July 12, 2017 Engineers watch as Chamber As colossal door closes at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

Though the Webb telescope will be enveloped in darkness, the engineers testing the telescope will be far from blind. "There are many thermal sensors that monitor temperatures of the telescope and the support equipment," said Gary Matthews, an integration and testing engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is testing the Webb telescope while it is at Johnson. "Specialized camera systems track the physical position of the hardware inside the chamber, monitoring how Webb moves as it gets colder."

In space, the telescope must be kept extremely cold, in order to be able to detect the infrared light from very faint, distant objects. To protect the telescope from external sources of light and heat (like the sun, Earth and moon), as well as from heat emitted by the observatory, a five-layer, tennis court-sized sunshield acts like a parasol that provides shade. The sunshield separates the observatory into a warm, sun-facing side (reaching temperatures close to 185 degrees Fahrenheit) and a cold side (400 degrees below zero). The sunshield blocks sunlight from interfering with the sensitive telescope instruments.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the scientific successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. It will be the most powerful space telescope ever built. Webb is an international project led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Explore further: NASA's Webb telescope gets freezing summertime lodging in Houston

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was placed in Johnson Space Center's historic Chamber A on June 20, 2017, to prepare for its final three months of testing in a cryogenic vacuum that mimics temperatures in space.

NASA's Johnson Space Center's "Chamber A" in Houston is an enormous thermal vacuum testing chamber and now appears to be opening it's "mouth" to take in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope for testing.

It's springtime and the deployed primary mirror of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope looks like a spring flower in full bloom.

Inside NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team completed the environmental portion of vibration testing and prepared for the acoustic test on the telescope.

NASA's special "Webb-cam" kept an eye on the development of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, since 2012. Now that Webb telescope has moved to NASA's Johnson Space ...

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, where it will undergo its last cryogenic test before it is launched into space in 2018.

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new "hot Jupiter" exoplanet with a short orbital period of just three and a half days. The newly detected giant planet, designated KELT-20b, circles ...

The smallest star yet measured has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge. With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about ...

Astronomers studying the distant Universe have found that small star-forming galaxies were abundant when the Universe was only 800 million years old, a few percent of its present age. The results suggest that the earliest ...

In the search for planets similar to our own, an important point of comparison is the planet's density. A low density tells scientists a planet is more likely to be gaseous like Jupiter, and a high density is associated with ...

A new model giving rise to young planetary systems offers a fresh solution to a puzzle that has vexed astronomers ever since new detection technologies and planet-hunting missions such as NASA's Kepler space telescope have ...

Brown dwarf stars are failed stars. Their masses are so small, less than about eighty Jupiter-masses, that they lack the ability to heat up their interiors to the roughly ten million kelvin temperatures required for normal ...

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NASA closes Chamber A door to commence Webb telescope testing - Phys.Org

NASA has flown a plane through shadow of Kuiper Belt object 6.6bn kilometres from Earth.

The object is 2014 MU69, a maybe-40km-across more than 1.5bn km past Pluto that is the New Horizons mission's next port of call after its encounter with Pluto. Humanity has precisely zero close-up experience of such objects and we've only seen 2014 MU69 from afar. So in order to give us a bit more to work with before New Horizons' arrival, NASA has used the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia observatory to figure out when 2014 MU69 will next pass in front of a sun.

NASA possesses a modified Boeing 747 SP known as SOFIA the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy which packs a 2.5 meter telescope. When SOFIA reaches its working altitude of between 39,000 and 45,000 feet above sea level, above most of the clouds and water vapour in the atmosphere, the 'scope can capture data that's hard to get on the ground. To do so, SOFIA opens a special door in the rear of its fuselage so the instrument doesn't have to peer through the plane's skin.

The space agency's plan was to fly SOFIA through the shadow on Monday, in the hope that we could learn of rings or other debris that may orbit MU69 and pose a risk for New Horizons.

That plan went off without a hitch: after departing New Zealand, NASA says The team onboard SOFIA was able to position the flying telescope precisely where the data indicated the center of the shadow would be, at precisely the right time.

SOFIA did the same job for Pluto in 2011. The agency hasn't explained the size of the shadow it chased, but says it was 100 times smaller than Pluto's!

There's no word yet on what we've learned about 2014 MU69, but the plane only touched down on Tuesday. So enough with the conspiracy theories, okay? At least until January 1st 2019, when New Horizons arrives at 2014 MU69.

BOOTNOTE: In other Space news, the Juno probe has successfully flown over Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Images are expected to arrive in coming days.

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NASA flies plane through Earthly shadow of Kuiper Belt object - The Register

July 12, 2017 An active region on the sun -- an area of intense and complex magnetic fields -- has rotated into view on the sun and seems to be growing rather quickly in this video captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory between July 5-11, 2017. Such sunspots are a common occurrence on the sun, but are less frequent as we head toward solar minimum, which is the period of low solar activity during its regular approximately 11-year cycle. This sunspot is the first to appear after the sun was spotless for two days, and it is the only sunspot group at this moment. Like freckles on the face of the sun, they appear to be small features, but size is relative: The dark core of this sunspot is actually larger than Earth. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Joy Ng, producer

An active region on the sunan area of intense and complex magnetic fieldshas rotated into view on the sun and seems to be growing rather quickly in this video captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory between July 5-11, 2017.

Such sunspots are a common occurrence on the sun, but are less frequent as we head toward solar minimum, which is the period of low solar activity during its regular approximately 11-year cycle.

This sunspot is the first to appear after the sun was spotless for two days, and it is the only sunspot group at this moment.

Like freckles on the face of the sun, they appear to be small features, but size is relative:

The dark core of this sunspot is actually larger than Earth.

The video will load shortly

Explore further: NASA's SDO sees giant January sunspots

An enormous sunspot, labeled AR1944, slipped into view over the sun's left horizon late on Jan. 1, 2014. The sunspot steadily moved toward the right, along with the rotation of the sun, and now sits almost dead center, as ...

High up in the clear blue noontime sky, the sun appears to be much the same day-in, day-out, year after year.

The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:29 pm EDT on April 17, 2016. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. ...

What has been billed as the largest sunspot observed in several years has now rotated around to stare straight at Earth. How large is it? Active Region 1339 and the group of sunspots adjacent to it extends more than 100,000 ...

(Phys.org) Something unexpected is happening on the Sun. 2013 was supposed to be the year of "solar maximum," the peak of the 11-year sunspot cycle. Yet 2013 has arrived and solar activity is relatively low. Sunspot numbers ...

The sun has gone quiet. Almost too quiet. A few weeks ago it was teeming with sunspots, as you would expect since we are supposed to be in the middle of solar maximum-the time in the sun's 11-year cycle when it is the most ...

(Phys.org)An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new "hot Jupiter" exoplanet with a short orbital period of just three and a half days. The newly detected giant planet, designated KELT-20b, circles ...

The smallest star yet measured has been discovered by a team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge. With a size just a sliver larger than that of Saturn, the gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about ...

Astronomers studying the distant Universe have found that small star-forming galaxies were abundant when the Universe was only 800 million years old, a few percent of its present age. The results suggest that the earliest ...

In the search for planets similar to our own, an important point of comparison is the planet's density. A low density tells scientists a planet is more likely to be gaseous like Jupiter, and a high density is associated with ...

A new model giving rise to young planetary systems offers a fresh solution to a puzzle that has vexed astronomers ever since new detection technologies and planet-hunting missions such as NASA's Kepler space telescope have ...

Brown dwarf stars are failed stars. Their masses are so small, less than about eighty Jupiter-masses, that they lack the ability to heat up their interiors to the roughly ten million kelvin temperatures required for normal ...

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NASA's SDO watches a sunspot turn toward Earth - Phys.Org

Photonics.com Jul 2017 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., July 12, 2017 Additive manufacturing systems supplier Optomec Inc. has been awarded a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract for the further development of an adaptive laser sintering system (ALSS).

