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UFO fans spot six ‘iceberg-sized’ spacecraft near Space Station then NASA feed cuts out – Metro

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Credit: YouTube/secureteam10

This is it, UFO fans believe absolute proof that NASA is in league with aliens, and us poor sheeple on Earth are being kept in the dark.

A YouTube video has captured what conspiracy nuts believe is not one but SIX gigantic alien spacecraft flying past the Space Station.

As usual, NASAs feed cuts out at the crucial moment making conspiracy fans even more certain that something fishy is up.

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The highly excitable alien hunter Tyler Glockner of Secure Team 10 says, He has discovered what some are calling a fleet of unidentified flying objects moving in the distance behind the International Space Station.

We have about six UFOs passing behind, and judging from the distance, I would guess that the size of these objects, whatever they are, would be fairly large.

Much larger than Nasas typical excuse of ice particles, we must be looking at icebergs.

Others are a little more sceptical.

Such sightings actually happen with surprising regularity and NASA has repeatedly said theyre just distortions in the lens, not alien craft parking at the ISS.

Nigel Watson, author of the UFO Investigations Manual says, The constant sightings of UFOs near the ISS are mainly due to reflections and space junk, and it is down to wishful thinking that images sent back from the space station are of alien craft.

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SpaceX launches supplies to space station; ‘Baby came back,’ Elon Musk says of booster’s return – Los Angeles Times

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

SpaceX launched almost 5,500 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station on Sunday morning after scrubbing its Saturday attempt because of a potential issue with its Falcon 9 rocket.

The rocket lifted off at 6:39 a.m. PST from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was the Hawthorne-based space companys first launch from Launch Complex 39A, the historicpad where the Apollo and space shuttle missions launched.

This was the first commercial launch from the pad the last mission to lift off from 39A was the final space shuttle launch in 2011.

About eight minutes after liftoff, the first-stage rocket booster landed back on land at the companys Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Baby came back, SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted, followed by a snapshot of thereturn landing.

The Dragon spacecraft, which is carrying the supplies, deployed about 10 minutes after launch. It is set to arrive at the space station early Wednesday morning.

Saturdays launch was postponed just 13 seconds before liftoff so SpaceX could look into a potential issue with the thrust vector control system on the rockets second stage.

Shortly after, the company tweeted that it would take a closer look at the positioning of the second-stage engine nozzle.

99% likely to be fine, Musk tweeted Saturday. But that 1% chance isn't worth rolling the dice. Better to wait a day.

SpaceX determined that the potential issue was with one of two thrust vector control actuators, which help steer the second-stage engine nozzle through flight, Jessica Jensen, Dragon mission manager for SpaceX, said in a post-launch news conference.

The company replaced the actuator Saturday night and then ran tests on the pad before launch, she said.

This was the companys second launch since a launch pad explosion in September destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and a commercial communications satellite.

Sundays launch was SpaceXs 10th mission to deliver supplies to the space station for NASA.

This is the beginning of what SpaceX hopes will be a busy period for Launch Complex 39A.

The pad has been configured to accommodate the first flight of the companys highly anticipated heavy-lift rocket, Falcon Heavy, as well as the first flight of a previously launched first-stage booster, which is slated for March, Jensen said.

The company is hoping tolaunch from Pad 39A again in about two weeks, she said.

Meanwhile, Jensen said renovations will continue on Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral, which was damaged during the September explosion. SpaceX has completed all of its inspections at the launch pad but still needs to do a majority of the work there, Jensen said.

During a Friday briefing with reporters, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Space Launch Complex 40 should be operational by the summer.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga

UPDATES:

9:21 a.m.: This article was updated with details from a post-launch news conference.

8:45 a.m.: This article was updated with reaction from Elon Musk.

6:59 a.m.: This article was updated to include details of the launch.

This article was originally published at 5:30 a.m.

First black crew member to join international space station – St. Louis American

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

(NNPA) - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected astronaut Jeanette Epps to join the crew of the International Space Station in 2018. Epps will become the first Black crewmember to represent the U.S. on the station.

The journey will mark the first time Epps has traveled to orbit, allowing her to follow in the footsteps of the women who, she said, inspired her to become an astronaut.

While other Black astronauts have flown to the Space Station for brief stays during the outposts construction, Epps will be the first Black crewmember to live and work on the station for an extended period of time. Her journey aboard the Soyuz spacecraft and stay at the station places her as the only American and female among a crew made up of mostly Russians and men.

Im a person just like they are. I do the same work as they do, Epps told a group of STEM students at her Syracuse alma mater, Danforth Middle School. If something breaks, anyone of us will have to be able to go out the door. We have to be jacks of all trades. Its not a job thats like any other.

While working on her doctorate, Epps was a NASA graduate student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles about her research. After completing her graduate studies, Epps worked in a research lab for more than two years, co-authoring multiple patents, before being recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). She was a CIA technical intelligence officer for about seven years before being selected as a member of the 2009 astronaut class.

Anything you dont know is going to be hard at first, Epps said in a video statement about the launch. But if you stay the course, put the time and effort in, it will become seamless eventually.

Epps, in the NASA video interview, shared when she was first introduced to the idea that she could be an astronaut. It was about 1980, I was nine years old. My brother came home and he looked at my grades and my twin sisters grades and he said, You know, you guys can probably become aerospace engineers or even astronauts, Epps said. And this was at the time that Sally Ride [the first American woman to fly in space] and a group of women were selected to become astronauts the first time in history. So, he made that comment and I said, Wow, that would be so cool.

Epps will join veteran NASA astronaut Andrew Feustel at the Space Station. On Feustels first long-duration mission, he served as a flight engineer on Expedition 55, and later as commander of Expedition 56.

Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer, said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, in a statement. The space station will benefit from having them on board.

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First black crew member to join international space station - St. Louis American

Jacksonville Mayo Clinic’s experiment heads to space station – ActionNewsJax.com

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Updated: Feb 20, 2017 - 8:22 AM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville is trying to put an end to strokes by utilizing space.

Mayo Clinic said stem cells from its lab were on board Sundays SpaceX launch. The goal is to see if the cells mass produce in space. If so, they could be used for treating strokes and finding a cure.

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Experts are eager to know whether these special cells, which are derived from the bodys bone marrow, can be more quickly mass-produced in microgravity.

At Mayo Clinic, research drives everything we do for patients, says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., vice president, Mayo Clinic, and CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida. This space cargo carries important material for research that could hold the key for developing future treatments for stroke a debilitating health issue. Research such as this accelerates scientific discoveries into breakthrough therapies and critical advances in patient care.

Dr. Abba Zubair said the cells can also be used to repair damaged organs. The only way right now to deal with that is a transplant, and with so many people on waiting lists he said the cells could be a game-changer.

So the next option is to really harness the power of stem cells, so we can use these cells to repair the organ, Zubair said. It's quite an exciting opportunity.

Historic launch pad back in service with thundering blastoff by SpaceX – Spaceflight Now

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX sent a cargo capsule with nearly 5,500 pounds of experiments and supplies on a three-day trip to the International Space Station on Sunday, firing the automated spaceship through low-hanging clouds and into orbit from the same launch pad where Apollo astronauts began voyages to the moon.

A kerosene-fueled 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket powered the cargo freighter into space, soaring on a northeasterly course from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT) atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

A few minutes later, the first stage booster nailed an on-target landing back at Cape Canaveral in the first such return to the launch base in daylight.

The launch the first SpaceX has conducted from pad 39A was timed for the Dragon cargo carrier align its course with the orbital path of the space station.

The historic launch complex, situated about a half-mile (750 meters) from the Atlantic Ocean, was the departure point for 94 missions before Sunday.

Originally constructed in the 1960s for the Apollo moon program, pad 39A hosted 12 Saturn 5 blastoffs on test flights, all of the moon landing missions and the uncrewed launch of NASAs Skylab space station from 1967 through 1973.

NASAs fleet of space shuttles launched from the pad 82 times, including the first and last flights of the program in 1981 and 2011.

The launch pad has remained dormant since the last shuttle mission took off July 8, 2011, and SpaceX signed a 20-year lease to take over the facility as a commercially-operated launch complex in 2014.

