Satellite View of Big Snowstorm for the Northeastern U.S.

NASA / NOAA - GOES Mission patch.

Dec. 30, 2016

The National Weather Service has forecast a significant winter storm to impact the Interior Northeastern U.S. today, Thursday, Dec. 29 and Friday, Dec. 30. Imagery and animations from NOAA's GOES-East satellite show the clouds associated with this powerful storm were already over New England.

Image above: This visible image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite shows the clouds associated with the large weather system expected to bring a significant winter storm to the interior Northeast today and Friday, Dec. 30. Image Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project.

NOAA's GOES-East satellite provides infrared and visible data of the eastern half of the U.S. At the NASA-NOAA GOES Project, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, that data is made into images and animations. The NASA-NOAA GOES Project created a visible image of the monster storm that was already affecting the northeastern U.S. at 1:30 p.m. EST (1830 UTC). At that time, the low pressure center was north of the Great Lakes and was moving east.

The project also made an animation of NOAA's GOES-East satellite's infrared and visible images from Dec. 27 to Dec. 29 that showed the development and easterly movement of the snowmaker.

Artist's view of NOAA's GOES-East satellite. Image Credit: Allan Kung

At 1:30 p.m. EST on Dec. 29, light snow was reported in Concord, New Hampshire, where a Winter Storm Warning is in effect until December 30, 05:00 a.m. EST.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Gray, Maine stated "A low pressure will intensify as it reaches the New England coastline late today. It is expected to track northeastward along the coast of Maine and New Hampshire tonight...bringing a period of very heavy snowfall to interior areas. Snow will transition to rain during the late afternoon and evening near the coast. This will limit accumulations closer to the coastline. Just inland of the transition zone snowfall accumulations will be quite heavy."

Animation from GOES-East Satellite of the Winter Storm in Dec. 2016

Video above: This visible image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite shows the clouds associated with the large weather system expected to bring a significant winter storm to the interior Northeast today and Friday, Dec. 30. Video Credits: NASA/NOAA GOES Project.

In addition, heavy snowfall is also expected from the Berkshires in eastern New York and western Massachusetts through southern Vermont where a winter storm warning remains in effect until 7 a.m. EST on Dec. 30. The NWS forecasts heavy snow and accumulations of 6 to 12 inches, except 5 to 9 inches in southern Berkshire County where rain may briefly mix with snow.

The NWS Storm Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland noted "Storm total accumulations of a foot or more are possible from the Adirondacks to western Maine. Gusty winds will also accompany the storm making travel across much of the region hazardous and difficult."

The NWS forecast brings the center of the low over Maine on Friday, December 30 and out over the Atlantic Ocean by Saturday, December 31.

For updated forecasts, visit the NWS website: http://www.weather.gov/

GOES (Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellites): http://www.nasa.gov/goes/

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Rob Gutro/Lynn Jenner.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Space Timekeeping: NASA's SDO Adds Leap Second to Master Clock

NASA - Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) patch.

Dec. 30, 2016

NASA's SunClock illustation. Image Credit: NASA

On Dec. 31, 2016, official clocks around the world will add a leap second just before midnight Coordinated Universal Time — which corresponds to 6:59:59 p.m. EST. NASA missions will also have to make the switch, including the Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, which watches the sun 24/7.

Clocks do this to keep in sync with Earth's rotation, which gradually slows down over time. When the dinosaurs roamed Earth, for example, our globe took only 23 hours to make a complete rotation. In space, millisecond accuracy is crucial to understanding how satellites orbit.

"SDO moves about 1.9 miles every second," said Dean Pesnell, the project scientist for SDO at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "So does every other object in orbit near SDO. We all have to use the same time to make sure our collision avoidance programs are accurate. So we all add a leap second to the end of 2016, delaying 2017 by one second."

Image above: Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory — such as this one showing the sun as it appears in wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light — have a time stamp showing Universal Time on it. To maintain accuracy, SDO will join official clocks around the world in adding a leap second on Dec. 31, 2016. Image Credits: NASA/SDO.