The success of this endeavor will enable electronic circuitry to be printed onto a wider variety of temperature-sensitive substrates, expanding its use for production applications. The fully automated system will also enable printed circuitry to be repaired or manufactured with minimal human intervention, paving the way for its use in long-duration NASA space missions.

"After the successful design, test and implementation of ALSS, the science and technology of laser sintering will be better understood for controllable adaptive operations, said, Mike Renn, chief technology officer of Optomec. ALSS can be a key solution to NASA's challenge of in-space, on-demand manufacturing capabilities to support the unique challenges of long-duration human spaceflight, which requires an automated adaptive in-line quality control system along with the associated manufacturing process."

Working in conjunction with Harding University in Searcy, Ark., this project will enhance Optomec laser sintering technology to a fully automated curing system for printed electronics. The Optomec-Harding team seeks to enhance the localized laser sintering concept by developing an ALSS with in situ automated adjustment of laser power and processing time, paving the way for its use in the next generation of human space exploration. The team also hopes to expand use of printed electronics to a broader range of temperature-sensitive substrates used in commercial applications.

The project is also of vital importance to NASA's in-space, on-demand manufacturing capabilities to support the unique challenges of long-duration human spaceflight. The developed automated, in-line quality control system with ALSS will meet the requirements for long-duration human space missions with minimal need for astronaut intervention, allowing NASA to print conformal electronics and sensors onto flexible substrates of various geometrical complexities and then fully cure them using Aerosol Jet technology, all while in space.

Optomec supplies additive manufacturing systems for printed electronics and laser metal deposition used for 3D integrated circuits, printed solar cells, flexible electronics, organic electronics, touch screens, rapid prototyping, rapid manufacturing and blisk repair.

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Optomec Awarded NASA Contract - Photonics.com

Wednesday July 12 2017

A rally addressed by Nasa principals, including opposition presidential flag-bearer Raila Odinga was disrupted in Kabarnet, Baringo County, on July 12, 2017. PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP

A National Super Alliance (Nasa) political rally in Kabarnet town ended in disarray on Wednesday after its presidential flag-bearer Raila Odinga and his co-principals were heckled.

Mr Odinga, accompanied by co-principals Musalia Mudavadi and Isaac Ruto, received a hostile reception in the town and had a difficult time addressing the crowd that was chanting Jubilee slogans.

Some of the people in the crowd threw Nasa-branded caps to the dais as the leaders addressed them.

Police had a difficult time controlling the crowd and shouted down Mr Ruto, the Bomet governor, calling him a traitor.

The governor had to cut short his speech after the crowd started chanting pro-Jubilee slogans.

Mr Odinga attempted to address the crowd, saying the region was tired of insecurity and urged locals to vote for Nasa.

But this was met with hostility as the crowds shouted and dismissed the speakers, saying they were after their own vested interests.

The leaders finally abandoned the rally and headed to Eldama Ravine for another meeting.

Earlier, Mr Odinga, Mr Mudavadi and Mr Ruto held a rally at Chemolingot trading centre.

Uhuru reiterated the countrys commitment to clean and ethical sports practices.

Three journalists were heading to a Nasa rally in Baringo.

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Nasa rally disrupted in Kabarnet - Daily Nation

Image: NASA SRC In NASA's Space Robotics Challenge, participants had to command a virtual Valkyrie robot to perform a series of repair tasks in a simulated Mars base hit by a dust storm.

NASAs Space Robotics Challenge (SRC) took place last month, full of virtual Valkyries wandering around a virtual Mars base trying to fix virtual stuff. Anyone was allowed to participate, and since the virtual nature of the competition means there was no need for big expensive robots that mostly didnt fall over, anyone actually could (and did) participate. Of the 93 teams initially signed up to compete, NASA selected 20 finalist teams based on their performance completing some tasks in the Gazebo 3D robot simulator, and each of those finalists had to program a Valkyrie humanoid to complete a repair mission on a simulated Mars base.

The winner of the SRC was team Coordinated Robotics, which also was the only team to manage a perfect run with 100 percent task completion, taking home theUS $125,000top prize plus a$50,000 perfect run bonus. Team may be a little bit of a misnomer, though, since Coordinated Robotics consists entirely of one dude: Kevin Knoedler. We spoke with Kevin about his epic win, and also checked in with Nate Koenig from Open Robotics, which leads the development of Gazebo and helped organize the SRC,to get more info on the competition, along withfootage of all the bestouttakes.

The SRC was very similar to the VRC (the qualifier for the DARPA Robotics Challenge), in that all of the teams competed by running their code in a Gazebo virtual environment. The tasks themselves were somewhat inspired by The Martian,Open Robotics CTO Nate Koenig told us. Valkyrie is on Mars, preparing the way for human settlement, and a dust storm comes. Post dust storm, Val has to align a communications dish, repair a solar array, and locate and fix a leak in the habitat. Here are some highlights from the competition:

The competition overall went pretty smoothly, says Koenig. A unique aspect of the SRC, as opposed to the VRC, is that we were emphasizing sequential completion of tasks. You get more points for completing more tasks in order without having Valkyrie fall or require a reset, so the more reliable you are in terms of walking and manipulating, the better youll do.

As with the DRC, the time limits on the tasks were set such that teams were heavily encouraged to use as much autonomy as possible. And it sounds like most of them did; only a few timed out. Making things even more challenging were severe restrictions on bandwidth coupled with latency designed to emulate (to some extent) what it would be like trying to teleoperate a robot somewhere out in space, as Koenig explains:

Network latency and bandwidth limitations were more severe than the VRC. We wanted to simulate something closer to what you might experience with a round trip delay to Mars, but that would have been too extreme, so we toned it down to a maximum of 20 seconds delay. Some of the tasks had bandwidth limits of 380 bits/second, and if you look at those numbers, that essentially kills TCP.

People had to get creative, and we did see some unique things: one person ran an IRC server and client to pass information, and some other people used just straight text-based console messages, getting no visualized data, which was pretty awesome: It was like reading The Matrix. One team [Team Xion] ran completely autonomously: They just deployed their code and hit go, and they were able to complete a lot of the tasks, which was impressive.

Koenig said he and his colleagues werent expecting any of the teams tocomplete all of the tasks in sequence.But Kevin proved us wrong, he added.And he was the only team that was able to perform that feat.

Kevin is, of course, Kevin Knoedler, who is the entirety of Team Coordinated Robotics. As Nate pointed out, Kevin managed to complete all of the Space Robotics Challenge flawlesslyin a row, which is pretty amazing. We spoke with Kevin over email to learn more about how he pulled it off.

IEEE Spectrum: Whats your background, and what made you decide to enter the SRC by yourself?

Kevin Knoedler: After graduating from MIT I worked as an engineer and engineering manager at Teradyne. I left in 2007 to be a stay-at-home dad. Both during my time at Teradyne and in my current role as a stay-at-home dad, I have continued to be involved in various contestsRobot Wars, Battlebots, the three DARPA autonomous vehicle grand challenges, and the DRC. The SRC looked challenging and fun, so I signed up to compete in it.

I was busy coaching two soccer teams when the qualification round started (fall 2016), and I knew I would be busy coaching track and Odyssey of the Mind when the finals started (early 2017). It is usually key to contribute and coordinate with teams early in the project cycle. Since I would be busy with other thingsduring those key times, I decided to do it alone to avoid frustration for myself and any team I worked with. Working with teams is generally a better choice as more people have more creative ideas. I have worked with teams on all of the previous contests.

How much autonomy did your strategy rely on?

I approached the design for the contest assuming I would always have the maximum time delay, so the robot needed to do shorter tasks on its own. Even without the design work, the up to 20-second delay was not a major problem given that the allowed time was in the hours. My perception code was not as reliable and accurate as I would like, so I focused on the robot doing the planning and execution. It was mostly supervised autonomy with human perception help.

You sent us a video of one of your runs [below]. Can you take us through it?

