Paris Jackson Appears to Be Embracing Her Spiritual, Topless Side – Vanity Fair

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Paris Jackson seen in NYC on July 20th.

From Backgrid.

Being a teenager can be hard, but being the teenager daughter of Michael Jackson is probably a little harder. Paris Jackson seems to have found an outlet for such stresses by way of a weekend-long spiritual retreat that saw her dabbling in all sorts of New Age and New Age-adjacent type activities. Crystals were involved!

Jackson spent her weekend posting photos of her getaway to the woods, where she sat next to the aforementioned crystals, posed topless in a teepee, and did something involving a spiral of rocks that looked straight out of True Detective Season 1.

The 19-year-old model and actress didnt provide a caption for any of the photos, nor did she allow for comments, so exactly what she was up to is unclear. Perhaps it was a self-guided spiritual journey, or maybe her first time dabbling in occult rituals (the rocks seem like a solid start). In one of her photos, three yellow signs hang on the side of a building, all with a different quote from Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in the finest Elvish font one could find. One reads Look out upon your land and breathe the free air again, and the one above it: May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.

Jackson also managed to find time to get matching spoon tattoos with her godfather and newly made-over human Macaulay Culkin on Saturday, posting the final results to her Instagram story. While she didnt explain the meaning behind the new body art, one can only assume it will bring her that much closer to enlightenment or a basic grounding in conversational Elvish.

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Paris Jackson Appears to Be Embracing Her Spiritual, Topless Side - Vanity Fair

Mendelssohn’s philosophy, Mendelssohn’s grandchildren – The Jerusalem Post

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According to Daniel B. Schwartz in his study of The First Modern Jew the historian is referring to Baruch Spinoza as that trailblazer he discusses the descendants of German-Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, who was influenced by the heretic of Amsterdam. Of Mendelssohns six children, Schwartz writes, four converted [to Christianity], all following their fathers death in 1786. Of his grandchildren, only one went to his grave as a Jew.

Was Mendelssohns philosophy responsible for the conversions to Christianity of his descendants? The blame of the mass apostasy of Mendelssohns descendants does rest, for some, on his philosophy. There is precedent for this assessment in the work of historian Yitzhak Fritz Baer in his dichotomy between Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews. Baer, a German Jew who made his mark of brilliance at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, blamed the conversion of Jews to Catholicism in Spain on their study of Aristotelian philosophy which, the historian believed, weakened their spiritual resolve. This was opposed to the Talmud-centered folk piety of medieval Ashkenazi Jews who chose martyrdom rather than conversion.

Many centuries before Baer in Muslim Spain, Hebrew poet Judah Halevi argued in his Kuzari that Revelation as an historical event dispensed with the need to reconcile Torah and Aristotle. But one could argue that Moses Mendelssohn was not Moses Maimonides, that 18th century Berlin was not medieval Cairo, and that the attempt by Mendelssohn to confront Kant led to a Jewish crisis worse than the Jewish struggle over Rambams philosophical works. For an early modern thinker like Catholic theologian and mathematician Blaise Pascal there was only one choice: Not the God of the philosophers but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But that is only part of the picture. While Mendelssohns philosophy was certainly the outcome of a confrontation with the German Enlightenment, it was not a radical rejection of Judaism in fact, it was an heroic defense of the Jewish faith and Mendelssohn remained an observant Jew his whole life. His classic work of Jewish philosophy, Jerusalem (1783), is conservative and careful and a far cry from the pantheism of Spinoza. In this work, Mendelssohn argues that Kant and the German Enlightenments understanding of Judaism are warped. Rather than viewing Judaism as coercive laws and superstitions that in no way elevates the individual morally, ethically or spiritually, Mendelssohn argues that it is Judaism that is a revealed legislation and not a revealed religion.

Mendelssohn is no atheist and, in fact, he argues that Judaism is the epitome of the Religion of Reason, purged of the dogma and superstition that dominated Christianity.

He is on the mark despite the fact that he reinterprets the nature of Revelation in a way that would not please traditionalists.

Mendelssohn seems to neutralize that nature of the Covenant based on the relationship between God and Gods Chosen People. Still, he argues against religious coercion and for religious tolerance and is brave enough to confront those who would demean Judaism and he would defend Judaism against Christianity. I do not see, at first glance, how this would lead to apostasy.

It seems just the opposite.

A more cogent argument is a social one.

Mendelssohns involvement in Prussian society, being dubbed the German Socrates, broke down the barriers which for centuries separated Jews from the non-Jewish majority. Mendelssohns acceptance by the German Enlightenment and especially by his close friend G.E. Lessing integrated the Jewish philosopher into a modern world he would not have know of had he been born 50 years earlier. The pressure on Mendelssohn by Christians to convert was intense and he had the fortitude to reject these calls. His children did not have that fortitude.

Under the pressure of Prussian society they were unable to resist the temptation to abandon their fathers modern approach to Revelation and instead abandoned Judaism.

Indeed, as described by historian Daniel B.

Schwartz, in the period in Berlin from 1750 to 1830 there was a wave of Jews who converted to Christianity. Among Berlins Jewish elite there was an epidemic of baptism. Heinrich Heine, born a Jew, the greatest German lyric poet of the 19th century, converted to Lutheranism, in part for professional reasons.

Throughout Germanic lands baptism was required to teach in universities or gain a professional position in the law. While I came down hard on Rachel Varnhagen and her salon that brought together Jews and Christians in the elite, my harshest criticism was that after her conversion she seemed to embrace a sincere Christianity. But for Jewish converts like Heine, baptism opened doors of opportunity that were closed for Jews. So the epidemic of baptism could have little to do with religious faith and much to do with Jews achieving success in Berlin in that period of discrimination.

Still, the conversions do not only have their roots in Jews getting ahead in Christian society. For many of the Jewish elite in Berlin the embrace of Christianity was an act of religious and intellectual conviction.

Abraham Mendelssohn a son of the great philosopher and a deist and rationalist, raised his children as Lutherans. In a July 1820 letter to his daughter, Abraham Mendelssohn seemed to both reject the influence of the legacy of his own father but also seemed to follow in a logical path of conversion where the philosopher could lead the Jew: The outward form of your religion your teacher has given you is historical, and changeable like all human ordinances.

Some thousands of years ago the Jewish form was the reigning one, then the heathen form, and now it is the Christian. We, your mother and I, were born and brought up by our parents as Jews, and without being obliged to change the form of our religion have been able to follow the divine instinct in us and in our conscience. We have educated you and your brothers and sister in the Christian faith, because it is the creed of most civilized people, and contains nothing can lead you away from what is good, and much that guides you to love, obedience, tolerance, and resignation, even if it offered nothing but the example of its founder, understood by so few, and followed by still fewer.