It was really awesome to see 39A roar back to life for the first time since the shuttle era, and it was extremely special that this first launch off of 39A was a Dragon mission for NASA heading to the space station, said Jessica Jensen, a Dragon mission manager who spoke with reporters after Sundays launch.

NASA decided it no longer needed pad 39A after the shuttles retirement. Nearby launch pad 39B, previously built for Apollo and shuttle flights, will be home to NASAs Space Launch System, a government-owned heavy-lift rocket that will launch astronaut crews on deep space expeditions.

This pad would have just sat here and rusted away in the salt air had we not had the use agreement with SpaceX to continue to enable commercial operations for our nation, said Bob Cabana, director of the Kennedy Space Center.

The concrete foundation of pad 39A dates back to the Apollo era of the 1960s, while the 347-foot-tall (106-meter) fixed service structure and lightning tower were emplaced before the first shuttle launch.

It gives me a little bit of chills when I walk out there and see stuff thats left over from Apollo, said Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceXs vice president of flight reliability.

Since SpaceX took over, changes to pad 39A have included the construction of the new rocket hangar outside the south gate to the facility, where space shuttles and Saturn 5 moon rockets arrived on top of tracked crawler-transporters after rollout from the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building.

The hangar can accommodate five Falcon 9 rocket cores at a time, according to SpaceX.

Weve taken good care of this pad during the refurbishment and the rebuild, said Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceXs president, in remarks to reporters at the launch site Friday. We saved precious things that needed to be saved. Weve upgraded things to make them usable in the contemporary era. Its hard to express how excited I am to be here, just two-and-a-half years after we got the lease.

SpaceX sped the pad to completion after a rocket explosion damaged the companys other Cape Canaveral launch facility Complex 40 a few miles to the south and grounded Falcon 9 flights until the booster returned to service last month in a mission from California.

Other additions at the pad include the installation of RP-1 kerosene fuel tanks and the construction of the massive transporter-erector, which is sized to accommodate SpaceXs powerful triple-body Falcon Heavy rocket when it debuts later this year.

An access arm to allow astronauts to board SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule, a human-rated ship in development to launch people as soon as next year, will be added to pad 39A in the coming months.

SpaceX tested many of the launch pads new parts Feb. 12 during a countdown rehearsal in which the Falcon 9 rocket was fueled before a hold-down engine firing.

Engineers returned the two-stage launcher to SpaceXs hangar, added the Dragon spacecraft, then rolled the fully-assembled vehicle back to the pad Thursday for further tests and the loading of final cargo.

But some features of the launch pad like the quick partial retraction of the transporter-erector strongback umbilical tower at liftoff were not been exercised until Sunday.

This is a huge deal for us, Jensen said. We completely modernized the way the pad is built, so yeah, its super exciting, and youre always a little bit nervous. Weve run tons of tests to ensure that the hold-downs released properly, and the strongback throws back in a different way than it used to at pad 40.

Weve had tons of ground tests, but weve never mated an actual rocket with a payload on top for that, she added. So to watch it happen for the first time was just amazing.

The missions takeoff was delayed from Saturday after SpaceX managers ordered a last-minute abort to investigate unexpected readings from the Falcon 9 upper stage engines backup steering mechanism.

Ground crews lowered the rocket at pad 39A overnight to replace parts of a redundant actuator on the second stages Merlin engine thrust vector control system, which directs the powerplants thrust to point the launcher in the right direction.

The rocket was raised upright again around six hours before launch, and the SpaceX launch team, working from a control center around 13 miles (21 kilometers) to the south, oversaw filling of the Falcon 9 with super-chilled, densified kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants in the final hour of the countdown.

Scattered rain showers around the Kennedy Space Center threatened to hold up the launch, but all weather criteria toggled green in time for the days instantaneous launch opportunity.

Eight minutes after it blasted off, the Falcon 9s first stage booster made a dramatic vertical landing at a recovery site around 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of pad 39A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the first time a SpaceX rocket has touched down on land in daylight.

An overcast deck of clouds prohibited ideal viewing of the launch and return, but the rockets nine Merlin engines sent a wave of window-rattling sound across the spaceport on the trip up, and twin sonic booms heralded the boosters final descent as it became visible to spectators just before touchdown.

SpaceX plans to inspect the landed rocket and prepare it for another flight some time in the future. The company now has eight flown first stage boosters in its inventory, recovered after landings at Cape Canaveral and at sea. Seven of those are considered flight-worthy, according to Jensen.

The SES 10 satellite, a commercial broadcasting spacecraft, is in Cape Canaveral preparing for a launch on a Falcon 9 rocket in March that will fly with a previously-used first stage booster for the first time.

Once in orbit, the Dragon supply freighter unfurled two power-generating solar array wings to a span of 54 feet (16 meters). The spacecraft was scheduled to open a navigation bay later Sunday and fine-tune its course toward the space station with a series of thruster firings ahead of its arrival at the outpost early Wednesday.

French-born European Space Agency flight engineer Thomas Pesquet will grapple the approaching cargo craft around 6 a.m. EST (1100 GMT) Wednesday with the space stations robotic arm after the automated ship flies within about 30 feet, or 10 meters, of the research complex.

The Canadian-built robot arm, under the command of ground controllers in Houston, will transfer the gumdrop-shaped logistics freighter to a berthing port on the stations Harmony module a few hours later.

Once bolts drive closed to firmly connect the SpaceX cargo craft to the space station, astronauts inside the orbiting science lab will open hatches and begin unpacking the 3,373 pounds (1,530 kilograms) of supplies, experiments and provisions inside.

Meanwhile, the robot arm and the stations two-armed Dextre handyman will remove three payloads totaling more than 2,100 pounds (more than 950 kilograms) from the Dragons unpressurized trunk for placement on platforms on the outposts huge structural truss.

One of the payloads is NASAs $92 million Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 3, or SAGE 3, an ozone monitor that comes with a separate ESA-built hexapod mounting plate designed to point the instrument at Earths limb, or horizon, at sunset and moonset.

The sunlight and moonlight passing through the layers of the upper atmosphere will help tell scientists about the condition of the ozone layer and allow researchers to track pollutants and particles suspended high above Earth.

SAGE 3, developed by NASAs Langley Research Center in Virginia, is the latest in a series of ozone measurement sensors developed by NASA since 1979. Previous space missions studying ozone showed a decline in the distribution of the gas over Earths poles, and researchers tied the ozone depletion to chlorofluorocarbon, a chemical used in cleaning agents, refrigeration and air conditioning.

An international treaty called the Montreal Protocol that went into force in 1989 banned chlorofluorocarbons, and scientists have observed the depletion stop and watched the ozone layer begin to recover.

How does SAGE 3 fit into that? Were going to make measurements from the space station that show the recovery is on track, said Michael Cisewski, SAGE 3 project manager at NASA. I think that, from a science perspective, it doesnt get any better than that.

SAGE 3 will also measure other important stratospheric gases and atmospheric aerosols, which are components of pollution that also impact the radiation balance of our planet, said Michael Freilich, director of NASAs Earth science division.

The other experiment package carried inside the Dragon capsules external bay is sponsored by the U.S. militarys Space Test Program, hosting more than a dozen investigations for NASA and the Defense Department.

Among STP-H5s investigations are NASAs Raven autonomous space navigation demonstration designed to support future satellite servicing missions and NASAs Lightning Imaging Sensor.

The Raven payload is made up of three sensors optical, infrared and laser trackers to autonomously follow visiting cargo vessels arriving and departing from the space station.

Benjamin Reed, deputy director of NASAs satellite servicing program at Goddard Space Flight Center, called Raven a three-eyed instrument.

The Raven module will be observing visiting vehicles as they approach in all three wavelengths, Reed said. We will be generating range, bearing and pose estimates of those visiting vehicles on-board with sophisticated algorithms and on-board processing, based on the input that the sensors are receiving.

Raven is a follow-up to a NASA experiment that tried out satellite refueling techniques using a boilerplate test panel outside the space station.

The satellite servicing demonstrations will refine the technologies needed for future robotic missions to refuel, refurbish, upgrade and reposition satellites, beginning with NASAs Restore-L spacecraft in development for launch in 2020 to gas up the aging Landsat 7 environmental observatory in orbit.