The video is a short third-person view of the robot completing the three tasks. The first is turning handles to align the antenna. The second task shows the robot removing a solar panel from the trailer, placing it on a table, and plugging in a cable. The final task is climbing the stairs, opening the habitat door, using a tool to locate the leak, and then another tool to fix the leak. One of the fun parts for me was when the robot would find the leak. There was a lot of area to be covered, some of which was partially obstructed, which made it exciting to actually find the leak each run.

The leak was found by the robot doing sweeps up and down and using torso rotation to minimize the amount of walking necessary. As the robot looked for the leak it kept track of the search area as either un-searched, clear, or leaky. That information was displayed to the operator via an interactive marker in Rviz [a 3D visualition tool for ROS] to make it easy to see what had been searched, and when the leak was found, easy to visualize.

What was the trickiest part for you?

I would say the most challenging part was the manipulation and use of tools. Getting a good grasp on the tool and then having the robot use the tools as an extension of the robot were hard to do consistently. I created a scenario in Gazebo where the robot started right at the tools with nothing else around. That allowed testing of picking up the tools from various starting positions and putting them down over and over.

An interesting story from the contest: Sometimes real hardware gets stuck and has to be pushed to get it moving again, and the simulated [Valkyrie robot]in Gazebo also had this behavior. [Open Robotics calledthat an interesting emergent behavior that wasnt programmed in deliberately.]It was possible for the robots thumb to get stuck and no longer respond to commands. That happened to me during the contest on my third run. But, much like in real life, I was able to push the thumb against the table to get it unstuck and moving again to be able to complete the tasks.

What kinds of things are easier in simulation than they are in real life?

Everything is easier in simulation. It is not dramatically easier, but you can solve 90 percent of the problems in simulation. The main thingthat makes simulation easier is the hardware reliabilitythe simulation hardware doesnt break like real hardware frequently does. You can also try riskier experiments. A falling humanoid robot in Gazebo does not cost $100,000 to repair and cause a multi-week delay. The other big advantage to simulation is that one person can run one or multiple tests simultaneously. With a real robot it generally takes multiple people to run a single test.

If NASA put a real Valkyrie inside of a physical mock-up of a Mars base and asked you to complete the same set of tasks, how do you think youd do?

The robot should be able to complete the tasks after some initial testing to identify and fix differences between simulation and hardware. I had a layered approach where I could fall back to lower level control if the primary method did not succeed. There always seem to be enough differences between simulation and real hardware that some adaptations are needed for success. But, given some testing and adaptations, I do think it would be a success!

After participating in the DRC and now the SRC, how do you feel about the potential for humanoid robots to be realistically useful in disaster areas or planetary exploration?

After the DRC and SRC we are getting closer to be able to use humanoid robots in disaster areas on earth and for planetary exploration. The main challenges I see on earth are making the hardware robust, handling falls, and being able to do manipulation in difficult situations (crawling, obstructed or constricted working environments, situations requiring an arm for support, etc.). In space there are the same challenges plus the distances require giving the robot more perception and autonomy.

Kevin made sure to remind us to thank NASA, Space Center Houston, Nine Sigma, Open Robotics, and IHMC on his behalf, which were more than happy to do, because were also constantly wanting to thank them for what theyve all done for robotics.

Oh, and before we forget: outtakes!

[ SRC ] via [ Gazebo ]

IEEE Spectrums award-winning robotics blog, featuring news, articles, and videos on robots, humanoids, drones, automation, artificial intelligence, and more. Contact us:e.guizzo@ieee.org

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The competition starts with teams operating a robot in a simulated Martian dust storm 17Aug2016

NASA is giving out Valkyrie robots to universities for space training 24Jun2015

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Specialized neurons in a rats brain may be the key to autonomous robot navigation 21Jun

Students in Stanfords experimental robotics class teach industrial robots new tricks 14Jun

Adversarial grasping helps robots learn better ways of picking up and holding onto objects 5Jun

The best robot videos of the week, ICRA edition 2Jun

Running algorithms that mimic a rats navigation neurons, heavy machines will soon plumb Australias underground mines 1Jun

Ray Kurzweil, Rodney Brooks, and others weigh in on the future of artificial intelligence 31May

Relax and watch this robot arm carefully stack rocks one on top of another 31May

These origami-inspired robotic structures are complex, soft, and easy to make 30May

We're at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2017 in Singapore 29May

Cybersecurity firm describes how malevolent hackers might compromise various kinds of industrial robots 16May

We take an in-depth look at the new TurtleBot 3 Burger and Waffle from Robotis 2May

Engineers at NYU have built an AR app to operate robots in the real world 22Apr

Teleoperating complex robots is really hard, and Georgia Tech is working to fix that 16Mar

Understanding when they don't understand will help make robots more useful 15Mar

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos 17Feb

Rodney Brookss startup Rethink Robotics is releasing software to make its robot Sawyer more versatile and easier to program 7Feb

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How a One-Man Team from California Won NASA's Space Robotics Challenge - IEEE Spectrum

Artist's concept of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its sounding radar to probe beneath the Martian surface. Credit: NASA/JPL

WASHINGTON With time running out to start work on a 2022 Mars orbiter, a NASA official said July 10 the agency plans to have a coherent Mars architecture for future robotic Mars missions ready for presentation an at August committee meeting.

Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, said that architecture is on track to be presented at a meeting in late August of a National Academies committee reviewing progress NASA has made implementing the planetary science decadal survey published in 2011.

It is in August when the committee meets that theyll hear a coherent Mars architecture for what we hope to do for sample return and potentially other missions associated with that, Meyer said at a teleconference meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG). He added that he and others were working to ensure agency endorsement of that plan prior to the presentation.

Such an architecture, he noted, has been requested by Congress. Were on the hook to present something because this is actually something that Congress has asked for in their appropriations, he said.

Meyer didnt disclose details about what would be in that architecture, beyond its emphasis on sample return. The Mars 2020 rover mission will be the first step in a multi-mission sample return process, collecting samples that future missions will collect and return to Earth.

However, there are no missions to Mars under development by NASA beyond Mars 2020. That has caused increasing concern within the Mars science community, worried about both progress on sample return and on developing a new orbiter that they argue is needed to replace the telecommunications and imaging capability currently provided by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

NASAs fiscal year 2018 budget request, released in May, provided only $2.9 million for Future Mars Missions that could include planning for an orbiter or other follow-on missions to the 2020 rover. That amount increases in the five-year budget projections to $178.9 million by fiscal year 2022, but MEPAG meeting attendees believed that was insufficient to launch an orbiter mission of any kind in 2022.

Although there have been additions to the planetary science budget that have been impressive, theyve been devoted elsewhere, said Jeff Johnson, a planetary geologist at the Applied Physics Laboratory who is chair of MEPAG. Without substantial augmentation to that Mars mission line by Congress, theres little chance of actually launching a Mars spacecraft in 2022.

Appropriations committees in the House and Senate have yet to reveal their plans for funding future Mars missions. The full House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark up its fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill July 13, which may provide more details about its interest in future Mars missions. The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to take up a companion appropriations bill for NASA.

A new orbiter is seen as crucial for supporting ongoing missions by ensuring continued communications links to spacecraft on the surface, and to provide the high-resolution imaging currently done by MRO that will be needed to support future robotic and human landers. Our main concern is that the Mars Exploration Program is getting old and nearing exhaustion, Johnson said.

Concerns about a lack of planning for a 2022 orbiter extend to Mars robotic exploration in general for the upcoming decade, which the new architecture under development by NASA may not fully address. At the meeting, some noted a lack of engagement by NASA with the research community on scientific priorities for future Mars missions.

Those problems are hidden to some degree given the ongoing results from current missions, some operating at Mars for more than a decade. The problem here is that things look good because we have so many missions there from past investments, said Casey Dreier, director of space policy for The Planetary Society, at the MEPAG meeting.

That organization recently published a white paper warning that a lack of investment now in future Mars missions could jeopardize the progress NASA has made in studying Mars and establishing an infrastructure that supports future exploration. Its much harder to point out that were not making the investments now to set up the program we want for the next decade, Dreier said.