Heinrich Heine writes that the baptismal certificate is the ticket of admission to European culture. This indicates that the worldview of Abraham Mendelssohn, Rachel Varnhagen and Heine was rooted in the inferiority of Judaism to German culture. Heines conversion to Lutheranism was not simply practical but psychological.

Heine, in an early poem, equated Judaism with disease. This was not the outlook of Moses Mendelssohn he was raised in an observant environment with exposure to the great works of Jewish literature and theology.

For Mendelssohns son to explain that Judaism was only relevant 2,000 years ago and that one could reach goals of spirituality and ethics in the Christianity of the Enlightenment is an insult to his fathers faith. The argument for tolerance of all religion does not mean that all religions are equal. There is a rich heritage of Jewish polemics throughout the ages that argued for the superiority of Judaism. To understand the fundamental principles of Christianity and Islam in no way levels the playing field. The deists were wrong: Yahweh is not Christ is not Allah.

While Abraham Mendelssohn certainly did not understand the founder of Christianity as a Son of God in a way a traditional Lutheran would understand, there is no doubt that his fathers philosophy of tolerance for all religion weakened his sons perception that Judaism was still a vital faith and Christianity stood in opposition based on detail and dogma. G.E. Lessing, a close confidante of Moses Mendelssohn, expresses the equality of all religion as emanating from one source in his play praising his Jewish friend titled Nathan the Wise (1779). Mendelssohn believed in separation of church and state and emancipation.

At a time when the greatest German Enlightenment philosopher, Immanuel Kant, was discussing the euthanizing of Judaism as an outmoded and unethical superstition, Moses Menddelssohn spoke out bravely for the integrity of Judaism in the world of the European Enlightenment.

But his break with Jewish theology and tradition as understood by Jews living apart from non-Jews in the ancient and medieval world and their belief that their faith was divine in origin and their religion superior to other faiths created a slippery slope from which Modern Judaism would not recover.

Have Jews died with the Shema on their lips because a God of Reason revealed legislation to them on Mount Sinai? Was Judah Halevi right? Perhaps, the national and historical experience at Sinai was not a rational experience that needs to be reconciled with Athenian or Kantian or Hegelian philosophy. This is not to negate the great tradition of Jewish philosophy and its confrontation with the surrounding world. But divine legislation is sterile and banal and will only inspire the elite of the Haskala. Or in the case of the German Enlightenment lead Jews away from Judaism.

That his children and his followers interpreted his words in their own way often at odds with traditional Judaism, even embracing apostasy does not mean that there were many other social and psychological factors that weakened the resolve of the Jews of Berlin. In Jerusalem, the philosopher stated: Adapt yourselves to the morals and the constitution of the land to which you have been removed; but hold fast to the religion of your fathers. It seems too often in the modern Diaspora that Mendelssohns call for integration into non-Jewish society far outweighs holding fast to 3,500 years of profound texts and traditions.

(The text of Abraham Mendelssohns letter to his daughter can be found in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History edited by Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, Second Edition.) The author is rabbi of Congregation Anshei Sholom in West Palm Beach, Florida.

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Mendelssohn's philosophy, Mendelssohn's grandchildren - The Jerusalem Post

A perfectly-timed photo of the space station and the moon puts human achievements in perspective – Quartz

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The International Space Station is the size of a football field. But a stunning image by Spanish photographer Dani Caxete shows it as a tiny figure dwarfed by the moona jaw-dropping reminder of the magnificence of nature, and the persistence of human achievement.

The image is on the shortlist for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year, an annual contest run by Britains Royal Greenwich Observatory. Caxete writes:

The International Space Station (ISS) whizzes across the dusky face of the Earths natural satellite, the Moon, whilst photographed in broad daylight. Shining with a magnitude of -3.5, the ISS was illuminated by the Sun at a height of 9 on the horizon. Like the Moon, the ISS receives solar rays in a similar way during its 15 orbits of the Earth a day, making it possible to see it when the Sun is still up. This is a real shot, with no composite or clipping in the process.

The sight of the moonhumanitys first major conquest in spacealongside the space station makes one wonder where technology will take us next. Will we one day see spacecrafts orbiting the Earth the way we see commercials flights streak across the sky? Will a future settlement on the moon be visible from Earth?

Here are some other breathtaking shots from the contests finalists.

A stargazer observes the constellation of the Big Dipper perfectly aligned with the window of the entrance to a large glacier cave in Engadin, Switzerland. This is a panorama of two pictures, and each is a stack of another two pictures: one for the stars and another one for the foreground, but with no composing or time blending.

A large, searing hedgerow prominence extends from the surface of the Sun on 29 August 2016. There are a number of different prominence types that have been observed emanating from the Sun, and the hedgerow prominence is so called due the grouping of small prominences resembling rough and wild shrubbery.

The 7% waxing crescent Moon setting in the evening sky over the Needles Lighthouse at the western tip of the Isle of Wight. Despite the Moon being a thin crescent, the rest of its shape is defined by sunlight reflecting back from the Earths surface.

During an astrophotography tour of the Murmansk region with Stas Korotkiy, an amateur astronomer and popularizer of astronomy in Russia, the turquoise of the Aurora Borealis swirls above the snow covered trees. Illuminated by street lamps, the trees glow a vivid pink forming a contrasting frame for Natures greatest lightshow.

The Milky Way rises ominously above a small radio telescope from a large array at Miyun Station, National Astronomical Observatory of China, in the suburbs of Beijing. The image depicts the ever-growing light pollution we now experience, which together with electromagnetic noise has turned many optical and radio observatories near cities both blind and deaf a battle that inspired the photographers title of the shot. The image used a light pollution filter (iOptron L-Pro) and multiple frame stacking to get the most of the Milky Way out of the city light.

NGC 7331 is an unbarred spiral galaxy found some 40 million light years away from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. Of the group of galaxies known as the Deer Lick Group, NGC 7331 is the largest, and can be seen dominating the image whilst the smaller galaxies NGC 7335, NGC 7336, NGC 7337, NGC 7338 and NGC 7340 drift above it.

