About 20 minutes after the first step, Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface and became the second human to set foot on the Moon. Credit: NASA
Countless mysterious objects have been caught by NASA’s cameras, and usually the events can be explained logically. The Science Channel has a show premiering tonight (10 PM EDT and PDT) called NASA’s Unexplained Files, which is part of the channel’s “Are We Alone” features for the month of March. In this broadcast, NASA’s top ten unexplained encounters are discussed, with original footage and special interviews with astronauts and scientists.
A few of the astronauts and scientists who will be on the show include Story Musgrave, astronaut; Dr. Jack Kasher, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and ET researcher; Jim Oberg, space flight operations specialist; Alan Bean, the fourth man to visit the moon; Franklin Chang Diaz, Astronaut; Bruce Maccabee, Optical analyst and former Navy member; and Edgar Mitchell, Apollo astronaut.
Sounding rockets released chemical tracers that created strange milky, white clouds at the edge of space. Credit: NASA
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After several days of delays due to weather and technical issues, NASA has now successfully launched five suborbital sounding rockets in five minutes from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of a study of the upper level jet stream.
The first rocket was launched at 4:58 a.m. EDT and each subsequent rocket was launched 80 seconds apart.
Each of the rockets released a chemical tracer that created psychedelic-looking clouds at the edge of space, which were reported to be seen from as far south as Wilmington, N.C.; west to Charlestown, W. Va.; and north to Buffalo, N.Y.
The above image was taken from one of the official viewing sites by a NASA photographer; below is an image taken by John Anton from New Jersey, as well as more images from NASA, the video showing all the launches and time-lapse video from twolf1 on Vimeo.
Chemical tracers from the ATREX mission as seen from New Jersey in the US. Credit and copyright: John Anton.
The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) is a Heliophysics sounding rocket mission that gathered information to better understand the process responsible for the high-altitude jet stream located 95-105 km (60 to 65 miles) above the surface of the Earth.
Sounding rockets released chemical tracers that created strange milky, white clouds at the edge of space. Credit: NASA Wallops
Scientists from the mission had viewing sites at three locations: the launch site in Virginia, the Rutgers Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, N.J., and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Duck, N.C. Clear skies at all three locations were a prerequisite for the rockets to be launched.
The sounding rockets were two Terrier-Improved Malemutes , two Terrier-Improved Orions and one Terrier-Oriole.
The map of the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. shows the projected area where the rockets may be visible while the motors are burning through flight. It also shows the flight profile of each of the five rockets. Credit: NASA/Wallops
The high-altitude jet stream is higher than the one commonly reported in weather forecasts. The winds found in this upper jet stream typically have speeds of 320 to well over 480 km/hr (200 to over 300 mph) and create rapid transport from the Earth’s mid latitudes to the polar regions. This jet stream is located in the same region where strong electrical currents occur in the ionosphere. It is therefore a region with a lot of electrical turbulence, of the type that can adversely affect satellite and radio communications.
Not only did the rockets release the chemical tracers to allow scientists and the public to “see” the winds in space, but two of the rockets had instrumented payloads to measure the pressure and temperature in the atmosphere at the height of the high-speed winds. NASA will release more information on the outcome of the experiment after scientists have had time to review the data.
Canada’s Dextre robot (highlight) and NASA’s Robotic Refueling Experiment jointly performed groundbreaking robotics research aboard the ISS in March 2012. Dextre used its hands to grasp specialized work tools on the RRM for experiments to repair and refuel orbiting satellites. Credit: NASA
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A combined team of American and Canadian engineers has taken a major first step forward by successfully applying new, first-of-its-kind robotics research conducted aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to the eventual repair and refueling of high value orbiting space satellites, and which has the potential to one day bring about billions of dollars in cost savings for the government and commercial space sectors.
Gleeful researchers from both nations shouted “Yeah !!!” – after successfully using the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment – bolted outside the ISS- as a technology test bed to demonstrate that a remotely controlled robot in the vacuum of space could accomplish delicate work tasks requiring extremely precise motion control. The revolutionary robotics experiment could extend the usable operating life of satellites already in Earth orbit that were never even intended to be worked upon.
