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NASA Ames Astrogram – July 2018

The headshot image of Astrid Albaugh

Astrid Albaugh

Jul 31, 2018
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Kepler Spacecraft Pauses Science Observations to Download Science Data

by Tiffany Blake

NASA’s Kepler team recently received an indication that the spacecraft fuel tank is running very low. NASA has placed the spacecraft in a hibernation-like state in preparation to download the science data collected in its latest observation campaign. Once the data has been downloaded, the expectation is to start observations for the next campaign with any remaining fuel. 

kepler_interrupt_feature.jpg
Artist’s conception of Kepler spacecraft.
Credit: NASA

For full story, see: KeplerScienceData

Planetary Defense Has New Tool in Weather Satellite Lightning Detector

by Abigail Tabor

NASA’s efforts to better understand asteroid impacts has found unexpected support from a new satellite sensor designed to detect lightning. New research published in the journal Meteoritics and Planetary Science finds that the new Geostationary Lightning Mapper, or GLM, on two weather satellites is able to pick up signals of meteors in Earth’s atmosphere.

“GLM detects these meteors when they become brighter than the full Moon,” says lead author and meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames. “Meteors that bright are called ‘bolides’ and they are caused mainly by the impact of small asteroids.”

glm-atlantic-fireball1.jpg
The bright flash produced on December 29, 2017 by a meteor detected in Earth’s atmosphere over the western Atlantic Ocean, was picked up by the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, an instrument flying on board two weather satellites. This image shows one moment of that meteor event, which released three kilotons of energy into the atmosphere. In the image inset, red represents the bright meteor, while blue indicates the faint light reflected off the ocean surface and the signal caused by the instrument recovering from the bright exposure.
Credit: NASA/Lockheed Martin

For full story, see: PlanetaryDefenseTool

Is Mars’ Soil Too Dry to Sustain Life?

by Frank Tavares

Life as we know it needs water to thrive. Even so, we see life persist in the driest environments on Earth. But how dry is too dry? At what point is an environment too extreme for even microorganisms, the smallest and often most resilient of lifeforms, to survive? These questions are important to scientists searching for life beyond Earth, including on the planet Mars. To help answer this question, a research team from NASA Ames traveled to the driest place on Earth: the Atacama Desert in Chile, a 1,000 kilometer strip of land on South America’s west coast.

The Atacama Desert is one of the Earth’s environments that comes closest to the parched Martian surface. But the Atacama isn’t uniformly dry. When traveling from the relatively less dry southern end of the desert in central Chile to its extremely dry center in northern Chile, the annual precipitation shifts from a few millimeters of rain per year to only a few millimeters of rain per decade.

Sunrise over the Atacama Desert in Chile.
A sunrise over the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Credit: NASA Ames

For full story, see: MarsAtacama

NASA Launches Channel for Roku

by Jessica Culler

There’s a new way for people to learn about NASA’s exciting missions and thought-provoking discoveries: The agency now has a channel for Roku digital media streaming devices.

Users can install the app for free to access NASA content. This channel, a version of the NASA app, is similar to previous versions of the app developed for iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV devices. Users have downloaded the NASA app more than 18 million times across all platforms.

Roku screen image
Credit: Roku

For full story, see: RokuNASA

Planet-Shifting Collision Shaped Uranus’ “Rolling” Rotation

by Frank Tavares

Scientists have always wondered how Uranus got tilted so much that it spins on its side, and now research on the planet’s early formation gives us new insight. Four billion years ago, scientists believe a young proto-planet of rock and ice collided with Uranus, causing its extreme tilt. Instead of rotating like a top spinning nearly upright, as Earth does, the planet “rolls” on its side as it circles the sun.

Uranus rings
The research team, led by Durham University, UK, in collaboration with scientists at NASA Ames, used advanced computing techniques to create the most detailed simulation to date of the suspected impact.
For full story, see: PlanetShifting

Ames Holds Public Event Showcasing its Earth, Moon and Mars Research

NASA Ames hosted a public event on July 13, 2018, showcasing our innovations in Earth, Moon and Mars research. The goal of this event was to share the incredible and inspirational research conducted at Ames and to immerse the public in NASA’s mission. This event, entitled “NASA Silicon Valley Innovations: From the Earth to the Moon and Mars,” also covered NASA’s research conducted on and around Earth, encompassing aeronautics and the International Space Station. NASA exhibits allowed for self-guided tours and keynote and panel talks also were held.
Credit: NASA Ames/Dominic Hart

Visitors at Mountain View Tech Showcase Learn about Technologies at Ames

mtnvwtechfair
NASA Ames participated in the 4th Annual Technology Showcase on July 18, 2018 in Mountain View, downtown in the Civic Center Plaza. A variety of local companies and agencies were on hand as well to display their product demonstrations and to talk about their services, such as Google, Facebook and many others. The Ames’ displays focused on aeromechanics, drone traffic management, SOFIA, technology transfer services and enticed many who stopped by to start conversations with the Ames staff about what we do here at the Center.
Credit: photos by Astrid Albaugh

