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Step 13: Propulsion or How a Rocket Flies — in 3 min
By: To The Stars Blog
Tags: Science, NASA, Space, Star Trek, Engineering

I can’t recommend enough this MIT free course Introduction to Aerospace Engineering: Astronautics and Human Spaceflight. One of the best things about it is how easy it is.

Basically,

Propulsion is the action of driving/pushing forwards via generating thrust.

In aerospace engines thrust is received by burning fuel = releasing the energy in a particular direction.

To burn the fuel we need oxygen. So the biggest difference between propulsion spacecraft engines and plane engines is that space engines need to bring both the fuel and the oxidizer because there’s no oxygen in space so nothing burns, while plane engines have only fuel — there’s a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere.

To get the rocket moving we need fuel + oxidizer.

They are mixed up in a combustion chamber. And then the nozzle is used to control the thrust vector.

How a solid rocket works:

The Ideal Rocket Equation

helps us figure out how much fuel we need to fly some payload to space (was introduced by a brilliant Soviet physicist Tsiolkovsky in 1919!).

The problem is the bigger the payload — the bigger the fuel we should take, the bigger the structure of the rocket should be (which also adds mass, which also needs additional fuel).

TO PUT IT SIMPLE: the equation suggests that there are two ways of optimizing the cost of space transportation:

decreasing the weight of the rocket structure (final mass is the overall mass of the rocket on start minus all the fuel) — that’s why spacecrafts drop the empty fuel tanks in the process; increasing the exhaust velocity = thrust force (more about it in a minute)

Optional: more in-depth knowledge about the equation:

So what’s interesting about the equation is that it’s exponential. Meaning even boosting the exhaust velocity only twice will allow carrying 10 times bigger mass!

How can we increase the thrust force? By finding a more efficient way to get energy out of something. And what immediately comes to mind is…

Nuclear engines

Funny thing is that humanity has already dealt with that problem by discovering nuclear energy as a substitute for burning fossils.

Using a nuclear engine for space rockets would require taking significantly less fuel and no oxidizer — the nuclei would heat the fuel and create pressure for thrust but in a more efficient way:

Are there any nuclear rocket engines?

Yes, even though they were not tested in space. Unfortunately for science, USSR has stopped their developments on the subject in the 1970s, so did the USA as soon as the space race stopped. The good news is that China and USA separately have plans to develop and finally ship them in the nearest 10–15 years.

This is another place where investment into space could actually lead to a better life on earth since it could dramatically change our perspective on transporting (remember Star Trek and Fallout hover cars?) and decreasing the cost.
SPLASHDOWN — SpaceX Crew Dragon returns to Earth
By: Imaad Ahmed
Tags: NASA, America, Space, Astronauts, Elon Musk

SpaceX marked the end of its DM-2 mission on August 2nd, with a successful splashdown. This was the first crewed mission by a commercial space company and the first time in 9 years that NASA launched astronauts. It was a huge triumph for the SpaceX team and Elon Musk to accomplish this feat successfully. Splashdown was the final task before NASA certified SpaceX for carrying astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) on regular rotational missions. The astronauts on the demo 2 mission Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley had named the capsule ‘Endeavour’ returned to Earth healthy. It was the third time for both of them in space and a first time on a private space company’s capsule. Endeavour splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida at 18:48:06 UTC.

SpaceX Endeavour took flight on board a Falcon 9 rocket the workhorse for SpaceX on May 30th, 2020. After spending 62 days in space with 3 other astronauts from Expedition 63, Bob and Doug undocked from the ISS on August 1st, up until now everything went along smoothly without any issues but this was going to be the most nerve wrecking part of the journey. As the crew capsule undocked the SpaceX flight directors huddled into the SpaceX control room in Hawthorne, California to what was going to be a 19-hour return journey to Earth. As the capsule continued its de-orbit trajectory and neared Earth the pressure grew for the team.

The crew had a good sleep on their way home which helped them stay active during the final descent phase. The deorbit burn began with a 6-minute communications black out due to the build-up of plasma on the outside of the capsule and this was the longest 6 minutes in this whole journey. And just as communications were restored a bright white crew dragon capsule was seen breaking its way through the atmosphere and headed towards the surface of Earth at 17500mph this was followed by deployment of two small parachutes followed by four main parachutes that slowed the capsule to speeds of 15mph. It slowly glided to the surface of the water and gently splashed down. Loud cheers and standing ovations were seen from the control room at SpaceX followed by a message broadcasted to the crew from SpaceX comms saying “On behalf of the SpaceX and Nasa teams welcome back to planet Earth, thanks for flying SpaceX.”