“After dedicating many months of professional and personal time to RRM, it was a great emotional rush and a reassurance for me to see the first video stream from an RRM tool,” said Justin Cassidy in an exclusive in-depth interview with Universe Today. Cassidy is RRM Hardware Manager at the NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Astronuats Install Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment during Shuttle Era's Final Spacewalk
In March 2012, RRM and Canada’s Dextre Robot jointly acccomplised fundamental leap forward in robotics research aboard the ISS. Spacewalker Mike Fossum rides on the International Space Station's robotic arm as he carries the Robotic Refueling Mission experiment. This was the final scheduled spacewalk during a shuttle mission. Credit: NASA
And the RRM team already has plans to carry out even more ambitious follow on experiments starting as soon as this summer, including the highly anticipated transfer of fluids to simulate an actual satellite refueling that could transfigure robotics applications in space – see details below !
All of the robotic operations at the station were remotely controlled by flight controllers from the ground. The purpose of remote control and robotics is to free up the ISS human crew so they can work on other important activities and conduct science experiments requiring on-site human thought and intervention.
Dextre "hangs out" in space with two Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) tools in its "hands." The RRM module is in the foreground. Credit: NASA
Over a three day period from March 7 to 9, engineers performed joint operations between NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) experiment and the Canadian Space Agency’s (CSA) robotic “handyman” – the Dextre robot. Dextre is officially dubbed the SPDM or Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator.
On the first day, robotic operators on Earth remotely maneuvered the 12-foot (3.7 meter) long Dextre “handyman” to the RRM experiment using the space station’s Canadian built robotic arm (SSRMS).
Dextre’s “hand” – technically known as the “OTCM” – then grasped and inspected three different specialized satellite work tools housed inside the RRM unit . Comprehensive mechanical and electrical evaluations of the Safety Cap Tool, the Wire Cutter and Blanket Manipulation Tool, and the Multifunction Tool found that all three tools were functioning perfectly.
RRM Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) experiment is equipped with integral camera and LED lights -
on display at Kennedy Space Center Press Site. Dextre robot grasped the WCT with its hands and successfully snipped 2 ultra thin wires during the March 2012 RRM experiments. Credit: Ken Kremer
“Our teams mechanically latched the Canadian “Dextre” robot’s “hand” onto the RRM Safety Cap Tool (SCT). The RRM SCT is the first on orbit unit to use the video capability of the Dextre OTCM hand,” Cassidy explained.
“At the beginning of tool operations, mission controllers mechanically drove the OTCM’s electrical umbilical forward to mate it with the SCT’s integral electronics box. When the power was applied to that interface, our team was able to see that on Goddard’s large screen TVs – the SCT’s “first light” video showed a shot of the tool within the RRM stowage bay (see photo).
Shot of the Safety Cap Tool (SCT) tool within the RRM stowage bay. Credit NASA RRM
“Our team burst into a shout out of “Yeah!” to commend this successful electrical functional system checkout.”
Dextre then carried out assorted tasks aimed at testing how well a variety of representative gas fittings, valves, wires and seals located on the outside of the RRM module could be manipulated. It released safety launch locks and meticulously cut two extremely thin satellite lock wires – made of steel – and measuring just 20 thousandths of an inch (0.5 millimeter) in diameter.
“The wire cutting event was just minutes in duration. But both wire cutting tasks took approximately 6 hours of coordinated, safe robotic operations. The lock wire had been routed, twisted and tied on the ground at the interface of the Ambient Cap and T-Valve before flight,” said Cassidy.
This RRM exercise represents the first time that the Dextre robot was utilized for a technology research and development project on the ISS, a major expansion of its capabilities beyond those of robotic maintenance of the massive orbiting outpost.
Video Caption: Dextre’s Robotic Refueling Mission: Day 2. The second day of Dextre’s most demanding mission wrapped up successfully on March 8, 2012 as the robotic handyman completed his three assigned tasks. Credit: NASA/CSA
Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) Camera View of Ambient Cap Wire Cutting. Courtesy: Justin Cassidy to Universe Today. Credit NASA RRM
Altogether the three days of operations took about 43 hours, and proceeded somewhat faster than expected because they were as close to nominal as could be expected.
“Days 1 and 2 ran about 18 hours,” said Charles Bacon, the RRM Operations Lead/Systems Engineer at NASA Goddard, to Universe Today. “Day 3 ran approximately 7 hours since we finished all tasks early. All three days baselined 18 hours, with the team working in two shifts. So the time was as expected, and actually a little better since we finished early on the last day.”