Raven will try out the navigation equipment needed for Restore-L, and missions like it, to approach another object in orbit without any input from the ground and latch on to it, even if the target was never designed for a docking.

Landsat 7 was launched in 1999 before any such refueling mission was ever proposed, so it is not equipped with markings or a docking port.

These technologies are quite difficult, and that is why NASA is taking the lead, pushing the envelope, (and) doing the hard work first, Reed said. Once we have developed it on missions like Raven, we will then transfer that technology to U.S. industry that is interested in taking this on commercially.

The Lightning Imaging Sensor, managed by NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in partnership with the University of Alabama in Huntsville, will take pictures and log lightning strikes from the space stations perch nearly 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

Based on a spare camera made for the U.S.-Japanese Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, the instrument cost $7 million to refurbish and will detect lightning day and night in a belt between 56 degrees north and south latitude.

Lightning actually occurs somewhere on Earth some 45 times every single second, Freilich said. Understanding the processes which cause lighting and the connections between lightning and subsequent severe weather events like convective storms and tornadoes are keys to improving weather predictions and saving lives and property in this country and throughout the globe.

A bevy of biological experiments are packed inside the Dragon supply ship.

Scientists are sending 40 mice into orbit to examine how bone fractures heal in the absence of gravity, and search for the biological reasons why most animals, including humans, cannot regrow lost limbs.

Were trying to understand what happens in the body as the bones start healing, said Rasha Hammamieh, the rodent research projects chief scientist from the U.S. Army Center for Environmental Health Research.

The military is co-sponsoring the bone health experiment, with an eye toward learning lessons that could be applied to helping injured soldiers recover from catastrophic bone injuries.

There are also implications for civilians, such as elderly patients with osteoporosis.

Up in space, you lose bone, said Melissa Kacena, co-investigator for the bone experiment and an associate professor of orthopedic surgery, anatomy and cell biology, and biomedical engineering at Indiana University. In fact, astronauts lose about 1 to 3 percent of their bone density in a month. Someone with advanced osteoporosis loses closer to 1 percent per year.

Kacena added that scientists want to test drugs on rodents that might be able to rebuild your bone systematically, so it could have applications not only for bone healing, but also for osteoporosis.

Astronauts on the space station will euthanize the mice and return them to Earth for comparison with a control group that remained on the ground.

Bacterial and stem cell researchers also had a stake in Sundays launch.

We are excited to put MRSA, which is a superbug, on the International Space Station and investigate the effects of microgravity on the growth and mutation patterns of these bugs, said Anita Goel, chairman and science director of Nanobiosym, which developed the experiment with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space.

I have this hypothesis that microgravity will accelerate the mutation patterns. If we can use microgravity as an accelerator to fast forward and get a sneak preview of what these mutations will look like, then we can esssentially build smarter drugs back on Earth.

A science team led by a Mayo Clinic biologist is sending human adult stem cells to the space station, pursuing research that could help transplant patients and stroke victims.

We know stem cells grow differently using simulated microgravity, said Abba Zubair, medical and scientific director of the Cell Therapy Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida. Primarily, our focus is to see if microgravity actually can help stem cells to expand faster, so that we can grow more of them to bring back to use for human application.

The Dragon spaceship will remain at the space station until around March 21, when it will detach and head for a re-entry and parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, where SpaceX will safe the capsule, transfer it back to port, and begin removing the returned cargo.

The resupply mission is SpaceXs tenth cargo launch to the space station. The company has two multibillion-dollar cargo contracts with NASA covering at least 26 round-trip missions.

SpaceXs next launch is scheduled within the next two weeks perhaps as soon as Feb. 28 with the EchoStar 23 communications satellite. That flight will also blast off from pad 39A.

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Historic launch pad back in service with thundering blastoff by SpaceX - Spaceflight Now

Space flight is next frontier for UK under new powers – Belfast Telegraph

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would "cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market"

Space ports could be set up and satellites launched from regions across the UK under new powers to be unveiled this week.

The Spaceflight Bill will also allow scientists to fly to the edge of space and conduct experiments in zero gravity, which could help develop vaccines and antibiotics, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Science minister Jo Johnson said the bill would "cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market".

The first commercial flight from a UK space port could lift off by 2020 under the powers, the DfT said.

Mr Johnson said: "From the launch of Rosetta, the first spacecraft to orbit a comet, to Tim Peake's six months on the International Space Station, the UK's space sector has achieved phenomenal things in orbit and beyond.

"With this week's Spaceflight Bill launch, we will cement the UK's position as a world leader in this emerging market, giving us an opportunity to build on existing strengths in research and innovation."

Aviation minister Lord Ahmad said: "We have never launched a spaceflight before from this country. Our ambition is to allow for safe and competitive access to space from the UK, so we remain at the forefront of a new commercial space age."

The Bill will be unveiled in parliament this week.

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Space flight is next frontier for UK under new powers - Belfast Telegraph

ULA gives sneak peek at SLS’ second stage before it gets shipped to Florida – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Curt Godwin

February 20th, 2017

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is transported to a pressure test area at ULAs Decatur, AL, manufacturing facility. Image Credit: NASA

DECATUR, Ala. United Launch Alliance (ULA) invited media to their 1.6 million-square-foot (148,645 m2) rocket factory in northern Alabama to get a look at the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) flight hardware prior to it being shipped to Florida. SpaceFlight Insider was on hand at this event and had a chance to speak with industry insiders about the progress being made on NASAs Space Launch System (SLS).

Though a significant amount of hardware has been manufactured for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) the first flight of the super-heavy-lift rocket the SLS is still very much a vehicle waiting to be assembled. However, while large portions of the mammoth rocket have yet to leave the manufacturing floor, progress has been steady and completed flight hardware is beginning to take shape.

ULA was tapped by Boeing the prime contractor for SLS core stage to construct a modified Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) to support the SLS for its first flight. After delivering a test article of the ICPS to NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center in 2016, the company is now ready to cross a key milestone in SLS construction: the completion of a major propulsion system for the vehicle.

This is the first piece of integrated flight hardware for the SLS system to be shipped down to the Cape in preparation for our very first launch, said Jerry Cook, Deputy SLS Program Manager for NASA. Cook noted that the ICPS test article is currently undergoing stress and load tests at Marshall.

The completion of the ICPS is yet another landmark in SLS development, though some contend its stilla drawing-board vehicle.John Shannon, Boeings Vice President and General Manager of the SLS Program, disagrees.

John Shannon, Boeings Vice President and General Manager for the SLS Program, speaks with SpaceFlight Insider about the companys progress on SLS. Photo Credit: Curt Godwin / SpaceFlight Insider

The SLS has, in various forms, been called a paper rocket [] and, if I think you look to your right, youll see that absolutely is not true, stated Shannon. If you had the opportunity to go to the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where were puttingthe bigger core stage together, you would also see that it is not true because we are putting hardware together as we speak.

Shannon also noted that the Boeing team at Michoud is nearly back up to 100 percent after the facility sustained damage from a direct hit by a tornado.

Considering the damage sustained by the facility, SpaceFlight Insider was interested in how the flight hardware at Michoud fared in the wake of the tornado and asked Cook the disposition of the pieces already constructed.

After noting that no one was killed or seriously injured in the incident, hewent on to discuss the hardware itself.

From an assessment of the flight hardware, we havent seen anything that has sustained any type of major damage, Cook told SpaceFlight Insider.

Beyond that, there were some minor dings and scratches, and some buildings are still without power. Cook hopes to have a complete analysis of the state of Michoud in the next 23 weeks.

Though the facilityis designed to support a flight cadence of 12 launches per year, Boeings Shannon told SpaceFlight Insider he holds a more optimistic view.

I would like to see us, certainly, get to two a year;though, with some minor modifications to the facility, we could get to four a year.

Recently, acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot announcedthat he was directing the agency to study the feasibility of converting EM-1 to a crewed mission. Until a firm plan comes to light, though, the agency and its partners will continue to work toward a late 2018 date for the uncrewed launch of EM-1.

Whether or not EM-1 carries crew is not as relevant to Astronaut Butch Wilmore as what the rocket represents. He sees the SLS as the vehicle needed to advance human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit.

Right over here in this test cell is the start of taking humans to deep space, stated Wilmore.