Its possible, scientists said at the MEPAG meeting, that follow-on missions to Mars 2020 could return samples to Earth by the late 2020s or, more likely, the early 2030s. This is particularly the case if a Mars orbiter launched in 2022 is equipped with a solar electric propulsion system that would allow it to maneuver in Mars orbit, collect a cache of samples launched from the surface and then return to Earth. That concept has been studied, but NASA has made no decision about including that capability on any future orbiter.

Were so close to this payoff, in a sense, of sample return, that it would be a shame to step back right now, Dreier said.

Continue reading here:

NASA planning August release of Mars robotic exploration architecture - SpaceNews

The Inflatable Lunar/Mars Analog Habitat (ILMAH) mimics conditions in space or on other worlds.

Life in space can be hard, what with the lack of gravity, the abundance of radiation and a number of other things that can kill or damage a person. Now NASA is investigating another somewhat surprising enemy of astronaut health: fungus.

A new study published Monday in the journal Microbiome shows that when you add humans to the type of enclosed habitats that could one day be used on the moon or other planets like Mars, it can give a boost to the community of fungal stowaways known as the mycobiome.

A team lead by researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory watched what happened when humans moved into the Inflatable Lunar/Mars Analog Habitat (ILMAH) meant to simulate conditions on the International Space Station and on hypothetical lunar or Martian bases.

"We showed that the overall fungal diversity changed when humans were present," report co-author and NASA Senior Research Scientist Dr. Kasthuri Venkateswaran, said in a release.

9

Strange science aboard the International Space Station (pictures)

Certain fungi seemed to thrive once humans were added to the ILMAH, including some that can colonize the body and cause allergies, asthma or infections, particularly in people with decreased immune systems like astronauts.

"Fungi are extremophiles that can survive harsh conditions and environments like deserts, caves or nuclear accident sites, and they are known to be difficult to eradicate from other environments including indoor and closed spaces," Venkateswaran explained. "Fungi are not only potentially hazardous to the inhabitants but could also deteriorate the habitats themselves."

In other words, watch out fungus, you are on NASA's list of space enemies.

Venkateswaran hopes investigating the mycobiome in the type of habitats used beyond Earth can lead to the development of cleaning and maintenance procedure to help keep the fungi at bay. First, though, more research is required, starting with studying the mycobiomes of the humans that actually lived in the habitat.

Regardless of those results, the problem future astronauts will have to be wary of is clear: even in space, beware the fungus among us.

Crowd Control: A crowdsourced science fiction novel written by CNET readers.

Solving for XX: The tech industry seeks to overcome outdated ideas about "women in tech."

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NASA prepares to fight fungus in space and on other planets - CNET

Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot features prominently in this true-color mosaic, which was constructed from images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 6.2 million miles (10 million kilometers). At the time, Cassini was on its way to Saturn, which the probe reached on July 1, 2004.

NASA's Juno spacecraft is about to get the best-ever look at Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot.

Juno will fly over the 10,000-mile-wide (16,000 kilometers) storm which is so big that three Earths could fit inside it at 10:06 p.m. EDT tonight (July 10; 0206 GMT on July 11), during the probe's sixth science flyby of Jupiter.

The encounter will provide humanity its first up-close looks at the Great Red Spot, which astronomers have been monitoring since 1830.

"Jupiter's mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter," Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton, of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, said in a statement. "This monumental storm has raged on the solar system's biggest planet for centuries. Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special."

The $1.1 billion Juno mission launched in August 2011 and arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Ever since, the spacecraft has been looping around the gas giant every 53.5 days in a highly elliptical orbit that brings it within a few thousand miles of Jupiter's cloud tops at the closest point, or perijove.

During the July 10 flyby, perijove will come at 9:55 p.m. EDT (0255 GTM on July 11), when Juno will be just 2,200 miles (3,500 km) above Jupiter. The probe will fly over the Great Red Spot 11 minutes and 33 seconds later, skimming about 5,600 miles (9,000 km) above the storm, NASA officials said.

"All eight of the spacecraft's instruments as well as its imager, JunoCam, will be on during the flyby," NASA officials wrote in the same statement.

Juno is using this science gear to study Jupiter's composition and interior structure, gathering data that will reveal clues about the planet's formation and evolution. The probe collects most of this information during its perijove passes.

Juno is scheduled to continue operating through at least February 2018.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter@michaeldwallandGoogle+.Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebookor Google+. Originally published onSpace.com.

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NASA Jupiter Probe to Fly Over Great Red Spot - Space.com

This earlier NASA image shows Jupiter's Great Red Spot.

NASA's Juno mission just hit a high point with a buzzing flyby on Monday night of one of Jupiter's most notable features: the Great Red Spot, a massive spinning storm that is a focus of fascination for scientists and space fans. This is the closest Juno has been to the distinctive oval-shaped spot, which is twice as wide as Earth.

It takes about 45 minutes for signals from Juno to make it back to Earth. The spacecraft successfully phoned home after its close flyby, which took it to within about 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) of the storm's clouds.

Juno collected data and images during the journey. According to a Twitter post, the Juno team expects to release images on July 14.

The Great Red Spot puts Earth storms to shame. Scientists believe it may have been around for over 300 years, though we've been following it from our planet since the early 1800s.

"Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special," says Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton.

Juno launched in 2011 and reached orbit at Jupiter in July 2016 on a mission to learn more about the massive gas giant's origin, evolution, atmosphere and structure. This close-up look at the Giant Red Spot should help clear up some of the mystery around the raging storm.

Special Reports: CNET's in-depth features in one place.

Technically Literate: Original works of short fiction with unique perspectives on tech, exclusively on CNET.

13

Jaw-dropping Jupiter: NASA's Juno mission eyes the gas giant

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NASA's Juno spacecraft just buzzed Jupiter's Great Red Spot - CNET

A new documentary looks back at the triumphs of the Cassini probe which has spent more than a decade revealing the secrets of Saturn ahead of the spacecraft's scheduled death dive into the ringed planet.

Cassini captured the public imagination with its stunning images of the gas giant Saturn and its up-close examination of the planet's flowing ring system. Over the years, the probe discovered new moons around Saturn, and dug deep into the strange environments of the two largest Saturnian satellites.

"Kingdom of Saturn: Cassini's Epic Quest" reviews the historical figures who laid the groundwork for the mission, the probe's major discoveries, and how the probe connected with people on Earth. The movie isavailable to watch nowon Amazon. [Cassini's 'Grand Finale' at Saturn: NASA's Plan in Pictures]

Cassini left Earth in October 1997 as part of the Cassini-Huygens mission, a joint effort by NASA and the European Space Agency (with a leading role played by the Italian Space Agency). The Huygens probe was dropped onto Saturn's moon Titan in January 2005, about six months after arriving at Saturn. Since 2008, Cassini has been operating on extended scientific missions. Now that the probe is running out of fuel, scientists have decided to crash the probe into Saturn. This will not only provide a close-up glimpse of the planet and its rings, but will also guarantee that the probe will never accidentally crash into one of the planet's potentially habitable moons.

"Kingdom of Saturn" provides a tour of the planet and its rings, highlighting fascinating details like the hexagonal cloud formation at its north pole, and its extraordinary system of rings, which are 30 million times wider than they are high.

"[Cassini] has traveled nearly 4 billion kilometers [2.48 billion miles], delivered a probe to the surface of a toxic moon, spent 20 Earth years in space, and produced science nine years longer than originally planned," the film's narrator says, summarizing some of Cassini's major accomplishments. "[Cassini] has discovered flowing water where none was expected, phantasmagorical structures on a planets icy rings, a weirdly breathing magnetosphere, and a possible abode of life on a tiny world with a startling atmosphere."[Cassini's 'Grand Finale' Saturn Orbits Explained (Video)]

The movie also shows viewers how Cassini's investigations of Saturn have not only helped scientists understand Earth's solar system, but also planetary systems around other stars. Saturn itself is an example of the gas giants that have now been found around thousands of stars, and Cassini has helped scientists better understand how these monsters form.