Wire Cutter Tool (WCT) Camera View of T-Valve Wire Cutting. Courtesy: Justin Cassidy to Universe Today. Credit NASA RRM
“For the last several months, our team has been setting the stage for RRM on-orbit demonstrations,” Cassidy told me. “Just like a theater production, we have many engineers behind the scenes who have provided development support and continue to be a part of the on-orbit RRM operations.”
“At each stage of RRM—from preparation, delivery, installation and now the operations—I am taken aback by the immense efforts that many diverse teams have contributed to make RRM happen. The Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center teamed with Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Marshall Space Flight Center and the Canadian Space Agency control center in St. Hubert, Quebec to make RRM a reality.”
“The success of RRM operations to date on the International Space Station (ISS) using Dextre is a testament to the excellence of NASA’s many organizations and partners,” Cassidy explained.
The three day “Gas Fittings Removal task” was an initial simulation to practice techniques essential for robotically fixing malfunctioning satellites and refueling otherwise nominally operating satellites to extend to hopefully extend their performance lifetimes for several years.
Ground-based technicians use the fittings and valves to load all the essential fluids, gases and fuels into a satellites storage tanks prior to launch and which are then sealed, covered and normally never accessed again.
“The impact of the space station as a useful technology test bed cannot be overstated,” says Frank Cepollina, associate director of the Satellite Servicing Capabilities Office (SSCO) at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
“Fresh satellite-servicing technologies will be demonstrated in a real space environment within months instead of years. This is huge. It represents real progress in space technology advancement.”
Four more upcoming RRM experiments tentatively set for this year will demonstrate the ability of a remote-controlled robot to remove barriers and refuel empty satellite gas tanks in space thereby saving expensive hardware from prematurely joining the orbital junkyard.
The timing of future RRM operations can be challenging and depends on the availability of Dextre and the SSRMS arm which are also heavily booked for many other ongoing ISS operations such as spacewalks, maintenance activities and science experiments as well as berthing and/or unloading a steady stream of critical cargo resupply ships such as the Progress, ATV, HTV, Dragon and Cygnus.
Flexibility is key to all ISS operations. And although the station crew is not involved with RRM, their activities might be.
“While the crew itself does not rely on Dextre for their operations, Dextre ops can indirectly affect what the crew can or can’t do,” Bacon told me. “For example, during our RRM operations the crew cannot perform certain physical exercise activities because of how that motion could affect Dextre’s movement.”
Here is a list of forthcoming RRM operations – pending ISS schedule constraints:
Refueling (summer 2012) – After Dextre opens up a fuel valve that is similar to those commonly used on satellites today, it will transfer liquid ethanol into it through a sophisticated robotic fueling hose.
Thermal Blanket Manipulation (TBD 2012)- Dextre will practice slicing off thermal blanket tape and folding back a thermal blanket to reveal the contents underneath.
Electrical Cap Removal (TBD 2012)- Dextre will remove the caps that would typically cover a satellite’s electrical receptacle.
http://youtu.be/LboVN38ZdgU
RRM was carried to orbit inside the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis during July 2011 on the final shuttle mission (STS-135) of NASA’s three decade long shuttle program and then mounted on an external work platform on the ISS backbone truss by spacewalking astronauts. The project is a joint effort between NASA and CSA.
“This is what success is all about. With RRM, we are truly paving the way for future robotic exploration and satellite servicing,” Cassidy concluded. Full size Mock up of RRM box and experiment tool at KSC Press Site
Equipment Tool movements and manipulations by Dextre robot are simulated by NASA Goddard RRM manager Justin Cassidy. Credit: Ken Kremer
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March 24 (Sat): Free Lecture by Ken Kremer at the New Jersey Astronomical Association, Voorhees State Park, NJ at 830 PM. Topic: Atlantis, the End of Americas Shuttle Program, RRM, Orion, SpaceX, CST-100 and the Future of NASA Human & Robotic Spaceflight
Animation of Tethys passing in front of Dione from Cassini's point of view. (CLICK TO PLAY)
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Saturn’s moon Tethys passes in front of its slightly larger sister Dione in this animation made from 25 raw images acquired by Cassini on March 14, 2012. Pretty cool! (Click the image to play.)
