NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine: September 2019

NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine: September 2019

Read KSC's September 2019 Spaceport Magazine (Free 18-Page PDF)
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/spaceport-magazine.html
Direct Download:
https://www.nasa.gov/…/…/files/spaceportmagazinesept2019.pdf
In the September 2019 issue:
· Engineer earning crawler-transporter certification for Artemis I

· Kennedy leaders share experiences during panel discussion

· Northrop Grumman first partner to use Vehicle Assembly Building

· ICON mission to launch on Pegasus XL rocket

· Pad 39B water flow tests comes through loud and clear

· VAB Utility Annex gets upgrades for Artemis I

· Innovators’ Launchpad: Kevin Grossman

· Award-winning filmmaker addresses concerns with bias

· RPSF Facility ready for Artemis I

· SpaceX, NASA complete crucial astronaut recovery exercise

Spaceport Magazine is a monthly NASA publication that serves Kennedy Space Center employees and the American public. The magazine’s wide topic variety mirrors Kennedy's diverse spaceport operations. From launch processing to center development and employee stories, Spaceport Magazine covers it all.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Release Date: October 1, 2019

#NASA #KSC #Space #Science #Astronomy #Earth #SLS #Rocket #Orion #Artemis #MobileLauncher #Crawler #ISS #CommercialCrew #Mars #Moon #Astronauts #Women #Kennedy #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #Magazine #PDF #STEM #Education

Inside NASA's Kennedy Space Center! | Week of Oct. 4, 2019

Inside NASA's Kennedy Space Center! | Week of Oct. 4, 2019

A full-scale mock-up of the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage arrived at Kennedy Space Center. It will be used to practice stacking maneuvers and other procedures before the actual hardware arrives to be processed for the Artemis I mission. Also, the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) is at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. ICON, which is sealed inside a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, will be air-launched by the company’s L-1011 aircraft, Stargazer, as it flies off Florida’s east coast on Oct. 9.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Duration: 1 minute, 33 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #SLS #Rocket #Orion #Artemis #Moon #Mars #JourneyToMars #SolarSystem #Exploration #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Kennedy #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

Expedition 60 Crew Returns Safely from Space Station | This Week @NASA

Expedition 60 Crew Returns Safely from Space Station

This Week @NASA

Oct. 4, 2019: A safe conclusion to the latest long-duration spaceflight, calling on industry to help us accelerate our return to the Moon, and practice makes perfect—before the real thing . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Duration: 3 minutes, 27 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Soyuz #Research #Microgravity #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #NickHague #AndrewMorgan #ESA #LucaParmitano #Italia #Italy #Cosmonauts #AlexeyOvchinin #AlexanderSkvortsov #OlegSkripochka #Russia #Россия #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #UnitedStates #Moon #STEM #Education #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: A Slew of Spacewalks

NASA's Space to Ground: A Slew of Spacewalks

Week of October 4, 2019 | NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

This week three crew members said goodbye to station. The remaining crew prepares for the first in a series of five complex spacewalks to upgrade the station's external batteries.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 11 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Soyuz #Research #Microgravity #EVA #Spacewalks #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #NickHague #AndrewMorgan #ESA #LucaParmitano #Italia #Italy #Cosmonauts #AlexeyOvchinin #AlexanderSkvortsov #OlegSkripochka #Russia #Россия #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

U.S. Ranger Under the Milky Way

U.S. Ranger Under the Milky Way

A ranger adjusts a telescope during an international dark sky park celebration at Arches National Park in Utah.

Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, 4 miles (6 km) north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, as well as a variety of unique geological resources and formations. The park contains the highest density of natural arches in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

Credit: U.S. National Park Service/William Pedro

Location: State of Utah, United States
Image Date: September 20, 2019

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Earth #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Stars #Astrophotography #Photography #Panorama #Art #Arches #NationalPark #NPS #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Skywatching: What's Up for October 2019 | NASA/JPL

Skywatching: What's Up for October 2019 | NASA/JPL

What can you see in the October sky? Join the global celebration of International Observe the Moon Night on Oct. 5th, then try to catch the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune, which are well placed for viewing in the late-night sky.

