Morning Jeanette. My 10 Year Son Old Recently Told Me His Dream Job That He Would Love To Do Is To Become

Is the earth really as beautiful as they say from space?

Gelatin in space!  Looks a bit like a tadpole when it is floating around, but I promise it was a tasty treat for us on the Space Station.  The food lab prepared drink bags with gelatin mix inside, and I made gelatin for the crew. It is very tempting to play with your food when it floats.

Thanksgiving...in Space

Since 2000, humans have continuously lived and worked on the International Space Station. That means plenty of crew members have celebrated holidays off the Earth.

Although they’re observing the same holidays, they do so in a slightly different way because of the unique environment 250 miles above the Earth.

Consider the differences of living on Earth and in space…

Food scientists must develop foods that will be easier to handle and consume in an environment without gravity. The food must not require refrigeration and also provide the nutrition humans need to remain healthy.

Freeze drying food allows it to remain stable at room temperature, while also significantly reducing its weight.

Did you know that all the food sent to the space station is precooked? Sending precooked food means that it requires no refrigeration and is either ready to eat or can be prepared by simply adding water or by heating. 

The only exception are the fruit and vegetables stowed in the fresh food locker. The food comes in either freeze-dried containers or thermostabilized pouches. If freeze-dried in a vacuum sealed package, the astronauts have a rehydration system in-flight, which they use restore moisture in their food.  If thermostabilized, the packaging is designed to preserve the food similar to canned products, but instead in a flexible, multi-layered pouch.

So what will the space station crew eat this year (2016) for Thanksgiving?

Turkey

Cherry/Blueberry Cobbler

Candied Yams

Rehydratable Cornbread Dressing

Rehydratable Green Beans and Mushrooms

Rehydratable Mashed Potatoes

What are you bringing to Thanksgiving on Earth this year? Treat your family and friends astronaut-style with this cornbread dressing recipe straight out of our Space Food Systems Laboratory…no freeze drying required!

For spaceflight preparation:

Baked dressing is transferred to metal tray and freeze-dried accordingly. One serving of cornbread dressing shall weigh approximately 145 g prior to freeze-drying and 50 g after freeze-drying.

Learn more about our Food Systems Laboratory in this Facebook Live video: https://www.facebook.com/ISS/videos/1359709837395277/

Happy Thanksgiving!

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When you're finally up out of the air, high enough to see the Earth, what is it like to see our home planet from above for the first time?

Are you scared about going up into space?

I’m not scared, but I have a healthy amount of nervousness because I don’t know exactly what to expect. I have a lot of great advice, but you don’t know until you actually get there.

I was looking at the GLOBE Observer experiments for citizens and was wondering how the eclipse affects the cloud type? Or, I guess, why is that an important thing to measure? Thank you for answering our questions!

As my dad likes to say, I went to college to take up space, so I’m not sure what happens in the atmosphere. However, I think that the atmospheric scientists are interested in the types of waves that will be set up by the temperature gradients generated by the eclipse. So as totality occurs you get a very fast temperature drop in a localized area. I believe this can set up strong winds which may affect the type of clouds and/or their shapes. This is going to be the best-observed eclipse! And one thing I’ve learned as a scientist is that you never know what you’ll find in your data so collect as much of it as possible even if you aren’t sure what you’ll find. That is sometimes when you get the most exciting results! Thanks for downloading the app and helping to collect the data! 

Small Business Saturday: Space Edition!

Today is Small Business Saturday, an annual campaign that American Express started back in 2010 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to support “local places that make our communities strong.”

The U.S. Senate has even taken note by passing a bipartisan resolution recognizing November 25, 2017 as Small Business Saturday: “an opportunity for all Americans to rally behind these local, independently-owned businesses and support the entrepreneurs who keep our families employed.”

Here at NASA, we look to promote and integrate small businesses across the country into the work we do to pioneer the future of space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.

