NASA Awards SETI Institute Contract for Planetary Protection
As we continue to venture out and research the possibility of life in outer space, an important consideration is the protection of Earth and other planets in our solar system and beyond, from biological contamination. In early July, NASAs Office of Planetary Protection awarded the SETI Institute with the contract to support all phases of current and future missions to ensure compliance with planetary protection standards.
As we return to the Moon, look for evidence of past or present life on Mars and continue our missions of exploration and discovery in the Solar System, Planetary Protection becomes an increasingly important component of mission planning and execution, said Bill Diamond, President and CEO of the SETI Institute. We are proud to be NASAs partner for this mission-critical function, protecting Earth from backward contamination, and helping ensure that the life we may find on other worlds, didnt come from our own.
Whether through telescopes, binoculars or even with the naked eye, many are observing the July light show put on by C/2020 F3, otherwise known as Comet NEOWISE, named after the space telescope instrumental in finding it, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) telescope.
Comets are like cats, says Franck Marchis, an astronomer at the SETI Institute. They are unpredictable. If Comet NEOWISEs outgassing exhausts its reserves of icy material, its bright tail could dissipate, effectively removing the object from view. On the other extreme, ongoing heating from the sun could cause the comet to disintegrate in a bright outburst, potentially resulting in a highly visible great comet of historic significance. This possibility would be a spectacular event and a great show for the earthlings, Marchis says. But personally, I recommend walking up early and going to see it now, while we know its here.
Two scientists at Omni Calculator have combined the Drake Equation, created by Frank Drake in 1961, and a new method called the Astrobiological Copernican Limits to create the Alien Civilization Calculator. They use this calculator to estimate the number of technologically advanced civilizations that could potentially exist in our galaxy.
In November 2019, NASA researchers identified a repeating pattern of orbit between two of Neptunes inner moons, Naiad and Thalassa, known as the dance of avoidance. The unusual dance continues and has likely been there a very long time, according to Planetary Astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute.
"We are always excited to find these co-dependencies between moons," said planetary astronomer Mark Showalter, from the SETI Institute.
"Naiad and Thalassa have probably been locked together in this configuration for a very long time, because it makes their orbits more stable. They maintain the peace by never getting too close."
Check out Weekly Space Hangout with astrophysicist Dr. Andrew Siemion, Director of the Berkeley SETI Research Center and the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute.
Big Picture Science
Transmission surprises
Some dogs and cats have become sick with COVID. But its not just domestic critters that are vulnerable: zoo animals have fallen ill too. Theres more strange news about the pandemic, for example scientists who track the coronavirus in our sewage, and computer models that show that flushing the toilet can launch persistent, pathogenic plumes into the room. And scientists have warned the WHO that infectious virus remains airborne. Also, how a shortage of glass vials could delay the deployment of a vaccine.
Join guests Yvette Johnson-Walker, Rolf Halden and Bryan Bzdek as they discuss interesting pandemic phenomena in COVID Curiosities.
Uniquely human
Your cat is smart, but its ability to choreograph a ballet or write computer code isnt great. A lot of animals are industrious and clever, but humans are the only animal that is uniquely ingenious and creative.
Neuroscientist David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt discuss how human creativity has reshaped the world. Find out what is going on in your brain when you write a novel, paint a watercolor, or build a whatchamacallit in your garage.
But isHomo sapiensclaim on creativity destined to be short-lived? Why both Eagleman and Brandt are prepared to step aside when artificial intelligence can do their jobs.
Tune in here to this repeat edition of Creative Brains, originally aired February 5, 2018.
For more information and the archive of past shows, visit the Big Picture Science website.
SETI Live
Recent SETI Live episodes include:
Frontier Development Lab Knowledge Discovery Framework - NASA has an exceptionally large archive of Earth Science data. How can machine learning and artificial intelligence unlock new insights and enable new types of scientific research? A prototype of a Knowledge Discovery Framework (KDF) enables users to sift through data and identify patterns. This Frontier Development Lab team is developing tools that allow users to provide an example image so AI can find similar images in the data, addressing a gap in current search tools. An AI-driven KDF will have applications for disaster response, monitoring climate change and more. Team members are: Francesco Civilini (NASA postdoctoral fellow at Marshall Space Flight Center), Megan Seeley (PhD student at Arizona State University), Nishan Srishankar (Worcester Polytech Institute), and Satyarth Praveen (University of Maryland, College Park).
