[FPSPACE] FW: 2 Releases Issued today- Goddard Has more than a Dozen Missions! / Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks
LARRY KLAES
ljk4 at msn.com
Tue Jul 1 13:04:11 EDT 2008
>From: "Gutro, Robert J. {Rob}(GSFC-130.0)" <robert.j.gutro at nasa.gov>
>Reply-To: "Gutro, Robert J. {Rob}(GSFC-130.0)" <robert.j.gutro at nasa.gov>
>To: <gsfc_news at listserv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
>Subject: 2 Releases Issued today- Goddard Has more than a Dozen Missions!
>/ Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks
>Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:51:03 -0500
>
>Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
>
>Good afternoon! Two releases have been issued today from NASA Goddard:
>
>The first ls: NASA Goddard Has More Than a Dozen Exciting Missions in the
>Next Year
>
>The second is: Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks
>
>The releases and web sites with images are below.
>
>Have a good Tuesday. - Rob
>
>
>
>
>
>Rob Gutro
> July 1, 2008
>
>Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
>
>301-286-4044
>
>Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov <mailto:Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov>
>
>
>
>RELEASE NO. 08-60
>
>
>
>NASA GODDARD HAS MORE THAN A DOZEN EXCITING MISSIONS IN NEXT YEAR
>
>
>
>GREENBELT, Md. - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, located in Greenbelt,
>Maryland, has the lead on many exciting space missions launching in the
>next year.
>
>
>
>These missions include a final repair trip to upgrade the famous Hubble
>Space Telescope and spacecraft to study powerful gamma-rays, the moon, the
>Sun, and Earth's weather and pollution. "This is one of the busiest periods
>in the history of Goddard," said Rick Obenschain, acting director of
>Goddard.
>
>
>
>The mission that kicked off the series of launches was CINDI.
>
>
>
>-- The Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) was successfully
>launched
><http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sfn-080417-cnofs-pegasus-launch.html>
> on April 16, 2008, into orbit using the Pegasus launch system
><http://www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/Pegasus/> . CINDI is exploring the role
>of ion-neutral interactions in the generation of small and large-scale
>electric fields in the Earth's upper atmosphere. For more information about
>CINDI, visit: http://cindispace.utdallas.edu/
>
>
>
>-- The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). GLAST launched from
>Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. on June 11. This novel mission is a
>marriage of astronomy and particle physics teaming NASA with the U.S.
>Department of Energy and international partners.
>
>
>
>GLAST is a powerful new tool to explore the most extreme environments in
>the universe, where nature harnesses energies far beyond anything possible
>on Earth. GLAST is also the first imaging gamma-ray observatory to survey
>the entire sky every day and with high sensitivity. It will detect
>thousands of gamma-ray sources, most of which will be super-massive black
>holes in the cores of distant galaxies. And it will give scientists a
>unique opportunity to learn about the ever-changing universe at extreme
>energies. For more information about GLAST, visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov/glast <http://www.nasa.gov/glast>
>
>
>
>-- Next on the manifest is the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX),
>scheduled for launch in October on a Pegasus XL rocket. The Pegasus vehicle
>is carried to an altitude of 50,000 feet beneath the wing of an L1011
>aircraft where it is dropped and ignites a rocket engine to boost the
>spacecraft to orbit.
>
>
>
>IBEX will make the first global observations of the region beyond the
>termination shock, an invisible shock formed as the solar wind piles up
>against the gas in interstellar space. The termination shock marks the
>beginning of our solar system's final frontier, a vast expanse of turbulent
>gas and twisting magnetic fields. This region is critical because it blocks
>the vast majority of the deadly cosmic rays that would otherwise permeate
>the space around Earth and other planets. By making the first images of the
>interstellar boundaries neighboring our solar system, IBEX will provide a
>first step toward exploring the galactic frontier. For more information
>about IBEX, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/index.html
><http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ibex/index.html>
>
>
>
>-- NASA is scheduled to launch shuttle Atlantis, STS 125 October 8 to keep
>the Hubble Space Telescope operating at an incredible rate of scientific
>productivity.