"The science based on Cassini's data will go on for decades," the film's narrator says.

Since Cassini arrived at Saturn, scientists have found more evidence that the planet's moons Enceladus and Titan could potentially host life. Enceladus may possess a liquid water ocean beneath its icy surface, with a geologic source of heat. Geysers of water spew up through cracks in the moon's surface, and Cassini flew through one of the geysers and sampled its composition. Titan's surface is mostly covered in liquid methane and ethane, rather than water, which means "if anything lives on Titan, it is almost surely not related to life on Earth," according to the documentary. The documentary dives deep into Cassini's investigation of these particularly interesting moons.

The documentary doesn't keep its focus exclusively on space; it covers the historical figures after whom the Cassini and Huygens probes are named, and it touches on the time just before Cassini's launch when protesters urged NASA and ESA to cancel the mission over fears the launch rocket might explode and release the radioactive material contained inside the probe. (Cassini-Huygens, like many space probes, carried radioactive material as a source of heat and energy.)

Cassini will make its final death dive on Sept. 15, 2017, at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT). Check out "Kingdom of Saturn" before the world says goodbye to the Saturn probe forever.

Follow Calla Cofield @callacofield. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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'Kingdom of Saturn': New Documentary Dives Deep into NASA's Amazing Cassini Mission - Space.com

File: An image captured by NASA's Terra satellite shows several fires giving off small plumes of smoke October 21, 2007. NASA/Getty Images

A soil moisture monitoring system being developed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory hopes to make it easier to predict when and where wildfires will erupt in Southern California and elsewhere.

The new tool, called the Fire Danger Assessment System (F-DAS), computes the likelihood of wildfires in fire-prone regions through satellite measurements of moisture in soil.

Once F-DAS compares moisture levels in a specific region to real-time rain patterns and temperatures, it can compute the probability of a wildfire eruption, according to John Reager, the projects lead scientist.

The technology was developed over a two-year study funded by NASA. Reager told KPCC he hopes to have F-DAS up and running and available to the public by next May, before the 2018 fire season.

By identifying specific swaths of land with higher probabilities of fires, authorities with the US Forest Service and residents can be better prepared for fires than they are now, he said.

Putting the right resources in the right places early in the season gives the chance for the entire firefighting community to have a leg up on fires and do it in the most efficient way possible, he said.

In 2015, Reager and scientists at NASA looked at the Forest Services seasonal prediction maps. But they found they were hand-drawn and weren't very detailed, Reager said.

They were just kind of blotches of red areas and green areas that were supposed to have more fires than usual or less fires that usual, he said.

F-DAS' fire predictions will use grids made up of individual 15-square-mile quadrants. Each quadrant's soil moisture levels will be measured and given a wildfire probably rating, he said.

NASA has an "abundance" of hydrology data mostly collected by three orbiting satellites: GRACE, SMAP and ARES, Reager said. That data will become the primary source of information for F-DAS's probability ratings.

The US Forest Service currently issues daily and weekly fire forecasts on its website through the National Interagency Fire Center.Reager said NASA plans to partner with the service todeploy fire trucks, helicopters and firefighters more strategically.

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NASA wants to battle SoCal wildfires by predicting where they start - 89.3 KPCC

The Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket is expected to create a light show of blue-green and red clouds visible on much of the East Coast, from New York to North Carolina. The launch window will last from 4:25 a.m. to 4:48 a.m. ET.

The rocket's launch has been delayed several times since May 31, with the last attempt, on June 24, foiled by extensive cloud cover. Previous attempts were scrubbed for various reasons, from strong winds and clouds to boats in the potential payload landing area.

NASA will need clear skies at one of its two viewing locations on the ground: the launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia, and in Duck, North Carolina.

Four to five minutes after launch, the sounding rocket is expected to deploy 10 canisters about the size of soft drink cans, each containing a colored vapor that forms artificial, luminescent clouds.

The clouds, or vapor tracers, are formed "through the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide," according to NASA.

Since the canisters will be released about 100 miles (160 kilometers) above the ground, the space agency says they "pose absolutely no hazard to residents along the mid-Atlantic coast."

The whole mission will last about eight minutes before the payload lands in the Atlantic Ocean, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) out to sea from its launch point in Virginia.

"The vapor tracers could be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia," NASA said.

If you're near the US East Coast, start looking toward the eastern horizon about five minutes after launch. The farther you are from the launch location, the lower the clouds will appear on the horizon.

If you are north of the launch site -- say, in Washington, Philadelphia or New York -- the clouds will appear in the lower southeastern sky. If you are to the south -- in Norfolk, Virginia Beach or the Outer Banks of North Carolina -- look toward the northeastern horizon. Richmond and Charlottesville residents should be able to see the clouds directly to the east.

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NASA will try again to create colorful clouds in the night ...

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2017 May 25

Explanation: A cosmic snapshot from May 19, this colorful telescopic field of view spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons on the sky. Spiky in appearance, foreground Milky Way stars are scattered toward the royal constellation Cepheus while stars of open cluster NGC 6939 gather about 5 thousand light-years in the distance near the top of the frame. Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 is toward the lower left nearly 22 million light-years away. The helpful red lines identify recently discovered supernova SN 2017eaw, the death explosion of a massive star nestled in the galaxy's bluish spiral arms. In fact in the last 100 years, 10 supernovae have been discovered in NGC 6946. By comparison, the average rate of supernovae in our Milky Way is about 1 every 100 years or so. Of course, NGC 6946 is also known as The Fireworks Galaxy.

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC & Michigan Tech. U.

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APOD: 2017 May 25 - Star Cluster, Spiral Galaxy, Supernova

Psyche, NASA's Discovery Mission to a unique metal asteroid, has been moved up one year with launch in the summer of 2022, and with a planned arrival at the main belt asteroid in 2026 -- four years earlier than the original timeline.

"We challenged the mission design team to explore if an earlier launch date could provide a more efficient trajectory to the asteroid Psyche, and they came through in a big way," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This will enable us to fulfill our science objectives sooner and at a reduced cost."

The Discovery program announcement of opportunity had directed teams to propose missions for launch in either 2021 or 2023. The Lucy mission was selected for the first launch opportunity in 2021, and Psyche was to follow in 2023. Shortly after selection in January, NASA gave the direction to the Psyche team to research earlier opportunities.

"The biggest advantage is the excellent trajectory, which gets us there about twice as fast and is more cost effective," said Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University in Tempe. "We are all extremely excited that NASA was able to accommodate this earlier launch date. The world will see this amazing metal world so much sooner."

The revised trajectory is more efficient, as it eliminates the need for an Earth gravity assist, which ultimately shortens the cruise time. In addition, the new trajectory stays farther from the sun, reducing the amount of heat protection needed for the spacecraft. The trajectory will still include a Mars gravity assist in 2023.

"The change in plans is a great boost for the team and the mission," said Psyche Project Manager Henry Stone at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Our mission design team did a fantastic job coming up with this ideal launch opportunity."

The Psyche spacecraft is being built by Space Systems Loral (SSL), Palo Alto, California. In order to support the new mission trajectory, SSL redesigned the solar array system from a four-panel array in a straight row on either side of the spacecraft to a more powerful five-panel x-shaped design, commonly used for missions requiring more capability. Much like a sports car, by combining a relatively small spacecraft body with a very high-power solar array design, the Psyche spacecraft will speed to its destination at a faster pace than is typical for a larger spacecraft.

"By increasing the size of the solar arrays, the spacecraft will have the power it needs to support the higher velocity requirements of the updated mission," said SSL Psyche Program Manager Steve Scott.

The Psyche Mission

Psyche, an asteroid orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter, is made almost entirely of nickel-iron metal. As such, it offers a unique look into the violent collisions that created Earth and the terrestrial planets.