S. Pete Worden Discusses Breakthrough Initiatives/Searching for Life in the Universe

wordenseminar
It was a full house at the July 20, 2018 seminar, “The Search for Life in the Universe: Intelligent or Otherwise…” presented by former NASA Ames Center Director Dr. S. Pete Worden. On July 20, 2015, Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking and Lord Martin Rees announced a set of initiatives — a scientific programme aimed at finding evidence of technological life beyond Earth entitled, ‘Breakthrough Listen’ and a contest to devise potential messages named ‘Breakthrough Message.’ In addition, on April 20, 2016, Breakthrough Starshot was announced, an interstellar programme to Alpha Centauri. He spoke about those and also the Breakthrough Junior Challenge. These are the first of several privately funded global initiatives to answer the fundamental science questions surrounding the origin, extent and nature of life in the universe. The Breakthrough Initiatives are managed by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation.
Credit: photos by Astrid Albaugh

Brian Muirhead Presents Overview of Mars Sample Return Mission Campaign

Returning samples from Mars to Earth will not only allow us to study Martian materials using various methods not available on a lander or rover but also will demonstrate an ability to return from Mars. Demonstrating return capability is a key step in advancing Mars Science and Human Exploration. As the clock ticks down to the Mars 2020 Rover Mission, NASA is exploring the option for a sample return. On July 17, 2018, Brian Muirhead presented an overview of the current Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission campaign.
Credit: NASA Ames/Dominic Hart

Douglas Caldwell of SETI Describes Current Exoplanet Studies and Next Steps

On July 17, 2018, Dr. Douglas Caldwell, of the SETI Institute, presented, “Exoplanets – Moving from Discovery to Understanding.” In less than 25 years, the study of Exoplanets has gone from a niche field to a major field of study with groups at most universities, numerous international conferences, prominent NASA missions, and international research programs. Exoplanet discoveries have moved from one-by-one finds to large teams announcing hundreds of planets at a time. During this time, the discovery of thousands of worlds around other stars has shown that planets orbit most of the stars in our Galaxy, thanks in large part to NASA Ames’ own Kepler Mission. The talk described the current state of Exoplanet studies and some of the next steps, now that we know planets are common; including to determine how many of these planets are Earth-size, which are potentially habitable, and ultimately, if any are inhabited. Caldwell is from the SETI Institute and is the Instrument Scientist for the Kepler/K2 Mission and works in the TESS Science Processing Operations Center. Throughout his career, Caldwell has been working to understand how instruments affect science data in order to improve data analysis, and to help scientists understand how data analysis impacts their science results.
Credit: NASA photo/Dominic Hart

Ames Employees Enjoy the Nice Weather During a Fourth of July Celebration Fun Run/Walk

Credit: NASA Ames/Don Richey

The Ames Fitness Center invited Ames employees to celebrate our country’s independence by participating in this year’s 4th of July Fun Run/Walk on June 27, 2018. The course covered a two-mile stretch starting at the Fitness Center’s parking lot and headed out to North Perimeter Road and back. Contact Marco or Orion at the Fitness Center at ext. 4-5804 for more information about these events and other Fitness Center classes and programs.

Grand Opening at Ames’ Convenience Store “MoonMart” Held

MoonMart, located in the old McDonalds B596, is now officially fully operational!  To help celebrate, a grand opening with free hot dogs and fountain sodas was held July 11, 2018.  MoonMart’s regular operating hours are Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  If employees are looking for fresh food, then they have that. Pizza, hot dogs, Tonados (taquitos) and cookies are cooked daily.  Also, they have nachos, pre-made sandwiches and salads and a selection of microwave foods as well.

moonmartopening
Grand opening of MoonMart, July 11, 2018, included free hot dogs and fountain sodas for employees to help celebrate the occasion.
Credit: NASA Ames/Don RIchey

The store is still in the “loading” process. Not all of the items have been stocked yet, so check back often as they are adding more products regularly. If you have requests or suggestions, let the employees know as they will be happy to check with their vendors to see if they can order the product(s) you’re looking for.

MoonMart also features a Peet’s coffee pick-up window! Simply pre-purchase your coffee drink of choice and select a time to pick it up at the drive-through window. At this time, the drive-through window is only for picking up pre-purchases of coffee on the same day.

Please visit here to order coffee: https://goo.gl/R9JAdB

For additional details please visit the Exchange website: https://exchange.arc.nasa.gov/moonmart/index.html 

Statistical Summary of Activities of the Protective Service Division’s Security/Law Enforcement and Fire Protection Services Units for Period Ending June 2018:

Security chart June 2018
FallFire chart June 2018