NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
May 15, 2024
AR 3664 at the Sun's Edge
What did the monster active region that created the recent auroras look like when at the Sun's edge? There, AR 3664 better showed its 3D structure. Pictured, a large multi-pronged solar prominence was captured extending from chaotic sunspot region AR 3664 out into space, just one example of the particle clouds ejected from this violent solar region. The Earth could easily fit under this long-extended prominence. The featured image was captured two days ago from this constantly changing region. Yesterday, the strongest solar flare in years was expelled (not shown), a blast classified in the upper X-class. Ultraviolet light from that flare quickly hit the Earth's atmosphere and caused shortwave radio blackouts across both North and South America. Although now rotated to be facing slightly away from the Earth, particles from AR 3664 and subsequent coronal mass ejections (CMEs) might still follow curved magnetic field lines across the inner Solar System and create more Earthly auroras.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
Hubble Views the Dawn of a Sun-like Star
MAY 15, 2024
Looking like a glittering cosmic geode, a trio of dazzling stars blaze from the hollowed-out cavity of a reflection nebula in this new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The triple-star system is made up of the variable star HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3. HP Tau is known as a T Tauri star, a type of young variable star that hasn’t begun nuclear fusion yet but is beginning to evolve into a hydrogen-fueled star similar to our Sun. T Tauri stars tend to be younger than 10 million years old ― in comparison, our Sun is around 4.6 billion years old ― and are often found still swaddled in the clouds of dust and gas from which they formed.
As with all variable stars, HP Tau’s brightness changes over time. T Tauri stars are known to have both periodic and random fluctuations in brightness. The random variations may be due to the chaotic nature of a developing young star, such as instabilities in the accretion disk of dust and gas around the star, material from that disk falling onto the star and being consumed, and flares on the star’s surface. The periodic changes may be due to giant sunspots rotating in and out of view.
Curving around the stars, a cloud of gas and dust shines with their reflected light. Reflection nebulae do not emit visible light of their own, but shine as the light from nearby stars bounces off the gas and dust, like fog illuminated by the glow of a car’s headlights.
HP Tau is located approximately 550 light-years away in the constellation Taurus. Hubble studied HP Tau as part of an investigation into protoplanetary disks, the disks of material around stars that coalesce into planets over millions of years.
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-views-the-dawn-of-a-sun-like-star/
Lithuania and NASA sign space exploration pact
2024.05.15 11:48
Lithuania has signed the Artemis Accords initiated by the US State Department and NASA, which establishes practical principles for safe and sustainable space exploration.
Lithuania became the 40th signatory, the Economy and Innovation Ministry said on Wednesday.
“The country’s space sector is growing and our innovative space companies are developing globally competitive solutions. By signing the Artemis Accords, we are entering a new phase and committing to the principles of responsibility, security and sustainability in the space sector,” Minister Aušrinė Armonaitė said in a statement.
Lithuania has committed to ensuring that planned space missions, including the extraction and use of space resources, will be carried out in accordance with the Outer Space Treaty and in support of safe and sustainable space activities.
The agreement also sets out principles for the reduction of space debris and other principles for space missions. The signatories also agree to cooperate and consult.
In 2021, Lithuania became an associate member of the European Space Agency (ESA).
https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2273345/lithuania-and-nasa-sign-space-exploration-pact
Saudi Space Agency, NASA Hold 'Beyond Earth: Journeys to the Stars' Dialogue
01:02-15 May 2024
Prince Sultan University in Riyadh hosted a joint delegation from the Saudi Space Agency (SSA) and its US counterpart, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The event was attended by the SSA CEO Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Tamimi, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney, and Saudi Astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali Al-Ghamdi, and Mariam Fardous.
The event aimed to discuss ways to enhance cooperation in the fields of science, research, development, and innovation as part of the SSA's ongoing efforts to develop national capabilities and competencies.
The agency aims to adopt scientific methods and modern technologies and harness all of these to develop the Saudi space sector, according to SPA.
The Saudi agency hosted a dialogue session titled "Beyond Earth: Journeys to the Stars" featuring a distinguished panel. The event included NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, alongside Saudi astronauts Rayana Barnawi, Maryam Firdaus, and Ali Al-Ghamdi. The discussion addressed several key topics, including articles on the Saudi space program, NASA's vision for the future, the challenges and opportunities presented by space exploration, and the role of pioneers in inspiring future generations to pursue careers in the vast field of space exploration.
https://english.aawsat.com/varieties/5017851-saudi-space-agency-nasa-hold-beyond-earth-journeys-stars-dialogue
NASA’s DC-8 to Fly Low Altitude Over Pocatello, Idaho, for Final Flight
MAY 14, 2024
NASA’s DC-8 aircraft will fly at low altitude over Pocatello, Idaho, and surrounding areas during its final flight from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, to Idaho State University.
After 37 years of successful airborne science missions, the DC-8 aircraft is retiring at Idaho State University, where it will be used to train future aircraft technicians by providing hands-on experience at the college’s Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program.
Residents in the areas below will see and hear the aircraft as it flies to its new and final home.
Where: Pocatello, Idaho (and surrounding areas).
When: Wednesday, May 15, between 2:00-2:30 PM.
Additional details: All flyovers are conducted at a safe altitude without harm to public, wildlife, or infrastructure. Jet aircraft are loud and those with sensitivity to loud noises should be aware of the flyover window.