The Psyche Mission was selected for flight earlier this year under NASA's Discovery Program, a series of lower-cost, highly focused robotic space missions that are exploring the solar system.

The scientific goals of the Psyche mission are to understand the building blocks of planet formation and explore firsthand a wholly new and unexplored type of world. The mission team seeks to determine whether Psyche is the core of an early planet, how old it is, whether it formed in similar ways to Earth's core, and what its surface is like. The spacecraft's instrument payload will include magnetometers, multispectral imagers, and a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer.

For more information about NASA's Psyche mission go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/psyche

News Media Contact

Karin Valentine Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, Tempe 480-965-9345 karin.valentine@asu.edu

Laurie Cantillo / Dwayne Brown NASA Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1077 / 202-358-1726 laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov / dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

2017-149

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NASA Moves Up Launch of Psyche Mission to a Metal Asteroid

Image taken by NASAs Curiosity rover shows weathered rock that some say resembles a thigh bone on Mars

NASAs rover has photographed a strange formation of rocks that someUFO hunters claim are really fossilized alien bones proving theres life on Mars.

The one-ton Curiosity rover, which has been scouring the surface of the planet since August 2012, sent back a pair of images that resemble thigh bones and a hip bone protruding from the planets surface.

The alien-hunter group Martian Archaeology presented the images in a videoclaiming the photos are evidence of signs of life:

Some took the photos as surefire evidence that NASA must be hiding proof of life.

After years of research and study, Im convinced now, more than ever, that there[s] much more to Mars then [sic] what NASA admits to, wrote T.J. Devereaux in the comments section of the video. Im certain life, including water, and intelligent life forms, once occupied the planet, and big leap here that both still exist, in much smaller quantities.

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However, NASA has said the following 2014 photo which some have claimed could be an alien thigh bone is just another weathered Martian rock.

Image taken by NASAs Curiosity rover shows weathered rocks that some say resemble a thigh bone on Mars

In the photo description, NASA explained that the Mars rock may look like a femur bone, but its not the remains of a dead Martian.

Mission science team members think its shape is likely sculpted by erosion, either wind or water, NASA explained.

Even so, if aliens dolive on Mars, theyre more likely to be microscopic creatures, the scientists said.

If life ever existed on Mars, scientists expect that it would be small simple life forms called microbes, NASA officials wrote in the photo description. Mars likely never had enough oxygen in its atmosphere and elsewhere to support more complex organisms. Thus, large fossils are not likely.

Some also claimed another photo snapped by the rover resembles a hip bone:

Image taken by NASAs Curiosity rover shows weathered rocks that some say resemble a hip bone on Mars

Alien enthusiasts say a weathered rock found on Mars (right) resembles a hip bone (left) (Photo: YouTube screenshot)

Apparently humans seeing shapes in Mars rocks is nothing new. In the 1800s, astronomers believed they located canals on the Red Planet.

And in 1976, a photo from NASAs Viking 1 orbiter depicted a rock formation thatresembled a shadowy human face, known as the Face on Mars.

Face on Mars

Since then, other photos revealed rock formations resembling a lizard, a rat and even a jelly donut.

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NASA rover spots 'alien thigh bone' on Mars

In early July 2017, torrential rains triggered deadly floods and landslides in Japan, and led to the evacuation of more than 100,000 people. Much of the rain fell in the Fukuoka and Oita prefectures on Japans southern island of Kyushu.

The map above depicts satellite-based measurements of rainfall over southern Japan from July 4 to July 6, 2017, as compiled by NASA. These rainfall totals are regional, remotely-sensed estimates, and local amounts can be significantly higher when measured from the ground. According to news reports, more than 550 millimeters (21 inches) of rain fell in parts of Fukuoka over a span of 40 hours. That is 1.6 times the amount of rain that normally falls in Fukuoka during the entire month of July.

The rainstorm stemmed from a low-pressure system over the Pacific Ocean that brought warm, moist air to the region. It followed on the heels of a recent deluge from Tropical Storm Nanmadol.

The data come from the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG), a product of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. IMERG pulls together precipitation estimates from passive microwave and infrared sensors on several satellites, as well as monthly surface precipitation gauge data, to provide precipitation estimates between 60 degrees North and South latitude. The GPM satellite is the core of a rainfall observatory that includes measurements from NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and five other national and international partners.

NASA Earth Observatory map by Jesse Allen, using IMERG data provided courtesy of the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Science Teams Precipitation Processing System (PPS). Story by Kathryn Hansen.

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Image of the Day - earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Check out the following NASA opportunities for the education community. Full descriptions are listed below.

NEW THIS WEEK!

Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional DevelopmentAudience: In-service, Pre-service, Home School and Informal Educators Next Event Date: June 29, 2017, at 6 p.m. EDT

NASAs Digital Learning Network Virtual Visit LEGO and NASA EngineeringAudience: Educators and Students in Grades 5-12 Event Date: July 17, 2017, at 2 p.m. EDT

PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES

Sign Up for NASA Education Science WOW! Weekly Email NewsletterAudience: All Educators and Students

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum STEM Institute for Educators Audience: Middle School Science Educators Event Date: June 29, 2017

NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Research Grant Opportunity for Early Stage Innovations Audience: Accredited U.S. Universities Proposal Deadline: June 30, 2017

Free Tours of Facilities at NASAs Glenn Research CenterAudience: All Educators and Students Next Event Date: July 8, 2017

Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Family Day Events Your EclipseAudience: All Educators and Students Next Event Date: July 8, 2017, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDT

Teacher Professional Development Programs at the NASTAR Center Audience: K-12 Educators Workshop Dates: Multiple dates July 10-28, 2017

Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use Audience: Educational Institutions, Museums and Other Education Organizations

Get Ready for the 2017 Solar Eclipse With NASA Resources Audience: All Educators and Students Event Date: Aug. 21, 2017 2017 Thermal and Fluids Analysis WorkshopAudience: Higher Education Educators and Students Workshop Dates: Aug. 21-25, 2017

University Student Research Challenge A Pilot ProjectAudience: Students at U.S. Colleges and Universities Proposal Deadline: Oct. 16, 2017

Earn STEM Digital Badges to Celebrate the Centennial of NASAs Langley Research CenterAudience: Educators and Students in Grades 5-9, Informal Educators Deadline: Oct. 21, 2017

Infiniscope Launches First Digital Learning Experience Where are the small worlds?Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School, and Informal Educators of Grades 5-12

Search for Gravitational Waves With Gravity Spy Citizen Science Project Audience: All Educators and Students Project Timeframe: Ongoing

NASA Seeks Creative Arts Inspired by Cassinis Mission to Saturn Audience: All Educators and Students Ages 13 and Older

Help NASA Study Mars Planet Four: Terrains Audience: All Educators and Students Project Timeframe: Ongoing

Free NASAs Journey to Mars Planetarium/Dome ShowAudience: All Formal and Informal Educators

NASA Invites You to #SpotHubble Audience: All Educators and Students

Searchable Portals for Federally Sponsored Opportunities for STEM Undergraduate and Graduate StudentsAudience: Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students and Higher Education Institutions

Dont miss out on upcoming NASA education opportunities. For a full list of events, opportunities and more, visit the Educator and Student Current Opportunity pages on NASAs website: Educators http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/current-opps-index.html Students http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/current-opps-index.html

NEW THIS WEEK!

Free Education Webinars From NASA Educator Professional Development

The NASA STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University is presenting a series of free webinars open to all educators. Join NASA education specialists to learn about activities, lesson plans, educator guides and resources that bring NASA into your classroom. Registration is required to participate. To register, simply click on the link provided beneath the webinar description.