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Duration: 2 minutes, 56 seconds
Release Date: October 2, 2019

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Moon #Planets #Uranus #Neptune #Sun #SolarSystem #Stars #Constellations #MilkyWay #Galaxy #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

Peculiar Sounds on Mars: What NASA's InSight Robot Lander 'Hears'

Peculiar Sounds on Mars

What NASA's InSight Robot Lander 'Hears'

NASA's InSight lander placed a seismometer on the Martian surface to study marsquakes. While it's found many, it has also detected other kinds of seismic signals, including some produced by the spacecraft itself. That includes wind gusts, InSight's robotic arm moving around and "dinks and donks," friction caused by parts inside the seismometer moving against each other as the temperature changes.

Put on your headphones and you can hear sonifications of this seismic "noise" recorded on March 6, 2019, the 98th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Around 2 p.m. local Mars time, the spacecraft's arm was moving and snapping pictures with its cameras, surveying InSight’s “workspace.”


This audio would be too faint for the human ear to heart it on Mars. It's been sped up by 10 times and processed so you can hear the kinds of signals InSight sends back for its scientists to study.

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Duration: 1 minute, 35 seconds
Release Date: October 1, 2019

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Mars #Earth #Planets #RedPlanet #Insight #Lander #Spacecraft #Geoscience #Geology #Sound #Audio #SolarSystem #Exploration #DLR #Deutschland #CNES #France #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Flock of Astronauts & Cosmonauts | ESA

A Flock of Astronauts & Cosmonauts | ESA

Location: International Space Station
When Earth is so far away, it helps to have friends nearby.
The usual six-astronaut crew of the International Space Station welcomed three more and a cargo vehicle last week, making for a full house on the orbital outpost.

The arrival of NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and the first United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri on Friday was followed by the Japanese HTV-8 space freighter the next day, bringing over four tonnes of supplies and fresh science.

With nine people now on board, the Space Station is even busier and nosier than usual, including at mealtimes.

European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano tweeted this image of the team gathered for a celebratory dinner in the Russian Zvezda module, the food preparation area of the Space Station. He captioned it:

“Celebrating three birthdays in one week (me, and Nick Hague and Alexei Ovchinin), wearing the t-shirts of our ‘space band’: ‘Kryk Chayky’- ‘The cry of the seagull.’”

The seagulls, like shared mealtimes, are one way the crew cope with the oddities of life in space. From isolation and disturbed day-night rhythms to the hums and buzzes of the Space Station, living in space can be stressful. Astronauts try to maintain a routine that includes social time to unwind and build comradery.

This is especially important in a multicultural environment. A total of 239 people from 19 countries have visited the space home, and as of Luca’s current mission Beyond, there are 4 nationalities on board.

Luca is preparing to take over command of the Space Station, when current commander cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri return to Earth in the early hours of October 3rd.

In the meantime, it is not all fun and band practice for the crew. They are hard at work on science experiments and, perhaps more importantly this week, station maintenance. Read more about the experiments and chores in the biweekly roundup:
http://www.esa.int/…/…/Research/Full_house_for_space_science

Credit & Copyright: European Space Agency (ESA)
Released Date: October 1, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Research #Microgravity #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #Cosmonauts #OlegSkripochka #AlexeiOvchinin #AlexanderSkvortsov #HazzaaAliAlmansoori #UAE #الإمارات‎ ‎#Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #ESA #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

New Arrivals Welcomed Aboard the Space Station | This Week @NASA

New Arrivals Welcomed Aboard the Space Station

This Week @NASA

New arrivals in low-Earth orbit—welcome aboard the space station! More research, supplies, and other cargo heads to the station, and a new partner for our Moon to Mars effort . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Duration: 4 minutes, 20 seconds
Release Date: September 27, 2019

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Research #Microgravity #Astronauts #JessicaMeir #Cosmonauts #OlegSkripochka #HazzaaAliAlmansoori #UAE ‎#Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Artemis #Moon #Mars #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

ALMA explores a Cosmic Jellyfish | ESO

ALMA explores a Cosmic Jellyfish | ESO

Using the detailed eyes of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have mapped the intense tails of a cosmic jellyfish: a number of knotty streams of gas spewing outwards from a spiral galaxy named ESO 137-001.

This celestial cnidarian is shown here in beautiful detail. The various elements making up this image were captured by different telescopes. The galaxy and its surroundings were imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope; its tails, which trace streams of hydrogen and show up in hues of bright purple, by the MUSE instrument mounted on the VLT; and bright hotspots of carbon dioxide emission from within the system, which show up as flares of orange-red, were spotted by ALMA.