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A perfectly-timed photo of the space station and the moon puts human achievements in perspective - Quartz

Japan Has Sent an Autonomous Drone Assistant to the International Space Station – Futurism

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In Brief The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent a dual remote controlled/autonomous robot to the International Space Station. The robot will help crew members with various tasks by replacing the need for them to take pictures.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has sent a crew member to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a SpaceX launched rocked. The Int-Ball, is a spherical camera droid that takes full advantage of the gravity deficiency on the space station to zip around unencumbered by wheels or arms attached to heavy machinery.

The robot has big, blue, owl-like eyes, making it reminiscent of the top portion of the Eve robot from Disneys Wall-E. Int-Ballspurpose is to provide crew members with a means of sending pictures and video back to Earth so experts on the ground can better assist with repairs and other tasks.

Before Int-Ballsarrival, the crew membersneeded to handle a camera to send this media back to Earth. The droid, which can be controlled remotely or autonomously, gives crew members back their full functionality by taking the camera out of their hands.

JAXA has released video of Int-Ball in action.

JAXA is committed to continuing improvements on Int-Ballscapabilities and functionality. Experiments like this will likely help space agencies and private companies to innovate new ways of incorporating both remote controlled and autonomous robots into their missions. Replacing astronauts with robots will help to further drive down the dwindlingcosts of space exploration and travel while allowing for exploration in ways that are beyond human capability.

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Veteran 3-Man Crew Launches to International Space Station – Space.com

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A Russian Soyuz rocket launched three veteran space travelers from the U.S., Russia and Italy into orbit Friday (July 28), kicking off a five-month mission tothe International Space Station.

The trio successfully launched at 11:41 a.m. EDT (1541 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which borders Russia in the north and west. It was 9:41 p.m. local time at the launch site.

The Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft was helmed by experienced Russian cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy,alongside Randy Bresnik (NASA) from California and Paolo Nespoli (European Space Agency) from Milan, Italy. After a 6-hour orbital chase, the Soyuz docked at the space station's Rassvet module at 5:54 p.m. EDT (2154 GMT).

The Soyuz MS-05 rocket carrying Expedition 52 flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos, flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA and flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency launches into space from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Friday, July 28, 2017.

Throughout the NASA launch broadcast, Public Affairs spokesperson Dan Huot said ground control in Houston and Moscow were"continuing to get good reports," and confirmed "we had a successful launch."

All three space travelers have been to space before. Cosmonaut Sergey Ryazanskiy first trained for space flights as the commander of a crew during Russia's 105-dayMars500isolation experiment in 2009. He ultimately served as flight engineer aboard the Soyuz TMA-10M spacecraft in 2013, and spent 166 days in space this will be his second launch and long-duration mission. Since last year, he has also served as the chairman for the youth organization Russian Movement of Schoolchildren.

Astronaut Randy Bresnik also experimented in simulation missions early in his career. He commanded the underwater NEEMO 19 mission(the name's short forNASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) in 2014. This will be his second spaceflight and his first long-duration mission: He flew to the space station aboard a NASA shuttle in 2009. In fact, Bresnik experienced some baby jitters when his daughter was scheduled to be born the day of his first spacewalk. In one bit of trivia, Bresnik's grandfather was the photographer for famed female pilot Amelia Earhart. For this flight, Bresnik told Space.com that he's looking forward toseeing the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse from the space station.

Astronaut Paolo Nespoli is heading to space for the third time: He flew for two weeks on the space shuttle in 2007 to help install a module of the space station, and he revisited the space station in 2010 for a 160-day mission. Nespoli is an Italian astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). His science mission for ESA is called Vita (short for Vitality, Innovation, Technology and Ability) and was selected by Italy's ASI space agency. Vita is Italian for "life."

Expedition 52 flight engineer Randy Bresnik of NASA, top, flight engineer Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency), middle, and flight engineer Sergei Ryazanskiy of Roscosmos wave farewell before boarding their Soyuz MS-05 spacecraft for a launch to the International Space Station from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on July 28, 2017.

The trio will join the Expedition 52 crew, which includes Peggy Whitson (NASA) of Iowa, Fyodor Yurchikhin (Roscosmos) from the country of Georgia and Jack Fischer (NASA) of Colorado. The latter three have been studying how microgravity impacts cancer therapies since April, and have been measuring the composition of meteors orbiting Earth's atmosphere.

The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.

They will also undertake research projects that pertain to biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science. This new crew will remain at the space station until mid-December, according to NASA.The three new arrivals will participate in many research projects, including a phenomenon that is perhaps of special interest to the astronauts already in orbit: the "puffy face" appearance that astronauts have in microgravity. According to NASA's space station blog, one of the effects of living in space is a tendency of bodily fluids to move up toward the head, which may lead to vision damage.

This story was updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin.Follow us@Spacedotcom,FacebookandGoogle+. Original article onSpace.com.

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Sony 7S II Camera Docks on the International Space Station – TV Technology

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TOKYOThe International Space Station has a new resident, a Sony 7S II full-frame mirrorless camera. According to Sony, the 7S II is the first commercial camera to be mounted outside of the ISS and is being used to capture 4K video.

The 7S II was the camera of choice for the new exterior platform of the ISSs Japanese Experiment module KIBO. The camera launched on Dec. 9, 2016 and was installed on Feb. 8, 2017. The camera completes an orbit around the Earth every 90 minutes, recording 4K videos and still images.

The camera features high sensitivity up to ISO 409600, wide dynamic range; five-axis image stabilization; internal recording of 4K movies with full pixel readout and no pixel binning; and a 35mm full-frame Exmor CMOS image sensor packed into a compact body.

Footage capture from the camera of the east coast of the U.S. can be viewed below.

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Neil Armstrong: The Spaceflight That Almost Killed Him | Time.com – TIME

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A portrait of Neil Armstrong aboard the Lunar Module Eagle on the lunar surface just after the first moon walk.NASACorbis via Getty Images

Live with history long enough and it starts to seem immutable. In 2019, a full 50 years will have elapsed since Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon; the near-half-century that has gone by since that transformative July night in 1969 has made it nearly impossible to conceive of anyone else in Armstrong's role. Imagining Pete Conrad or John Young as first men on the moon (instead of the third and ninth, respectively) seems as odd as imagining James Madison as the first President.

But the fact is, in the mid-1960s, when NASA was flying the two-man Gemini spacecraft that preceded the three-man Apollo, Conrad and Young and more than a dozen other men had just as good a chance as Armstrong of getting the prime seat on the prime mission. Armstrong even had a worse chance than the rest of themor at least he did on March 16, 1965, when he and his co-pilot Dave Scott took off aboard Gemini 8, both men's rookie ride into space.

