Mission Control

MORNING MEETING: For the last couple of days, many of my friends have been posting their 'back to school' photos of their sharply dressed kids getting on the bus or entering their school building for the first time this year.

Our back-to-school looks a little different. This morning it looked like two kids and two dogs, stretched out a bed, taking part in a remote learning opportunity while still in pajamas. I'll let Annabelle tell you a bit more about it.

This morning, I watched a live presentation on NASA’s DLN (Digital Learning Network) channel about the space probe Cassini’s “Grand Finale.” On September 15, the Cassini probe’s 20 year extended mission will come to a close, with Cassini crashing into the planet Saturn to avoid hitting its moons.

Cassini was originally launched on October 15, 1997, with the purpose of studying Saturn’s moon Titan. The mission was officially known as Cassini-Huygens, named after French-Italian astronomer Giovanni Domencio Cassini (who discovered Saturn’s ring divisions) and Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who discovered the moon Titan. Huygens was the name of the lander that was sent to Titan. This Huygens lander was also the first ever landing in the outer solar system.

The Cassini probe part of the mission continued to orbit Saturn for many years, taking breathtaking photos of Saturn and its rings, even capturing an Eclipse-like photo with the sun shining behind Saturn. At first, the probe was set to arrive in Saturn’s orbit in 2004 and end its mission in 2008, but the mission was extended for 2 years so Cassini could observe Saturn’ spring equinox in 2009. Another extension was then introduced, lasting 6 ½ years until September 15^th of this year. Cassini’s final moments before crashing into Saturn will be transmitting data about the atmosphere back to Earth. 

And here's what CJ had to share ...

This morning, I watched a NASA livestream about the long-running Cassini mission, more specifically, its end. On 15 October 1997, nearly 20 years ago, the rocket containing Cassini was launched into space, thus starting a mission that would provide great insight into Saturn, as well as its moons.

During the livestream, we were introduced to Rex Engelhardt, a longtime NASA engineer and Launch Services Program mission manager. Engelhardt had worked on the Cassini program prior to launching, as well as the Titan IV-B rockets that propelled Cassini. The livestream was also hosted by Todd Barber, an engineer in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

We got the chance to ask a question that would be answered on the livestream, through contact by e-mail. Specifically, we had asked how long a day on Saturn was. According to Engelhardt, a day on Saturn is 10 hours and 45 minutes long. About 30 people were watching the Livestream, and some of them also asked questions.

The broadcast team shared some of their favorite images from the Cassini mission. 

During its duration, there have been two solar eclipses. This stunning photos captured one of them. 

Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

If you look closely,  far in the distance, at the left (about 10 o'clock), just above the brighter, inner main rings, is the pale blue dot of Earth. That's you, me, and everybody.

At the conclusion of today's program, NASA shared a video about the end of the mission. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/xrGAQCq9BMU


Editor's note: Some of the 30 watching the broadcast were classrooms with multiple people in them. Still, it seemed like a sparse crowd. And, perhaps it's one reason that NASA's Digital Learning Network is having its plug pulled within a month. :( We have certainly benefited from DLN and will miss the opportunities and information it provided. 

STARMAN: A fond Facebook memory popped up today: This photo of one of Annabelle's Perler bead creations. My favorite, by far. it's David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.

A year ago today, a photo of this artwork was on a chip on board OSIRIS-REx, the NASA spacecraft set to land on an asteroid, as it lifted off. Set to land in November of 2018, the probe will collect a sample and return home. 

The photo made me wonder where OSIRIS-REx is now, so we did the Google and found this great NASA website: https://www.asteroidmission.org/where-is-the-spacecraft/

Right now OSIRIS-REx is in the 'cruise' portion of its mission. An important part of the cruise is coming up on Sept. 22, 2017, when, after a year orbiting the sun, OSIRIS-REx will make a flyby of Earth. Per NASA, "Earth's gravitational field will pull the spacecraft towards the planet where it can "borrow" a small amount of Earth's orbital energy. This additional energy is used to increase OSIRIS-REx's orbital inclination and sling it back into space for a rendezvous with Bennu."

Imagine the math involved in plotting OSIRIS-REx's course - so impressive!