Our Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program seeks to fund the research, development and demonstration of innovative technologies that help address space exploration challenges and have significant potential for commercialization. In fiscal year 2017, our program awarded 567 contracts to 277 small businesses and 44 research institutions for a total of $173.5M that will enable our future missions into deep space and advancements in aviation and science, while also benefiting the U.S. economy. This year, the SBIR/STTR program’s Economic Impact Report indicated a $2.74 return for every dollar spent on awards—money well spent!

Our small business partners’ ideas have helped our work become more efficient and have advanced scientific knowledge on the International Space Station. Over 800 small businesses are contributing to the development of our Space Launch System rocket that will carry humans to deep space. SBIR/STTR program awardees are also helping the Curiosity Rover get around Mars and are even preparing the Mars 2020 Rover to search for signs of potential life on the Red Planet.

Small businesses are also contributing to scientific advances here on Earth like helping our satellites get a clearer picture of soil moisture in order to support water management, agriculture, and fire, flood and drought hazard monitoring.

In an effort to improve our understanding of the Arctic and Antarctica, a small business developed a cost-saving unmanned aircraft system that could withstand some of the coldest temperatures on the planet.

Does your small business have a big idea? Your next opportunity to join the SBIR/STTR program starts on January 11, 2018 when our latest solicitation opens. 

We’ll be seeking new ideas from small businesses and research institutions for research, development and demonstration of innovative technologies. Go to www.nasa.sbir.gov to learn more.

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What’s Up for September 2017?

Set your sights beyond the solar system and take a late summertime road trip along the Milky Way!

On September 15 the Cassini spacecraft ends its glorious Saturnian science tour by plunging into the atmosphere of Saturn, becoming forever a part of the ringed planet. Learn more about the end of mission activities HERE. 

This month Saturn is the only prominent evening planet low in the southwest sky. 

Look for it near the constellation Sagittarius. Above and below Saturn--from a dark sky--you can't miss the summer Milky Way spanning the sky from northeast to southwest.

Grab a pair of binoculars and scan the teapot-shaped Sagittarius, where stars and some brighter clumps appear as steam from the teapot. Those bright clumps are near the center of our galaxy, which is full of gas, dust and stars.

Directly overhead is the great Summer Triangle of stars. Vega, Altair and Deneb are in the pretty constellations Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus.

As you gaze toward the northeast you'll see Cassiopeia, the familiar W-shaped constellation...and Perseus. Through your binoculars, look for the Perseus Double Cluster. Both of the clusters are visible with the naked eye, are 7500 light years away, and contain more than 300 blue-white super-giant stars!

Every star and every object you can see with your unaided eye is part of the Milky Way. With one exception: the great Andromeda galaxy, which is faintly visible through binoculars on the opposite side of the night sky from Saturn and the teapot.

You can find out about our missions studying the solar system and universe at: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/index.html

Watch the full What’s Up for September video: 

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Sending Science to Space (and back) 🔬🚀

This season on our NASA Explorers video series, we’ve been following Elaine Horn-Ranney Ph.D and Parastoo Khoshaklagh Ph.D. as they send their research to the space station.

From preparing the experiment in the lab….

To training the astronauts to perform the science…

To watching it launch to space…

To conducting the science aboard the space station, we’ve been there every step of the way.

Now you can follow along with the whole journey!

Binge watch all of NASA Explorers season 4: Microgravity HERE

Want to keep up with space station research? Follow ISS Research on Twitter.

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On June 19, engineers on the ground remotely operated the International Space Station’s robotic arm to remove the Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) from the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo vehicle. Here, you see the experimental solar array unfurl as the station orbits Earth.

Solar panels are an efficient way to power satellites, but they are delicate and large, and must be unfolded when a satellite arrives in orbit. The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) is a new type of solar panel that rolls open in space like a party favor and is more compact than current rigid panel designs.

ROSA is 20% lighter and 4x smaller in volume than rigid panel arrays!

This experiment remained attached to the robotic arm over seven days to test the effectiveness of the advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure. During that time, they also measured power produced by the array and monitored how the technology handled retraction.

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