Gemini 8 was supposed to be a three day mission that would include a rendezvous and docking with an unmanned spacecraft, and a pair of spacewalks by Scott. Instead it was all over in less than 11 hours, and the most memorable thing the two men accomplished was the simple business of staying alive.

That flight, only four years into America's now-long history of flying human beings in space, was the the first time NASA came closehorribly closeto losing a crew during a mission. The near-miss was owed to a very simple mechanical breakdown that almost pushed both the Gemini spacecraft and the astronauts themselves beyond the point that either could survive.

The fact that they did survive was due to the quick thinking and nimble piloting of Armstrong and Scott, and to the men at the consoles in Mission Control, who knew enough to offer whatever guidance they could during the unfolding crisis and then stand back and let the pilots work. That was enoughenough so that four years later Armstrong would indeed walk on the moon and, two years after that, so would Scott.

Episode Two of the TIME podcast Countdown tells the story of Armstrong's and Scott's harrowing day, and of what it took for them to get out of it with their lives.

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Neil Armstrong: The Spaceflight That Almost Killed Him | Time.com - TIME

Aleksandra Mir Space Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight at Modern Art Oxford – Arte Fuse

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Aleksandra Mir Space Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight at Modern Art Oxford, installation view.

The huge monochrome drawings are inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry and the artists who depicted Halleys Comet in 1066. Much like a graphic novel,Space Tapestrytells an episodic visual story of Space travel. Mir has brought together a team of collaborators aged 18 to 24, to draw the work collectively in her studio. At Modern Art Oxford, Mir presentsSpace Tapestry: Earth Observation & Human Spaceflight.

The drawings contemplate the future possibilities of Space and the evolution of advanced technology particularly satellites and human space flight in relations to our daily lives. The works explore the balance of technological progress and humanistic objectives, expressed through the works layered and participatory execution.

Faraway Missions, another chapter of Space Tapestry, which is 200 meters in total, is presented at Tate Liverpool, 23 June 15 October.

The production ofSpace Tapestryis supported by the UK Space Agency, the Science & Technology Facilities Council and Arts Council England.

Aleksandra Mir

Born 1967, Lubin, Poland, citizen of Sweden and USA and based in London, Aleksandra Mir has an international practice of 25 years and has held numerous exhibitions worldwide, including The Space Age, a retrospective at M-Museum, Leuven, 2013 and the 34m mural Drawing Room, London, 2014. She has developed many large-scale collaborative projects on space exploration. Her most well known project, First Woman on the Moon 1999, has been touring for 17 years and is included in the collections of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Tate.

Writing via press release courtesy of the artist and Modern Art Oxford

30 Pembroke Street OX1 1BP Open:11am-6pm Tue-Sat, noon-5pm Sun

Arte Fuse is always looking for guest writers. Please submit your story to info@artefuse.com.

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Preparing the Mobile Launcher to be armed and ready for SLS – NASASpaceflight.com

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July 31, 2017 by Philip Sloss

The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) team at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is continuing construction and testing to get ready to support upcoming Exploration Mission launches. Testing at the Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) is in full swing delivering launch vehicle umbilicals and swing arms to the Mobile Launcher (ML). LEFT to ML for SLS:

Construction and outfitting of systems on the ML are pointing towards multi-element verification and validation (V&V) testing next year, a major milestone that will confirm the GSE (Ground Support Equipment) is ready to receive the first SLS rocket.

A major test site for these preparations is the LETF, located in the KSC Industrial Area.

Most of the hardware that connects the SLS launch vehicles and Orion spacecraft to the Mobile Launcher is going through testing there to gather release loads data and verify the functionality of the umbilical connections and the swing arms.

Over the past nine to ten months weve significantly grown the team and have really been producing most of these umbilicals, Jeremy Parsons, GSDO Senior Project Manager for the LETF said in an interview with NASASpaceflight.com.

Where were at now is where pretty much at the apex of the mountain of work. So were at that precipice and then were getting ready to come down on the other side. Weve delivered a significant number of the umbilicals already and we have some of the hard work left.

The team at the LETF recently finished the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical (CSFSU) and Core Stage Intertank Umbilical (CSITU); the CSFSU was lifted up and attached to the ML tower in late June and testing on CSITU wrapped up shortly after that.

That umbilical is ready to be driven up the road to the ML construction site so it can be hung up on the tower.

It will be shipped to Mobile Launcher and as of right now August 11th is the lift date, Sam Talluto, GSDO Deputy Project Manager for the Mobile Launcher said at the time of the interview earlier this month.

So far weve completed a total of fifteen of nineteen umbilicals, starting off with ten each Vehicle Support Posts, thats eight primary support posts and two spares, Jeff Crisafulli, GSDO Engineering Manager for the LETF added. Thats [also] two each Aft Skirt Electrical Umbilicals, the Orion Service Module Umbilical, and then of course the Core Stage Forward Skirt Umbilical and Core Stage Intertank Umbilical.

So that leaves the two TSMUs (Tail Service Mast Umbilicals), the VS (Vehicle Stabilizer), and then obviously the ICPSU (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage Umbilical) and the CAA (Crew Access Arm) seal, Parsons noted. The CAA seal will only be a couple of day test. The setups will be more extensive and well be able to deliver that to the VAB, so its not time-critical.

Right now we have three elements that are in-flow actively testing. We just finished up our TRR, which is our Test Readiness Review for the [Liquid Oxygen] TSMU so were now into testing for that. Were well underway testing on the Vehicle Stabilizer and we just finished up our Delta Test Readiness Review to begin cryogenic operations on the ICPSU. So were in the final phase of testing for that. Those are all in the final stretch there.

After the ICPSU completes its testing, the other tail service mast, the liquid hydrogen TSMU will start into its test flow. The last EM-1 hardware that is planned to go through the LETF is the Crew Access Arm seal, which docks the White Room on the arm to access hatches on the Orion spacecraft.

Its just the seal for the white room, Parsons continued. The crew access arm itself is going to be delivered directly to the Mobile Launcher. We have that set to be deliveredprobably towards the end of September directly to the Mobile Launcher. So the seal will actually be delivered to the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) directly.

That will be probably towards the end of this calendar year and it will be the last element probably out of the LETF, but were not putting a high schedule pressure on it at this point because we need to get the umbilicals out and this will able to follow on after that and can be installed at pretty much any point in the VAB.

Mockups for the White Room and Orion launch abort system ogive panels will be used at the LETF for testing the seal.