If NASA has anything to say about it, that may be sooner than many had anticipated.

The ICPS flight article is in a pressure test chamber at ULAs Decatur manufacturing facility. Photo Credit: Curt Godwin / SpaceFlight Insider

Tagged: Exploration Mission 1 Lead Stories Space Launch System United Launch Alliance

Curt Godwin has been a fan of space exploration for as long as he can remember, keeping his eyes to the skies from an early age. Initially majoring in Nuclear Engineering, Curt later decided that computers would be a more interesting - and safer - career field. He's worked in education technology for more than 20 years, and has been published in industry and peer journals, and is a respected authority on wireless network engineering. Throughout this period of his life, he maintained his love for all things space and has written about his experiences at a variety of NASA events, both on his personal blog and as a freelance media representative.

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ULA gives sneak peek at SLS' second stage before it gets shipped to Florida - SpaceFlight Insider

Reaching for the stars: An interview with former NASA astronaut Mike Fossum – SpaceFlight Insider

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Tomasz Nowakowski

February 20th, 2017

NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Expedition 28 flight engineer, floats freely in the Harmony node of the International Space Station. His long-duration flight aboard thespace station lasted from June to November 2011. Photo credit: NASA

In an interview with Astrowatch.net, veteran NASA astronaut Mike Fossum talked about his career as an astronaut, recollecting unforgettable and thrilling moments in space.

Astrowatch.net: You grew up during the Apollo era. How much did Moon landings inspire you to become an astronaut?

Mike Fossum: I was born two months after the launch of Sputnik and grew up enthralled with the space program. I distinctly remember the night the dream of flying in space became personal to me. I was laying on my back as our Boy Scout campfire died down, looking up at a beautiful star-filled sky. I was about 12 years old and the dream became crystal clear: I want to reach for those stars, too. This seemed like an impossible dream and it faded over time, but it did help motivate me throughout my education and early work career.

Astrowatch.net: How much did your education in systems engineering and physical science, together with your Air Force experience, prepare you for being an astronaut?

Fossum: For me, this was the perfect preparation for a career as an astronaut. I enjoyed my undergraduate work in mechanical engineeringbut wanted to broaden myself in the field of systems engineering. In that program, I learned more about other discipline areas and how the design of complex systems requires a balance of many conflicting considerations. I later earned another masters degree in physical science, which had a strong emphasis on space science. I had always had a strong interest in our natural world, including things like geology and astronomy. This program allowed me to learn about planetary geology, how stars work, and the science of creation.

My defining years in the Air Force were as a Flight Test Engineer at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB). I loved the challenge of figuring out how we could test new systems and technology to ensure it was safe and performed the mission properly. We tested some new ideas which did not work during those years. Some might consider those failures, but I call it a success when we were able to run a disciplined series of tests and could definitively prove something was not a good idea.

NASA X-38 flight test engineer Mike Fossum is all smiles following the first free flight of the first X-38 prototype in March 1998. Two months after this photo was taken Fossum was selected as an astronaut. Photo Credit: Ed Hengeveld

Astrowatch.net: You began your career at NASA as a systems engineer. Could share some details about this job? What were you responsible for?

Fossum: I actually worked at two different times at NASA. From 1982 to 1984, I was detailed from the Air Force to NASAs Johnson Space Center (JSC) and served as a Space Shuttle procedure specialist. My job was to help manage the complex procedures used by the astronauts to operate the Space Shuttle orbiter and its systems. I directly supported every flight in Mission Control during those years beginning with STS-3 (NASAs third Space Shuttle mission).

When I came back to NASA as a civilian in 1993, I started working on a project for NASA dedicated to buying Russian Soyuz spacecraft that could be used as an emergency escape vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS). Later that year, NASA started a major effort to redesign the Space Station and to include the Russians as new partners in the program. I worked for two to three years to help finalize the designs and the details of how the elements would come together. This involved a lot of work in the robotics and spacewalk areas. I wrote the flight test plan for the Simplified Aid for EVA (extravehicular activity) Rescue, or SAFER a self-rescue backpack to be worn by spacewalking astronauts. I later convinced the ISS program that we needed to invest in this capability to protect our crews.

In another challenge, I worked closely with astronaut Charles Lacy Veach to justify the need for the ISS cupola to provide direct viewing for robotics support. Having had the pleasure of using the cupola on orbit, I cannot imagine the ISS without this incredible asset.

Astrowatch.net: What was your role in the development of the X-38 experimental re-entry vehicle?

Fossum: Together with Col. Don Reed, I helped lead the flight test program for the X-38 test program. We both had military flight test experience and were brought onto the team as the first test vehicle, V-131, was nearing readiness for [a]test. We supported parafoil and systems testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, and led the efforts at NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB (now NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center) for the captive carry and free flight program of the X-38 test vehicle.

Astrowatch.net: Could you recall the moment when you were chosen by NASA as an astronaut in 1998? What did you feel back then, what was your reaction?

Fossum: I was at Yuma supporting an X-38 test and heard a phone ringing in an empty conference room. On a whim, I went in and answered the phone. Duane Ross (NASA veteran managing astronaut candidate selection and training at JSC) was on the other end and asked me if I was still interested in being an astronaut. I was in shock and stammered something about maybe that would work out and hung up on him. I literally fell to my knees with a prayer of thanks for making this dream come true after so many years.

I must note that I submitted my first application in 1985 and went through five interviews before I was finally selected 13 years later, so my emotions were definitely very high.I was told I could not tell anyone but my wife until NASA made the public announcement the next day, but it was impossible to keep the secret from the NASA friends with whom I was deployed in Arizona. When they saw my face, they knew something big had just happened and quickly guessed the truth. There was no time for celebration until much later that evening because we were preparing for a test mission in a few hours.

Mike Fossum, STS-121 mission specialist, works in the Questairlock of the International Space Station while Space Shuttle Discovery was docked with the outpost. An Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit is visible at bottom. Photo Credit: NASA

Astrowatch.net: Which of your three spaceflights do you remember the most and why?

Fossum: It is very hard to narrow this down all were very special but I will have to say it was my first flight (STS-121 July 4, 2006). We were on a return-to-flight mission after the accident (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on Feb. 1, 2003). There was a lot of internal controversy concerning the integrity of the foam on the external tank and whether or not NASA was ready to attempt another flight before making more modifications to the foam. The NASA Administrator, Mike Griffin, spent three hours meeting with our crew in quarantine the night before the final Flight Readiness Review (FRR). He wanted to look each one of us in the eyes to make certain we were ready to proceed. There were tough calls being made by the managers and careers were on the line, but he wanted to hear directly from the individuals who would be on the rocket.

The launch was spectacular with an astonishing rush of acceleration as the rocket burned fuel. When we reached orbit and the main engines abruptly shut down, my arms and checklist floated up from my stomach. My job was to get photos of the external fuel tank as it fell away, so I immediately removed my helmet and gloves, unstrapped, and floated up to the window.

Since I got there in about a minute, we had not pitched around enough to see the external fuel tank. Instead, I was looking at an expanse of the blue Atlantic Ocean with a dappling of white clouds. Also visible was the blackness of space with a thin, curved band of atmosphere separating the two. It suddenly hit me this was not a photo or a video replay but this was me looking back at planet Earth through a window from space! I wondered if this might also be Gods view looking down from above and I said a quick prayer of thanks for getting us to orbit safely and for making my lifelong dream come true. Then the external tank came into view and I got to work.

In short, that first ride to orbit and view of the Earth below is a vivid memory I hope will never fade.

Astrowatch.net: How much does a Soyuz flight differ from a Space Shuttle mission?

Fossum: There are a huge number of differences. [A] Space Shuttle mission lasts only about two weeks. The Soyuz flight to [the] ISS is almost half a year. Space Shuttle was spacious inside while the Soyuz is a tight fit, but excellent for [a] crew of three and some cargo. [A] Space Shuttle launch included a lot of dynamic vibrations from the solid rocket boosters. Soyuz was smooth all the way up, except for a brief bump between the second and third stage. Space shuttle landings were so smooth, it was hard to tell exactly when touchdown occurred. The same is not true for the landing of a Soyuz!

Astrowatch.net: What were your duties when you served as the ISS commander during Expedition 29 in 2011?