>
>
>
>With more than 17 years of historic and trailblazing science already
>accomplished, Hubble will again be reborn with Servicing Mission Four,
>during which astronauts will conduct five spacewalks; install two new
>cutting-edge science instruments -- the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic
>Origins Spectrograph -- to enhance Hubble's capabilities by large factors;
>refurbish a number of Hubble's subsystems including the Fine Guidance
>Sensor to maintain a robust ability to point the telescope; and install
>gyros, batteries and thermal blankets to ensure Hubble functions
>efficiently for a minimum of five years after servicing. Astronauts will
>also attempt the first ever on-orbit repair of two existing instruments:
>the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Cameras for
>Surveys. For more information about Hubble, visit
>http://www.nasa.gov/hubble <http://www.nasa.gov/hubble>
>
>
>
>-- The TacSat-3 satellite, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory's
>Space Vehicles Directorate, is part of the effort to develop and
>demonstrate the technology to furnish real-time data to the combatant
>commander. A NASA Ames Research Center microsat called Pharmasat and two
>cubesats, one sponsored by Ames and one by Wallops, also will fly on the
>mission using an Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket. Launch is planned for
>October.
>
>
>
>Have you always wanted to see a rocket launch but don't have the time to
>take a trip to Florida's Space Coast? Then take the short three-hour drive
>to Virginia's Eastern Shore where three space missions are planned from
>Goddard's Wallops Flight Facility: TacSat-3, the Hypersonic Boundary Layer
>Transition (HyBoLT), and the Max Launch Abort System.
>
>
>
>-- A Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), GOES-O is
>scheduled for launch in December. GOES is a joint effort of NASA and the
>National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that helps
>meteorologists better observe and predict local weather events, including
>thunderstorms, tornadoes, fog, flash floods, hurricanes and other severe
>weather. GOES-O carries a Solar X-Ray Imager and Space Environment
>Monitoring instrument for monitoring space weather important for astronaut
>safety. For more information about GOES, visit
>http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/index.html
>
>
>
>-- On November 24, NASA plans to return to the Moon with the launch of the
>Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LRO will create the most accurate and
>comprehensive topographic maps of the lunar surface to date, vital for
>pinpointing landing sites for future manned missions.
>
>
>
>LRO will carry a suite of six instruments and will scan for resources and
>create accurate temperature maps necessary for designing structures that
>can endure the extreme temperature swings caused by the lunar day/night
>cycle. The moon offers radio-quiet sites that do not look through a thick
>ionosphere, allowing the use of low-frequency radio astronomy to access a
>new window into the early universe. It also allows the closest location
>where we can begin to learn how to extract, process, and use
>extra-terrestrial materials, significant to sustain a human presence in
>space. For more information about LRO, visit: http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/
><http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/>
>
>
>
>-- The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will provide detailed forecasts of
>solar activity, necessary to protect satellites orbiting Earth, and
>astronauts traveling to the moon and Mars. SDO's images will be ten times
>better resolution than HDTV.
>
>
>
>Slated for a December launch, SDO will look inside the Sun where solar
>activity begins, and also provide a better understanding of the flows of
>plasma inside the Sun, which is a key to predicting solar storms and
>activity cycles. SDO's "X-ray vision" could revolutionize the forecasting
>of solar storms. SDO will also measure the Sun's ever-changing extreme
>ultraviolet brightness, as well as help solve the mystery of what magnetic
>structures in the Sun may lead to violent space weather activity like
>flares and Coronal Mass Ejections. It will provide images of the Sun in
>eight soft X-ray wavelengths every 10 seconds, instead of once every 45
>seconds as satellites do now. For more information about SDO, visit
>http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov <http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/>
>
>
>
>-- The Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition (HyBoLT) experiment is a
>payload for NASA's Hypersonic project for NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics
>Program. This effort is focused on developing fundamental knowledge of
>flight at all speeds and translating that knowledge into flight vehicle
>design tools and capabilities. In hypersonic flight, the state of the
>boundary layer (laminar, transitional, or turbulent) is critical to the
>amount of heating caused by the flow of air over the surface of a flight
>vehicle. The Hy-BoLT flight experiment will help unravel basic knowledge of
>boundary layer heating, and use this knowledge to improve our design tools.