The leap second is also key to making sure that SDO is in sync with the Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC, used to label each of its images. SDO has a clock that counts the number of seconds since the beginning of the mission. To convert that count to UTC requires knowing just how many leap seconds have been added to Earth-bound clocks since the mission started. When the spacecraft wants to provide a time in UTC, it calls a software module that takes into consideration both the mission's second count and the number of leap seconds — and then returns a time in UTC.

SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, by Karen C. Fox/Rob Garner.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Weekly Recap From the Expedition Lead Scientist, Week of Dec. 19, 2016

ISS - Expedition 50 Mission patch.

Dec. 30, 2016

(Highlights: Week of Dec. 19, 2016) - There is new mood lighting installed in parts of the International Space Station to help improve the health of crew members.

NASA engineers are testing a new light design to replace the fragile fluorescent lights currently used in orbit. The new light-emitting diodes are the focus of the Testing Solid State Lighting Countermeasures to Improve Circadian Adaptation, Sleep, and Performance During High Fidelity Analog and Flight Studies for the International Space Station (Lighting Effects) investigation. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson completed measurements of various light settings in multiple locations to ensure the LEDs provide enough light to be able to complete science experiments while improving her own cognitive performance. These LEDs are adjustable for intensity and color – the blue, white, or yellow sections of the light spectrum -- to determine if the new lights can improve crew sleep cycles and alertness during the day. Besides the potential health benefits, these lights also require less energy to run and are lower in mass, making them a prime candidate for use on future spacecraft. Using these lights and subtly adjusting their color temperature during the day may help people be more productive on Earth, especially people who work a night shift.

Image above: A satellite is ejected from the JAXA Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the International Space Station. The satellite is actually two small satellites that, once at a safe distance from the station, separated from each other, but were still connected by a 100-meter-long Kevlar tether. Image Credit: NASA.

Whitson exchanged modules to prepare for another round of the Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature Control (ACE-T-1) study. For decades, astronauts and scientists have studied complex structures with unique properties in space. The station's microgravity environment allows for the study of microscopic structures in three dimensions without the potentially distorting properties of gravity. The ACE-T-1 investigation examines tiny suspended particles designed by scientists to connect themselves in a specific way to form organized structures in water. The investigation will help scientists understand how to control, change, and even reverse interactions between tiny particles, which helps in the development of self-assembling and replicating technologies on Earth.

NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough installed new sample cartridges for further materials research in the JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF). The device is an experimental facility that melts and solidifies materials while levitating them to test a containerless processing technique. With this facility, thermo-physical properties of high-temperature melts can be measured and solidification from deeply undercooled melts can be achieved.

Image above: New LED lights are tested on Earth before being launched to the International Space Station. The lights will replace the fragile bulbs currently on station, will use less energy and are adjustable light sources, which could help improve the sleep cycle and cognitive performance of crew members. Image Credit: NASA.

Scientists want to levitate these materials so they won't introduce potential contaminants or impurities from a container holding the material as it changes from a solid to a liquid and back again. The ELF uses an electrostatic force to help levitate the material, and lasers of varying strengths to heat the material. Data from the investigation may help develop advanced materials for new technology and devices on Earth and in space.

Whitson helped the JAXA ground team to deploy the Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite (STARS-C) using the JAXA Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD). The satellite is actually two identical satellites connected by a 100-meter-long Kevlar tether. Once deployed, the satellites will point toward Earth and use a spring system and gravitational forces to separate, pushing one satellite closer to the planet. Besides being a technology demonstration, the investigation will also collect electrons from the plasma environment in space to analyze the creation of an electrical current.

The satellite deployment capability provides a unique satellite launching system for use on the station. Handled by the robotic arm known as the Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS), the system provides a reliable, safe and economically viable means of deploying small research satellites into orbit. Crew members load pre-packed satellites into J-SSOD on a special sliding table in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) airlock to transfer the payload to the space environment where the robotic arm will grapple it and maneuver into position for deployment. After the successful STARS-C deployment, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet recovered the J-SSOD and installed another set of satellites scheduled for deployment next week.