Tethys and Dione (NASA/JPL/SSI)
Tethys and Dione are similar in diameter, being 1,062 kilometers (660 miles) wide and 1,123 kilometers (698 miles) wide, respectively. Both are heavily cratered, ice-rich worlds.
In this view, Tethys’ enormous Odysseus crater can be seen on its northern hemisphere. 400 km (250 miles) across, Odysseus is two-fifths the diameter of Tethys itself, suggesting that it was created early in the moon’s history when it was still partially molten — or else the impact would have shattered the moon apart entirely.
The more extensively-cratered trailing side of Dione is visible here, its signature “wispy lines” rotated out of view. Since it makes sense that a moon’s leading face should be more heavily cratered, it’s thought that Dione has been spun around by an impact event in the distant past.
If you look closely, a slight rotation in Tethys can also be discerned from the first frame to the last.
The Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) is scheduled to launch the first unmanned Orion crew cabin into a high altitude Earth orbit in 2014 atop a Delta 4 Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Artist’s concept. Credit: NASA
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NASA is on course to make the highest leap in human spaceflight in nearly 4 decades when an unmanned Orion crew capsule blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a high stakes, high altitude test flight in early 2014.
A new narrated animation (see below) released by NASA depicts the planned 2014 launch of the Orion spacecraft on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission to the highest altitude orbit reached by a spaceship intended for humans since the Apollo Moon landing Era.
Orion is NASA’s next generation human rated spacecraft and designed for missions to again take humans to destinations beyond low Earth orbit- to the Moon, Mars, Asteroids and Beyond to deep space.
Orion Video Caption – Orion: Exploration Flight Test-1 Animation (with narration by Jay Estes). This animation depicts the proposed test flight of the Orion spacecraft in 2014. Narration by Jay Estes, Deputy for flight test integration in the Orion program.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems is making steady progress constructing the Orion crew cabin that will launch atop a Delta 4 Heavy booster rocket on a two orbit test flight to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles and test the majority of Orion’s vital vehicle systems.
The capsule will then separate from the upper stage, re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at a speed exceeding 20,000 MPH, deploy a trio of huge parachutes and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of California.
Lockheed Martin is responsible for conducting the critical EFT-1 flight under contract to NASA.
Orion will reach an altitude 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) circling in low orbit some 250 miles above Earth and provide highly valuable in-flight engineering data that will be crucial for continued development of the spaceship.
Orion Exploration Flight Test One Overview. Credit: NASA
“This flight test is a challenge. It will be difficult. We have a lot of confidence in our design, but we are certain that we will find out things we do not know,” said NASA’s Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer.
“Having the opportunity to do that early in our development is invaluable, because it will allow us to make adjustments now and address them much more efficiently than if we find changes are needed later. Our measure of success for this test will be in how we apply all of those lessons as we move forward.”
Lockheed Martin is nearing completion of the initial assembly of the Orion EFT-1 capsule at NASA’s historic Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, which for three decades built all of the huge External Fuel Tanks for the NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
In May, the Orion will be shipped to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final assembly and eventual integration atop the Delta 4 Heavy rocket booster and launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at nearby Cape Canaveral. The Delta 4 is built by United Launch Alliance.
The first integrated launch of an uncrewed Orion is scheduled for 2017 on the first flight of NASA’s new heavy lift rocket, the SLS or Space Launch System that will replace the now retired Space Shuttle orbiters
Continued progress on Orion, the SLS and all other NASA programs – manned and unmanned – is fully dependent on the funding level of NASA’s budget which has been significantly slashed by political leaders of both parties in Washington, DC in recent years.
…….
March 24 (Sat): Free Lecture by Ken Kremer at the New Jersey Astronomical Association, Voorhees State Park, NJ at 830 PM. Topic: Atlantis, the End of Americas Shuttle Program, Orion, SpaceX, CST-100 and the Future of NASA Human & Robotic Spaceflight
NASA’s new Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, John Grunsfeld, speaking the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on March 19, 2012. Credit: John Blackwell/USRA
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“Flat is the new up,” said NASA’s new Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, John Grunsfeld, attempting to bring a bit of levity to the outlook for NASA’s proposed 2013 budget. Grunsfeld was speaking to a shellshocked community that will be taking the biggest hit in the NASA budget decrease: planetary scientists attending the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference this week in The Woodlands, Texas. There weren’t many jokes or laughs during Grunsfeld’s talk; nor from Jim Green, NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director. Both gave short remarks and then answered questions from the audience at “NASA Night,” the annual NASA Headquarters briefing event at LPSC.