Bright Lights

PICTURE PERFECT: Back in my photojournalist days (seems like forever ago), I used to routinely share photos on a great site, Morguefile.com. I kinda all but forgot about my stuff there. I was surprised to get an email today letting me know this photo was featured as their "Creative Spotlight." Taken inside EMP/MoPOP, it's probably my favorite photo of CJ Kisky and Annabelle Kisky, ever. On Twitter, when I posted it, EMP said it was their favorite photo (to date) from inside their museum. :)

When I checked in today, I was also a little surprised to find the photos I've parked on Morguefile had been downloaded 277,000 plus times.

Happy to share. It beats the hell out of pics sitting on my hard drive, collecting 'dust.'

All in all, just a plug to say Morguefile.com is a nice place to park photos you think others could benefit from. It's used primarily by journalists and graphic designers from all around the world.

BOOKING: We spent the morning looking at maps of Europe and plotting a path. We're leaving at the end of the month for a 10-day, whirlwind trip, and we're trying to balance seeing things and ground covered with driving time. Lots to consider!

So far, we've figured out Gatwick to Dover (with a stop at Canterbury). Then a ferry to Dunkirk, a drive up to Bruges, a trip over to a labyrinth that encompasses three countries, and a stop at Europe's number one space museum, in Speyer, Germany. 

Then, we need to make our way across the middle of France to Normandy. I really want to see the D-Day museum and beach.

Ambitious plans. Time will tell how it all plays out. ... 

SUN SHOW: Although Ol' Sol is totally muted 'thanks' to the horrific forest fires in our region, word has it that it has been putting on quite a show.

Specifically, we read a post today on Space.com letting us know that the sun had unleashed its most powerful solar flare in a decade.

Credit: SDO/AIA/Steve Spaleta

Video here: https://www.space.com/38057-sun-unleashes-decades-strongest-solar-flare.html?utm_content=bufferad3e1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Naturally, my mind went to "I wanna see the Northern Lights!!!" immediately.

However, I have to think the oppressive smoke cover our entire region is experiencing would make it nearly impossible.

Ashes to Ashes

Photo: NASA Terra satellite

SMOKE AND STUFF: This morning we had quite a surprise upon upping. A fine layer of ash covered our cars, laundry left outside, and windowsills and more in our house.

It reminded me of when Mt. St. Helens erupted back in 1980. This time, however, it was wildfires, rather than a volcano, responsible for the blanket of ash.

You could actually watch the ash rain down this morning. Meanwhile, the muted sun was an eerie red burning through the thick layer of smoke. I wanted to stare at the sun for a bit, so I donned our safety glasses left over from the eclipse. But lo and behold, with those on, I couldn't even see the sun! It was too faded by the smoky haze. 

I snapped this photo of the sun yesterday afternoon.

The photo at the top of this post is from the NASA Terra satellite. As you can see, smoke currently covers most of the Pacific NW.

The main source of our ash and smoke is a fire in Cle Elum, about 83 miles to the east and a little south of us.

And today, I watched social media being flooded with photos from my friends in southwest Washington and the Columbia River Gorge area. According to multiple reports some young idiots with fireworks apparently rather purposely set a forest fire there. It's out of control with 10,000 acres gone. So much wildlife and plant life killed, and structures destroyed. Such a shame. 

One photo that keeps showing up is a before and now. 

I saw that photo credit belongs to James C King — with Nicky Colo'n.

SHE'S BACK: In much happier news, this weekend the remarkable Peggy Whitson returned to Earth.

I just love this photo of the Soyuz capsule shortly after it touched down. 

Just imagine ... there are three humans inside that smoking spacecraft, still hot from plummeting through the Earth's atmosphere!

Photo: NASA

Along with record-breaking NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson  were crewmates Jack Fischer of NASA and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos. The trio landed in Kazakhstan at 6:21 p.m. PDT on Sept. 2.

Whitson’s return was at the end of a 288-day mission that began last November and spanned 122.2 million miles and 4,623 orbits of the Earth. It was her third long-duration mission on the station. During her latest mission, Whitson performed four spacewalks, bringing her career total to 10. All totaled, Whitson has spent 665 days in space, which makes her the U.S. record holder on the all-time space endurance list.