Around the same time as the CSFSU was attached to the ML tower in late June, the CSITU completed testing at the LETF. As the name implies, the CSITU will attach to the SLS Core Stage intertank; the primary function of the umbilical is to safely carry hydrogen gas venting from the hydrogen tank away from the vehicle and the tower.

The umbilical will provide other services such as environmental control, power and data to vehicle systems in the intertank.

The LETF is a full test facility so what we tested there, we did initial tests with liquid nitrogen. To get to a lower temperature we tested with liquid hydrogen. The liquid nitrogen tested with the simulant of oxygen temperatures and then liquid hydrogenobviously we tested at full hydrogen temperatures to simulate what we would actually see during launch day, Parsons noted.

We test electrical connectivity at the interfaces of the plate, we have sensors all up and down the plate to test temperatures, to test all sorts of things. We test primary disconnect loads, we test secondary failure modes, so we go through all of those.

Loads to the vehicle are our primary concern and deliverable to the program so we have multiple, six axis load cells reporting all the simulated vehicle loads, Crisafulli added.

One of the other large tests we did was we had to tune the hydraulic control system for that particular arm to basically make sure it swings at the right rate of speed to get itself out of the way of the launch envelope of the vehicle. All of that was highly successful.

Once the testing of all the launch accessories for EM-1 at the LETF is complete, the test facilities there will go through a maintenance period; however, they will remain ready to support any additional testing in support of the EM-1 launch campaign. The LETF will play a similar critical role in getting ready to support the EM-2 launch, which will require testing new and modified umbilicals.

Mobile Launcher:

Construction and outfitting of the Mobile Launcher continues at the Launch Complex 39 East Park Site on the northern periphery of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

From a structural standpoint were installing the steel supports for the cryo system, steel supports for the environmental control system, we have lots of piping and tubing that is going in at this time, Cliff Lanham, GSDO Senior Project Manager for the Mobile Launcher said.

Structural mods are [also] continuing on some of the major structural girders as well as on the tower to support launch accessories the umbilicals.

The launch platform and tower were originally under construction to support the Constellation programs Ares I crew launch vehicle; after cancellation, the work was repurposed for the SLS. Workers are also installing equipment into the base platform and the tower to support launch operations.

From a GSE (Ground Support Equipment) installation standpoint, we have roughly a thousand items from pneumatics panels to electrical cabinets that have to go in along with cameras and those sorts of things, Lanham explained.

Right now were at just over 50% percent complete of the installation of those [overall]; of that, I would say [were about] 75 percent [complete] in the base and about 35 percent complete on the tower.

Lanham provided an overview of some of the laundry list of the different types of commodities and services that are going onto the ML.

From a pneumatics systems [standpoint], weve got gaseous oxygen, weve got gaseous nitrogen, weve got helium. [For] cryo systems, we have [liquid] hydrogen and oxygen.

Then some of the other systems, from an electrical standpoint, we have ground special power, hazgas (hazardous gas) leak detection, Kennedy ground control systems, launch release systems, range safety control systems, sensor / data acquisition systems, thermal systems, weather systems, handling and access, and communications systems.

As an example of drilling down at a systems level, Lanham also outlined some of the types communications services on the ML.

Wifi, telephones, OIS (Operational Intercommunications System), which is our operational system for the test teams to use to communicate with the LCC, the launch control center, so all those systems fall under comm.

With outfitting work still ongoing, for now launch accessories like the umbilicals are only being structurally attached to the tower, addedTalluto.

After all the umbilicals are hung and surveyed then the tubing and piping pneumatics, hydraulics, all that stuff will catch up.

(Images via NASA and L2 SLS Sections the latter including a master LETF and ML Update Section full of images and videos from the test sites. To join L2, click here:https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/)

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Preparing the Mobile Launcher to be armed and ready for SLS - NASASpaceflight.com

Taking a (red)headcount: how close are we to beating the world record? Poll – Bega District News

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1 Aug 2017, 8 p.m.

A NSW city needs 1672 gingers on one day at one park to claim world record.

RED IS BEST: Will you be among the redheads in Orange on Saturday, September 30?

WITH less than two months to go until the attempt for the most redheads in one place its time to ask the question: will the citys Red Army be the biggest ever?

Rachael Brookings Redhead Hunt 4 HD has attracted attention across the Central West, NSW and Australia, with thousands of comments and posts on social media from fair-haired people statingthey would like to be at Wade Park on Saturday, September 30.

So we want to know if the Guinness World Recordis in reach.

To do so were asking all ginger-topped readers to vote in the below poll and register your interest or lack thereof in the innovative event.

Hopefully in a couple of days we will have an accurate picture of how close we are to beating the current world record of1672.

To find out more about the day, which will raise funds to support those suffering from Huntingtons Disease, head to the events Facebook page.

Central Western Daily

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Taking a (red)headcount: how close are we to beating the world record? Poll - Bega District News

4 Mpx CMOS Camera – 3D PLUS

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Overview

This instrument has been integrated using the 3D PLUS technology in order to be as compact as possible. It includes includes 4 stacked levels in a 3D cube with a reduced volume of 35x35x23 mm3. The top level contains the 2048x2048 pixels color CMOS image sensor which is the key element of the camera. Images are provided by the CMOS sensor through the 10 LVDS multiplexable output pairs that can be configured as 20 single-ended outputs increasing the number of single-ended outputs up to 33 signals.

An FPGA is integrated in themodule andcan store images in the volatile memory placedat the same level and perform preliminary image processing as averaging, adding, windowing etc

The 3DCM681 space camerais suitable to cover a wide range of scientific applications such as planetology, but also platforms or launchers monitoring and star trackers.

2048 (H) * 2048 (V) active pixels on 5.5m pitch

User-configurable FPGA

Frame rate:

12 frames/s @ full resolution (12-bit mode)

16 frames/s @ full resolution (10-bit mode)

Embedded 2x512Mb SDRAM and 8Gb NAND Flash

Integrated clock and Timing generator

Integrated Image Signal Processor

Programmable gain amplifier and offset regulation

13 general purpose signals

10 LVDS output pairs and 2 LVDS input pairs

Radiation Hardened design

TID > 40Krad(Si)

SEL LET > 60MeV.cm/mg

Space Qualified Technology

Worldwide delivery guarantee

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4 Mpx CMOS Camera - 3D PLUS

NASA: Not all solar eclipse viewing glasses are safe – News & Observer

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News & Observer
NASA: Not all solar eclipse viewing glasses are safe
News & Observer
With the solar eclipse less than a month away, eclipse viewing glasses are in high demand among people hoping to get a glimpse of the rare event. But NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, warns that many eclipse viewing glasses on ...
NASA issues safety warning for unsafe eclipse glassesWAVY-TV
Want to be a scientist for the day? NASA wants your help during the solar eclipseSacramento Bee
NASA warns of unsafe viewing glasses ahead of solar eclipse10TV
FOX 8 News WVUE-TV -WCNC -Safety | Total Solar Eclipse 2017
all 213 news articles »

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NASA: Not all solar eclipse viewing glasses are safe - News & Observer

NASA puts $14M in funding towards soft robots, flash lidar and other … – TechCrunch

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NASA has announced the latest beneficiaries of its Small Business Technology Transfer program, which solicits and funds small-scale research projects outside the agency but relevant to its interests. Nineteen projects in a variety of fields are being awarded a total of $14.3 million.