ISS - International Space Station. Animation Credit: NASA

Progress was made on other investigations and facilities this week, including Veg-03, ISS Ham, Story Time From Space, ACE-T-1, Group Combustion, Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE), Aerosol Samplers, Manufacturing Device, Personal CO2 Monitors, PS-TEPC, Combustion Integrated Rack, and Fluids Integrated Rack.

Crew members conducted other human research investigations this week, including Biochem Profile, Repository, Habitability, Fine Motor Skills, Fluid Shifts, Sarcolab, Dose Tracker and Space Headaches.

Related links:

Performance During High Fidelity Analog and Flight Studies for the International Space Station (Lighting Effects): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2279.html

Advanced Colloids Experiment-Temperature Control (ACE-T-1) study: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2033.html

Electrostatic Levitation Furnace (ELF): http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kiboexp/pm/elf/

Space Tethered Autonomous Robotic Satellite (STARS-C): http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=2014-009H

JAXA Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD): http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/J-SSOD.html

Japanese Experiment Module Remote Manipulator System (JEMRMS): http://iss.jaxa.jp/en/kibo/about/kibo/rms/

Japanese Experiment Module (JEM): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/jem.html

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): http://global.jaxa.jp/

Veg-03: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1294.html

ISS Ham: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/346.html

Story Time From Space: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1287.html

ACE-T-1: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2033.html

Group Combustion: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1077.html

Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1111.html

Aerosol Samplers: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2300.html

Manufacturing Device: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2198.html

Personal CO2 Monitors: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/2101.html

PS-TEPC: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1079.html

Combustion Integrated Rack: https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/sopo/ihho/psrp/fcf/cir/

Fluids Integrated Rack: https://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/sopo/ihho/psrp/fcf/fir/

Biochem Profile: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1008.html

Repository: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/981.html

Habitability: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1772.html

Fine Motor Skills: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1767.html

Fluid Shifts: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1257.html

Sarcolab: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/738.html

Dose Tracker: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1933.html

Space Headaches: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/181.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/John Love, Acting Lead Increment Scientist, Expeditions 49 & 50/Kristine Rainey.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Orbiter Recovering from Precautionary Pause in Activity

NASA - 2001 Mars Odyssey Mission patch.

Dec. 30, 2016

MARS ODYSSEY MISSION STATUS REPORT

Orbiter Recovering from Precautionary Pause in Activity. Dec. 28, 2016

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, which has been in service at Mars since October 2001, put itself into safe mode -- a protective standby status -- on Dec. 26, while remaining in communication with Earth.

The Odyssey project team has diagnosed the cause -- an uncertainty aboard the spacecraft about its orientation with regard to Earth and the sun -- and is restoring the orbiter to full operations. Odyssey's communication-relay service for assisting Mars rover missions is expected to resume this week, and Odyssey's own science investigations of the Red Planet are expected to resume next week.

The orbiter's knowledge of its orientation was restored Dec. 26 by resetting the inertial measurement unit and the circuit card that serves as interface between that sensor, the flight software and the star tracker, for determining spacecraft attitude. The mission last experienced a similar fault and solution in December 2013.

 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars Odyssey left Earth on April 7, 2001, entered orbit around Mars on Oct. 24, and began systematically examining Mars in February 2002. In December 2010, it surpassed the previous record for longevity of a robotic mission at Mars. The Mars Odyssey Project has been extending that record daily for more than six years.

In addition to its direct contributions to planetary science, Odyssey provides important support for other missions in NASA's Journey to Mars through communication-relay service and observations of candidate landing sites.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Odyssey Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft and collaborates with JPL in mission operations. For more information about Odyssey, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey

Related link:

NASA's Journey to Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars

Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Laurie Cantillo/Dwayne Brown/Jon Nelson/JPL/Guy Webster.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Astronauts Study How Lack of Gravity Impacts Muscles

ISS - Expedition 50 Mission patch.

Dec. 29,2016

Animation above: The International Space Station flying over the Northern Lights. Animation Credit: NASA.