Journey to Mars: Super Models Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 4-8 Event Date: June 29, 2017, at 6 p.m. EDT Could students you teach today be the first explorers to Mars? How far will they have to travel to explore Mars? Is Mars big or small? Investigate these questions and more! Learn about our solar system with NASA STEM activities and resources that model the sizes of and distances between Earth, Mars and other bodies in our solar system. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/241395

Solar Eclipse: The Mechanics of Eclipses Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-12 Event Date: July 3, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Participants in this webinar will get an overview of the Sun, Earth, Moon system and the basic mechanics of how and why eclipses occur. This webinar addresses the Next Generation Science Standard ESS1. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/242601

Assessing Student Work During an Engineering Design Challenge Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 5-12 Event Date: July 5, 2017, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Participants in this webinar will learn about assessment strategies and NASA resources for classroom engineering design projects. Specific applications of these strategies will be discussed. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/242606

NASA Engineering Design Process 101: An Introduction to Classroom Application Audience: Pre-service, In-service, Home School and Informal Educators of Grades 4-12 Event Date: July 6, 2017, at 6 p.m. EDT Explore the engineering design process and its application to real-world problem solving. Also explore NASA design challenges and other NASA STEM classroom resources. Engineering design is a common topic across each grade level in the Next Generation Science Standards and an important concept in understanding the world around us. Register online to participate. https://www.etouches.com/254193

For a full schedule of upcoming NASA Educator Professional Development webinars, visit http://www.txstate-epdc.net/events/.

Questions about this series of webinars should be directed to Steve Culivan at stephen.p.culivan@nasa.gov.

NASAs Digital Learning Network Virtual Visit LEGO and NASA Engineering

Join the Digital Network at NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center for a Virtual Visit event on July 17, 2017, at 2 p.m. EDT. The event will focus on LEGO and NASA engineering and will feature LEGO enthusiast Maia Weinstock. Weinstock is internationally known for her LEGO projects including Women of NASA, a LEGO Ideas-winning set that will soon be available in stores worldwide. LEGO engineering projects by female student guests at Armstrong also will be shared during the presentation.

This hourlong program will be streamed live at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-dlinfo. Questions may be submitted by email to DLiNfochannel@gmail.com or via Twitter using #askDLN.

If your school or camp would like to participate directly in this program, please send an email to DLiNfochannel@gmail.com with the subject line LEGO Virtual Visit. Those not selected to be a part of the interactive audience will be able to view the webcast event live.

For more information about this and other DLN events, visit https://www.nasa.gov/dln/virtual-visit.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please send them to dlinfochannel@gmail.com.

PREVIOUSLY PROMOTED OPPORTUNITIES

Sign Up for NASA Education Science WOW! Weekly Email Newsletter Are you a science educator or interested in science education? Sign up for the NASA Education Science WOW! newsletter. Receive an email with NASAs latest science education offerings delivered Weekly on Wednesdays.

Science starts with a question, and so does Science WOW! Each weeks message kicks off with a science question and a link to where you can find the answer. Science WOW! also highlights an awesome science education tool each week. These featured resources will include NASA apps, interactive games, 3-D printing templates and more!

Plus, Science WOW! delivers right to your inbox the latest science education opportunities offered by NASA. Its a simple way to keep up with the latest professional development webinars, student contests, workshops, lectures and other activities.

To register your email address and be added to the list, visit https://www.nasa.gov/education/sciencewow/.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum STEM Institute for Educators

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is hosting a STEM Institute for middle school science teachers on June 29, 2017. Participants will learn new ways to engage students in astronomy topics, both in the classroom and at the museum.

This years workshop will discuss the total solar eclipse happening on Aug. 21, 2017. This eclipse is the first in nearly 100 years that will be visible from the entire continental United States, and the event presents a valuable learning opportunity for educators and students. Participants in this workshop will be prepared to help their students safely observe the eclipse and understand why it is happening.

The STEM Institute is a free workshop, but registration is required and space is limited. For more information, visit https://airandspace.si.edu/events/stem-institute-educators-0.

Questions about this event should be directed to NASMteachers@si.edu.

NASA Space Technology Mission Directorate Research Grant Opportunity for Early Stage Innovations

NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate seeks proposals from accredited U.S. universities for innovative, early-stage space technology research of high priority to NASAs mission directorates.

This solicitation challenges universities to examine the theoretical feasibility of new ideas and approaches that are critical to making science, space travel, and exploration more effective, affordable, and sustainable. It is intended to foster interactions between NASA and the awarded university teams. Therefore, collaboration and interaction with NASA researchers should be expected while conducting space technology research under these awards.

Proposals are due on or before June 30, 2017.

For complete details and proposal procedures, visit http://tinyurl.com/NASA-17ESI.

Questions concerning this opportunity may be directed to hq-esi-call@mail.nasa.gov.

Free Tours of Facilities at NASAs Glenn Research Center

NASAs Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, is offering tours that take visitors behind the scenes and inside certain research facilities. Glenn scientists and engineers serve as guides. Tours and open house events will be held each month through October 2017. Tours are free for groups and individuals, but to guarantee admission, reservations are required. Visitor parking is also free.

On the days of the tours, a bus departs from Glenns main gate every hour, beginning at 10 a.m. The last tour departs at 1 p.m. Each tour lasts about 45 minutes and is followed by a stop at Glenns Gift Shop. (The historic district tours follow a different schedule. See tour schedule for details.)

Glenns 2017 Tour Schedule

July 8, 2017: SLOPE Laboratory: Explore locomotion on planets with a visit to the Simulated Lunar Operations, or SLOPE, Lab. See how rover components are tested for their ability to navigate and investigate planetary surfaces.

Aug. 5, 2017 Photovoltaic Laboratory: See the light of solar cells with a behind-the-scenes tour of the Photovoltaic Laboratory. See how researchers are exploring ways to create energy from light in order to power everything from homes to spacecraft.

Sept. 9, 2017 Zero-G Facility: Explore microgravity research of yesterday, today and tomorrow with a tour of Glenns Zero-G Facility. Learn how dropping payloads over 400 feet can give researchers a glimpse into microgravity conditions.

Oct. 7, 2017 Historic District Tour Featuring the 8- by 6-Foot Wind Tunnel: Join us on a free tour of Glenns recently established historic district. The tours feature the 8- by 6-foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Built in 1946, the wind tunnel has contributed to decades of aeronautics research.

Tours are open to U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. To guarantee admission, reservations are required. For more information on tours and to make reservations, visit https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/events/tours.html.

Please direct questions about the tours to grc-dl-tours@mail.nasa.gov.

Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum Family Day Events Your Eclipse

Get ready for the upcoming total solar eclipse by attending a Family Day event hosted by the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum.

On Aug. 21, 2017, a solar eclipse will be visible from the entire continental U.S. During this Family Day event, visitors will learn about the science behind solar eclipses, participate in hands-on activities, and get information about how to safely view the eclipse.

July 8, 2017, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDTNational Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. https://airandspace.si.edu/events/your-eclipse

July 15, 2017, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. EDTNational Air and Space Museums Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia https://airandspace.si.edu/events/your-eclipse-0

Please direct questions about this series of events to the Visitor Service line at 202-633-2214.

Teacher Professional Development Programs at the NASTAR Center

The National AeroSpace Training and Research, or NASTAR, Center is hosting a series of teacher professional development programs throughout the month of July. Heres your chance to experience acceleration in a centrifuge, pilot an airplane simulator, or explore the gas laws in an altitude chamber. Each one-day workshop is worth eight hours of continuing education.

One-day workshops are planned for multiple dates July 10-28, 2017. To see a full list of workshop dates and to download a registration packet, visit http://www.nastarcenter.com/education/teachers/.

The NASTAR Center is located in Southampton, Pennsylvania, a northern suburb of Philadelphia. The center is an Affiliate Member of the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium. Funding from the NASA Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium supports these programs, so they are offered at no cost to teachers.

Questions about this series of workshops should be directed to Greg Kennedy at gkennedy@nastarcenter.com.

Space Shuttle Thermal Protective Tiles and Blankets Available for Educational Use

NASA invites U.S. educational institutions to request space shuttle thermal protective tiles, space shuttle thermal protective blankets, and other special items offered on a first-come, first-serve basis while quantities last. Organizations previously allocated thermal protective tiles may request an additional three tiles.