Those 19 were selected from an initial pool of 56 announced last year; those Phase I companies and institutions were awarded up to $125,000 to pursue their proposals, and would have reported on their progress to NASA later. The surviving 19 Phase II projects presumably showed enough promise that theyll get up to $750,000 to keep going.

You can peruse them all here, but here are the five I found most interesting:

These projects and the other 14 will prove themselves (or not) over the next two years, after which they will encounter (predictably) the Post Phase II Initiatives and Opportunities. Think your company or research might be a good match? Check out the STTR/SBIR basics page and get applyin.

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NASA puts $14M in funding towards soft robots, flash lidar and other ... - TechCrunch

NASA will soon test its asteroid defense system – New York Post

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An asteroid will whizz by Earth on Oct. 12 without incident and NASA intends to keep it that way.

The asteroid, dubbed 2012 TC4, measures between 30 and 100 feet across potentially making it larger than the 65-foot space rock that blew up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013.

This latest rock is estimated to pass within 4,200 miles of Earth, although scientists say it could end up as far away at 170,000 miles two-thirds of the distance from Earth to the moon.

Either way, the asteroid will be used as a trial for NASAs planetary defense system. The system is meant to be an early detector of a possible calamitous asteroid or comet, potentially allowing NASA enough time to divert it, weaken its impact or warn us of our doom.

The question is: How prepared are we for the next cosmic threat? Vishnu Reddy, a professor at the University of Arizona whos leading the asteroid observation campaign, told uanews.arizon.edu.

So we proposed an observational campaign to exercise the network and test how ready we are for a potential impact by a hazardous asteroid.

Details on what this system actually entails are unclear, but it will test precise orbit determination and international communications, according to NASA.

The effort involves more than a dozen observatories and labs around the world that have teamed up to collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities, Reddy said.

The asteroid last whipped by Earth in 2012 at about one-fourth the distance to the moon. NASA has stressed that 2012 TC4 poses zero threat to Earth.

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NASA will soon test its asteroid defense system - New York Post

Apollo Mission Control team seeks to restore NASA site – CNET

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A Kickstarter campaign seeks to restore the Apollo Mission Control Center.

With the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission approaching in 2019, retired NASA staffers are working with Space Center Houston to restore the originalApollo Mission Control Centerand transform it into a museum.

A newKickstarter campaign, launched July 20, is trying to raise part of the money needed for the $5 million restoration.

The start of the Kickstarter campaign marked the 49th anniversary of astronaut Neil Armstrong becoming the first human to step onto the moon's surface as part of theApollo 11 mission.

Webster, Texas -- home to various aerospace companies working on NASA's current deep-space missions -- will match up to $400,000 raised by the Kickstarter campaign. That's in addition to the $3.1 million the town has already pledged.

For anyone interested in donating to the project, Space Center Houston is offering perks on Kickstarter including a mission patch designed by "Star Trek: The Next Generation" set designer Michael Okuda, a private tour of the Mission Control room with Apollo-era flight director Gene Kranz, lunch with Apollo flight controllers and an invitation to a VIP event with "The Martian" author Andy Weir.

As of Monday, $300,500 has been pledged -- well beyond its original $250,000 Kickstarter goal. The fundraiser ends August 19.

10

New book stars NASA's early manned space missions (pictures)

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Apollo Mission Control team seeks to restore NASA site - CNET

NASA astronaut shares spectacular video of San Diego from space – The San Diego Union-Tribune

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NASA astronaut Jack Fischer captured one of the rarest views of San Diego possible over the weekend: the view from space.

Looking down from the International Space Station, the former Air Force colonel took a time-lapse video as he passed over the span of Earth that includes San Diego and Denver.

San Diego to Denverat nightfrom space, he tweeted. It always amazes me how fast were cruisin around the planet, but I sure love the view!

The footage was taken 250 miles above the Earth while traveling 17,500 miles per hour, according to Fischer.

Fischer joined NASAs Expedition 51/52 in April. This crew, which includes U.S. commander Peggy Whitson, was sent to explore the microorganisms present aboard the space station, measure the charges of cosmic rays and study the way foods and medications respond to lypholization in microgravity.

This isnt the first time Fischer has shared spectacular photos and videos from space.

His San Diego to Denver tweet was shared and liked thousands of time as people on Earth admired the view.

The Denver Broncos made sure to wave back. (The San Diego Chargers did not.)

Others shared their amazement with Fischer.

Viewers also saw this as an opportunity to debate whether the earth is truly round or flat. Thanks to NBA star Kyrie Irving who has said he believes the earth is flat, the topic has become a major source of jokes and debate on the internet.

To see more of Fischers amazing photography from the International Space Station, visit his Twitter page here.

To learn more about Fisher, read his NASA biography here.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblin

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NASA astronaut shares spectacular video of San Diego from space - The San Diego Union-Tribune

NASA tests the Webb telescope’s communication skills – Phys.org – Phys.Org

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July 31, 2017 by Eric Villard The Deep Space Network comprises three ground stations located about 120 degrees apart on Earth -- one each in Canberra, Australia; Madrid, Spain; and Goldstone, California. This photo shows an antenna at the DSN site in California. Credit: NASA-JPL/Doug Ellison

NASA called, and the Webb telescope responded. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently completed its Ground Segment Test Number 1 (GSEG-1), for the first time confirming successful end-to-end communication between the telescope and its mission operations center.

GSEG-1, which completed on June 20, tested all of the communications systems required to support the telescope's launch, commissioning and normal operations once it is in orbit. The test showed successful end-to-end communication between the Webb telescope's spacecraft bus, currently located at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, and the telescope's mission operations center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. Before this test, the flight operations team had only verified communication with the telescope piecemealin several smaller tests that were not end-to-end.