“I wish I had a good succinct answer that this was punitive for overruns on the Mars Science Lab or JWST (James Webb Space Telescope), but this is not a Pavlovian system,” said Grunsfeld. “It comes down to tough trades: do we cut across the board, or do we pick some area? Sadly, it was decided that planetary science was the area.”
President Obama’s proposed FY 2013 budget would eliminate $300 million from the agency’s Planetary Sciences Division, a 21% cut from the $1.5 billion it received for 2012.
“We essentially lost the ability to create new missions,” Grunsfeld said.
Sitting among the people who, because of this proposed budget “whacking” (as Grunsfeld called it), will likely lose jobs or see their life’s work delayed or canceled, it was hard not to believe that this particular budgetary decision is wrong in every way possible. NASA would be slashing what many believe is the space agency’s most successful program.
“A 20% budget cut will likely equal 20% loss of jobs,” one commenter from the audience said. “People who land missions on Mars will lose their jobs, and when we get to the stage of landing humans on Mars, those with the know-how won’t be there.”
President Obama has stated he will see astronauts on Mars in his lifetime, so the plan to put the Mars program essentially on hold is extremely short-sighted, if not ironic.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is these cuts will most deeply impact the youth in our field,” wrote Dr. Pamela Gay in her StarStryder blog. “Many senior people who normally can find funding for themselves and a small fleet of postdocs and students will now just be funding themselves. It’s hard. It’s ugly. Especially when we work so hard to get people to get educations in this field.”
Planetary scientist Jim Bell, who is also President of The Planetary Society, along with Bill Nye, TPS’s Executive Director, both gave impassioned pleas for everyone – and especially for Grunsfeld and Green – to “fight back” against the cuts and request a review of “the largest crisis facing Planetary Science.”
Grunsfeld said he and Green are there to fight for the scientists and the missions. “Jim (Green) could have thrown his badge on the table (in response to the budget proposal), but he decided to stay and fight,” Grunsfeld said. He offered hope by reminding everyone how in 2004 when he was NASA’s chief scientist, the decision was made to not do the final repair mission to Hubble. That decision was eventually reversed. “History tends to repeat itself,” he said.
Jim Green, NASA’s Planetary Science Division Director speaking at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on March 19, 2012. Credit: John Blackwell/USRA.
Grunsfeld and Green both stressed how the scientists — and anyone in attendance or watching the webcast of the event — should spread the word to the general public about the importance of planetary science and also about contacting their congress-people – the ones who make the final decision about the budget.
“Without question, we must keep our eye on the ball this year,” Green said. “Our top priority for the Planetary Science Division this year is to make the landing of the Curiosity rover a success. Tell everyone about this, relate this to your neighbor. We should not let this opportunity go by without relaying it to our stakeholders, the general public. This is such an important event, and a success will compel this nation to invest more in planetary science.”
But yet, NASA’s Education and Public Outreach budget has been cut from $136 million in FY12 to $100 million in the FY13 request.
The ExoMars program. Credit: ESA
One of the most perplexing issues about the budget cuts is how NASA’s involvement in future international Mars missions, an orbiter and lander called ExoMars — with instruments and science teams already selected for parts of the mission — would be cancelled. This leaves the international partners in the lurch, damages NASA’s reputation among the international science community and puts in doubt the possibility of any future collaboration.
Yet, Green said in his talk that NASA needs to “deliver on our international commitment,” and NASA officials often tout the incredible success of the international cooperation of the International Space Station – saying it is a model for future international missions.
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has asked the Science Mission Directorate and Grunsfeld to reformulate an agency-wide Mars exploration strategy, where they are now suggesting a smaller, US-only Mars mission in 2018.
But could a smaller mission be less expensive and offer anywhere near the amount of science that could have been attained with the joint ExoMars mission?
“Can we recapture the Mars program?” Grunsfeld asked. “We’re not just going to look at 2018 mission but a much larger Mars program. It will be an enormous amount of work, not new analysis, but compiling inputs you (the scientists) have made in the past, and where we are in the science to see what kind of path forward makes sense.”
