LIGHTING ORION'S CANDLES

Hey Space Placers!

Turn up the volume and enjoy these hot fire tests for Orion. One step closer to the Moon and Mars.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/orion_las_fact_sheet_8.5x11_4page_11_19_15.pdf








Orion Main Propulsion Test



Sky Guy in VA

UPDATED......INDIA'S CHANDRAYAAN-2 DUE TO ENTER LUNAR ORBIT

Hey Space Placers!

UPDATE:

FROM ISRO:

Chandrayaan-2 update: Lunar Orbit Insertion

Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) maneuver was completed successfully today (August 20, 2019). The duration of maneuver was 1738 seconds beginning from 0902 hrs IST. With this, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into a Lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 114 km x 18072 km.

Following this, a series of orbit maneuvers will be performed on Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft to enable it to enter its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon’s surface.

Subsequently, the lander will separate from the Orbiter and enters into a 100 km X 30 km orbit around the Moon.  Then, it will perform a series of complex braking maneuvers to soft land in the South polar region of the Moon on September 7, 2019.

The health of the spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennas at Bylalu, near Bengaluru. All the systems of Chandrayaan-2 are healthy.

The next Lunar bound orbit maneuver is scheduled tomorrow (August 21, 2019) between 1230-13:30 hrs IST.

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Here's the latest on India's Chandrayaan-2 mission which should go into lunar orbit TONIGHT, U.S. time.

Follow the mission using this link.

This would be the third active lunar mission at the Moon with China's Chang'e 4 (2019) on the lunar far side and NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) (2009) the other two.

Sky Guy in VA

SOME USEFUL INTERNET LINKS ON THE SKY, MILKY WAY AND ASTRONOMY RESOURCES

Hey Space Placers!

Ever want to know more about the sky, astronomy resources like a club that might be near you, the Milky Way?

Here are some links to help you become better acquainted with the sky:

Milky Way
https://earthsky.org/favorite-star-patterns/teapot-of-sagittarius-points-to-galactic-center?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=c856cd0e29-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-c856cd0e29-394691157

https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/trifid-nebula-a-summer-milky-way-treasure

https://earthsky.org/clusters-nebulae-galaxies/trifid-nebula-a-summer-milky-way-treasure


NASA Night Sky Network
https://twitter.com/nightskynetwork

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/clubs-and-events.cfm

Be sure to follow these assets on Facebook and/or Twitter fo sky updates.

Sky Guy in VA

MOON NEWS

Hey Space Placers!

The Moon shines brightly in gamma rays as seen in this time sequence from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Each 5-by-5-degree image is centered on the Moon and shows gamma rays with energies above 31 million electron volts, or tens of millions of times that of visible light. At these energies, the Moon is actually brighter than the Sun. Brighter colors indicate greater numbers of gamma rays. This animation shows how longer exposure, ranging from two to 128 months (10.7 years), improved the view. Credit: NASA/DOE/Fermi LAT Collaboration

Check out this latest about the Moon....a very surprising finding.

Sky Guy in VA

RECOMMENDED READING ON HUMANITY AS AN EVENT

Hey Space Placers!

We humans tend to think we have been and will be around forever. That simply is not the case. Our recorded history is around 5,000 years - not even an eye blink in the 4.5 BILLION year history of our planet.

We are at a crossroads right now that will determine our future. Will we finally wise up and act responsibly towards ourselves and the planet and thereforeSURVIVE AND THRIVE, or will we let the worst in us ruin our habitat and ultimately kill ourselves off in a world wide conflagration.

Truth to be told in mid-August 2019 it is not looking good for humanity and our present civilization making it in the far run.

This Atlantic article dies an excellent job in putting forth how we are just a blip or an event in the history of our planet. It also correctly assesses that over geological time and processes very little will remain of our presence here if we go the way of the dinosaurs - death from above due to a 10km asteroid impact - which could happen by the way.

The choice is ours to be made individually which then needs to be pushed politically to the world's leaders and then into action to save ourselves and our climate.

Two final thoughts I have shared before:

We need the planet, the planet doesn't need us....

The dinosaurs are dead because they didn't have telescopes or a space program......

Wise up humanity, the doomsday clock is ticking every closer to midnight......

Sky Guy in VA

YOUNG JUPITER SMACKED

Hey Space Placers!

Check out the latest results from June at Jupiter.




Looks like another huge impact in the early solar system.

Sky Guy in VA

SEND YOUR NAME TO MARS

Hey Space Placers!

NASA is sending submitted names to Mars next year on its Mars 2020 Rover.

Submit your name using this link https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/ by Sept. 30, 2019.

Be part of the over 8 million who have already signed up!

I have.

Sky Guy in VA