Frontier Development Lab Starspots Team - Starspots are cooler, darker areas on the surface of a star that form when regions of the stars magnetic field block the flow of heat and energy to the stellar surface. Understanding the surface features of stars could provide insights about stellar magnetism and its impact on exoplanet habitability. This FDL team will be using applied AI and machine learning tools and processes to Kepler and TESS data to identify and define the properties of starspots, stellar rotation, and stellar magnetism in tens of thousands of stars, and increase our understanding of our own Sun as a star. Join us for a conversation with team members Daniel Giles (Illinois Institute of Technology and Adler Planetarium), J. Emmanuel Johnson (University of Valencia, Spain), Lisseth Gavilan-Main (NASA Ames Research Center) and Stela Ishitani Silva (Catholic University of American and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) for a discussion about the starspots challenge they are tackling and what they are learning.
As always, videos of all past Facebook Live events can be found on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SETIInstitute/
Or on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/SETIInstitute
Go here to see the original:
SETI Institute in the News Media Roundup. July 1 July 15, 2020 - SETI Institute
- Armadillo’s Level 2 LLC attempt coming soon? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Decisions, decisions - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Armadillo versus the weather - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Photos from Armadillo’s Saturday flights - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Armadillo Level 2 Flight 1 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Meanwhile, elsewhere in the LLC race - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Masten gets halfway there - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Xombie photos (finally!) - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is the media clowning around? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Galactic Suite “on schedule”? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Scientist Guest Column: Using Commercial Suborbital Spacecraft for Microgravity Chemistry Research - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Building Spaceport Infrastructure: An Overview of the STIM-Grants Program - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Five Years After SpaceShipOne’s Historic X PRIZE Flight, New Challenges Await - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Masten Space Systems Makes Successful Flights to Qualify for $150K NASA Lunar Lander Prize Level 1 - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Distinguished Former NASA Astronauts Endorse Commercial Spaceflight in Wall Street Journal Op-Ed - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Chief Praises Commercial Spaceflight, Suborbital Science, & Innovation Prizes in Speech - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- CSF Welcomes Strong Support for Commercial Human Spaceflight in White House Panel’s Report - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Bretton Alexander Appointed to the NASA Advisory Council - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- In November 5th Public Ceremony, NASA to Award $1.65 Million In Prizes for Commercial Spaceflight Successes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- CSF Congratulates Winners of NASA’s $2 Million Lunar Lander Challenge - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Welcome to the NewSpace Journal - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Some things even Virgin can’t control - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- While you’re waiting for the rollout… - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- SpaceShipTwo rollout: initial impressions - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- A couple of pics - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- SpaceShipTwo slideshow - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The Virgin party’s aftermath - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Investment in Commercial Spaceflight Grows to $1.46 Billion, Updated Industry Study Reveals - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Former Astronaut-Astronomer, Sam Durrance, Joins the CSF Suborbital Researchers Group - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Announces Creation and Initial Membership of Spaceports Council - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- CSF President Bretton Alexander Testifies Before House Science Committee on Spaceflight Safety - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- CSF Vice-Chairman Jeff Greason Testifies Before House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Commercial Spaceflight Regulation - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- So that’s why Aabar invested in Virgin? - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- More about the Virgin rollout aftermath - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Space tourism as “the final undiscovered frontier”? - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Orion Propulsion acquired - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Spaceport America developments - December 18th, 2009 [December 18th, 2009]