The crew wrapped up part of a muscle research program today while continuing other experiments to study the effects of living in space. Also, a new CubeSat deployer was installed in Japan’s Kibo laboratory module.

Scientists want to understand how the lack of gravity impacts muscles that aren’t used due to working in the microgravity environment. The Sarcolab experiment is one study that measures how the calf muscle changes in space using an ultrasound and electrode stimulators. The first part of that experiment was completed today as its gear was stowed and data downlinked for analysis on Earth.

Image above: Expedition 50 crew members Peggy Whitson (left) and Shane Kimbrough of NASA (right) share fresh fruit that was recently delivered by the HTV-6 cargo vehicle to the International Space Station. Image Credit: NASA.

The station residents also explored how astronauts adapt to spaceflight conditions, the effects of a long-term mission on the human circulatory system and how charged particles behave in a magnetic field.

An enhanced small satellite deployer was installed in the Kibo module replacing an older model that deployed its last CubeSat on Monday. The new CubeSat deployer has twice the satellite deployment capacity than the previous version. CubeSats scheduled for release from the new deployer will study a variety of space phenomena and enable advanced satellite communications.

Related article:

NASA Preps for Space Station Power Upgrade Spacewalks; Live NASA TV Coverage
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2016/12/nasa-preps-for-space-station-power.html

Related links:

Sarcolab experiment: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/738.html

Spaceflight conditions: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/24.html

Circulatory system: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/human/11.html

Charged particles: http://www.energia.ru/en/iss/researches/popular/02.html

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Animation (mentioned), Image (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

A New Home on Mars: NASA Langley’s Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet

NASA logo.

Dec. 29, 2016

NASA Langley’s Icy Concept for Living on the Red Planet. Image Credit: NASA

When astronauts set foot on Mars, they may stay for months rather than days as they did during Apollo missions to the moon. The surface of Mars has extreme temperatures and the atmosphere does not provide adequate protection from high-energy radiation. These explorers will need shelters to effectively protect them from the harsh Martian environment and provide a safe place to call home.

For researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the best building material for a new home on Mars may lie in an unexpected material: ice.

Starting with a proposed concept called “Mars Ice Dome,” a group of NASA experts and passionate designers and architects from industry and academia came together at Langley’s Engineering Design Studio. The project was competitively selected through the Space Technology Mission Directorate’s (STMD) Center Innovation Fund to encourage creativity and innovation within the NASA Centers in addressing technology needs. This is just one of many potential concepts for sustainable habitation on the Red Planet in support of the agency’s journey to Mars.

“After a day dedicated to identifying needs, goals and constraints we rapidly assessed many crazy, out of the box ideas and finally converged on the current Ice Home design, which provides a sound engineering solution,” said Langley senior systems engineer Kevin Vipavetz, facilitator for the design session.

The team at Langley had assistance in their concept study, as a collaborative team from Space Exploration Architecture and the Clouds Architecture Office that produced a first-prize winning entry for the NASA Centennial Challenge for a 3D-printed habitat (Mars Ice House) played a key role in the design session.

Image above: Team members of the Ice Home Feasibility Study discuss past and present technology development efforts in inflatable structures at NASA's Langley Research Center. Image Credit: Courtesy of Kevin Kempton.

The “Mars Ice Home” is a large inflatable torus, a shape similar to an inner tube, that is surrounded by a shell of water ice. The Mars Ice Home design has several advantages that make it an appealing concept. It is lightweight and can be transported and deployed with simple robotics, then filled with water before the crew arrives. It incorporates materials extracted from Mars, and because water in the Ice Home could potentially be converted to rocket fuel for the Mars Ascent Vehicle, the structure itself doubles as a storage tank that can be refilled for the next crew.

Another critical benefit is that water, a hydrogen-rich material, is an excellent shielding material for galactic cosmic rays – and many areas of Mars have abundant water ice just below the surface. Galactic cosmic rays are one of the biggest risks of long stays on Mars. This high-energy radiation can pass right through the skin, damaging cells or DNA along the way that can mean an increased risk for cancer later in life or, at its worst, acute radiation sickness.

