Monthly Archives: July 2014

Activism, Events, The Moon

MOON DAY at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas on July 19th

Ken Murphy, president of the Moon Society, informs me that the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas will host the MOON DAY event this Saturday, July 19th: “Moon Day”, July 19, 2014 – the Biggest Annual Space Event in the DFW Metroplex! – NSSofNT.org

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In cooperation with the National Space Society of North Texas, the Museum once again celebrates space exploration with MOON DAY, July 19, 2014.  Come and experience a full day of family-oriented activities, demonstrations, and programs, marking the 45th anniversary of the first manned Moon landing (the actual landing was on July 20).

THE FIRST 250 CHILDREN to arrive will receive a free “Lunar Sample Bag” courtesy of Moonlite Printing & Graphics of Carrollton, full of magazines, stickers, activity books, posters and other materials of interest to space flight enthusiasts of all ages.

OVER 25 EXHIBITORS will offer fascinating displays and activities such as a close-up look at a meteorite, robotics demonstrations, space art, re-creating Moon craters, and a SAFE look directly at the sun through specially-equipped telescopes.

THREE PORTABLE PLANETARIUMS will be featured this year, all with different programs, to give visitors a glimpse of the night sky throughout the day!

FASCINATING PROGRAMS for all ages will include a look at life on Mars, “Cosmic Chemistry,” and the story of how Dr. James Carter of the University of Texas at Dallas developed simulated moon soil—presented by Dr. Carter himself!

BUILD AND LAUNCH A MODEL ROCKET!—Our younger visitors can attend a model rocket-building class courtesy of the Dallas Area Rocket Society from 1:30-3:15 p.m.  A $25.00 fee includes all materials including a beginner’s level model rocket and engine, a one-year membership to the Dallas Area Rocket Society, and an opportunity to launch the model rocket at a supervised Dallas Area Rocket Society launch event.  Students can enroll in advance or sign up at the door.  Call (214) 350-4215 for details.

GIRL SCOUTS, BOY SCOUTS, AND CUB SCOUTS can meet various badge and pin requirements through participation in specific Moon Day activities.  No registration is required, and the qualifying activities are presented throughout the entire day.

CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION (CPE) CREDITS  can be earned by DISD teachers attending any one of several presentations throughout the day—get a head start on your 2014-2015 requirements!

P.S. If you are not living near Dallas, you might check to see if a museum in your area is hosting a Moon Day event of their own.

Solar Science

The sun goes nearly spotless

The sun seems to be taking a nap: Spaceweather.com – July.16.14

WHERE DID ALL THE SUNSPOTS GO? This week, solar activity has sharply declined. There are only two numbered sunpots on the Earth-facing side of the sun, and each is so small you might have trouble finding them. Click to enlarge this July 17th image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory and see if you can locate AR2113 and AR2114:

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In case you couldn’t find them, here they are.

Long-time readers absorbing this image might be reminded of 2008-2009, years when the sun plunged into the deepest solar minimum in a century. The resemblance, however, is only superficial. Researchers believe that, underneath the visible surface of the sun, the solar dynamo is still churning out knots of magnetism that will soon bob to the surface to make sunspots. Solar Max is not finished.

For the moment, though, it seems to have paused. Solar activity is very low, and NOAA forecasters put the daily odds of an X-class flare no more than 1%. Updates on Twitter @spaceweatherman.

Keep an eye on the sun via the HobbySpace  Sun & Space Weather page.

Contests and Games, Education

Red Sox Foundation raffle prizes include VIP tour of NASA JSC

An announcement from Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and the Boston Red Sox Foundation:

Red Sox Foundation to Partner with CASIS and
International Space Station

Ring Raffle Promotion to Include Visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and
Tour of International Space Station Mission Control Facility

Boston, MA – July 16, 2014 – The Boston Red Sox Foundation today announced a truly out of this world collaborative partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the manager of the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory. As part of an initial Partnership with the Red Sox Foundation, CASIS will add its support of the ongoing World Series Ring Raffle by adding aonce-in-a-lifetime, VIP trip to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. The winner and three guests will receive a private tour of ISS Mission Control and the Astronaut Training Facility, as well as four passes to Space Center Houston and an authentic CASIS Mission Patch that has orbited the Earth. Airfare and hotel accommodations are also included.

This prize package will be available to those who enter the promotional code “CASIS” upon ordering their raffle tickets. These tickets are just $2 each, with a minimum of five tickets purchased, and can be found by visiting www.redsox.com/ringraffle. All proceeds from the Ring Raffle will go toward the Red Sox Foundation’s ongoing commitment to youth in our communities.

The Red Sox Foundation and CASIS are also partnered on an endeavor to generate Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) opportunities for its younger fans.