Fossum: As the ISS commander, my job was to look out for the safety and well-being of my crew, to take good care of the ISS, and to accomplish our mission objectives. The greatest challenge we faced was a delay in Soyuz launch operations after the failure of [the] Progress [M-12M] cargo mission. Due to similarities in the rockets, the second half of my crew was delayed for two months. Not only were we short-handed, but nobody was certain when they would arrive, so we had to prepare for the possibility of extending our mission by two months and even leaving the ISS before the next crew arrived. A lot of work went into this, but, in the end, we were only extended by a week and the new guys arrived with four days of overlap to hand over the keys.

Astrowatch.net: You have conducted an impressive number of seven spacewalks. Which one was the most challenging?

Fossum: My most difficult EVA was probably my first during STS-121. During this EVA, my lead, Piers Sellers, and I were tasked with trying to determine if we could perform the kinds of dynamic tasks which might be required to repair damage to the orbiters thermal protection system.

In order to get access to a potential repair site, we needed to extend the reach of the shuttle remote manipulator system and provide a work platform for the EVA crew. This was done with the Orbiter Boom Sensor System (OBSS) a new boom system which had a suite of inspection sensors on one end.

This photo was taken at the moment when Mike Fossum was free-floating and looking back down the arm. His EVA partner, Piers Sellers, is partially obscured behind the OBSS. The photo made the cover of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. Photo Credit: NASA

Piers went up first for a solo run, then the arm was maneuvered back to the orbiters payload bay. I secured my feet in the footplate while Piers hung onto the side and we were lifted into free space for the tests. To excite structural modes in the extended system, I made big, intentional moves with my waist and legs, then held still while the dynamics damped out. It is important to note that my heels were loosely rotated into a boot plate and I was positioned such that I could not see anything made by a human the ISS and orbiter were out of my view. The only sense of security I had was pressing my heels outward to ensure I remained firmly attached to the boot plate.

After completing several test points, we reached the point where I was required to rotate my feet out of the boot plate, climb down to change the configuration of the Articulating Portable Foot Restraint (APFR), then re-ingress the APFR. I was secured to the robotic devices with two tethers, so in no real danger of floating away, but there were a few moments of sheer, stark terror as I floated free and looked back at the very disturbing sight of the long, spindly robotic arms and the safety of our Space Shuttle orbiter a very long distance away. I managed to control my voice, but my heart rate gave me away.

For this first EVA and all subsequent, I maintained a healthy respect for the environment and never allowed myself to feel too confident, lest I get complacent. EVA remains the most dangerous thing we do, other than launch and landing.

Astrowatch.net: How could your spaceflight experience help you in your new role as a vice president of Texas A&M?

Fossum: I have lived a life of service to our country through NASA and the U.S. Air Force. I have been blessed to experience my childhood dream of flying and working in space, and I have greatly enjoyed helping others achieve the same goal while working with amazing teams on the ground who made it possible. At this point in my career, I am proud to serve the university I love which prepared me for this journey, and I look forward to inspiring and equipping our next generation of leaders and explorers. I really am moving from one dream job to another!

Mike Fossum is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space flights: STS-121 in 2006, STS-124 in 2008, and Expedition 28/29 in 2011. Fossum has logged more than 194 days in space, including more than 48 hours of EVA time during seven spacewalks. After retiring from NASA in January 2017, Fossum assumed the role of chief operations officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Tagged: Expedition 28 International Space Station Mike Fossum NASA Soyuz Space Shuttle The Range

Tomasz Nowakowski is the owner of Astro Watch, one of the premier astronomy and science-related blogs on the internet. Nowakowski reached out to SpaceFlight Insider in an effort to have the two space-related websites collaborate. Nowakowski's generous offer was gratefully received with the two organizations now working to better relay important developments as they pertain to space exploration.

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Reaching for the stars: An interview with former NASA astronaut Mike Fossum - SpaceFlight Insider

Life’s building blocks found on dwarf planet Ceres – Fox News

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

The dwarf planet Ceres keeps looking better and better as a possible home for alien life.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has spotted organic molecules the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it on Ceres for the first time, a study published Feb. 16 in the journal Science reports.

And these organics appear to be native, likely forming on Ceres rather than arriving via asteroid or comet strikes, study team members said. [Photos: Dwarf Planet Ceres, the Solar System's Largest Asteroid]

"Because Ceres is a dwarf planet that may still preserve internal heat from its formation period and may even contain a subsurface ocean, this opens the possibility that primitive life could have developed on Ceres itself," Michael Kppers, a planetary scientist based at the European Space Astronomy Centre just outside Madrid, said in an accompanying "News and Views" article in the same issue of Science.

"It joins Mars and several satellites of the giant planets in the list of locations in the solar system that may harbor life," added Kppers, who was not involved in the organics discovery.

The $467 million Dawn mission launched in September 2007 to study Vesta and Ceres, the two largest objects in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Dawn circled the 330-mile-wide Vesta from July 2011 through September 2012, when it departed for Ceres , which is 590 miles across. Dawn arrived at the dwarf planet in March 2015, becoming the first spacecraft ever to orbit two different bodies beyond the Earth-moon system.

During its time at Ceres, Dawn has found bizarre bright spots on crater floors, discovered a likely ice volcano 2.5 miles tall and helped scientists determine that water ice is common just beneath the surface , especially near the dwarf planet's poles.

The newly announced organics discovery adds to this list of achievements. The carbon-containing molecules which Dawn spotted using its visible and infrared mapping spectrometer instrument are concentrated in a 385-square-mile area near Ceres' 33-mile-wide Ernutet crater, though there's also a much smaller patch about 250 miles away, in a crater called Inamahari.

And there could be more such areas; the team surveyed only Ceres' middle latitudes, between 60 degrees north and 60 degrees south.

"We cannot exclude that there are other locations rich in organics not sampled by the survey, or below the detection limit," study lead author Maria Cristina De Sanctis, of the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Space Planetology in Rome, told Space.com via email.

Dawn's measurements aren't precise enough to nail down exactly what the newfound organics are, but their signatures are consistent with tar-like substances such as kerite and asphaltite, study team members said.

"The organic-rich areas include carbonate and ammoniated species, which are clearly Ceres' endogenous material, making it unlikely that the organics arrived via an external impactor," co-author Simone Marchi, a senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement .

In addition, the intense heat generated by an asteroid or comet strike likely would have destroyed the organics, further suggesting that the molecules are native to Ceres, study team members said.

The organics might have formed via reactions involving hot water, De Sanctis and her colleagues said. Indeed, "Ceres shows clear signatures of pervasive hydrothermal activity and aqueous alteration," they wrote in the new study .

Such activity likely would have taken place underground. Dawn mission scientists aren't sure yet how organics generated in the interior could make it up to the surface and leave the signatures observed by the spacecraft.

"The geological and morphological settings of Ernutet are still under investigation with the high-resolution data acquired in the last months, and we do not have a definitive answer for why Ernutet is so special," De Sanctis said.

It's already clear, however, that Ceres is a complex and intriguing world one that astrobiologists are getting more and more excited about.

"In some ways, it is very similar to Europa and Enceladus," De Sanctis said, referring to ocean-harboring moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively.

"We see compounds on the surface of Ceres like the ones detected in the plume of Enceladus," she added. "Ceres' surface can be considered warmer with respect to the Saturnian and Jovian satellites, due to [its] distance from the sun. However, we do not have evidence of a subsurface ocean now on Ceres, but there are hints of subsurface recent fluids."

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+ . Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook or Google+ . Originally published on Space.com .

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Life's building blocks found on dwarf planet Ceres - Fox News

SpaceX, NASA celebrate historic successful rocket launch – AccuWeather.com

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

By Sarah Lewin February 20, 2017, 8:07:54 AM EST

In this image from NASA TV, the SpaceX Falcon rocket launches from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017. It's carrying a load of supplies for the International Space Station. (NASA TV via AP)

SpaceX's historic launch from NASA's Launch Complex 39A Sunday (Feb. 19) was a complete success. So it's no surprise that when the time came to discuss the flight, the post-launch press conference was short, sweet and full of smiling faces.