Space radiation is also a significant challenge for those designing potential Mars outposts. For example, one approach would envision habitats buried underneath the Martian surface to provide radiation shielding. However, burying the habitats before the crews arrive would require heavy robotic equipment that would need to be transported from Earth.

The Ice Home concept balances the need to provide protection from radiation, without the drawbacks of an underground habitat. The design maximizes the thickness of ice above the crew quarters to reduce radiation exposure while also still allowing light to pass through ice and surrounding materials.

“All of the materials we’ve selected are translucent, so some outside daylight can pass through and make it feel like you’re in a home and not a cave,” Kempton said.

Selecting materials that would accomplish these goals was a challenge for materials experts.

“The materials that make up the Ice Home will have to withstand many years of use in the harsh Martian environment, including ultraviolet radiation, charged-particle radiation, possibly some atomic oxygen, perchlorates, as well as dust storms – although not as fierce as in the movie ‘The Martian’,” said Langley researcher Sheila Ann Thibeault.

In addition to identifying potential materials, a key constraint for the team was the amount of water that could be reasonably extracted from Mars. Experts who develop systems for extracting resources on Mars indicated that it would be possible to fill the habitat at a rate of one cubic meter, or 35.3 cubic feet, per day. This rate would allow the Ice Home design to be completely filled in 400 days. The design could be scaled up if water could be extracted at higher rates.

Additional design considerations include a large amount of flexible workspace so that crews would have a place to service robotic equipment indoors without the need to wear a pressure suit. To manage temperatures inside the Ice Home, a layer of carbon dioxide gas would be used as in insulation between the living space and the thick shielding layer of ice. And, like water, carbon dioxide is available on Mars.

It’s important, Kempton said, for astronauts to have something to look forward to when they arrive on the Red Planet.

“After months of travel in space, when you first arrive at Mars and your new home is ready for you to move in, it will be a great day,” he said.

Related links:

Langley Research Center: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/home/index.html

Journey to Mars: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars/index.html

Space Exploration Architecture: http://spacexarch.com/

Clouds Architecture Office: http://www.cloudsao.com/

NASA Centennial Challenge: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/centennial_challenges/index.html

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA Langley Research Center/Eric Gillard.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Gazes at a Cosmic Megamaser

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch.

Dec. 29, 2016

This galaxy has a far more exciting and futuristic classification than most — it hosts a megamaser. Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way. The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the ‘m’ replacing the ‘l’).

A megamaser is a process where some components within a galaxy (like gas clouds) are in the right stimulated physical condition to radiate intense energy  (in this case, microwaves).

This megamaser galaxy is named IRAS 16399-0937 and is located over 370 million light-years from Earth. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image belies the galaxy’s energetic nature, instead painting it as a beautiful and serene cosmic rosebud. The image comprises observations captured across various wavelengths by two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS).

NICMOS’s superb sensitivity, resolution, and field of view gave astronomers the unique opportunity to observe the structure of IRAS 16399-0937 in detail. They found it hosts a double nucleus — the galaxy’s core is thought to be formed of two separate cores in the process of merging. The two components, named IRAS 16399N and IRAS 16399S for the northern and southern parts respectively, sit over 11,000 light-years apart. However, they are both buried deep within the same swirl of cosmic gas and dust and are interacting, giving the galaxy its peculiar structure.

Hubble and the sunrise over Earth

The nuclei are very different. IRAS 16399S appears to be a starburst region, where new stars are forming at an incredible rate. IRAS 16399N, however, is something known as a LINER nucleus (Low Ionization Nuclear Emission Region), which is a region whose emission mostly stems from weakly-ionized or neutral atoms of particular gases. The northern nucleus also hosts a black hole with some 100 million times the mass of the sun!

For images and more information about Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://hubblesite.org/
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Image Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla)/Text credit: European Space Agency/NASA/Karl Hille/Video Credit: ESA.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch