This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
nasawatch@spaceref.com | Voice +1.703.787.6567 | 
RSS Feed | 
Twitter | Advertising | Important Disclaimer
This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
nasawatch@spaceref.com | Voice +1.703.787.6567 | RSS Feed | Twitter | Advertising | Important Disclaimer
Congratulations to China's Chang'e-4 team for what appears to be a successful landing on the far side of the Moon. This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment! pic.twitter.com/JfcBVsjRC8
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) January 3, 2019
Keith's note: I did an interview live on CGTN 3 hours before the landing of Chang'e-4 was confirmed. I was on Deutsche Welle just after the landing.
Keith's note: From someone@nasa.gov: "Me and my colleagues are out of work during this shutdown with no prospect for ever getting back our lost wages. The federal government has a hard time recruiting people in my field because of a large salary difference with private sector companies. We choose a career with federal agencies because we believe in the mission of protecting the United States. NASA is going to lose a lot a talent in cyber security as workers like myself seek more stable employment elsewhere."
New Horizons Reveals Ultima Thule
"The new images -- taken from as close as 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) on approach -- revealed Ultima Thule as a "contact binary," consisting of two connected spheres. End to end, the world measures 19 miles (31 kilometers) in length. The team has dubbed the larger sphere "Ultima" (12 miles/19 kilometers across) and the smaller sphere "Thule" (9 miles/14 kilometers across)."
I'm just sayin' ...#UltimaThule #StarWars pic.twitter.com/KTKHNRzRDK
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 2, 2019
Hey @AlanStern @JimBridenstine Isn't it a little odd that Planetary Society @exploreplanets staff object to evidence of national pride at @JHUAPL during #UltimaFlyby but they do not complain when it happens at @NASAJPL for every Mars landing? #UltimaThule pic.twitter.com/qLBDpM2BxS
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) January 1, 2019
|
|
'Wow': NASA startles with invitation to sanctioned Russian, Politico
"It absolutely sends the wrong message to lift sanctions, even temporarily, for the purpose of inviting him to speak to students at one of our nation's premier universities," said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a leader of the committee's investigation into 2016 Russian election interference. "This is appalling," said Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia in the Obama administration. "It's utterly inappropriate given who he is and the fact that he is on our sanctions list." More than two months after Bridenstine's original invitation, however, the details remain sparse. A Dec. 7 TASS report said that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, is planning for Rogozin to visit in "early 2019," but neither the U.S. nor Russia has announced a specific date. The Russian embassy declined to comment on the proposed visit, and NASA spokeswoman Megan Powers said only, "Planning for a potential visit by the Director-General is still underway."
Rice University has no plans to host head of Russian space program in Houston, despite reports, Houston Chronicle
"Facing mounting speculation and criticism that it would host the head of Russia's space program, a politician known for a track record of racist and homophobic statements, Rice University affirmed Wednesday that it had no plans to bring Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin onto its campus. Rice University spokesman Doug Miller said although NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine invited Rogozin to visit Houston and the university, there is no plan for Rogozin to come to Rice."
Keith's note: Rogozin's extensive and unfavorable background certainly precedes him. He's also the head of the space agency with which the U.S. built and continues to operate the largest space vehicle in history. This cooperation is not going to change any time soon. Oddly, of all the things that the U.S. and Russia do to get back at each other, the one realm of interaction where hostilities are nearly - if not totally - absent is space. Perhaps it is fitting that this one arena of cooperation serves as something to build upon. But: if Rogozin's visit is an issue with people (and it is totally understandable why this is the case) then perhaps the U.S. should be looking to end its interactions with Russia in space too - since Rogozin runs the show over there. But we're not going to do that, are we? We're joined at the hip - literally. As such we need to interact with Rogozin. Bridenstine is trying to bridge a chasm and improve and solidify the relationship. Perhaps we should at least let Bridenstine try.
- Can Sanctioned Roscosmos Chief Rogozin Visit The U.S.?, earlier post
- NASA Has Soft Power Conversations With Sanctioned Head Of Roscosmos, earlier post
New Horizons Successfully Explores Ultima Thule
"Signals confirming the spacecraft is healthy and had filled its digital recorders with science data on Ultima Thule reached the mission operations center at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) today at 10:29 a.m. EST, almost exactly 10 hours after New Horizons' closest approach to the object."