The private spaceflight company's Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon spacecraft full of cargo into orbit at 9:39 a.m. EST (1439 GMT), after which the booster's first stage returned to Earth to make had a perfect landing at the company's Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral.

"It's been a super-exciting day it's really awesome to see 39A roar back to life for the first time since the shuttle era, and it was extremely special that this first launch on 39A was a Dragon mission for NASA to the space station," Jessica Jenson, the Dragon mission manager at SpaceX, said during the briefing. Pad 39A was used for most of the Apollo missions and many shuttle missions, including the first and the last launches; SpaceX modernized the pad under a 20-year lease from NASA.

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SpaceX, NASA celebrate historic successful rocket launch - AccuWeather.com

NASA’s New Space Agenda – The Weekly Standard

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

In the months following John F. Kennedy's 1961 pledge to put men on the moon, NASA conceived a plan wherein an Apollo capsule and its three crewmen would descend to the lunar surface atop a giant, multi-stage rocket; when it was time to go home, the rocket would be powerful enough to blast the capsule, its service module and its astronauts back to Earth. This "direct ascent" plan required an enormously heavy landing vehicle andconsequentlya launch vehicle substantially larger than the immense Saturn V moon rocket. It was too ambitious for the end-of-the-decade deadline, so a new solution was proposed: an independent "Lunar Module" would carry only two men down to the Moon's surface. The third crewman would remain in lunar orbit in the Apollo capsule, along with all of the heavy sundries needed for the trip home: the service module, heat shield, fuels cells, food, and so forth. This way, only the bare essentials would make the journey to the surface, drastically reducing landing weight and simplifying the lunar touch-down. When it was time to go, the Lunar Module would rejoin the Apollo capsule in orbit.

In July, 1962, eleven aerospace companies entered bids to build the lunar module; in August, the contract was awarded to Grumman Aircraft, desirnger of fighter-planes and light bombers. The LM contract was for 350 million dollars; development ended up costing 2.2 billion. The LM's weight was paramount; in places, its skin was less than 3 hundredths of an inch thick. NASA offered a bounty of $50,000 to Grumman for every pound the lander shed. A helicopter-style cockpit, with a pilot and copilot seated next to each other, was dropped in favor of having the Astronauts stand for the duration of the flight. Giant glass windows were dropped in favor of tiny triangular port-holes that would give the standing astronauts an adequate field of view. No one knew precisely what sort of terrain the LM would land on, so its legs and feet had to be simultaneously very flexible, very strong and very light. The LM would have four legs, so if one came down on a soft spot, a tripod would remain. Originally, Grumman wanted five legs, but five were too heavy. There would be only one landing engine, and only one take-off engine: there was no space for backups. If either engine failed, the moonwalkers would die. Happily, the LM's service record was perfect. Not nearly enough credit is given to its chief designer, Thomas Kellyone of the real, unheralded geniuses of the space race.

However, in late 1968, after 6 years of relentless designing, testing, redesigning and retesting, the LM still wasn't done. Per NASA's plan, its first manned flight would be the Apollo 8 mission; Apollo 8 would have to be delayed. Then NASA engineer George Low had an idea.

George Low is another tragically unheralded geniuses of the space race. He was a Jew born in Austria who fled Nazism in the 30s and became an American soldier in the 40s. In 1958, he was one of the founding members of NASA, and is credited by many NASA-men with having saved the moon program after the fatal Apollo 1 fire, in 1967. After the fire, he was made manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program; a year later, in 1968, he heard about the LM delay, and suggested something else for Apollo 8:

What if, instead of postponing the mission until the LM was ready, a new mission was designed? A flight around the moon, essentially for its own sake. No new hardware would be tested, no prep done for the moon landing that wasn't already planned for Apollo 9later bumped to Apollo 10which would fly to the moon and do a complete landing dress rehearsal. The point of Apollo 8 would be inspiration, a singular moment in the history of mankind. Three Americans would become the first men in history to travel beyond Earth-orbit into deep space. They would be the first men in history to see the moon up close. They would be the first to see the Moon's far side. They would be the first to see an earth-rise. The entire world would watch as men zoomed past the old altitude record of 850 miles above the earth, and set a new one of 250 thousand miles above the earth.

On Christmas Eve, 1968, Apollo 8 entered a lunar orbit. On Christmas Day, Apollo 8's crew broadcast closeup video of the Moon's surface on live TV. They accompanied the footage with a message. Astronaut Bill Anders spoke first:

"We are now approaching the lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you:

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the water. And God said, let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."

Astronaut Jim Lovell spoke next:

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Commander Frank Borman spoke last:

"And God said, let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he seas: and God that saw it was good.

"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmasand God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

It has since been estimated that a quarter of everyone then alive on the Earth saw that broadcast, either as it happened or afterward. The Soviet propaganda newspaper Pravda quoted the head of the Soviet "Interkosmos" space program as calling Apollo 8 an "outstanding achievement of American space sciences and technology." Apollo 8's broadcast won an Emmy, and crew were named Time Men of the Year. And an atheist sued them for reading from the bible on government property.

Apollo 8 was one of the defining moments in human history: the first voyage to Moon. The last voyage to the Moon was four years later in December of 1972. In the 45 years since, no one has gone further than Low Earth Orbit. NASA plans to send its new Orion space capsulethe successor to the Apolloon a flight to the moon in September of 2018. "Exploration Mission 1" won't land; like Apollo 8, it will stay in orbit. Unlike Apollo 8, it will be unmanned.

This week, NASA announced President Trump wants to add astronauts to the EM-1 flight, and make it the profoundly inspiring trip back to the Moon we've waited half a century for. It's a phenomenal idea, and NASA is currently doing a feasibility study.

What a thing that would be!

Nasa to host major press conference on ‘discovery beyond our solar system’ – The Independent

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset

Nasa

This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter

Nasa

The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars

Nasa

The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays

Nasa

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account

Nasa

Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead sharing pictures of black holes

Nasa

X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

Nasa

This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan

Nasa

Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass

Nasa

An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory

Nasa

An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013

Nasa

A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory

Nasa

An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust

Nasa

Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack

Nasa

Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station

The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts

Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity

Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago

The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower

The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427 more commonly known as WR 124 and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it

Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto

The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta

This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3

For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU)

This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way

Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014

On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa

A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere

This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

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Nasa to host major press conference on 'discovery beyond our solar system' - The Independent

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak dev partners with NASA to build interactive Mars colony – PC Gamer

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak is the sand-swept strategy affair that Rob Zacny once branded a "great tactical RTS with all the gorgeous aesthetics and atmosphere of the original series." Its developers, Blackbird Interactive, teased a handful of early screens from its next project earlier this year, and has now revealed it's also working with NASA to create an interactive model of Mars in Gale Crater.

Set in 2117, 44 Martian years/82.8 Earth years after the first human mission to Mars, the projectnamed Project Eaglelets users explore a hypothetical Mars colony established at the base of Mount Sharp (close to the landing site of the Mars Curiosity Rover) and marks a collaboration between the devs and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Aiming to "inspire new generations to dream of human settlement" on the Red Planet, Project Eagle will be presented live on stage by the JPL's Dr Jeff Norris tomorrow at the DICE Summit 2017. Blackbird's Aaron Kambeitz and Rob Cunningham will also help present.

"Its been a profound honour and pleasure for us here at Blackbird to work with Jeff and the JPL team to dream up what a future base on Mars might really be like, and to deliver that experience as interactive art, says Cunningham.

More information on Blackbird and NASA's Project Eagle presentation, and the DICE Summit itself, can be found in this direction.

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Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak dev partners with NASA to build interactive Mars colony - PC Gamer

NASA Is Sending a Lander to Discover Whether Life Exists on Europa – Futurism

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Jupiters Icy Moon

To the naked eye, Europa, one of Jupiters moons, might just look like a great big ball of rock and ice. But to NASA, this moon represents much more. It couldcontain what scientists have long been searching for lifeforms that exist outside of our home planet.Through theEuropa Mission, NASAplans to send a lander to Jupiters moon, which is believed to hold a vast ocean beneath its frozen crust. And where there is water, life is almost sure to follow.

