NASA News March 19, 2015

NASA launched 4 satellites into orbit around the Magnetosphere which will study the magnetic reconnection events. These events can damage satellites and cause havoc with power grids. The launch was said to be picture perfect when the Atlas V sent the probes into orbit. The satellites are known as MMSs or Magnetospheric Multiscale satellites. The reconnections are caused by coronal mass ejections and flares from the sun.
NASA has a new satellite mission in the works and it should be ready to roll by 2022, according to NASA authorities. It is called the Pre-Aerosol Clouds and Ocean Ecosystem mission or PACE. It will study the aquatic ecology and chemistry of our planet and try to get a better understanding of how clouds and small airborne particles called aerosols affect our climate. This is an important mission, because about one fourth of human created carbon ultimately gets into the oceans and it is important to know the effect of it on marine life.

Perhaps it is the fact that we still do not have good enough detection for asteroids heading for this planet or perhaps it is just a generous move, but NASA has released new asteroid detection software for amateur astronomers. The new software was developed by NASA in collaboration with Planetary Resources, Inc. and can run on a standard PC. It can also be downloaded for free. It uses a new algorithm which finds objects which move more consistent like asteroids. NASA is having a greater problem detecting asteroids, because of the fact our telescopes are getting so powerful they send way more data to us to be analyzed and this means it takes longer to analyze this data. Jason Kessler, program executive for NASA’s Asteroid Grand Challenge said, “The Asteroid Data Hunter challenge has been successful beyond our hopes, creating something that makes a tangible difference to asteroid hunting astronomers and highlights the possibility for more people to play a role in protecting our planet.” Sounds to me like NASA does not have enough detection capability for objects which might approach Earth.

NASA is going to develop smart glasses for astronauts. The glasses are augmented reality smart glasses which are said will be a great aid to astronauts helping them to carry out complicated repairs in space and assist them in carrying out experiments. NASA has teamed with a military technology company named Osterhout Design Group also known as ODG. The company is based in San Francisco. The idea is to project all the information needed on the lens. The glasses will also be good for terrestrial work and will include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a processor and sensors so the glasses know where the user is looking. One of the advantages of these glasses will be the wearer can send what he or she sees to someone who can help them. The glasses are going to be tested later this year by NASA in their underwater training facility If things work out the next stop for the glasses will be the International Space Station.

A NASA scientist has come out with a bomb shell. He told the Los Angeles Times, “We're not just up a creek without a paddle in California, we're losing the creek too." A report has come out saying that, "NASA satellites found total water in Sacramento and San Joaquin River basins is 34 million acre-feet below normal compared to last year." The NASA scientist stated that he thought water rationing should be implemented immediately in California. Other recommendations include the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014. If things continue the way they are going California will run out of water next year according to NASA.

I don’t know what is bothering Senator Ted Cruz, but he is said to be pleading with NASA to stop focusing on Earth and climate change. When he asked Charles Bolden the question, "In your judgment, what is the core mission of NASA?" Bolden referenced the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 and stated, "Our core mission from the very beginning has been to investigate, explore space and the Earth environment, and to help us make this place a better place." Cruz did not like this answer and said he believed Americans believe NASA is strictly for exploring space and said, I am concerned that NASA in the current environment has lost its full focus on that core mission." Apparently Cruz doesn’t agree with the act which created NASA and charged it with not just space flight but monitoring the earth.

Scientists and administrators at NASA are extremely happy with the Morpheus. The program just concluded, it was running for four years and 63 tests were conducted over that time at a cost of only 14 million dollars for the entire program. This is lean indeed for any government program. Morpheus is a system which was assembled at the Johnson Space Center in association with Armadillo Aerospace. It was designed to carry 1,100 pounds of cargo to the moon which could be a humanoid robot, a small rover or a small laboratory to convert moon dust into oxygen. NASA has said it has learned much from this project. The fuel used was known as green fuel and it has hazard detection technology. The technology has been updated and Morpheus can now land anywhere in the solar system. Morpheus had different engines built for it, but none cost more than 60,000 dollars.

It is starting to look like water is readily available on many of the bodies in our solar system. I think it was more surprising to find that these bodies are moons. The lay person thinks water when they think of other planets, but I wonder how many think water when thinking about a moon? Water could be responsible for life and it might turn out there is life in the water on some of these moons, if there is life, might it be exactly the same as here on Earth?