- XCOR wins a major customer - December 19th, 2009 [December 19th, 2009]
- Centennial Challenges, Spaceport Infrastructure Grants, and Suborbital Science to Receive Funds from NASA and FAA - December 22nd, 2009 [December 22nd, 2009]
- Video tour of Spaceport America - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- Virgin’s web traffic planning - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- List of Speakers Announced for the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in February - December 31st, 2009 [December 31st, 2009]
- Popular Science Features Commercial Spaceflight on January Cover, Discusses NASA Partnerships - January 4th, 2010 [January 4th, 2010]
- Aviation Week honors the “Space Entrepreneur” - January 5th, 2010 [January 5th, 2010]
- “The Space Entrepreneur” Named by Aviation Week Magazine As Its 2009 Person of the Year - January 5th, 2010 [January 5th, 2010]
- Additional notes about Olsen’s book - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Registration deadline approaching for suborbital science conference - January 8th, 2010 [January 8th, 2010]
- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver to Keynote the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in February - January 11th, 2010 [January 11th, 2010]
- Cecil Field gets spaceport license – but will anyone use it? - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- Training begins for suborbital scientist-astronauts - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- First Class of Suborbital Scientist-Astronauts Successfully Complete NASTAR Training Program - January 14th, 2010 [January 14th, 2010]
- Is “space tour guide” in your professional future? - January 17th, 2010 [January 17th, 2010]
- What can Florida, Indiana, and others learn from Oklahoma? - January 17th, 2010 [January 17th, 2010]
- Virginia wants money, New Mexico wants laws - January 21st, 2010 [January 21st, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Responds to the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel’s 2009 Annual Report - January 21st, 2010 [January 21st, 2010]
- CSF Statement on NASA’s Anticipated Announcement of a $6 Billion Commercial Crew Program and NASA Budget Increase - January 29th, 2010 [January 29th, 2010]
- CSF Welcomes New NASA Human Spaceflight Plan, Congratulates Commercial Crew Development Winners - February 1st, 2010 [February 1st, 2010]
- NASA Unveils Commercial Human Spaceflight Development Agreements and Announces $50 Million in Seed Funding for Commercial Crew - February 3rd, 2010 [February 3rd, 2010]
- James Cameron Endorses Commercial Spaceflight, New NASA Plan - February 4th, 2010 [February 4th, 2010]
- Newt Gingrich and Bob Walker Endorse Obama’s New NASA Plan, Urge Bipartisan Support - February 13th, 2010 [February 13th, 2010]
- Blue Origin proposes orbital vehicle - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- CSF Announces New Research and Education Affiliates Program, Initial Participating Universities - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- CSF Welcomes Historic NASA Commitment of $75 Million for Commercial Suborbital Flights, Payloads - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- Suborbital vehicle development updates - February 19th, 2010 [February 19th, 2010]
- Other conference announcements - February 21st, 2010 [February 21st, 2010]
- Bigger prizes to come? - February 23rd, 2010 [February 23rd, 2010]
- Gov. Bill Richardson Endorses Commercial Spaceflight, Obama’s New NASA Plan - February 23rd, 2010 [February 23rd, 2010]
- Over 250 People Attend Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference, 2011 Meeting Planned for Florida - February 24th, 2010 [February 24th, 2010]
- Boston Globe, Nature, New York Times Editorial Boards Among Others Welcoming New NASA Plan - February 25th, 2010 [February 25th, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation Commends New Mexico for Passage of Key Liability Legislation - March 2nd, 2010 [March 2nd, 2010]
- Burt Rutan’s BigThink - March 3rd, 2010 [March 3rd, 2010]
- Brief notes: Soyuz, Virgin, and… iCarly? - March 5th, 2010 [March 5th, 2010]
- Commercial Spaceflight Federation 2009 Annual Report Highlights Industry Progress - March 8th, 2010 [March 8th, 2010]
- SpaceShipTwo flies, on schedule - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- SpaceShipTwo captive carry flight video - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Over the Mojave Desert, Suborbital Vehicles Take Flight - March 28th, 2010 [March 28th, 2010]
- See WK2 and SS2 fly in New Mexico this October - March 29th, 2010 [March 29th, 2010]
- SA10: Commercial RLV Technology Roadmap update - April 9th, 2010 [April 9th, 2010]
- An evolving Armadillo - April 11th, 2010 [April 11th, 2010]