These tails are caused by a dramatic phenomenon known as ram-pressure stripping. The space between galaxies in a cluster is not empty, but full of material that acts like a viscous fluid. As a galaxy travels through this resistant environment, gas is stripped out of the galaxy to form a wake that creates beautiful, intricate systems such as that seen here around ESO 137-001 (which resides in the Norma galaxy cluster). The direction and position of the tail shed light on the way in which the galaxy is moving—with galaxies usually falling towards the center of the cluster itself.

This image offers the first high-resolution map of the cold molecular gas lurking within a ram-pressure stripped system. ESO 137-001 is one of the nearest jellyfish galaxies to Earth, and is particularly interesting because its long, extended tails of gas contain features known as ‘fireballs’: bursts of star formation. The precise mechanisms governing how stars form within jellyfish tails are mysterious, and this map thus provides a new window onto the conditions needed for new stars to form in such intense, changeable environments.

The ALMA array comprises 66 antennas, and is located on the Chajinator plateau in the Chilean Atacama Desert at an altitude of 5000 meters. ALMA observes the night sky from this remote location to unlock the secrets of how the Universe—and its weird and wonderful residents, ESO 137-001 included—formed and evolved, revealing more about our cosmic origins.

Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), P. Jachym (Czech Academy of Sciences) et al.
Release Date: September 30, 2019

#ESO #NASA #Astronomy #Space #ESO137001 #Triangulum #Australe #Galaxy #Spiral #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #ALMA #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

The Medusa Merger: Galaxy NGC 4194 | Hubble

The Medusa Merger: Galaxy NGC 4194 | Hubble

The galaxy pictured in this Hubble Picture of the Week has an especially evocative name: the Medusa merger.

Often referred to by its somewhat drier New General Catalogue designation of NGC 4194, this was not always one entity, but two. An early galaxy consumed a smaller gas-rich system, throwing out streams of stars and dust out into space. These streams, seen rising from the top of the merger galaxy, resembles the writhing snakes that Medusa, a monster in ancient Greek mythology, famously had on her head in place of hair, lending the object its intriguing name.

The legend of Medusa also held that anyone who saw her face would transform into stone. In this case, you can feast your eyes without fear on the center of the merging galaxies, a region known as Medusa's eye. All the cool gas pooling here has triggered a burst of star formation, causing it to stand out brightly against the dark cosmic backdrop.

The Medusa merger is located about 130 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Adamo
Release Date: September 20, 2019

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC4194 #UrsaMajor #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

NASA's Earth Missions

NASA's Earth Missions

This is a roughly two-minute montage of recent NASA Earth missions and instruments (such as OCO-3, GRACE Follow-On, Oceans Melting Greenland and CORAL), from their construction and launch to their data products and scientists in the field. These campaigns study carbon, Earth’s gravity field, the ocean-ice interface in Greenland, and coral reef health.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Duration: 1 minute, 52 seconds
Release Date: September 11, 2019

#NASA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #ISS #GSFC #Goddard #UnitedStates #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GlobalWarming #Environment #Nature #EarthObservation #Airborne #Observatory #Exploration #STEM #Education #Video

Tonight's Sky: October 2019

Tonight's Sky: October 2019

Crisp, clear October nights are full of celestial showpieces. Find Pegasus, the flying horse of Greek myth, to pinpoint dense globular star clusters and galaxies, including our neighbor Andromeda. Keep watching for space-based views of M15, NGC 7331, and the Andromeda Galaxy.

About this Series
“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning.

Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute
Duration: 4 minutes, 29 seconds
Release Date: September 25, 2019


#NASA #Astronomy #Hubble #Spitzer #Space #Science #Earth #Stars #Pegasus #M15 #Globular #Star #Clusters #Galaxy #Galaxies #MilkyWay #Andromeda #M31 #NGC7331 #Planets #SolarSystem #Skywatching #STScI #STEM #Education #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthernHemisphere #Video

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2019 Minimum Extent | NASA

Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2019 Minimum Extent | NASA

Arctic sea ice likely reached its 2019 minimum extent of 1.60 million square miles (4.15 million square kilometers) on Sept. 18, tied for second lowest summertime extent in the satellite record, according to NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Arctic sea ice cap is an expanse of frozen seawater floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and neighboring seas. Every year, it expands and thickens during the fall and winter and grows smaller and thinner during the spring and summer. But in the past decades, increasing temperatures have caused marked decreases in the Arctic sea ice extents in all seasons, with particularly rapid reductions in the minimum end-of-summer ice extent. The shrinking of the Arctic sea ice cover can ultimately affect local ecosystems, global weather patterns, and the circulation of the oceans.