> The mission on an ATK ALV-X1 rocket is currently scheduled for the
>summer. For more about HyBoLT, visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/improvingflight/hybolt.html.
>
>
>
>-- The Max Launch Abort System (M-LAS) test will provide data to the NASA
>Engineering and Safety Center which is charged with evaluating a potential
>alternate design for the launch abort system of NASA's Orion crew
>exploration vehicle. The name "Max" is in honor of Maxime Faget, the
>original designer of the Project Mercury capsule and holder of the patent
>for the "Aerial Capsule Emergency Separation Device" (escape tower). M-LAS
>incorporates a sleek, bullet-shaped composite fairing that completely
>encapsulates the Orion crew and service modules. The M-LAS concept will be
>validated by conducting an unmanned pad-abort test at Wallops in the fall.
>For more information about the Wallops Flight Facility visit:
>http://www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops.
>
>
>
>-- NOAA-N Prime is planned for launch in February 2009 and is the last of a
>fleet of polar-orbiting environmental satellites (POES), which have served
>the nation and the world since 1978. NOAA-N Prime will carry a suite of
>instruments that will provide critical global information for numerical
>weather and climate predictions. GOES and POES satellites collect and relay
>search and rescue distress signals, and data collection system inputs from
>buoys and other platforms. Goddard has more than 40 years of experience
>managing the development of GOES and POES satellites for NOAA operations.
>For more information on the NOAA series of weather satellites, go to
>http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/poes/spacecraft/noaanprime_spacecraft.html
><http://goespoes.gsfc.nasa.gov/poes/spacecraft/noaanprime_spacecraft.html>
>
>
>
>-- The Glory mission, set for launch in June 2009, will help scientists
>determine why Earth's climate is changing and how much of that change is
>due to human activity.
>
>
>
>The Earth's energy balance, and its effect on climate, requires measuring
>black carbon soot and other aerosols, as well as the total solar
>irradiance. Glory is designed to collect data on the composition,
>properties and distribution of natural and man-made aerosols in Earth's
>atmosphere and climate system. Glory's data will help NASA scientists
>understand the climate-relevant chemical, microphysical, and optical
>properties, and spatial and temporal distributions of human-caused and
>naturally occurring aerosols. In addition, Glory will continue the
>measurement of the total solar irradiance to determine the Sun's direct and
>indirect effect on Earth's climate.
>
>
>
>
>
>These data are essential to predicting future climate change and to making
>sound, scientifically based economic and policy decisions related to
>environmental change. For more information about Glory:
>http://glory.gsfc.nasa.gov/
>
>
>
>-- The TWINS (Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers) mission in
>2009 will provide a new capability for stereoscopically imaging the
>magnetosphere. For more information about TWINS, visit:
>http://nis-www.lanl.gov/nis-projects/twins/
>
>
>
>For more information about this story, images and animations, please visit:
>
>
>
>http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/dozen_missions.html
><https://mail01.ndc.nasa.gov/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/dozen_missions.html>
>
>
>
>For more information about other happenings at NASA Goddard, visit:
>
>
>
>http://www.nasa.gov/goddard <http://www.nasa.gov/goddard>
>
>
>
>-end-
>
>
>***********************************************************************************************************
>Hubble Sees Stars and a Stripe in Celestial Fireworks
>07.01.08
>
>
> This image, taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin
>section of a supernova remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred
>more than 1,000 years
>ago.<http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/255920main_supernova_remnant_226.jpg>
>Credit: NASA/STScI
> > Larger image
><http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/255921main_supernova_remnant_lg.jpg> A
>delicate ribbon of gas floats eerily in our galaxy. A contrail from an
>alien spaceship? A jet from a black-hole? Actually this image, taken by
>NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, is a very thin section of a supernova
>remnant caused by a stellar explosion that occurred more than 1,000 years
>ago.