To follow along real-time with the DC-8’s flight path, visit https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/tracker/#!/status/list, or:
Go to www.FlightAware.com , or download the app.
Type the aircraft tail number in the search bar: N817NA.
Follow the aircraft in real time!
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasas-dc-8-to-fly-low-altitude-over-pocatello-idaho-for-final-flight/
NASA Names Deputy Station Manager, Operations Integration Manager
MAY 14, 2024
NASA selected Dina Contella as the deputy program manager and Bill Spetch as the operations integration manager for the agency’s International Space Station Program, effective Sunday, June 2.
“Dina’s depth of experience with the complex and dynamic aspects of the space station mission will be instrumental for leading through future challenges,” said Dana Weigel, program manager for NASA’s International Space Station Program. “Bill’s extensive experience with space station hardware and transportation systems uniquely position him for the leadership role as the operations integration manager.”
Contella succeeds Weigel, who became space station program manager in April, and the two will share overall management of the International Space Station, including development, integration, and operations, as well as its cargo and commercial missions. Spetch will oversee day-to-day operations, maintenance, and research aboard the orbiting laboratory, taking over the position held by Contella.
Contella has more than 30 years of experience in various roles supporting the International Space Station, Artemis, and the space shuttle. For the past two-and-a-half years, she was the operations and integration manager, responsible for leading real-time aspects of the program, including chairing the International Space Station mission management team. Contella led about 40 dynamic station operations each year, managing day-to-day space station technical risk decisions and programmatic mission integration among the orbiting laboratory’s five international partner agencies.
Prior to her work in the space station program, Contella held technical and management positions of increasing responsibility, including Gateway program mission integration and utilization manager, Advanced Exploration Systems lead for utilization and logistics across multiple Moon-to-Mars programs, and lead for an industry study to enhance NASA’s understanding of commercialization of low Earth orbit. Before these positions, she served as a NASA flight director, the spacewalk operations group lead, a spacewalk liaison stationed in Russia, a spacewalk flight control officer for space shuttle and space station missions, and a space shuttle navigation and computer instructor.
Contella, from Austin, Texas, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station.
Spetch has 27 years of experience supporting the space station throughout his career. He most recently was the office manager responsible for the health and integrity of the space station, including sustaining, sparing, and integrating commercial elements onto station and providing real-time engineering support. Before that, he was station transportation integration office manager, acting space station mission integration and operations manager, space station transportation integration office deputy manager, and station Vehicle Integrated Performance Environments and Resources (VIPER) team manager.
The Maple Grove, Minnesota native graduated from the University of Minnesota Minneapolis with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics.
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https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/nasa-names-deputy-station-manager-operations-integration-manager/
15th SPSS innovates with Mount Official Scheduling System
May 15, 2024
MAUI SPACE FORCE STATION, Hawaii (AFNS) – Perched atop the 10,023-foot summit of Haleakalā in Hawaii, lives Space Delta 2’s 15th Space Surveillance Squadron. The 15th SPSS operates the Maui Space Surveillance Complex and is home to small, medium, and large-aperture tracking optics, including the Department of Defense's largest optical telescope designed for satellite tracking and imaging, as well as visible and infrared sensors for data collection on near-Earth and deep-space objects.
Tracking of these deep space objects will soon be made more efficient, thanks to the Mount Official Scheduling System, also known as MOSS.
“The MOSS tool provides a simple and effective avenue to effectively balance scheduling needs,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Matthew Holland, base operations and sustainment project manager. “MOSS is forecasted to eliminate the available time to operate our sensors that currently goes unused due to these scheduling mishaps, which is currently estimated at 41% of the calendar year.”
In just under six months, the MOSS team created and deployed a web-based application that provides the warfighter with 15-20% more Space Domain Awareness data while also laying the groundwork for future operational capability development and deployment to operational units across the Service.
“When it comes to future enhancement, we want to have a version of MOSS on Secret and [Top Secret] networks so that all of our external partners can access and use the tool because many live on the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System,” Holland said. “We also want to integrate a function that tracks metrics for our current operations.”
A team of six members, consisting of Guardians and Airmen, enabled 150 more days per year of Electro-Optical telescope usage for non-traditional sensors that provide operationally relevant SDA data to the warfighter, a 41% increase over legacy operations.
“Currently we waste 150 days a year due to scheduling issues that prevent us from operating,” Holland said. “This cloud-based application, made by our own active-duty Guardians, will eliminate those wasted days and enable us to execute operations every day there are not weather impacts or maintenance being conducted.”
By MOSS reducing 15th SPSS operational planning by half, this provides transparent scheduling capabilities to the research and development and intelligence community.
“We aim to pair MOSS with a 15SPSS 'Portal' that we plan to build in the future as our second product team,” Holland said. “The portal will serve as a JWICS homepage for our site and will have sensor status the interactive view/request schedule functionality via MOSS, and a Dropbox type function for pushing data from our site to our operators.”
The comprehensive goal of MOSS is simple, says Holland. “The overall goal for us via MOSS and the Portal will be to ensure we are utilizing our exquisite research and development capabilities in Maui to most effectively serve the SDA communities' needs.”
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3775560/15th-spss-innovates-with-mount-official-scheduling-system/