Release Date: September 23, 2019
Duration: 2 minutes, 32 seconds
Credits:

Lead Producer:
Katie Jepson (USRA)

Technical Support:
Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET)

Scientists:
Nathan T. Kurtz (NASA/GSFC)
Walt Meier (NASA/GSFC)

Lead Visualizers:
Trent L. Schindler (USRA)
Cindy Starr (GST)

Lead Animator:
Bailee DesRocher (USRA)

Narrator:
LK Ward (USRA)

Visualizer:
Lori Perkins (NASA/GSFC)

Lead Writer:
Maria-Jose Vinas Garcia (Telophase)

Videographers:
Kate Ramsayer (Telophase)
Jefferson Beck (USRA)
John Caldwell (AIMM)


#Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Arctic #Ocean #Ice #Sea #Canada #Greenland #Grønland #Denmark #Iceland #Россия #Russia #GSFC #Goddard #UnitedStates #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GlobalWarming #EarthObservation #STEM #Education #Video

Earth: South Pacific Swirl | International Space Station

Earth: South Pacific Swirl | International Space Station

Earth from space is always breathtaking . . . especially this view of the South Pacific.

This circular cloud formation caught the eye of an astronaut while orbiting over the South Pacific Ocean. Traveling near the southernmost reaches of its orbit, the International Space Station (ISS) was more than 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) east of New Zealand and more than 4,400 kilometers (2,700 miles) west of South America.

The striking colors within the cloud formation are a result of the local sunrise. When the Sun is at a low angle (relative to the atmosphere and ISS), sunlight passes through a thicker slice of the atmosphere. This can enhance the red end of the visible color spectrum, leading to the pink hues visible at the center of the image.

When photos are taken close to the day-night line (also known as the terminator), the sunlight can cast shadows that accentuate contrasting cloud heights and make the sense of circular motion more distinct to the eye. This photo was taken while the astronaut was looking back toward the night hemisphere, so the clouds become less defined as they fade into the terminator.

The astronaut who took this photograph sent a message from the ISS to ask if this specific cloud formation had been a named tropical cyclone. However, because the weather system was short-lived, the storm dissipated before making landfall, and thus was not named.

Image Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: September 22, 2019

#NASA #ISS #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Weather #Sunrise #Terminator #Pacific #Ocean #EarthObservation #Astronaut #FlightEngineer #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition60 #UnitedStates #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

NASA Astronauts | SpaceX Crew Dragon

NASA Astronauts | SpaceX Crew Dragon

Returning flights of US astronauts from US soil

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken familiarize themselves with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, the spacecraft that will transport them to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Their upcoming flight test is known as Demo-2, short for Demonstration Mission 2.

The Crew Dragon will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In March 2019, SpaceX completed an uncrewed flight test of Crew Dragon known as Demo-1, which was designed to validate end-to-end systems and capabilities, bringing NASA closer to certification of SpaceX systems to fly a crew.

NASA is months away from setting a new course in Human Space Flight History. The Commercial Crew Program, a partnership between Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and Space X’s Crew Dragon are leading the way for the return to flight of US astronauts from US soil. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is leading the way in these efforts.

The agency has contracted six missions with up to four astronauts, per-mission, for each company. Commercial transportation to and from the space station will maintain a crew of seven astronauts, maximizing time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory. This research is crucial for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, which will allow humans to explore farther into space than ever before.

Image Credit: SpaceX
Image Date: August 30, 2018

#NASA #Earth #Space #ISS #SpaceX #ElonMusk #Astronaut #CrewDragon #BobBehnken #DougHurley #Falcon9 #Rocket #Spacecraft #Crew #Commercial #CommercialCrew #Human #Spaceflight #Science #Technology #Kennedy #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #LaunchAmerica #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education