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley had launched from America, docked with the ISS, stayed there for 2 months and completed multiple missions and finally returned home on a commercial spacecraft for the first time in history. The astronauts were healthy and after initial checks on the recovery vessel they were airlifted to Cape Canaveral and later reunited with their families. This was the beginning of a new in era in the spaceflight industry and this concluded the LaunchAmerica mission. THANKS TO SPACEX AND ELON MUSK FOR BRINGING CREWED LAUNCHES BACK TO AMERICA
Manned Lunar Landing — A Major US Space Exploration Achievement
By: Durankeony Torres
Tags: Space, Lunar Landing, Moon Landing, NASA

Moon landing image: unsplash.com

Based in Ellington, Connecticut, DuranKeony Torres is a recent high school graduate who holds a position with FedEx as a package handler. Outside of work, DuranKeony Torres maintains an interest in sports and US history.

One major event in American history is the July 20, 1969, moon landing, which marks its 50th anniversary in 2019. This event was the culmination of a race to “conquer” space between the world’s two superpowers at the time, the United States and the Soviet Union.

The Apollo 11 mission’s Eagle lunar module spent less than 22 hours on the surface of the moon, of which only two and a half involved the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin exploring beyond their vehicle. They also symbolically planted the American flag on the moon.

Despite this achievement, the lunar landing project was extremely expensive, and the next time American astronauts stood on the moon was more than three years later, in December 1972. Interest in traveling to the moon has only reawakened recently, with one ambitious NASA plan placing US astronauts on course to revisit the moon in 2024.
Hasselblad 907X
Tags: NASA, Space, Photography, Moon, Hasselblad

To continue the celebration, Hasselblad also released limited edition 50 Years on the Moon merchandise. The collection includes posters and stickers. They’re available for purchase here. Hasselblad has also made the legendary images from the moon available for download; including, the original 1969 press release.

Exciting stuff.

Here’s the original lunar camera that’s been on the moon since 1969.

Hasselblad HDX

And, a quote from their story about working with NASA:

Working perfectly under the extreme conditions of the lunar surface, the HDC produced some of history’s most iconic photographs. After the successful shooting on 21 July 1969, the Hasselblad was hoisted up to the lunar lander with a line. After securely removing the film magazines, both cameras with lenses and ancillary support accessories, along with other collection tools, components, and waste were jettisoned in order to meet narrow weight margins for successful return. The succeeding five Apollo missions to land would repeat this practice, resulting in a total of 12 Hasselblad camera bodies with lenses still left on the Moon.

Walter Schirra and the Hasselblad 500C

I had a great time shooting with Hasselblad’s camera on earth and can’t even imagine what it would be like on the moon. The 907X Special Edition has an MSRP of $7499 and will ship later in the year.

Key features of the 907X Special Edition include

Large medium format 50MP CMOS sensor

Up to 14 stops of dynamic range

Captures 16-bit RAW images and full resolution JPEGs

High-resolution 3.0-inch 920K dot touch and tilt screen

High frame rate of 60fps

Focus peaking

Intuitive user interface with swipe and pinch touch controls

Internal battery slot

Dual UHS-II SD card slots

Integrated Wi-Fi and USB-C connection

Portable workflow with Phocus Mobile 2 support

Here are more photos provided by NASA from that famous landing.
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary by the Numbers
By: U.S. Embassy Kyiv
Tags: Space, Apollo 11, Apollo, NASA

Читати українською

July 20, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing. Completed in 1969 by the Apollo 11 team — Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin — this accomplishment is one of the most significant scientific and space exploration milestones of the last century. Here are some of the incredible statistics from this great achievement:

400,000 Workers: NASA estimates that over 400,000 engineers, scientists, and technicians played a role in preparing for the first manned Moon landing in history. They worked in laboratories and factories across the United States, each playing a critical part in ensuring that the mission was completed safely and successfully.

Image by NASA

36 Kilobytes: The Apollo 11 guidance computer had only 36 kilobytes of fixed memory and two kilobytes of erasable memory, meaning it had less computing power than your smartphone! The computer, which was designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was even less powerful than the standard calculators used in school today!

Image by NASA

8 Words: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” These were the first words transmitted back from the Moon once the Apollo 11 spacecraft had landed. They were followed more than six hours later by Neil Armstrong’s famous statement: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Although the recording is difficult to understand, Armstrong clarified in an interview that he actually said, “That’s one small step for a man…”

Image by NASA

12 People: Only twelve people, all from the United States, have walked on the Moon so far. In total, 24 people have flown to the Moon, with three of them making the journey twice.

Image by NASA

Image by NASA

66 Years: Only 66 years separated the first recorded flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903 and the first manned lunar landing. To honor this, Neil Armstrong took pieces of wood and fabric from the Wright Brothers’ plane on the mission to recognize the incredible progress in aviation. Both Armstrong and the Wright Brothers were from the state of Ohio.

Image by The Smithsonian Institute

600 Million People: The Moon landing received a record breaking number of television viewers worldwide, with an estimated audience of 600 million. This translates to almost 20% of the world’s population in 1969 watching the unprecedented event on television. The extensive media coverage in the lead up to the launch resulted in widespread anticipation and excitement about the event.
ShowBizzBuzz: Steve Testa on ABC’s “To Tell The Truth”
Tags: Abc Tv, NASA, Game Shows, Actors, Anthony Anderson

ShowBizzBuzz = Entertainment news…here’s the latest:

Who is Buzzworthy?