>
>On or around May 1, 1006 A.D., observers from Africa to Europe to the Far
>East witnessed and recorded the arrival of light from what is now called SN
>1006, a tremendous supernova explosion caused by the final death throes of
>a white dwarf star nearly 7,000 light-years away. The supernova was
>probably the brightest star ever seen by humans, and surpassed Venus as the
>brightest object in the night time sky, only to be surpassed by the moon.
>It was visible even during the day for weeks, and remained visible to the
>naked eye for at least two and a half years before fading away.
>
>It wasn't until the mid-1960s that radio astronomers first detected a
>nearly circular ring of material at the recorded position of the supernova.
>The ring was almost 30 arcminutes across, the same angular diameter as the
>full moon. The size of the remnant implied that the blast wave from the
>supernova had expanded at nearly 20 million miles per hour over the nearly
>1,000 years since the explosion occurred.
>
>In 1976, the first detection of exceedingly faint optical emission of the
>supernova remnant was reported, but only for a filament located on the
>northwest edge of the radio ring. A tiny portion of this filament is
>revealed in detail by the Hubble observation. The twisting ribbon of light
>seen by Hubble corresponds to locations where the expanding blast wave from
>the supernova is now sweeping into very tenuous surrounding gas.
>
>The hydrogen gas heated by this fast shock wave emits radiation in visible
>light. Hence, the optical emission provides astronomers with a detailed
>"snapshot" of the actual position and geometry of the shock front at any
>given time. Bright edges within the ribbon correspond to places where the
>shock wave is seen exactly edge on to our line of sight.
>
>Today we know that SN 1006 has a diameter of nearly 60 light-years, and it
>is still expanding at roughly 6 million miles per hour. Even at this
>tremendous speed, however, it takes observations typically separated by
>years to see significant outward motion of the shock wave against the grid
>of background stars. In the Hubble image as displayed, the supernova would
>have occurred far off the lower right corner of the image, and the motion
>would be toward the upper left.
>
>SN 1006 resides within our Milky Way Galaxy. Located more than 14 degrees
>off the plane of the galaxy's disk, there is relatively little confusion
>with other foreground and background objects in the field when trying to
>study this object. In the Hubble image, many background galaxies (orange
>extended objects) far off in the distant universe can be seen dotting the
>image. Most of the white dots are foreground or background stars in our
>Milky Way galaxy.
>
>This image is a composite of hydrogen-light observations taken with
>Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys in February 2006 and Wide Field
>Planetary Camera 2 observations in blue, yellow-green, and near-infrared
>light taken in April 2008. The supernova remnant, visible only in the
>hydrogen-light filter was assigned a red hue in the Heritage color image.
>Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) -
>Acknowledgment: W. Blair (Johns Hopkins University)
>
>The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation
>between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) and is managed by NASA's
>Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Md. The Space Telescope
>Science Institute (STScI)conducts Hubble science operations. The institute
>is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in
>Astronomy, Inc., Washington, DC.
>
>Related Links:
>
> > More information and images <http://hubblesite.org/news/2008/22>
> > Hubble Heritage site <http://heritage.stsci.edu/2008/22>
>
>
>Find this article at:
>
>http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/hst_star_stripe.html
>
>
>
>Rob Gutro
>Public Affairs Officer / Deputy News Chief
>NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
>Tel. 301-286-4044 Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov <mailto:Robert.J.Gutro at nasa.gov>
>
>Always Something Brewing Somewhere - NASA's Hurricane Web Page!
>http://www.nasa.gov/hurricane <http://www.nasa.gov/hurricane>
>
>GLAST Explores the Extreme Universe: http://www.nasa.gov/glast
><http://www.nasa.gov/glast>
>
>JWST Looks to the Dawn of Time: http://jwst.gsfc.nasa.gov
><http://jwst.gsfc.nasa.gov/>
>
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