1. Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022; 7 pm PST (9 pm CST, 10 pm EST): We welcome Dr. Angie Bukley and Dr. Karen Jones to discuss the value of space and how LEO assets are critical to our understanding of climate and much more.
3. Friday, Feb. 25, 2022; 9:30-11 am PST (11:30 am-1 pm CST, 12:30-2 pm EST): We welcome back Dylan Taylor of Voyager Space Holdings for a wide ranging discussion on space assets, investments, his recent ride to space with Blue Origin and much more.
4. Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): OPEN LINES. All space, science, tech and related subjects are welcome. Call using our toll free number, 1-866, 687-7223. All call welcome. We want to hear from you.
the recent presentation made by Elon Musk regarding Starship, plus we discussed the FAA environmental investigation into Starship launches at Boca Chica which may cause delays for SpaceX and Starship. Also talked about were the SpaceX plans to use their pads at the Cape as a backup for launching Starship if they are seriously delayed or prevented from doing so at the Boca Chica site. Doug had much to say about all of these issues and crammed in lots of good information into this one segment Hotel Mars program.
** Tuesday, Feb.15.2022 – An Open Lines program included “Ft. Worth John call re Christopher Mellon, UAP info and the Air Force, Tic Tac, Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project, the Wally Schirra Golden Oldie Space Show program, Polaris missions using Dragon, SpaceX EVA suits, Apollo training at Griffith Observatory, Space Show upcoming programming and more“.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** STEMonstrations: Vestibular System – NASA Johnson
NASA Astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Shane Kimbrough demonstrate the effects of the weightless-simulated environment on their perception of motion, spatial orientation, and balance aboard the International Space Station. Watch as NASA astronaut Megan McArthur and JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide discuss the vestibular system and learn how the human body relies on external cues to provide us with important information about our environment. Be sure to check out https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstrations for more videos like this, along with their corresponding Classroom Connection lesson plans.
Northrop Grumman will launch a variety of critical research and supplies on its upcoming 17th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch, which take place at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, is scheduled for no earlier than February 19 at 12:40 p.m. ET. The ISS National Laboratory is sponsoring more than 15 research and technology development payloads as part of this mission. These payloads, which represent diverse fields of study, intend to bring value to our nation through space-based research and enable a robust and sustainable market in low Earth orbit. This video highlights some of the ISS National Lab-sponsored investigations launching on Northrop Grumman CRS-17.
** Expedition 66 Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Talks with KARE 11, KNSI Radio, Minnesota – Feb. 17, 2022 – NASA Video
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event February 17 with KARE-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota and KNSI Radio in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Vande Hei is in the midst of a long duration mission in which he will break the record for longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory. The goal of his mission is to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
** Russia launches 80th Space Station cargo run atop Soyuz rocket – VideoFromSpace
The Progress MS-19 cargo spacecraft was launched to the International Space Station atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Feb. 14, 2022 (Feb. 15 local time).
** Expedition 66 Progress 80 Cargo Ship Docks to International Space Station – Feb. 17, 2022 – NASA Video
Loaded with supplies and cargo, the uncrewed Russian ISS Progress 80 cargo vehicle docked to the Poisk docking compartment of the International Space Station February 17 two days after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz booster. The resupply vehicle will remain docked to the space station until early next year.
** See the Chinese space station’s robotic arm in action – VideoFromSpace
The Chinese space station’s 10.2-meter-long mechanical arm on the Tianhe core module was recently used to grab a docking port. See footage of the activity. Full Story: https://www.space.com/china-space-sta… Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
** Chinese astronaut Wang Yaping plays the guzheng in space – VideoFromSpace
Watch astronaut Wang Yaping play the Chinese folk song “Jasmine Flower” on the guzheng for the China Media Group Lantern Festival Gala. Yaping is currently aboard the Tiangong space station Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV)
On 11 November 2021, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Around 100 days later, we reflect on some highlights from space. Matthias flew to the Station on a @SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside @NASA astronauts and fellow first-time fliers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and NASA spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn. Collectively known as Crew-3, they were welcomed as members of Expedition 66 by Commander Anton Shkaplerov, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA’s Mark Vande Hei. While in orbit, Matthias is supporting over 35 European and many more international experiments. The outcomes of these experiments will advance our knowledge in areas ranging from human health to materials science, physics, Earth observation, technology development and more. Matthias is expected to spend approximately six months in orbit and there are many more highlights to come.
Tour the Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) of the International Space Station in 360° with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. Attached to Node 3, PMM is a large, reusable, pressurised element that was originally used to ferry cargo to and from the Station. It can hold up to 16 racks of equipment, experiments and supplies and has an end-cone with additional storage space for cargo bags, trash and other items. The only thing PMM has no room for is a fear of enclosed spaces. Watch as Matthias maneuvers between the boxes and bags in this vital module in orbit. Matthias is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Find out more about Matthias and his ESA mission on the Cosmic Kiss mission webpage. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss
Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!