Actor Steve Testa proved himself a good liar appearing as an ‘impostor’ on the latest episode of ABC’s game show, “To Tell The Truth.”

Steve Testa

First introduced in 1956 and then rebooted in 2016, the updated series hosted by Anthony Anderson continues the basic premise of the series, celebrity panelists are out to identify which of the three presented contestants is the real person whose often has an unusual occupation or experience. To do this, four celebrity panelists, Anderson and his mother, Doris Day Bowman, ask probing and often hilarious questions of the panelists, looking for falsehoods that would trip up the impostors. Then they must guess who they think is telling the truth and who is not.

“To Tell the Truth” (photo courtesy: ABC/Eric McCandless)

Steve was recently brought in to stump celebrity guests Jay Pharoah, Rob Riggle, Sheri Shepherd and Inbar Lavi. He first claimed to be Hypnotherapist Patti Freeman and then stayed for the ‘Before You Go’ round asserting to be magician JB Benn. Of course, he is neither.

“To Tell the Truth” (photo courtesy: ABC/Eric McCandless)

In fact, Steve is currently an actor but shared on the show that he previously helped launch the Space Shuttle as a former NASA Space Shuttle Engineer.

“To Tell the Truth” (photo courtesy: ABC/Eric McCandless)

Where else have we seen Steve Testa?

Steve made the jump into the acting arena while working at NASA. He was a technical consultant on Ron Howard’s acclaimed film Apollo 13 when he was asked to step in for a scene with star Tom Hanks. Not long after appeared in HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon and the CW’s The Cape.

Ron Howard and Steve Testa on-set “Apollo 13”

Since retiring, he moved to California to pursue his acting and has worked on the Amazon series The Last Tycoon as well as other indie projects. Steve is also now producing projects with his daughter, Fawn Testa-Ribeiro, under their production banner Foxtrot Creative LLC. Their first short, Lost and Found, won ‘Audience Award: Best Drama Short’ at the 2018 Silicon Beach Film Festival.

“The Last Tycoon” (photo courtesy: Amazon)

What else do we know about Steve Testa?

Steve first thought he wanted to be a musician. Inspired by his mother, he first learned how to play guitar as a child while briefly living in Ethiopia. He intended to study music in college before switching to Physics and continued to play throughout his tour in the Navy and beyond. Today, Steve remains a skilled guitarist.

Want to keep up with Steve Testa?

Visit: stevetesta.org

Or follow him on Twitter: @dallastesta

Instagram: @dallastesta

FB: /steve.testa.988
50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
By: The Paley Center For Media
Tags: Moon Landing, NASA, Space, Media, Television

Animated Video by Maya Beverly

Paley Center contributor Maya Beverly created the following video in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Artist Statement from Maya Beverly:

For this animation, I researched hours of footage in NASA’s archives to gain a better understanding of the moon landing in 1969 and the events that preceded it. I wanted to find the most monumental moments from this event, which was quite difficult considering that many of these moments were ground-breaking. Because the moon landing was before my time, most of what I knew, I learned in elementary school. I can’t imagine the excitement young children (and adults) must have felt to experience this event, as it happened. I wanted to create this animation from the perspective of a young child watching the moon landing and possibly creating their own dramatization of some events, as little kids often do.

The goal to send a man to the moon before the end of the decade, as JFK proposed, was no small feat. It could not have been possible without those who contributed their time and efforts no matter how big or small those contributions were. I wanted to create this video honoring figures like Christine Darden, a “human computer,” who crunched numbers and wrote complex programs for NASA, and the seamstresses from Playtex, who tediously sewed the stitches on the astronauts suits. All of whom helped make the moon landing possible.
Take a Virtual Tour of the NASA Langley Research Center
By: Carl Byington
Tags: NASA

A PHM (Prognostics and Health Management) expert and entrepreneur, Carl Byington spent much of his career in State College, PA and Rochester, NY, in leadership positions with companies such as Impact Technologies, LLC, and Sikorsky Aircraft. Carl Byington also worked on research related to hypersonic propulsion at the NASA Langley Research Center while completing his Master of Science in Aeronautical Engineering.

Under the leadership of Clayton P. Turner, the NASA Langley Research Center spearheads research in areas such as space exploration technology, aviation improvements, and atmospheric knowledge. The center features nearly 200 facilities in Virginia. Those interested in learning more about the campus can take a virtual tour through the NASA website.

The virtual tour includes an in-depth look at different buildings on the 364-acre property, complete with pictures, videos, and verbal descriptions. For example, the page for the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility includes a 360-degree image allowing virtual visitors to view the space. The image also includes specific informational buttons that provide further details about the state-of-the-art research facility, which was named for the woman who inspired the book and film titled Hidden Figures.