“To be able to partner with CASIS and the ISS is really a thrill,” said Gena Borson, Executive Director of Special Events at the Red Sox Foundation. “And not just for this amazing offer, but so that we can look together at how we may further develop programs focusing on STEM education.”

“We are excited to support the Red Sox Foundation as its dedication to educating the youth in its community is not only commendable but synergistic with our mission of providing unique educational opportunities,” said Duane Ratliff, Chief Operating Officer of CASIS. “One of CASIS’s goals is to support research on the ISS targeted toward improving life and health on earth. In addition, we have the cherished responsibility to use the ISS as the ideal platform for teaching science, technology, engineering and math to the next generation of researchers and leaders.”

Cleon Daskalakis, President of Celebrity Marketing, Inc. and Cofounder of the Celebrities for Charity Foundation, the provider of the online charitable raffle program netRaffle.org, added, “We are excited to have brought CASIS and the Red Sox Foundation together to both provide this unique promotion opportunity for fans to explore Mission Control but also for the future opportunities of providing STEM education with sports as a backdrop. “

Mars, Multiple media, Space Science

Curiosity zaps Martian rocks with laser

Curiosity zaps a rock with its laser and gets a brief flash:

NASA Rover’s Images Show Laser Flash on Martian Rock

Flashes appear on a baseball-size Martian rock in a series of images taken Saturday, July 12 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the arm of NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover. The flashes occurred while the rover’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument fired multiple laser shots to investigate the rock’s composition.

ChemCam’s laser has zapped more than 600 rock and soil targets on Mars since Curiosity landed in the planet’s Gale Crater in August 2012.

“This is so exciting! The ChemCam laser has fired more than 150,000 times on Mars, but this is the first time we see the plasma plume that is created,” said ChemCam Deputy Principal Investigator Sylvestre Maurice, at the Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, of France’s National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Toulouse, France. “Each time the laser hits a target, the plasma light is caught and analyzed by ChemCam’s spectrometers. What the new images add is confirmation that the size and shape of the spark are what we anticipated under Martian conditions.”

First images of sparks produced by the rover's laser
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used the camera on its arm on July 12, 2014,
to catch the first images of sparks produced by the rover’s laser being shot
at a rock on Mars. The left image is from before the laser zapped this rock,
called “Nova.” The spark is at the center of the right image. 
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS  Full image and caption

Preliminary analysis of the ChemCam spectra from this target rock, appropriately named “Nova,” indicates a composition rich in silicon, aluminum and sodium, beneath a dust layer poor in those elements. This is typical of rocks that Curiosity is encountering on its way toward Mount Sharp.

MAHLI Deputy Principal Investigator Aileen Yingst of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, said, “One of the reasons we took these images is that they allow the ChemCam folks to compare the plume to those they imaged on Earth. Also, MAHLI has captured images of other activities of Curiosity, for documentation purposes, and this was an opportunity to document the laser in action.”

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, developed ChemCam in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by the French national space agency (CNES), the University of Toulouse and France’s National Center for Scientific Research.

Martian target rock called "Nova"
A Martian target rock called “Nova,” shown here, displayed an increasing concentration
of aluminum as a series of laser shots from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover penetrated
through dust on the rock’s surface. This pattern is typical of many rocks examined
with the rover’s laser-firing ChemCam.
Image Credit:  NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/LPGNantes/CNRS/IAS 
Full image and caption

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more information about Curiosity, visit these sites:

You can follow the mission on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/marscuriosity

and on Twitter at:  www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

DIY space, Solar Science, Space Systems

ISEE-3 Reboot Project: Update on thruster debugging with crowd-sourced expertise

I posted earlier that the reports that the ISEE-3 Reboot Project had given up on restarting the propulsion system were premature. Project member Dennis Wingo gives a detailed account of the crowd-sourced investigation into what is going on with the thrusters and into possible solutions to the failure to get substantial thrust from them: We Are Borg: Crowdsourced ISEE-3 Engineering and the Collective Mind of the Internet – Space College

Corrective Action

There is a pretty good possibility now that we have pressure and or fuel in the tanks but that it is not getting to the propellant lines and out the thrusters. We are going to of course turn the +28 volts on this time! We will also open both valves on one of the fuel systems, the primary and redundant. We will also heat the tanks to see if we can see a rapid increase in temperature. If we see a rapid rise, that would indicate no fuel in the tanks (testing for all eventualities). There are several things we will do to test out and try propulsion to bleed all the gas out of the lines.

What we could see would be not much activity and then toward the end of the pulses from the thrusters we could see propellant flow, temperature increase, and thrust!

Cross your fingers. We will have a pass on July 16th at Arecibo, so we will soon find out what the outcome is.