TYB
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
Nov 27, 2023
LBN 86: The Eagle Ray Nebula
This eagle ray glides across a cosmic sea. Officially cataloged as SH2-63 and LBN 86, the dark nebula is composed of gas and dust that just happens to appear shaped like a common ocean fish. The interstellar dust nebula appears light brown as it blocks and reddens visible light emitted behind it. Dark nebulas glow primarily in infrared light, but also reflect visible light from surrounding stars. The dust in dark nebulas is usually sub-millimeter chunks of carbon, silicon, and oxygen, frequently coated with frozen carbon monoxide and nitrogen. Dark nebulas are also known as molecular clouds because they also contain relatively high amounts of molecular hydrogen and larger molecules. Previously unnamed, the here dubbed Eagle Ray Nebula is normally quite dim but has been imaged clearly over 20-hours through dark skies in Chile.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Former NASA acting administrator Jurczyk passes away
November 27, 2023
WASHINGTON — Steve Jurczyk, a former NASA official who briefly led the agency as acting administrator in 2021 before going into the private sector, died Nov. 23 of cancer. He was 61.
Jurczyk joined NASA in 1988 and rose through the ranks at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, becoming director of the center in 2014. A year later he went to NASA Headquarters as associate administrator for space technology, and in 2018 became associate administrator, the highest-ranking civil service position in the agency. In that role, he led NASA’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He became acting administrator in January 2021 at the start of the Biden administration, serving in that role until the beginning of May, when Bill Nelson was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in as administrator. His brief tenure was highlighted by the successful landing of the Perseverance rover on Mars and the first crew rotation of commercial crew vehicles at the International Space Station as Crew-2 relieved Crew-1.
“Steve was a dedicated public servant who spent his career advancing our ability to explore the cosmos,” Nelson said in a social media post.
“Steve was one of the most dedicated civil servants I ever had the honor of serving with,” Mike Gold, chief growth officer at Redwire and a former NASA official who worked with Jurczyk, told SpaceNews. “In particular, NASA faced unprecedented challenges during COVID, and Steve’s tireless efforts and selfless leadership were a large part of why NASA was able to accomplish so much during such a difficult period. He was an unsung hero of the agency and will be sorely missed.”
Jurczyk retired from NASA in May 2021. He became one of the co-founders of Quantum Space, a startup that announced plans in 2022 to develop robotic platforms in cislunar space. “I wasn’t ready to retire. I wanted to do something else,” he said in a February 2022 interview.
Jurczyk led Quantum Space until June 2023, when he became executive vice president of IBX, a company established by Quantum Space co-founder Kam Ghaffarian whose portfolio includes commercial space station developer Axiom Space and lunar lander company Intuitive Machines.
https://spacenews.com/former-nasa-acting-administrator-jurczyk-passes-away/