To explore this facility and continue the tour into the rest of the Langley Research Center, visit https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/virtual-tour-goes-behind-the-scenes-at-nasa-langley or the other NASA links above.
Crew 1 Mission Explained: NASA and SpaceX
By: Akash Macwan
Tags: NASA, Space, Space Exploration, Spacex, Elon Musk

Hello everyone,

SpaceX and NASA will launch four astronauts to the International Space Station on November 15, 2020 from Kennedy Space Centre Launch Complex 39. The SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft will lift off at 7:27 pm EST (5:57 am IST) for six month long mission. It was scheduled to lift off at 2:00 am IST on November 14. The live coverage of the event will begin at 3:15 pm EST (1:45 pm IST). Do you want to see live coverage of lift off? No need to go or redirect anywhere!!!WATCH LIVE COVERAGE HERE.!!!

Additionally, just before this Crew-1 mission, NASA certified SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Capsule. This means that from now on SpaceX can operate flights to International Space Station (ISS).

What is Crew-1 Mission?

The Crew-1 Mission is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The aim of this mission is to make easy access to space. The cost effectiveness and transportation of crew and cargo to and from the ISS are the main objectives of this mission.

Crew Dragon Spacecraft, SpaceX

Want to read further??? Click Here…

https://amacblog1.blogspot.com/2020/11/crew-one-mission.html
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a varied set of responses for a Medium article.
By: Warrington Williams
Tags: Space, Science, NASA

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a varied set of responses for a Medium article. They range from scientific snark to dirt pounding hubris. Opinions are tossed around as facts, and again, I'm disappointed by my species.

First, the title is misleading: “alarming discovery” is total BS. It is not “alarming”, more a consideration. The “discovery” is nothing new. It was being studied from the start of space travel.

That aside, One writer dismisses rotational gravity designs as “impractical” and I agree, within the context of what we currently call space travel. The technology is available; It simply doesn’t make sense to incur the cost/weight to price ratio for orbital jaunts.

When we change the context to non-orbital space travel artificial gravity will become necessary, and rotational gravity is the only game in town. It could evolve into a spinning segment, say sleeping quarters rather than the entire vessel. Nobody is sure what the solution will be, but I am sure we will figure it out.

As for the dirt pounders (my personal snark for people opposed to space exploration), I don’t understand why you bother with living, if the earth is all you can see of importance. Please, visit a planetarium, download Stellarium and consider the aspects, both physical and spiritual of what you see. If you can’t see any importance to this, just step in front of a train. Save space on earth for beings worthy of breathing/
Monday’s Full Moon Will Be Spectacular — the Biggest And Brightest Of 2020
By: I Believe In Mother Nature
Tags: Health, NASA, Full Moon, Moon, Astrology

The full moon will illuminate the sky during the night, and if you love astrology, you can’t miss this extraordinary event.

The beginning of 2020 was very impressive because many exciting lunar events have happened, and we were their witnesses. Only two months have passed since the beginning of this year, and now, in the third month, we are expecting the biggest and the brightest Supermoon of the year. The event that will happen in March is also known as the Super Worm Moon, or under other names like Crow Moon, Sap Moon, and Lenten Moon. But, anyway, the precise time when you should look for this extraordinary appearance of the Moon is on March 9, 2020, at 1:48 pm.

As it appears so late, this Moon represents the last Moon of the astronomical winter, and it signifies the Spring. It is associated with the migrating birds that return to their homes, and that the weather improves.

The Super Worm Moon is the biggest and the brightest as a consequence of its closest position to the Earth.

Read more here https://www.ibelieveinmothernature.com/my-world/this-week-biggest-brightest-full-moon/
Perseverance Rover Successfully Lands on Mars as Renewable Energy Surges in the US
By: Lakshya Jain
Tags: NASA, Australia, Solar Energy, Huawei, Texas

4. Huawei Turns to Other Sectors as Smartphone Sales Fall

Huawei

Huawei, a Chinese technology company known for its smartphones, is turning to other sectors as their smartphone sales dropped 42%. Huawei is a threat to US national security due to its close relations with the Chinese Communist Party. This has caused them to lose access to vital smartphone components and made them fall behind. Huawei is also the world’s largest telecoms equipment maker but they have been locked out of the development of 5G in many countries like the UK and the US. According to multiple reports, the smartphone maker is planning to cut its smartphone production by 50%. They are turning to the giant pig farming industry in China. Huawei is developing AI that can detect diseases and track pigs. Facial recognition technology can identify individual pigs, while other technology monitors their weight, diet, and exercise. They have experience with facial recognition technology and last month they created a system that identifies people who appear to be of Uighur origin, who are recognized as a regional minority by the Chinese government. Additionally, they are working on developing coal mining technology that will make mining safer and more efficient.
New Website Lets You Help Nasa Find Alien Worlds
By: Tec Talk
Tags: Alien Invasion, NASA, Aliens, Alien Life, Alien Covenant

NASA just launched a new citizen science project — it wants the public’s help to find and identify brand new exoplanets.