The left panel of this image shows a dazzling view of the active galaxy Messier 77 captured with the FOcal Reducer and low dispersion Spectrograph 2 (FORS2) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The right panel shows a blow-up view of the very inner region of this galaxy, its active galactic nucleus, as seen with the MATISSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer.
The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (ESO’s VLTI) has observed a cloud of cosmic dust at the centre of the galaxy Messier 77 that is hiding a supermassive black hole. The findings have confirmed predictions made around 30 years ago and are giving astronomers new insight into “active galactic nuclei”, some of the brightest and most enigmatic objects in the universe.
Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are extremely energetic sources powered by supermassive black holes and found at the centre of some galaxies. These black holes feed on large volumes of cosmic dust and gas. Before it is eaten up, this material spirals towards the black hole and huge amounts of energy are released in the process, often outshining all the stars in the galaxy.
Astronomers have been curious about AGNs ever since they first spotted these bright objects in the 1950s. Now, thanks to ESO’s VLTI, a team of researchers, led by Violeta Gámez Rosas from Leiden University in the Netherlands, have taken a key step towards understanding how they work and what they look like up close. The results are published today in Nature.
By making extraordinarily detailed observations of the centre of the galaxy Messier 77, also known as NGC 1068, Gámez Rosas and her team detected a thick ring of cosmic dust and gas hiding a supermassive black hole. This discovery provides vital evidence to support a 30-year-old theory known as the Unified Model of AGNs.
Astronomers know there are different types of AGN. For example, some release bursts of radio waves while others don’t; certain AGNs shine brightly in visible light, while others, like Messier 77, are more subdued. The Unified Model states that despite their differences, all AGNs have the same basic structure: a supermassive black hole surrounded by a thick ring of dust.
This illustration shows what the core of Messier 77 might look like. As other active galactic nuclei, the central region of Messier 77 is powered by a black hole that is surrounded by a thin accretion disc, which itself is surrounded by a thick ring or torus of gas and dust. In the case of Messier 77, this thick ring completely obscures our view of the supermassive black hole. This active galactic nucleus is also believed to have jets, as well as dusty winds, that flow out of the region around the black hole perpendicularly to the accretion disc around it.
According to this model, any difference in appearance between AGNs results from the orientation at which we view the black hole and its thick ring from Earth. The type of AGN we see depends on how much the ring obscures the black hole from our view point, completely hiding it in some cases.
Astronomers had found some evidence to support the Unified Model before, including spotting warm dust at the centre of Messier 77. However, doubts remained about whether this dust could completely hide a black hole and hence explain why this AGN shines less brightly in visible light than others.
“The real nature of the dust clouds and their role in both feeding the black hole and determining how it looks when viewed from Earth have been central questions in AGN studies over the last three decades,” explains Gámez Rosas. “Whilst no single result will settle all the questions we have, we have taken a major step in understanding how AGNs work.”
The observations were made possible thanks to the Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment (MATISSE) mounted on ESO’s VLTI, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert. MATISSE combined infrared light collected by all four 8.2-metre telescopes of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) using a technique called interferometry. The team used MATISSE to scan the centre of Messier 77, located 47 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus.
“MATISSE can see a broad range of infrared wavelengths, which lets us see through the dust and accurately measure temperatures. Because the VLTI is in fact a very large interferometer, we have the resolution to see what’s going on even in galaxies as far away as Messier 77. The images we obtained detail the changes in temperature and absorption of the dust clouds around the black hole,”
says co-author Walter Jaffe, a professor at Leiden University.
This image, captured with the MATISSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, shows the very inner region of the active galaxy Messier 77. Active galactic nuclei are extremely energetic sources powered by supermassive black holes. By making extraordinarily detailed observations of the active centre of this galaxy, a team of astronomers detected a thick ring of cosmic dust and gas hiding a supermassive black hole. The black dot shows the most probable position of the black hole, while the two ellipses show the extent, seen in projection, of the thick inner dust ring (dashed) and extended dust disc.
Combining the changes in dust temperature (from around room temperature to about 1200 °C) caused by the intense radiation from the black hole with the absorption maps, the team built up a detailed picture of the dust and pinpointed where the black hole must lie. The dust — in a thick inner ring and a more extended disc — with the black hole positioned at its centre supports the Unified Model. The team also used data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, co-owned by ESO, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Very Long Baseline Array to construct their picture.
“Our results should lead to a better understanding of the inner workings of AGNs,” concludes Gámez Rosas. “They could also help us better understand the history of the Milky Way, which harbours a supermassive black hole at its centre that may have been active in the past.”
The researchers are now looking to use ESO’s VLTI to find more supporting evidence of the Unified Model of AGNs by considering a larger sample of galaxies.
Team member Bruno Lopez, the MATISSE Principal Investigator at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur in Nice, France, says:
“Messier 77 is an important prototype AGN and a wonderful motivation to expand our observing programme and to optimise MATISSE to tackle a wider sample of AGNs.”
ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), set to begin observing later this decade, will also aid the search, providing results that will complement the team’s findings and allow them to explore the interaction between AGNs and galaxies.
ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a magnificent face-on view of the barred spiral galaxy Messier 77. The image does justice to the galaxy’s beauty, showcasing its glittering arms criss-crossed with dust lanes — but it fails to betray Messier 77’s turbulent nature.
4. Sunday, Feb.20, 2022; 12-1:30 pm PST (2-3:30 pm CST, 3-4:30 pm EST): We welcome back Dr. Abraham (Avi) Loeb to discuss his new Galileo Project with us.
Some recent shows:
** Sunday, Feb.13.2022 – Joe Carroll discussed “his ideas on LEO space debris solutions. Be sure to follow along with his PPT slides uploaded to our blog for this program“.
** Friday, Feb.11.2022 – Brett Hoffstadt and Steve Tanaka talked about “their new children’s bedtime story book, Goodnight Moon Base [Amazon commission link, including] the illustrations, inspiring young children to dream big and do big things, to learn about the Moon and much more”.
** Tuesday, Feb.8.2022 – Douglas Messier discussed “the FAA and related issues to Starship being able to test and launch from Boca Chica. Other topics and timely news were also discussed“.
Here is the latest episode in NASA’s Space to Ground weekly report on activities related to the International Space Station:
** STEMonstrations: Centripetal Force – NASA Johnson
NASA Astronaut Shane Kimbrough discusses centripetal force and its connection to keeping the International Space Station safely orbiting Earth. Watch JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide demonstrate centripetal force in the weightless-simulated environment aboard the space station and find out what happens to a revolving object when the centripetal force is lost. Be sure to check out https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstrations for more videos like this, along with their corresponding classroom connection lesson plans.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind research platform that is capable of groundbreaking innovations that are not possible on Earth. Just as importantly, the orbiting laboratory also provides a novel venue to inspire and engage the next generation of researchers and explorers. This year’s virtual Destination Station event took place Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, and featured NASA astronaut Victor Glover on what it is like to live and work in space. Additionally, representatives from NASA and the ISS National Lab offered overviews of the capabilities on station as well as current research opportunities to become part of the space station research community!
** Expedition 66 Astronaut Mark Vande Hei Answers Virginia Student Questions – Feb. 10, 2022 – NASA Video
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 66 Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei of NASA answered pre-recorded questions about life and work on the orbital laboratory during an in-flight event Feb. 10 with students attending Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke, Virginia. Vande Hei is in the midst of a record setting mission for a single spaceflight by a U.S. astronaut living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
** Media Briefing: Space Station Science Highlights on Northrop Grumman’s 17th Resupply Mission – NASA Video
Scientist, engineer, test subject and tradesperson – astronauts in orbit wear many different hats. In this 360° timelapse, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works to repair a faulty valve behind EXPRESS-Rack 3. Water On-Off Valve 8 (WOOV-8), along with WOOV-6 and WOOV-7, determines whether the cooling water of Europe’s Columbus module flows through, or bypasses, the heat exchange system that transfers waste heat to downstream cooling circuits outside the International Space Station. The valve has been a problem child for ground teams and astronauts for the past few years and was first replaced during a complicated operation in 2013. It was last replaced by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in October 2021, but continued issues led Matthias to try out a reserve valve to see if an unplanned conversion was possible.
The operation was successfully completed on the real WOOV-8 in December 2021, and all involved breathed a sigh of relief. Performing maintenance and repair tasks in weightlessness is especially difficult as astronauts have the added challenge of trying to hold themselves in position while turning a screw or securing a hatch. Watch Matthias carefully fold down the rack, set-up lighting and complete the task as you explore his workspace in 360°.
Matthias was launched to the International Space Station for his Cosmic Kiss mission on 11 November 2021. He will spend approximately six months living and working in orbit, supporting over 35 European and many more international experiments on board. Follow Matthias: https://bit.ly/ESACosmicKiss
** China to Complete Space Station with Six More Missions in 2022: Blue Book – CCTV Video News Agency
China plans to make a record six launches in 2022 to finish building its space station, according to a blue paper released by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor of China’s space program, on Wednesday.
** Mechanical Arm on China’s Space Station Completes Another Grab Operation – CCTV Video News Agency
The mechanical arm attached to China’s Tiangong space station firmly grabbed a docking port in one operation, as shown in a video clip released by China Manned Space Agency on Tuesday.
Currently, live views from the ISS are streaming from an external camera mounted on the ISS module called Node 2. Node 2 is located on the forward part of the ISS. The camera is looking forward at an angle so that the International Docking Adapter 2 (IDA2) is visible. If the Node 2 camera is not available due to operational considerations for a longer period of time, a continuous loop of recorded HDEV imagery will be displayed. The loop will have “Previously Recorded” on the image to distinguish it from the live stream from the Node 2 camera. After HDEV stopped sending any data on July 18, 2019, it was declared, on August 22, 2019, to have reached its end of life. Thank You to all who shared in experiencing and using the HDEV views of Earth from the ISS to make HDEV so much more than a Technology Demonstration Payload!