The project is due to launch in either 2024 or 2025, when the lander would begin searching for lifeforms on the moons surface. If organisms are found, plans would develop for a more sophisticated craft to be sent to Europa in search of its underground ocean.Dr. Kevin Hand, one of NASAs leading officials with the Europa Mission, explains the programs investment towards these advancements:

For the first time in human history, we can actually build missions and design the instruments that could go out and answer this fundamental question of whether or not biology works beyond Earth. If we commit to getting these missions done, we could potentially find life in our own solar systems backyard within the next 20 years. Technologically it is entirely possible, but it requires public support, excitement about this, so we look to you to help communicate and spread the word.

In order to prevent bacteria from hitching a ride to Europa, the lander would be fitted with a special device to protect from any contaminants. Bacteria would affect test results and could even damage indigenous lifeforms if they are found to exist. As Dr. John Rummel from the Seti Institute in California says, we should protect Europa for the Europansnot the Europeans.

Bacteria could survive the journey to Europa, only if they were protected fromthe Suns ultraviolet radiation. Once they reach the icy moon, most would die off within a few days. But if they were shielded within the spacecraft, theyd have a better chance of surviving. The reverse is also a concern, as extra-terrestrial life could be brought back to Earth, further contaminating the process.

But Dr. Rummel is confident that none of this will happen, and that scientists will be able to contain samples until hazard testing gets underway. With the necessary precautions taken, we might be able to retrieve massive amounts of data that will take us one giant step closer to understanding where life exists in our vast universe.

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NASA Is Sending a Lander to Discover Whether Life Exists on Europa - Futurism

NASA Live Video Feed Cut Again As 6 Large ‘UFOs’ Creep Past International Space Station – Collective Evolution

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

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New and strange footage from NASAs live feed of the International Space Station appears to show six large objects scurrying by. This is not the first time this sight has been seen, but this instance contains unique characteristics.

As you can see in the live video below, relayed by the American space agency, the objects flying by move from the right of the screen towards the left. Unlike previous instances where only 1 object comes into frame, this video contains six UFOs that are resulting in n outcry for explanation from viewers.

The phenomenon was originally spotted by a UFO enthusiast at Streetcap1 who shared the clip with the popular YouTube channel called SecureTeam10. They are a group of UFO experts who track down clips, investigate footage and put their findings out to an eager audience online.

Referring to the ISS UFO clip below, Tyler from SecureTeam said: He has discovered what some are calling a fleet of unidentified flying objects moving in the distance behind the International Space Station.

We have about six UFOs passing behind, and judging from the distance, I would guess that the size of these objects, whatever they are, would be fairly large.

Much larger than Nasas typical excuse of ice particles, we must be looking at icebergs.

Tyler goes on to explain that NASA suspiciously cut the live feed and replaced it with a feed from another ISS camera showing the inside of a briefing room.

There have been a number of instances where NASA has cut a live feed as unexplained objects enter the cameras field of view.

Back in January of 2015, NASAcut the feed aftervideo showeda small grey object slowly rising and then disappearing. There is no saying whether its an extraterrestrial space craft or not, but its unidentified and curious that NASA would cut the feed right at this time.

Again on July 9th 2016 another video from theInternational Space Station feed shows an object entering earths atmosphere and moments later the feed is cut. Once again,we cannot saythis is a UFO or whether its manned, but there is an unidentified object and yet again NASA cut the feed.

Most explanations from NASA lean towards these objects beinga meteor, space debris, or ice but once again we see secrecy and highly coincidental timing.

Take a look at the video below. Do you think it is a real UFO? Or is there some other explanation?

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NASA Live Video Feed Cut Again As 6 Large 'UFOs' Creep Past International Space Station - Collective Evolution

Seminar held on emerging trends in nanoscience and nanotechnology – Times of India

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

CHANDIGARH: The Department of Sciences at Guru Gobind Singh College for Women organised a national seminar on "Emerging trends in nanoscience and nanotechnology" on Saturday. The seminar was sponsored by the college development council, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The aim of the seminar was to provide a common platform to academicians and young researchers to exchange their new ideas and explore the various aspects of this Emerging Technology. College Principal Dr. Charanjeet Kaur Sohi welcomed chief guest Professor Navdeep Goyal, department of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Gurdev Singh, IAS (Retd.), president of the SES, and colonel (Retired) Jasmer Singh Bala, secretary of the SES, encouraged the students to achieve new heights in the field of science and technology. Dr. Suvankar Chakraverty, scientist from Institute of Nano Science and Technology Mohali, deliberated on the topic "Nanostructured Devices" and highlighted the current state of understanding the future trends of research in the concerned field. Technologists, scientists, faculty members, research scholars and students from various regional colleges, university and research institutes attended the seminar and talked about the basics of nanoscience and anticipated that nanotechnology will contribute to building a better society. Dr CR Mariappan from department of physics, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra cited several facts on the development of nano-structured materials for energy storage devices. After the lecture, the seminar was followed by an interactive session. The seminar ended with vote of thanks note by Dr Asim K Chaudhary, assistant professor, GGSCW.

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Seminar held on emerging trends in nanoscience and nanotechnology - Times of India

Nanotechnology Playing a Key Role in the Growth of Food & Agriculture Industry – MENAFN.COM

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

(MENAFN Editorial) The global nanotechnology market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 17% during the forecasted period of 2017-2024, says RNCOS in its Global Nanotechnology Market Outlook 2024 report.

The global nanotechnology market has witnessed significant growth in the recent years owing to new innovations in technology that are reshaping the global economy. Like many other industries, food & agriculture industry has witnessed significant impact through nanotechnology such as boosting nutritional value of food, restoring taste and odour etc.

The report Global Nanotechnology Market Outlook 2024 provides the current scenario and future estimates of the industry. Nanotechnology is considered to be one of the most important tools in modern agriculture, and agri-food nanotechnology is anticipated to become a driving economic force in the near future. Agri-food focuses on sustainability and protection of agriculturally produced foods, including crops for human consumption and animal feeding.

Nanotechnology further provides new agrochemical agents and new delivery mechanisms to improve crop productivity and to reduce pesticide use. It also plays an important role in boosting agricultural production, including other applications such s nanoformulations of agrochemicals for applying pesticides and fertilizers for crop improvement, the application of nanosensors/nanobiosensors in crop protection for the identification of diseases and residues of agrochemicals among others.

Owing to the wide range of applications, Nanotechnology is poised to significantly impact all sectors of agribusiness industry and hence revolutionize the agricultural and food sectors making the industry considerably greener and competitive.

For FREE SAMPLE of this report visit: http://www.rncos.com/Report/IM883.htm

Check Related REPORTS on: http://www.rncos.com/Science%20&%20technology.htm

ABOUT RNCOS

RNCOS is a leading industry research and consultancy firm incorporated in 2002. As a pioneer in syndicate market research, our vision is to be a global leader in the industry research space by providing research reports and actionable insights to companies across a range of industries such as Healthcare, IT and Telecom and Retail etc. We offer comprehensive industry research studies, bespoke research and consultancy services to Fortune 1000, Trade associations, and Government agencies worldwide.

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Nanotechnology Playing a Key Role in the Growth of Food & Agriculture Industry - MENAFN.COM

Switched-on DNA: Sparking nano-electronic applications – Phys.Org

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

February 20, 2017 DNA, the stuff of life, may very well also pack quite the jolt for engineers trying to advance the development of tiny, low-cost electronic devices. Credit: ASU

DNA, the stuff of life, may very well also pack quite the jolt for engineers trying to advance the development of tiny, low-cost electronic devices.

Much like flipping your light switch at home-only on a scale 1,000 times smaller than a human hair-an ASU-led team has now developed the first controllable DNA switch to regulate the flow of electricity within a single, atomic-sized molecule. The new study, led by ASU Biodesign Institute researcher Nongjian Tao, was published in the advanced online journal Nature Communications.

"It has been established that charge transport is possible in DNA, but for a useful device, one wants to be able to turn the charge transport on and off. We achieved this goal by chemically modifying DNA," said Tao, who directs the Biodesign Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors and is a professor in the Fulton Schools of Engineering. "Not only that, but we can also adapt the modified DNA as a probe to measure reactions at the single-molecule level. This provides a unique way for studying important reactions implicated in disease, or photosynthesis reactions for novel renewable energy applications."