"This was the first time all the different parts worked together at the same time, and this was the first time it was tested against the actual spacecraft flight hardware," explained Alan Johns, ground segment and operations manager for the Webb telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

During the test, the team sent the same command procedures to the telescope that will be sent during its nearly 1 million mile journey to its orbit at the second Lagrange point, known as L2. The team verified the configuration of the telescope's onboard computers and also received telemetry from the telescope, including science data and health monitoring data.

"This is a great milestone not only for the telescope but for the industry team, who worked seamlessly together from coast to coast to successfully complete the GSEG-1," said Scott Willoughby, Northrop Grumman vice president and program manager for the Webb telescope. "This test puts us one step closer in preparing for the Webb telescope for launch."

The ground segment test consisted of two partsthe Space Network (SN) portion and the Deep Space Network (DSN) portion.

The eight?hour?long SN portion of the test, completed May 24, tested all of the communications systems required during Webb's launch phase. During this portion of the test, the team successfully exchanged commands and telemetry with the telescope using NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) network.

The 13?hour?long DSN portion of the test, completed June 20, tested communications systems that will be used from the end of Webb's launch phase through the end of the mission. During this portion of the test, the team successfully exchanged commands, telemetry and ranging data with the telescope, as well as offloaded information from the telescope's data recorders.

"DSN is our workhorse for the life of the mission," said Alan Johns. "It got tested at every rate, every setting, and every possible permutation, and it worked just great."

The DSN comprises three ground stations, located about 120 longitudinal degrees apart from each other on Earthone each in Canberra, Australia; Madrid, Spain; and Goldstone, California. The placement of these guarantees the Webb telescope will be able to contact at least one station at all times, to remain in constant communication with Earth. For this test, the telescope communicated with a specially designed trailer that mimics these ground stations, rather than the ground stations themselves.

The success of the test did not catch Johns off guard. "I felt pretty good that this test was going to be as successful as it turned out to be," Johns said. "A lot of people put in a lot of hours, and the thoroughness that goes into checking every command parameter and every telemetry point paid off in the actual execution of the test."

Another communications test will take place at the telescope's planned launch site in Kourou, French Guiana, about a month before launch in late 2018. This test will demonstrate the expected connectivity with the telescope at first contact with it, which will occur approximately three-and-a-half minutes after launch.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is the world's most advanced space observatory. This engineering marvel is designed to unravel some of the greatest mysteries of the universe, from discovering the first stars and galaxies that formed after the big bang to studying the atmospheres of planets around other stars. It is a joint project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Explore further: Image: James Webb Telescope tested in thermal vacuum chamber

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.

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.

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.

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

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 ...

At NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland the James Webb Space Telescope team completed the acoustic and vibration portions of environmental testing on the telescope. These tests are merely two of the many ...

Humanity's farthest and longest-lived spacecraft, Voyager 1 and 2, achieve 40 years of operation and exploration this August and September. Despite their vast distance, they continue to communicate with NASA daily, still ...

Hidden from our sight, the Westerhout 43 star-forming region is revealed in full glory in this far-infrared image from ESA's Herschel space observatory. This giant cloud, where a multitude of massive stars come to life in ...

Proxima b, an Earth-size planet right outside our solar system in the habitable zone of its star, may not be able to keep a grip on its atmosphere, leaving the surface exposed to harmful stellar radiation and reducing its ...

Scientists dealt a blow Monday to the quest for organisms inhabiting worlds besides Earth, saying our planet was unusual in its ability to host liquid waterthe key ingredient for life.

A pair of researchers with Institut Universitaire de France has found more evidence of a large evaporative event in the moon's past. In their paper published on the open access site Science Advances, Chizu Kato and Frdric ...

Many rock stars don't like to play by the rules, and a cosmic one is no exception. A team of astronomers has discovered that an extraordinarily bright supernova occurred in a surprising location. This "heavy metal" supernova ...

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NASA tests the Webb telescope's communication skills - Phys.org - Phys.Org

NASA has selected nine proposals for Explorers Program – Astronomy Magazine

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NASA has selected nine proposals in its Explorers Program to study the Sun and general space environment. There are five Heliophysics Small Explorer mission proposals, two Explorer Missions of Opportunity Small Complete Mission (SCM) proposals, and one Partner Mission of Opportunity (PMO).

According to the press release, the Heliophysics Small Explorer missions and Explorer Missions of Opportunity SCM missions will be have specific explorations, including weather in the near-Earth environment, magnetic energy, solar wind, and heating and energy released in the atmosphere. The mission in the PMO category will be more focused on creating space instruments.

Ultimately, these missions will all help scientists better understand the influence of the Sun on our solar system, including the planets and the space between them.

The Heliophysics Small explorer proposals will be given $1.25 million for an 11-month mission concept study. Those missions are: Mechanisms of Energetic Mass Ejection eXplorer (MEME-X), Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Image (FOXSI), Multi-Slit Solar Explorer (MUSE), The Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS), and the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission.

MEME-X will study how charged particles leave Earths atmosphere, while TRACERS will study Earths magnetopause, which is the boundary between our planets magnetosphere and the incoming charged particles of the solar wind. FOXSI and MUSE will focus on the Suns atmosphere and the mysterious solar corona, which is only visible from Earth during a total solar eclipse. PUNCH will take a closer look at the solar wind.

The two Each Mission of Opportunity SCM proposals will be given $400,000 for an 11-month concept study. Those proposals are: the Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) and the Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) mission.

SunRISE will create a radio telescope array from miniature satellites to study how the Sun releases particles into space. AWE will look back at Earth to study a phenomenon known as gravity waves, which transport energy throughout a planets atmosphere.

The final proposal is in the Partner Mission of Opportunity category and will study three instruments on the Turbulence Heating ObserveR (THOR) mission, a mission that the European Space Agency is considering. THOR looks at how particles in space gain and lose energy.

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NASA has selected nine proposals for Explorers Program - Astronomy Magazine

VIDEO: NASA Compiles Time Series of Airborne Observations of Helheim Glacier Through New Visualization Illustration – SpaceCoastDaily.com

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By NASA // August 1, 2017

ABOVE VIDEO:This video shows in unprecedented detail how Greenlands massive Helheim Glacier has changed over 20 years, using data from instruments like the Airborne Topographic Mapper laser altimeter and the Digital Mapping System cameras, which fly every year on IceBridge missions, and satellite data form the Canadian Space Agencys Radarsat Satellite. IceBridge plans to return to Helheim again in 2018 to carry on its annual survey.