Grusnfeld and Green also suggested a future melding of science and human spaceflight-related missions as a way to get more funding for Mars missions. But when asked by Universe Today for an example of a “dream” Mars science mission within a scenario of a human spaceflight precursor, neither could come up with a really enticing idea.
However, Grunsfeld said science at NASA would stand to benefit from developments in human exploration and space technology. “It might be a bit of a stretch, but imagine what kind of planetary mission you could launch with a 70 metric ton launch capability,” he said, referring to the Space Launch System’s big rocket that is in the preliminary stages of being developed for future human mission to either an asteroid, the Moon or Mars.
One piece of good news: Green announced that the GRAIL mission has already received a mission extension, as well as MESSENGER, which was announced earlier. Still hanging in the balance are extended missions such as for Kepler and MER, the decisions on which will be made by this summer, Green said.
The outlook for the start-up of production of Pu-238 is not brilliant – and for any future outer planet mission, this is crucial for power for the spacecraft, and ultimately, for science. The Department of Energy did not receive any funding for a re-start, so it looks as though NASA may have to go it alone and pay the entire costs of start-up and reproduction.
Surely, it was a tough situation for Green and Grunsfeld to be in, especially for Grunsfeld – a true scientist, astronaut and ‘Hubble Hugger’ who just started his new job at NASA HQ in January. “I’m trying to look at big picture. I come from an environment where I’ve loved the partnership between humans and science. When NASA has done well overall, science has done well. So we are in tough times, and NASA needs to have a cohesive vision.”
So, it may come down to grassroots support for NASA to possibly change the current of action. While the administration proposes a budget, but it’s Congress that actually enacts the budget and appropriates the money, so anyone who is passionate on this subject needs to contact their representatives.
Inspired by Neil de Grasse Tyson’s recent suggestion during testimony to Congress (see video below) that NASA should receive a full penny on the dollar of the national budget ($37.5 Billion) instead of less than half a cent at the $17.7 billion now proposed, a student named John Zeller has started a website, Penny4NASA., which offers templates for letters to Congress, petitions on Change.org and more.
The Planetary Society is also mounting a campaign to restore the science funding to NASA.
We’ll add more links to ways to support science and planetary missions as they come in.
This video is a compilation of different time-lapses taken from the ISS over the past several months, edited by Alex Rivest and shared on Vimeo. It shows just how incredible the stars can appear from the night side of our planet… and 240 miles up!
Drown yourself in stunning images from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center set to awesome music from indie band One Ring Zero. Don’t hold back, just dive right in. You’ll love it, we promise.
To honor the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s amazing 1,000 days in science-filled orbit, the LRO team at Goddard Space Flight Center has created a wonderful video tour of the lunar surface like you’ve never seen it before!
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“Tour of the Moon” takes viewers to several breathtaking locations on the Moon, including Orientale Basin, Shackleton crater, Tycho crater, Aristarchus Plateau, Mare Serenitatis, Compton-Belkovich volcano, Tsiolkovsky crater and more. The fully narrated video is above, and clips from each of the stops on the tour are available in many other formats here.
In addition, another video highlighting the dramatic evolution of the Moon was released today… you can view the full narrated version in 2D and stereoscopic 3D here.
iPad owners can also download the NASA Viz app to see this and other NASA stories, updated twice a week.
SDO AIA 211 image showing a large triangular hole in the Sun's corona on March 13
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An enormous triangular hole in the Sun’s corona was captured earlier today by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, seen above from the AIA 211 imaging assembly. This gap in the Sun’s atmosphere is allowing more charged solar particles to stream out into the Solar System… and toward Earth as well.
Normally, loops of magnetic energy keep much of the Sun’s outward flow of gas contained. Coronal holes are regions — sometimes very large regions, such as the one witnessed today — where the magnetic fields don’t loop back onto the Sun but instead stream outwards, creating channels for solar material to escape.
The material constantly flowing outward is called the solar wind, which typically “blows” at around 250 miles (400 km) per second. When a coronal hole is present, though, the wind speed can double to nearly 500 miles (800 km) per second.
Increased geomagnetic activity and even geomagnetic storms may occur once the gustier solar wind reaches Earth, possibly within two to three days.
The holes appear dark in SDO images because they are cooler than the rest of the corona, which is extremely hot — around 1,000,000 C (1,800,000 F)!
Here’s another image, this one in another AIA channel (193):
