a story that aired earlier this year. In January, NPR profiled the Rahimov family on the day they became naturalized as U.S. citizens. The Rahimovs immigrated to the U.S. from Uzbekistan in 2010, when Murad was nine. When they first landed in Kansas City, Murad spoke no English. Now, heading into his junior year of high school, he's on an accelerated track, taking extra classes in the summer and packing his schedule with AP courses.
Listener Aaron Schnittman heard that story on the radio, and his ears perked up when he heard that Murad's goal is to work for NASA. He emailed NPR that same day, that his brother is a research astronomer working for NASA at Goddard. "I think it would be a cool follow up to connect the son to my brother and help him make the connections needed to pursue studies in astronomy," he wrote.
Cool, indeed. The connection was made, emails were exchanged, and last week, at the invitation of Jeremy Schnittman, Murad and his mother, Limara Rahimova, made the trip to Goddard outside Washington, D.C. Schnittman, an astrophysicist who specializes in black holes, spent several hours showing the Rahimovs the inner workings of the space flight center and sharing his enthusiasm for space science.
Murad was clearly in his element, sporting a t-shirt with a picture of the Millennium Falcon spaceship from Star Wars, and a line from the movie: "the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."
He and his mother got to see the giant cryo-vac chamber where spacecraft are tested to find out if they'll withstand the extreme temperatures of space. They walked inside the acoustic chamber that blasts spacecraft with earsplitting sound to simulate the vibration of launch. They toured the laser lab where scientists are fine-tuning measurements to detect gravitational waves. "Amazing," Murad marveled.
Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist who specializes in black holes, spent several hours with Murad and his mother. Melissa Block/NPR hide caption
Jeremy Schnittman, an astrophysicist who specializes in black holes, spent several hours with Murad and his mother.
Back in his office, ("black hole central," as he calls it) Schnittman talked with Murad about his research into how light gets bent around black holes. Naturally, they both share a hero in Albert Einstein, whose photo Schnittman keeps pinned above his desk. "It's remarkable," Schnittman said. "It's over 100 years since Einstein did all of this stuff, and still, everything is Einstein. Einstein, Einstein, Einstein."
When Murad mused about the possibilities of time travel, Schnittman sounded optimistic. "It's really not that much of a stretch to say that we're one step closer to time travel," he told Murad. "This is something that Einstein predicted 100 years ago. According to the theory, the equations, time travel should be possible. The trick is just building it and getting it to work, but as far as we can tell, there's no rule against it."
The astrophysicist and the would-be astronaut parted ways with the promise to stay in touch.
Murad touring NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center with astrophysicist Jeremy Schnittman. Melissa Block/NPR hide caption
Murad touring NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center with astrophysicist Jeremy Schnittman.
Later Murad said he loves science because it shows "the sheer awesomeness, the sheer scale of how insignificant and alone we are in the universe. All these petty fights that people have between themselves, they are just insignificant. When you start thinking about space, you get lost in the vastness of it. That's what captivates me the most."
Now that he's a U.S. citizen, he believes his dream of becoming an astronaut is more within reach. He and his brother automatically became citizens when their parents did. Murad was at school the day they took the oath: "I came home and looked at my parents, and felt all this pride," he said. "You could sense that something has changed. They were smiling from ear to ear."
For his mother, Limara, becoming a U.S. citizen has grounded her in a new way. "I felt before like I'm between countries," she said. "But now I feel like I'm staying ...both my feet here in this land."
Limara works at a school, and each morning they all stand for the pledge of allegiance. Before, she said, "it didn't touch me. But now, yes! And I know what each word in the pledge of allegiance means. And it means, for me, a lot."
As for Murad? The rising high school junior has his sights set on going to Cal Tech, and on the Mars mission he dreams of one day leading. "Some people, they tell me to try to get a real job," he said, "of maybe not shooting so high. But nah. I'm shooting for it. I'm gonna chase my dreams."
Meantime, there's a celestial show about to happen, one he's been excited about for years: the total solar eclipse.
Murad's hometown, Kansas City, is a perfect spot to see it: right in the path of totality.
Next Monday he will be outside, watching in awe as the moon slides over the sun, and dreaming big dreams of space.
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Young Astronaut Hopeful Gets NASA Tour Of His (Space) Dreams ... - NPR
The spacecraft embarked on the first orbit on Sunday evening, marking a turning point in planetary exploration as Saturn's upper atmosphere has never previously been explored.
The probe's instruments are expected to collect rich scientific data as it makes the dives, potentially revealing how the planet is arranged internally and how much material is contained in its icy rings.
With the first pass still in progress, Cassini will go where no craft has gone before -- reaching as close as 1,010 and 1,060 miles (1,630 and 1,710 kilometers) above the planet's cloud tops.
"It's long been a goal in planetary exploration to send a dedicated probe into the atmosphere of Saturn, and we're laying the groundwork for future exploration with this first foray," Spilker said.
Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004. The craft revolutionized scientists' knowledge of Saturn, with its first close-up survey of the gas giant.
The craft is now locked into a terminal collision course with the atmosphere of the planet, where it is expected to burn up like a meteor on September 15 at 9:45 a.m. GMT (6:45 a.m. ET).
At this point, contact will be permanently lost and the spacecraft will burn up.
Experts say that allowing Cassini to be destroyed reduces the risk of the probe damaging one of Saturn's moons and impacting future scientific work.
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