Engineers often think of electricity like water, and the research team's new DNA switch acts to control the flow of electrons on and off, just like water coming out of a faucet.

Previously, Tao's research group had made several discoveries to understand and manipulate DNA to more finely tune the flow of electricity through it. They found they could make DNA behave in different waysand could cajole electrons to flow like waves according to quantum mechanics, or "hop" like rabbits in the way electricity in a copper wire works creating an exciting new avenue for DNA-based, nano-electronic applications.

Tao assembled a multidisciplinary team for the project, including ASU postdoctoral student Limin Xiang and Li Yueqi performing bench experiments, Julio Palma working on the theoretical framework, with further help and oversight from collaborators Vladimiro Mujica (ASU) and Mark Ratner (Northwestern University).

To accomplish their engineering feat, Tao's group, modified just one of DNA's iconic double helix chemical letters, abbreviated as A, C, T or G, with another chemical group, called anthraquinone (Aq). Anthraquinone is a three-ringed carbon structure that can be inserted in between DNA base pairs but contains what chemists call a redox group (short for reduction, or gaining electrons or oxidation, losing electrons).

These chemical groups are also the foundation for how our bodies' convert chemical energy through switches that send all of the electrical pulses in our brains, our hearts and communicate signals within every cell that may be implicated in the most prevalent diseases.

The modified Aq-DNA helix could now help it perform the switch, slipping comfortably in between the rungs that make up the ladder of the DNA helix, and bestowing it with a new found ability to reversibly gain or lose electrons.

Through their studies, when they sandwiched the DNA between a pair of electrodes, they careful controlled their electrical field and measured the ability of the modified DNA to conduct electricity. This was performed using a staple of nano-electronics, a scanning tunneling microscope, which acts like the tip of an electrode to complete a connection, being repeatedly pulled in and out of contact with the DNA molecules in the solution like a finger touching a water droplet.

"We found the electron transport mechanism in the present anthraquinone-DNA system favors electron "hopping" via anthraquinone and stacked DNA bases," said Tao. In addition, they found they could reversibly control the conductance states to make the DNA switch on (high-conductance) or switch-off (low conductance). When anthraquinone has gained the most electrons (its most-reduced state), it is far more conductive, and the team finely mapped out a 3-D picture to account for how anthraquinone controlled the electrical state of the DNA.

For their next project, they hope to extend their studies to get one step closer toward making DNA nano-devices a reality.

"We are particularly excited that the engineered DNA provides a nice tool to examine redox reaction kinetics, and thermodynamics the single molecule level," said Tao.

Explore further: Scientists engineer tunable DNA for electronics applications

More information: Gate-controlled conductance switching in DNA, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14471

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This study proves that our DNA can be very sensitive to small currents and voltages induced by RF or microwaves field at low levels, that are considered safe using smartphones. The safety or electromagnetic fields must be changed and the maximum levels must be strongly decreased below the heating level.

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Switched-on DNA: Sparking nano-electronic applications - Phys.Org

Shine a light: material behaves simultaneously as metal and semiconductor – The Engineer

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

Engineers have developed a material that could reduce signal losses in photonic devices, an advance that could improve the efficiency of fibre optic communication systems, lasers and photovoltaics.

The discovery by engineers at the University of California San Diego is claimed to address one of the biggest challenges in the field of photonics, namely minimising loss of optical signals in plasmonic metamaterials.

Plasmonic metamaterials are materials engineered at the nanoscale to control light and can be used to develop devices ranging from invisibility cloaks to quantum computers. Metamaterials typically contain metals that absorb energy from light and convert it into heat. Consequently, part of the optical signal gets wasted, lowering the efficiency.

In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a team of photonics researchers led by electrical engineering professor Shaya Fainman at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering demonstrated a way to make up for these losses by incorporating a light emitting semiconductor material into the metamaterial.

Were offsetting the loss introduced by the metal with gain from the semiconductor. This combination theoretically could result in zero net absorption of the signal a lossless metamaterial, said Joseph Smalley, an electrical engineering postdoctoral scholar in Fainmans group and the first author of the study.

In their experiments, the researchers are said to have shined light from an infrared laser onto the metamaterial. They found that depending on which way the light is polarised the metamaterial either reflects or emits light.

This is the first material that behaves simultaneously as a metal and a semiconductor. If light is polarised one way, the metamaterial reflects light like a metal, and when light is polarised the other way, the metamaterial absorbs and emits light of a different colour like a semiconductor, Smalley said.

Researchers created the new metamaterial by first growing a crystal of the semiconductor material indium gallium arsenide phosphide on a substrate. They then used high-energy ions from plasma to etch narrow trenches into the semiconductor, creating 40nm rows of semiconductor spaced 40nm apart. Finally, they filled the trenches with silver to create a pattern of alternating nano-sized stripes of semiconductor and silver.

This is a unique way to fabricate this kind of metamaterial, Smalley said.

Nanostructures with different layers are often made by depositing each layer separately one on top of another, Smalley explained, but the semiconductor material used in this study cant be grown on top of any substrate like silver otherwise it will have defects.

Rather than creating a stack of alternating layers, we figured out a way to arrange the materials side by side, like folders in a filing cabinet, keeping the semiconductor material defect-free.

As a next step, the team plans to investigate how much this metamaterial and other versions of it could improve photonic applications that currently suffer from signal losses.

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Shine a light: material behaves simultaneously as metal and semiconductor - The Engineer

XIFIN Executives to Present Sessions on Collaborative Diagnostic Workflows and Novel Diagnostic Technologies at … – Business Wire (press release)

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Danzig

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--XIFIN Inc., the healthcare information technology company revolutionizing the business of healthcare diagnostics, will co-present a session with the University of Chicago on collaborative diagnostic workflows at the Cambridge Healthtech Institutes Fifth Annual Digital Pathology conference, a track at the 24th International Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference being held February 20-22 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

David McClintock, M.D., Medical Director, Pathology Informatics, University of Chicago, and Chrystal Adams, associate vice president, XIFIN, Inc., will present Improving Patient Care Through a Diagnostic Collaboration Workflow. The session, scheduled for Monday, Feb. 20th at 4:10 PM PST, will highlight the need for collaborative and coordinated patient care and discuss how to leverage technology to facilitate an aggregated workflow and communication among diagnostic specialists to inform clinical decision making and support value-based care.

Kyle Fetter, MBA, vice president & general manager of diagnostic services operations, XIFIN, Inc. will also present a session on Thursday, February 23 at 10:00 AM titled, Novel Diagnostic Technologies: Coverage Today and Coverage in the Future. The session will highlight how early stage and wearable diagnostic device companies can overcome hurtles to commercialization and reimbursement and position themselves for success.

The Fifth Annual Digital Pathology conference will offer a range of topics that demonstrate the current activities and effectiveness of digital alternatives for pathology practices, and share insights from distinguished faculty. Technology developments and implementation strategies will be presented in a forum that encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing.

With its Health Economics Optimization platform as a foundation, XIFIN ProNet MDT facilitates the cloud-based exchange of diagnostic images, clinical data and other patient encounter information to support real-time multi-disciplinary collaboration through a shared clinical workflow. This live shared environment helps clinicians collaborate on complex cases, expedite treatment decisions and increase efficiency.

XIFIN ProNet also provides an Internet exchange and turnkey online tool that provides pathologists key capabilities and a powerful consultation platform. Digital slide scanner- and viewer-independent, pathologists can upload whole slide, DICOM, and other medical images to the cloud where they are available on-demand from a single access point, saving both time and money.

Representatives from XIFIN will be available at booth #500 throughout the conference to meet with attendees and discuss how the company is helping healthcare organizations leverage diagnostic information for connected health.

About XIFIN, Inc.

XIFIN is a healthcare information technology company that leverages diagnostic information to improve the quality and economics of healthcare. The companys health economics optimization platform is a connected health solution that facilitates connectivity and workflow automation for accessing and sharing clinical and financial diagnostic data, linking healthcare stakeholders in the delivery and reimbursement of care. To learn more, visit http://www.XIFIN.com or follow XIFIN onTwitterandLinkedIn.

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XIFIN Executives to Present Sessions on Collaborative Diagnostic Workflows and Novel Diagnostic Technologies at ... - Business Wire (press release)

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