(NASA) Helheim Glacier is the fastest flowing glacier along the eastern edge of Greenland Ice Sheet and one of the islands largest ocean-terminating rivers of ice.

Named after the Vikings world of the dead, Helheim has kept scientists on their toes for the past two decades. Between 2000 and 2005, Helheim quickly increased the rate at which it dumped ice to the sea, while also rapidly retreating inland- a behavior also seen in other glaciers around Greenland.

Since then, the ice loss has slowed down and the glaciers front has partially recovered, readvancing by about 2 miles of the more than 4 miles it had initially retreated.

NASA has compiled a time series of airborne observations of Helheims changes into a new visualization that illustrates the complexity of studying Earths changing ice sheets.

NASA uses satellites and airborne sensors to track variations in polar ice year after year to figure out whats driving these changes and what impact they will have in the future on global concerns like sea level rise.

ABOVE VIDEO: Research on the Greenland Ice Sheet provides updated estimates of past and present ice loss. Here, video captures a huge calving event at Helheim glacier, southeast Greenland.

Since 1997, NASA has collected data over Helheim Glacier almost every year during annual airborne surveys of the Greenland Ice Sheet using an airborne laser altimeter called the Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM).

Since 2009 these surveys have continued as part of Operation IceBridge, NASAs ongoing airborne survey of polar ice and its longest-running airborne mission. ATM measures the elevation of the glacier along a swath as the plane files along the middle of the glacier.

By comparing the changes in the height of the glacier surface from year to year, scientists estimate how much ice the glacier has lost.

The animation begins by showing the NASA P-3 plane collecting elevation data in 1998. The laser instrument maps the glaciers surface in a circular scanning pattern, firing laser shots that reflect off the ice and are recorded by the lasers detectors aboard the airplane.

The instrument measures the time it takes for the laser pulses to travel down to the ice and back to the aircraft, enabling scientists to measure the height of the ice surface. In the animation, the laser data is combined with three-dimensional images created from IceBridges high-resolution camera system.

ABOVE VIDEO:NASA research found that large crevasses provide aquifer water upstream of Greenlands Helheim Glacier with a clear escape to the ocean. This discovery helps confirm that the water, which is held in a layer of crunchy, granular snow called firn, contributes to sea level rise.

The animation then switches to data collected in 2013, showing how the surface elevation and position of the calving front (the edge of the glacier, from where it sheds ice) have changed over those 15 years.

Helheim is about 4 miles wide on average, but IceBridge only collects data along an 820-foot swath in the center of the glacier.

Because we can measure only about 4 percent of the width of the glacier, we fly the center line, which we know, from other glaciers, is reasonably representative of the glacier as a whole, said Kristin Poinar, a polar scientist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

We have navigation systems on board that help us fly over the same center line each year, so we get a reliable overlap of measurements.

Helheims calving front retreated about 2.5 miles between 1998 and 2013. It also thinned by around 330 feet during that period, one of the fastest thinning rates in Greenland.

ABOVE VIDEO:Flying Over Helheim Glacier, Greenland.

The calving front of the glacier most likely was perched on a ledge in the bedrock in 1998 and then something altered its equilibrium, said Joe MacGregor, IceBridge deputy project scientist.

One of the most likely culprits is a change in ocean circulation or temperature, such that slightly warmer water entered into the fjord, melted a bit more ice and disturbed the glaciers delicate balance of forces.

As the front of the ice retreated, it showed more and more of its face to the warm ocean and this became a vicious cycle of retreat, Poinar said.

We see this behavior over and over again in glaciers that flow all the way into the ocean. As such a glacier starts to move faster, it sucks more ice into the ocean and the net result is that the glacier gets thinner and retreats farther.

This whole process continues until the glacier can find another ledge to anchor to and restabilize.

As the glacier evolved, so did the ATM instrument flown aboard the aircraft. At the beginning of the survey, the whole system weighed over 4,000 pounds now its only around 400 pounds, so scientists can deploy it in smaller planes when needed.

Back in the 1990s, the laser fired 2,000 pulses per second; now it transmits 10,000 pulses per second and the pulses themselves are also almost ten times shorter, which allows for denser, more precise measurements.

The accuracy of the lasers elevation measurements has improved from about 6 inches in the 1990s to less than 2 inches during the IceBridge era because of improvements in the technology, said Michael Studinger, principal investigator for the laser instrument team.

That allows us to do more science: We can now go look at areas of Greenland that are experiencing smaller changes because we know that our measurements resolve much finer details than in the old days.

We now have a two-decade-long, reliable time series of elevation measurements in Greenland that allows us to link to the data from many other instruments, such as NASAs Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite missions or the European Space Agencys CryoSat-2 satellite, Studinger said.

Having such a long time series is important when you look at changes in the ice sheets, and the ATMs is the longest and most consistent elevation time series thats out there.

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VIDEO: NASA Compiles Time Series of Airborne Observations of Helheim Glacier Through New Visualization Illustration - SpaceCoastDaily.com

Nanotechnology Innovations in Skincare, Batteries, Electronics, and Catalysts – Research and Markets – Business Wire (press release)

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Nanotechnology Innovations in Skincare, Batteries, Electronics, and Catalysts" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

The latest issue of Medical and Diagnostic Imaging TOE profiles a motley of innovations from the medical imaging space.

These include the use of cloud platform and artificial intelligence algorithms for medical image analysis, a novel handheld endoscopic tool for the diagnosis of cancerous tissues, a compact camera for molecular imaging, and a hand-held EEG device for neural imaging.

These innovations cover a wide spread of the imaging industry, and are typically in early development stage. While their proof-of-concept has been established, their widespread clinical adoption will be realized in the next 18 to 24 months.

Medical and Diagnostic Imaging TechVision Opportunity Engine (TOE)'s mission is to analyze and report new and emerging technologies; advances in R&D, product development and regulatory matters specifically related to the areas of CT, MRI, NM, PET, Ultrasound and X-ray.

In addition, relevant developments in fusion technologies, functional imaging technology, interventional cardiology and image guided surgery and healthcare IT related areas such as PACS, medical information storage, and disaster recovery/business continuance will also be covered.

The Health and wellness cluster covers cutting-edge global developments in medical devices and imaging sectors such as biosensors, biomaterials, biomechanics, microtechnologies, nanotechnologies, assistive technologies and imaging technologies and platforms.

Key Topics Covered:

Medical Imaging - Innovation Profiles:

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gzw59v/nanotechnology

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Nanotechnology Innovations in Skincare, Batteries, Electronics, and Catalysts - Research and Markets - Business Wire (press release)