Categories: Space & Planetary ScienceIt's official! I'm in orbit around #asteroid Bennu -- now the smallest body ever orbited by a spacecraft. My snug path around the asteroid also sets a new record for the closest orbit of a planetary body by any spacecraft. #HappyNewYear, indeed! More ➡️ https://t.co/fwL3FEVU9m pic.twitter.com/ceavR7ju6i
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) December 31, 2018
Question: "Can @NASANewHorizons reproduce the famous "Pale Blue dot" image? @AlanStern: Yes we think we can but there is a risk of burning the cameras out - permanently - so we would want to do all flybys first. #UltimaThule pic.twitter.com/Rzmreuo1af
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 31, 2018
Media Briefings, Online Coverage of Ultima Thule Flyby
"NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is on track to perform the farthest flyby in history, when it zips past a Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule -- more than four billion miles from Earth -- at 12:33 a.m. EST on Jan. 1. Flyby activities are taking place at the home of New Horizons operations, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. A schedule of events, set for broadcast and streaming on NASA TV and social media channels, is below."
Categories: Space & Planetary Science
The Most Famous Person To Die In 2018, According To Data Science, Huffington Post
"What this graph doesn't tell us, however, is who specifically was the most famous person to die in 2018. To calculate this, we need a means to measure an individual's level of fame. And this is where we can borrow a trick from Google. The search engine ranks results by counting the number of pages linking into a given page - the theory being that the more pages linking there, the more authoritative it is. And using this Wikipedia data, we can do something similar: We can count the number of other Wikipedia pages linking to the dead person. The bigger the number, the bigger the impact that person had on our world."
"10 - Paul Spudis - Aug. 29 - Scientist - 1502"
Paul Spudis, earlier post
Categories: Astronomy, Personnel News, Space & Planetary Science
Nancy Grace Roman, astronomer celebrated as 'mother' of Hubble, dies at 93, Washington Post
"Undeterred by the barriers to women in the sciences, Dr. Roman found a professional home at NASA. Even there, she recalled in an interview years later, she felt compelled to use the honorific "Dr." "Otherwise," she said, "I could not get past the secretaries." After joining the fledgling space agency in 1959, Dr. Roman became the first chief of astronomy at NASA headquarters, a role that made her one of the agency's first female executives. She remained in that position for nearly two decades before her retirement in 1979."
- NASA Administrator's Statement Regarding Nancy Grace Roman
- Nancy Roman, Wikipedia
Planning for a Government Shutdown, NASA
"During the Shutdown Furlough, you will be in a nonpay, nonduty status. During this time, you will not be permitted to serve NASA as an unpaid volunteer. You must remain away from your worksite, and may not work at home, in another location, or participate in events hosted by non-NASA entities in your official capacity like speeches or speakers bureau engagements, unless and until recalled."
Keith's 27 Dec note: It would seem that NASA Administrator Bridenstine and NASA SMD AA Zurbuchen are prohibited from attending or even talking about anything having to do with the New Horizons flyby of Ultima Thule.
Keith's 28 Dec update: I'm now told by NASA that Jim Bridenstine and Thomas Zurbuchen are considered "essential employees" during #governmentshutdown - which is not all that unexpected ;-)
"NASA is currently CLOSED due to a lapse in Government funding Orderly Shutdown Will Begin December 26, 2018"
NASA, other federal workers not as supportive of government shutdown as Trump claims, union rep says, Houston Chronicle
"Trump has argued that federal workers support the shutdown, saying Tuesday, "Many of those workers have said to me and communicated, 'stay out until you get the funding for the wall.' These federal workers want the wall, " according to an ABC News story published on Christmas Day. In its statement, the union said Trump needs to stop "gambling with the lives of federal workers." "If the president wants to gamble, perhaps he should go back to running casinos," the statement said."
Government shutdown grounds NASA testing, Sandusky Register
"Most recently, a simulated spacecraft resembling Orion's actual article underwent and aced noise-related tests. Engineers collected data to input into Orion's actual article, ensuring, upon a scheduled 2021 launch, the spacecraft can withstand extreme vibration it'll likely encounter in space. Depending on the shutdown's length, a federal holdup could push back several crucial Orion-related experiments scheduled for 2019 at Plum Brook. Before then, Plum Brook's staff has prepared for these tests, analyzing data gathered from past trial runs. Though the stoppage means these workers and others contracted to work with NASA at Plum Brook on other projects must stand idle and wait for who knows how long."
Categories: ShutdownIf the #Apollo8 mission had happened during a #GovernmentShutdown there would not have been any Christmas Eve broadcast from the Moon by @NASA#UltimaThule #UltimaFlyby pic.twitter.com/vUnEzR05wd
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 27, 2018
Update. Now the @NASA home page points to https://t.co/OzINGBtqnc - it used to point to https://t.co/VoKf8YqIRc As such, it would seem that @NASANewHorizons #UltimaThule events will be on NASATV after all. Good news! #Governmentshutdown pic.twitter.com/E7kGVGh5I6
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) December 28, 2018
|
|
NASA Weekly ISS Space to Ground Report for December 21, 2018 
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.