The newly-formed Planet Patrol asks volunteers to look over images taken by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), reports, in which NASA suspects but isn’t sure whether there’s a new exoplanet hidden away. That way, NASA scientists can focus their efforts instead of sorting through the mountain of data themselves

Human Touch

This is the sort of work that technically could be automated with an algorithm trained to spot new worlds, Space.com reports. But it turns out that in this case, there’s no substitute for human judgment.

“Automated methods of processing TESS data sometimes fail to catch imposters that look like exoplanets,” Veselin Kostov, the NASA researcher leading the Planet Patrol project, said in a press release. “The human eye is extremely good at spotting such imposters, and we need citizen scientists to help us distinguish between the lookalikes and genuine planets.”

Crowded Space

Planet Patrol isn’t the only citizen science project poring over TESS data for signs of exoplanets, Space.com reports. Another initiative, Planet Hunters TESS, is working toward the same goal but analyzing the data in a different way.

“We’re all swimming through the same sea of data, just using different strokes,” NASA citizen science officer Marc Kuchner said in the release.

Original Source
NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024
By: Terry M Egbe
Tags: Space, NASA

NASA plans to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024 Terry M Egbe Oct 7, 2020·2 min read

NASA, through its Artemis program, had made plans of sending humans to the Moon again for the first time since the last Apollo lunar mission in 1972.



The US Congress is to sign off a budget of $28 billion for the achievement of the plan.



NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, in an interview with journalist said “ we’re still on track for the 2024 Moon landing” if a portion of $3.1 billion is approved by the Congress by Christmas.



Series of critical contract awards and hardware milestones have been made by NASA to successfully accomplish the project of landing two humans on the Moon — of which one is a woman for the first time.



The giant companies in aerodynamics/spacecraft industry that are awarded in the three projects of building the lunar lander that will convey the astronauts to Moon are Blue origin, owned by the Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper (they are handling a part of the project), and SpaceX headed by Elon Musk who is in charge of the remaining two projects.



According to Bridenstine, the landing site for the mission is the Moon’s South Pole, that all sites of the Apollo landings on the Moon’s equator between 1969 and 1972 are ruled out.



Stated in the update of the Artemis plan is the schedule of the Moon landing:



Artemis I, scheduled for November 2024:



The unmanned first flight in which the new giant rocket 🚀 SLS, which is currently in a testing phase, will take off with the Orion capsule.
Gorgeous NASA X-Ray Images of Universe Look Like an 80s Nightclub
By: Tec Talk
Tags: NASA

NASA released a “ treasure trove of cosmic delights “ last month — gorgeous imagery courtesy of telescopes from around the world.

The universe, seen in infrared, radio waves, and gamma rays, is a spectacular sight to behold, with colors, spirals, and star bursts looking like they were dreamed up by a computer animator. But beyond some color coding and “multiwavelength” layering, this is what the various corners of our universe actually look like.

Messier 82

First up is the Messier 82 galaxy, pictured in X-ray and optical light using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope respectively. The blue and pink patterns seen in the image are absolutely massive, spanning some 20,000 light years, the result of repeated supernova explosions.

Large Magellanic Cloud

The following image is from the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries. A pink shockwave can be seen interacting with the star’s remains.

Star Dance

This image shows the two massive stars of the Eta Carinae system closely orbiting each other, with white representing optical data from the Hubble, blue representing UV light from the Hubble, and purple representing X-ray imaging from Chandra.

Cartwheel Galaxy

Perhaps most spectacular of them all is this image of a small galaxy passing through the middle of a “bull’s eye” galaxy. Purple gas, lit up by X-ray data from Chandra, shows how the larger “Cartwheel galaxy” structure is being dragged over more than 150,000 light years.https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

Helix Hebula

Finally, we have an image from the Helix Nebula, a multiwavelength image using data from a variety of telescopes spanning about four light years across.
Heading down South : ISRO images the Lunar South Pole
By: Iit Tech Ambit
Tags: NASA, Space, Explore, Isro, Moon

High-Res Image delivery for Sriharikota

The orbiter of the lunar mission that also included the lander-rover, it is stationed in a circular orbit about 100 km above the moon and is equipped with eight different instruments. These include two cameras — a terrain mapping camera and an orbiter high-resolution camera (OHRC) — which were the source of the first data sent home. The brief of the mission was to create detailed maps of the lunar surface at the little-explored south pole, paving the way for future manned missions. It has begun doing just that, sending home the most detailed images of the lunar surface ever made by an orbiting craft. The result? Individual features that are only 25 centimetres across are clearly distinguishable!

ISRO released these images Friday, just before the Vijayadashami long weekend, reporting that these images were captured by the OHRC on September 5th. The lunar south pole is a region pocked with unique craters — sunlight does not reach their interior, creating ‘cold traps’, in which volatiles like hydrogen and water ice are frozen. Not only does this tell us a lot about the water ice on the moon, crucial for future manned missions, but also allows us a glimpse into the formation of our Solar System, since these volatiles date from back then!

As is visible in the images, crater and boulder locations are clearly visible and tagged, which might serve as an accurate guide to humans setting foot on the Polar Southside very soon

What the future holds

What’s next for the orbiter while its cameras are busy mapping what humans have never seen before? An instrument called the Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer, or CLASS, is designed to measure X-ray fluorescence. This means the next time a solar flare sends a host of X-rays throttling towards the moon, Chandrayaan-2 can map the composition of the lunar surface by identifying elements like magnesium, aluminum, silicon and iron.

While it waits for the sun to give out one of its routine bursts equivalent to a million exploding hydrogen bombs (not a Linkin Park reference, promise), it’s also being useful to us back on earth though. When the moon passes within the part of the Earth’s magnetosphere distorted by the sun’s constant solar wind, the orbiter can look inside it, and see what’s going on. And what we’ve found is a sharp increase in electrons inside this ‘geotail’, and these measurements could provide valuable insights into how solar winds affect our planet’s magnetic field.

We eagerly await ISRO’s announcements over the next year from this exciting mission, as they are going to be enthralling without a doubt. This is one sequel that’s living up to the hype of its legendary predecessor.
BREAKING: Astronaut on ISS Calls Pin Company In Kaysville, Utah
Tags: Enamel Pins, NASA, Astronaut, Space, Custom Pins

Our Customers Are Out of This World — Literally.

The phone rang while I was at my desk late last week. The voice on the other line breathed a sigh of relief saying, “Thank you so much for picking up! There’s no number I could have left for you to call me back.”

It was Jessica Meir (PH.D.), selected by NASA and currently onboard the International Space Station for Expedition 61.

I was speaking to an astronaut; someone who was quite literally looking down on Earth, taking time from her day to call PinProsPlus to complete her order.

Questions ran through my mind at a million miles a minute. I was glad I picked up.

I had to take a second to breathe and take in the gravity of the call that I was having…all while Jessica was up in orbit, experiencing much less gravity.

“So, what’s it like? Is it what you expected?” I asked.

Jessica replied with,

“That, and much more than I ever could have imagined.”

She had just arrived on ISS for the first time and I’m sure she was still trying to take everything in. I felt honored that one of her first thoughts upon arrival in orbit, was to call me.

How many people in the world can say they’ve received a call from an astronaut in space? I later found out from my contact at NASA that it’s extremely rare — not even my contact has received a call like that.

Jessica and I overall had a brief yet pleasant conversation, and completed her order for custom pins.

The pins she ordered are being made to commemorate her next trip to the ISS for Expedition 62, as NASA does for all their expeditions. We’ve had the unique and exciting opportunity to collaborate and make these expedition pins for a while now with NASA.

When you’re back on Earth, Jessica, we’d love to hop on another call to hear how your first experience on the ISS turned out.

Interested in making your own custom enamel pins? Consider us, PinProsPlus, to help. We can design your pin at no extra charge. Just bring an idea and we’ll take care of the rest. Get started by requesting a free quote.
Perhaps your articles should all start with something like:
By: Jesuis Laplume
Tags: Science, Evolution, NASA, Space, Technology

Perhaps your articles should all start with something like:

“Assuming that real space travel does not take place using something like the Pure Information that may exist throughout the universe, and so we do have to transport both Energy/matter as we presently know it . . .”

Just coming to grips with the apparent fact that “We can only develop data and use fitting equations for 4.6% of the Energy/matter in this universe so that it behaves as is apparently does, . . .“ should start to show up in all discussions as to what is possible, let alone probable. To write on our future, without at least scanning what has been available from Philosophy for up to 15 millennia, misses a lot that might need to be included.

What if The Akashic Field really does exist and is everywhere, undamaged over time, but continuously updated? ‘Strange attraction at a distance’ is no longer at all strange; it is normal and very real indeed. Is that not what is being shown as two large molecules (in addition to just electrons) are simultaneously being found it two different places?

What if the implications of non-commutative mathematics (NCM) are at least discussed when we consider that has us changing how we have to project the use of more Traditional Mathematics when looking at ‘spacetime’ and the grid? While string theory may prove to be useless, NCM may not be,

NCM suggests that space and time cannot be separated and still be valid; until properly re-united. Unless I am missing something, that is not being done.

Maybe you should discuss why, although ‘spacetime’ may be valid, but ‘space’ and a separate ‘time’ are, in your opinion, also still valid as separated. Many Science and Math types do so; but are they correct in doing that?

Call sometime at +1 613 986–0323 before this 81 year old guy croaks!
Why NASA’s Artemis Mission may be a right approach?
By: Pranav Dhawan
Tags: NASA, Artemis, Space, Moon, Mars

Earth’s resources, as we all are aware, are depleting at a frightening rate. The increase in the population outstrips the demand of resources. Burning of coal and use of other hydrocarbon fuels are currently responsible for pollution. This pollution has reached far beyond the limit of control and now it poses a threat to human life and the future generations. NASA proposed its Artemis Mission to return humans to the moon by 2024 and land the first astronauts on Mars by 2030. In context to the sustainability point of view, living on Mars has a far more possibility than living on the Moon. NASA aims to land the first woman on Moon by 2024, which I think is an absolutely big step. Regardless of what people say about this mission, I think that the plan to develop long-term habitation on the Moon is absolutely reasonable.

On the Moon, the astronauts would be on a lower risk in regard to experimentation and thus would help them to understand more about the nature of celestial space bodies and learn about the living processes there, which may increase the chances of finding more new resources on moon. Setting up a sustainable environment on Moon’s south pole may be possible and is worth taking a chance for. As for Mars, I certainly believe that NASA will succeed in the mission for setting up a habitable environment there which would certainly be a great step for mankind.

Even if life on Moon is found impossible in future (which actually is the case now), there would still be chances that NASA can discover Helium-3 (He3) gas which has a potential to be used as a fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants since it is rarely available on Earth and there seems to be a better possibility of significant supplies on the Moon. If the astronauts were to directly go to Mars, there would surely be some situations which would pose as an obstacle for them to overcome. By going to the Moon, the astronauts will have a base for testing and conditional situation handling practices.

As for the public’s complaints about the time passing by, NASA’s partnership with SpaceX for building the Starship is also a reasonable one. If we go to Mars without the experience of the testing on Moon, there would be higher risk of causalities and in case of similar incidents, the signal would take around 7 minutes to reach the Earth. The signals would surely take lesser time from the Moon which would allow the Mission Control to handle the situation if possible and therefore prevent any tragic accident.

And with Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX unveiling ambitious plans to colonize the planet, if SpaceX develops advanced Mars EDL technologies at its own cost, NASA’s path to Mars could get easier and the advancement pace of Mars and Moon exploration and discoveries would surely get a head start. Regardless of what people think about the Artemis Mission, I firmly believe that NASA is planning the right path towards the future of humanity and sustainability.
Kepler telescope; Shocking discoveries and future!
By: Digital Engineer
Tags: Space, NASA, Telescope, Kepler

Table of contents

The Kepler telescope was built to look at a specific patch in the milky way in search of exoplanets. The exoplanet chaser witnessed hundreds of thousands of stars and found thousands of exoplanets during its lifetime.

Kepler program introduction

Launched in 2009 as part of NASA’s Discovery program. Kepler’s job was to constantly scan a fixed patch of sky within our milky way galaxy to find planetary systems.

At the time of the launch, it had the largest primary mirror ever sent into space. It also had a 96-megapixel camera to process the light. Astronomers were interested in finding out just how many stars and planets orbiting around them. Also, how many of these extrasolar planets or exoplanets have conditions that are suitable for life to develop. In its nine years in space, Kepler observed 530536 stars and confirmed the existence of 22662 new exoplanets.

What did Kepler discover?

The exoplanets discovered by Kepler are unlike anything we’ve ever seen in our solar system before. Most of them are significantly bigger than earth and orbiting so close to their stars. They complete one revolution every several days and there are some very strange worlds. Some have star-facing sides with temperatures that can melt iron and have entire hemispheres covered with oceans of liquid, molten rock. Other exoplanets are of the size of Jupiter’s orbit not one but two stars. If you’re standing on the surface of one of these planets you’ll be able to see a binary sunset.

Habitable zone?

Kepler’s legacy is that it successfully found Earth-sized worlds orbiting at a safe distance from their host stars. And they are inside what’s known as a habitable zone or Goldilocks zone. This is where the temperatures are warm enough for water to condense on their surfaces. But not so cold that it will just freeze up entirely. Although being in this zone doesn’t guarantee the existence of life. The presence of water is significant and the foundation of life as we know it.

Earth-like planets discovered by Kepler!

One exoplanet discovered by Kepler that has recently generated excitement among researchers is called k218b. In September 2019 two scientific teams independently announced that they found signs of liquid water in the planet’s atmosphere situated 124 light-years away from earth. K218b is about eight times the mass of the earth and three times as big. It orbits the main sequence red dwarf star called k218.

What is a red dwarf?

A red dwarf star is the smallest coolest star and the most common type of star in the milky way. According to Kepler’s data astronomers estimate that six percent of red dwarf stars have an earth-sized planet in the goldilocks zone. At least in our neighbourhood to find water on the surface of one such planet is a landmark discovery in the search for potentially habitable alien worlds. K218b is also the first planet with water out of all of the exoplanets discovered by Kepler…….

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Out of this world lessons from the Apollo Lunar landings–Part II
By: Robert Barron
Tags: IBM, Apollo, NASA, Monitoring, Observability

The first American spacecraft in the early 1960s was called Mercury. This “capsule” was so small that the astronauts joked that they didn’t get into the craft; they put it on!

Cutaway diagram of Mercury spacecraft (NASA)

It was cramped in the spacecraft. There was barely enough space for the astronaut to float, let alone share space with a 1960's era computer (these, believe it or not, were even larger than a 2019 flagship cellphone!). The Mercury spacecraft, therefore, had very primitive diagnostic tools.

Mission Control in Houston received a trickle of telemetry data with which it could interpret the status of the spacecraft.

Now, the most important responsibility of any spacecraft is keeping the astronaut inside alive and the heaviest part of Mercury was the massive heat-shield at the bottom. The heat-shield protected the spacecraft (and the astronaut inside) from the over 1,500 °C (3,000 °F) temperatures encountered during re-entry. As can be imagined, a heat-shield needs to be precisely aligned to dissipate the heat properly.

Near the end of the flight, Mission Control received a telemetry signal from the spacecraft to report that the heat shield had deployed prematurely. If true, this meant that the spacecraft might burn up during re-entry.

There was no supplementary information to the monitoring signal. It was a simple alarm light that blinked on.

Glenn had not reported hearing any knocks or feeling any of the vibrations in the spacecraft which were expected to occur should the heat-shield be deployed prematurely. Mission control only had one point of data to use and so they had to operate under the assumption that it was correct, even though they suspected that the monitoring sensor was faulty and did not reflect reality.

Mercury capsule being tested on the ground. (NASA)

In the image to the left you can see a Mercury capsule being tested on the ground. The base of the capsule is pointing to the left. The three braking rockets (the metal “pot” with three spouts) are connected to the spacecraft with very high tech straps.

The straps are connected to the heat-shield (the round base of the capsule).

There was little that could actually be done to solve the problem, and fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm. There was no fault in the heat-shield, and Glenn returned to Earth without problems.
CASSINI
By: Aidan Locascio
Tags: Space, Saturn, NASA, Cassini

For anyone that knows me well, it isn’t a secret that space is something I am incredibly curious of and passionate about. Both deep space natural phenomena that we study from afar, as well as human endeavors closer to home like the International Space Station, fill me with equal parts fascination and wonder.

In 2016 I saw some pictures getting circulated around the internet that were taken by a probe I had never heard of, called Cassini. Cassini’s primary mission was to orbit Saturn and its respective moons, taking thousands of photos during its thirteen year life within Saturn’s orbit, until it ultimately was drawn in by the planet’s gravity, concluding its mission.

I won’t claim to have any real understanding of the hard science that was allowed to progress because of the efforts of this mission. However, the photos sent back by the probe can be described as nothing other than breathtaking. They may seem poor in quality and clarity relative to artists renditions and even pictures taken from right here on Earth using our radio telescopes, but the profound nature of seeing an image that was taken from so close to the source, can’t be understated.

When we look through a telescope, and look at something that is incredibly far away, we’re seeing the light that left the object a long time ago. In the case of Cassini (and other probes like it) we instead went directly to the source to get information and to learn more about the universe we live in and our proverbial cosmic backyard. We still had to transmit the images back to Earth which is a process virtually identical to looking at light that was sent our way, but to have literally touched the object that we are seeing, is profound to me.
Bhavya Lal gets big responsibility in NASA
Tags: NASA, America, Space, Responsibility, India

Indian-American Bhavya Lal gets big responsibility at NASA, made executive head. Indian-origin Bhavya Lal has been entrusted with a huge responsibility by President Joe Biden. Bhavya has been appointed acting head of the US space agency NASA. Bhavya Lal is overseeing the changes in the agency under the US President Joe Biden administration.

NASA said in one of its statements that Bhavya Lal has vast experience in engineering and space technology. She has been an active member of research at the Institute for Defense Analysis Science and Technology Policy Institute from 2005 to 2020. The statement said that he has been nominated to the post in view of his contributions to the space sector. Bhavya Lal gets big responsibility in NASA.

Let us know that Bhavya Lal has a degree in Science and a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering. Along with this, he received a Master of Science degree in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Earned a doctorate in public policy and public administration from George Washington University.

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Robot-staffed restaurants & NASA Ames history: Peek inside Mountain View’s new Ameswell Hotel
By: The Six Fifty Staff
Tags: NASA, Hotel, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Bay Area

Inside the Ameswell Hotel is a fusion of two eras. Modern-day amenities catering to millennials — like heated saltwater pools, games of cornhole and restaurants staffed by robots — sit alongside nearly century-old aeronautics equipment and grainy photos capturing Mountain View long before the city became a tech hub.

It’s a careful balance that Ameswell is hoping to strike, giving more than just a nod to the city’s rich history while appealing to a modern luxury style that attracts business travelers and staycationers alike. The hotel, which officially opened last week, is decorated from top to bottom with art and amenities harkening back to Moffett Field and NASA Ames, all the way down to the “A” logo in the shape of Hangar One.

Ameswell has been a long time coming, approved back in 2016 as part of the so-called Moffett Gateway project. The 255-room hotel on Moffett Boulevard neighbors Highway 101 and a newly developed office building, which was constructed alongside Ameswell and is being leased to Google.

It’s the latest in a recent surge of hotel development in the city, and the first to open its doors since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Opening a hotel during such a tumultuous time was difficult, said Philip Maritz, managing director with the developer Broadreach Capital Partners.