Nonprofit museums, libraries and planetariums (sponsored through their respective State Agency Surplus Property, or SASP, organization) are also eligible to make requests. Visit the link below for special instructions to request items. To find the contact information for the SASP representative for your area, visit http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/100851.

A nominal shipping fee must be paid online with a credit card. To make a request for special items online, visit http://gsaxcess.gov/htm/nasa/userguide/Special_Item_Request_Procedure.pdf.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to GSAXcessHelp@gsa.gov.

Get Ready for the 2017 Solar Eclipse With NASA Resources

On Aug. 21, 2017, the United States will experience a solar eclipse! This celestial event will provide a golden opportunity to engage and educate diverse audiences, and NASA has the resources to help.

Along a path 60 to 70 miles wide stretching from Oregon to South Carolina, observers will be able to see a total solar eclipse. Others across North America will see a partial eclipse. The event will happen around lunch time across the country. For an interactive map with timing information along the path of the eclipse, visit http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html.

Visit the following websites to find additional information and resources, including: Tips for safely viewing the solar eclipse. Recorded interviews with NASA scientists, mission specialists and eclipse path communities. Topical online eclipse videos, featuring a variety of STEM and cultural topics. Social media community development and networking. Mobile educational eclipse applications. Public challenges and engagement activities. 2-D and 3-D printing exercises for K-16 students. Citizen science campaigns in partnership with NASA mission observations. Adjunct activities and educational resources. Live streaming of observations and programming.

Total Eclipse 2017 Through the Eyes of NASA http://eclipse2017.nasa.gov

Eclipses and Transits http://www.nasa.gov/eclipse

2017 Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop

The annual Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop will be held Aug. 21-25, 2017, at NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

The Thermal and Fluids Analysis Workshop encourages knowledge sharing, professional development, and networking throughout the thermal and fluids engineering community within NASA, academia and the aerospace community at large. STEM faculty and university students are encouraged to attend, take free training, or do a combination thereof.

Registration to attend the workshop is free. For more information about the workshop and how to submit an abstract for consideration, visit https://tfaws.nasa.gov/.

Please direct questions about this opportunity to Ramona Cummings at ramona.o.cummings@nasa.gov.

University Student Research Challenge A Pilot Project

NASAs Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program seeks to develop novel concepts with the potential to create new capabilities in aeronautics by stimulating aeronautics research in the student community. Through this solicitation, TACP will provide students from accredited U.S. colleges or universities with grants for aeronautics projects that also raise cost-sharing funds using crowdfunding platforms.

This challenge, which is being run as a pilot project, seeks students who have an aeronautics-related project idea and have the passion to develop that idea. The project must be relevant to the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorates Strategic Implementation Plan.

The challenge is open to teams of students enrolled in accredited U.S. institutions of higher education. This category includes universities, four-year colleges, community colleges or other two-year institutions.

A notice of intent is not required for this opportunity. Proposals are due Oct. 16, 2017.

For more information, visit https://go.nasa.gov/2pZxwvf.

Questions about the challenge should be directed to nspires-help@nasaprs.com.

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June | 2017 | NASA Education EXPRESS

humanity's first up-close and personal view

This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASAs Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles). (NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute image)

NASA Tonight at 9:55 p.m., NASAs Juno spacecraft will fly directly over Jupiters Great Red Spot, the gas giants iconic, 10,000-mile-wide (16,000-kilometer-wide) storm.

Juno launched on Aug. 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The data collection of the Great Red Spot is part of Junos sixth science flyby over Jupiters mysterious cloud tops. Perijove (the point at which an orbit comes closest to Jupiters center) will be on Monday, July 10, at 9:55 p.m. EDT.

At the time of perijove, Juno will be about 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) above the planets cloud tops. Eleven minutes and 33 seconds later, Juno will have covered another 24,713 miles (39,771 kilometers) and will be directly above the coiling crimson cloud tops of Jupiters Great Red Spot.

The spacecraft will pass about 5,600 miles (9,000 kilometers) above the Giant Red Spot clouds. All eight of the spacecrafts instruments as well as its imager, JunoCam, will be on during the flyby.

This will be humanitys first up-close and personal view of the gigantic feature a storm monitored since 1830 and possibly existing for more than 350 years.

Jupiters mysterious Great Red Spot is probably the best-known feature of Jupiter, said Scott Bolton, principal investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.

This monumental storm has raged on the solar systems biggest planet for centuries. Now, Juno and her cloud-penetrating science instruments will dive in to see how deep the roots of this storm go, and help us understand how this giant storm works and what makes it so special.

As the sun rises at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., clouds backdrop the Atlas V set to launch NASAs Juno spacecraft. (NASA/Kenny Allen image)

On July 4, Juno markedexactly one year in Jupiter orbit. At the time, the spacecraft chalked up about 71 million miles (114.5 million kilometers) in orbit around the giant planet.

The success of science collection at Jupiter is a testament to the dedication, creativity and technical abilities of the NASA-Juno team, said Rick Nybakken, project manager for Juno from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Each new orbit brings us closer to the heart of Jupiters radiation belt, but so far the spacecraft has weathered the storm of electrons surrounding Jupiter better than we could have ever imagined.

During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planets cloud tops as close as about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers). During these flybys, Juno is probing beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planets origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

Early science results from NASAs Juno mission portray the largest planet in our solar system as a turbulent world, with an intriguingly complex interior structure, energetic polar aurora, and huge polar cyclones.

JPL manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute. The Juno mission is part of the New Frontiers Program managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena.

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NASA's Juno Launched From Cape Canaveral In 2011 To Fly Over Jupiter's Great Red Spot Tonight - SpaceCoastDaily.com

If anyone is going to avert Deep Impact from really happening, its NASA.

That might have been a comet in the movie, but killer asteroids could do just as well at bringing on Armageddon. Asteroids penetrate the atmosphere every day, but end up incinerated in the upper atmosphere before anyone can run for the nearest doomsday shelter. Its the space rocks large enough to escape getting burned that are the reason the space agencys Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART), which recently announced its mission to divert a small asteroid from its Earth-bound course.

Even an asteroid that doesnt have mass-extinction potential could mean dire consequences for Earth. DART is now entering its preliminary design phase, and its proto run, scheduled for October 2022, will target binary asteroid system Didymos (which appropriately translates to twin in Greek) as it creeps toward our planet. Didymos B orbits the larger Didymos A and is of a decent enough size to inflict serious damage should it strike our planet. NASA plans to take aim at the smaller asteroid in the system with a DART spacecraft around the size of your fridge, except appliances dont zoom through space nine times faster than a bullet and crash into moving objects. The impact from the collision is predicted to slightly alter the asteroids total velocity before it has any chance to come hurtling towards us.

A binary asteroid is the perfect natural laboratory for this test, said DART program scientist Tom Statler. The fact that Didymos B is in orbit around Didymos A makes it easier to see the results of the impact, and ensures that the experiment doesnt change the orbit of the pair around the sun.

Scientists back on Earth will analyze the impact and its effect on the orbit of Didymos B to determine whether we really could send much more threatening asteroids off course in the future. What may seem like an almost insignificant bump is believed to shift the asteroids path significantly over timeand away from Earth. After its initial launch, DART will continue using its built-in autonomous targeting system to zero in on intermediate asteroids that may not literally shake the planet but could still to obliterate an entire city. NASA has had its telescopic eye on these, which launched the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) last year to identify and take action against any potentially hazardous comets and asteroids.

"DART is a critical step in demonstrating we can protect our planet from a future asteroid impact," said Andy Cheng, one of the leaders of the investigation team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which is collaborating with NASA to develop DART. "With DART, we can show how to protect Earth from an asteroid strike with a kinetic impactor by knocking the hazardous object into a different flight path that would not threaten the planet."

(via NASA)

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This is how NASA could stop doomsday - SYFY WIRE (blog)