The Pale Blue Dot And The Golden Record

4 people are living in an isolated habitat for 30 days. Why? Science!

This 30 day mission will help our researchers learn how isolation and close quarters affect individual and group behavior. This study at our Johnson Space Center prepares us for long duration space missions, like a trip to an asteroid or even to Mars.

The Human Research Exploration Analog (HERA) that the crew members will be living in is one compact, science-making house. But unlike in a normal house, these inhabitants won't go outside for 30 days. Their communication with the rest of planet Earth will also be very limited, and they won’t have any access to internet. So no checking social media kids!

The only people they will talk with regularly are mission control and each other.

The crew member selection process is based on a number of criteria, including the same criteria for astronaut selection.

What will they be doing?

Because this mission simulates a 715-day journey to a Near-Earth asteroid, the four crew members will complete activities similar to what would happen during an outbound transit, on location at the asteroid, and the return transit phases of a mission (just in a bit of an accelerated timeframe). This simulation means that even when communicating with mission control, there will be a delay on all communications ranging from 1 to 10 minutes each way. The crew will also perform virtual spacewalk missions once they reach their destination, where they will inspect the asteroid and collect samples from it. 

A few other details:

The crew follows a timeline that is similar to one used for the ISS crew.

They work 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. This includes time for daily planning, conferences, meals and exercises.  

They will be growing and taking care of plants and brine shrimp, which they will analyze and document.

But beware! While we do all we can to avoid crises during missions, crews need to be able to respond in the event of an emergency. The HERA crew will conduct a couple of emergency scenario simulations, including one that will require them to maneuver through a debris field during the Earth-bound phase of the mission. 

Throughout the mission, researchers will gather information about cohabitation, teamwork, team cohesion, mood, performance and overall well-being. The crew members will be tracked by numerous devices that each capture different types of data.

Past HERA crew members wore a sensor that recorded heart rate, distance, motion and sound intensity. When crew members were working together, the sensor would also record their proximity as well, helping investigators learn about team cohesion.

Researchers also learned about how crew members react to stress by recording and analyzing verbal interactions and by analyzing “markers” in blood and saliva samples.

In total, this mission will include 19 individual investigations across key human research elements. From psychological to physiological experiments, the crew members will help prepare us for future missions.

UPDATE:

Mission success! After a simulated mission to an asteroid, the crew “splashed down” around 10:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Feb. 24 and exited the habitat for the first time in 30 days.

Want a full, 360 degree look at HERA? Check out and explore the inside of the habitat.

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Bubble Nebula. Bubble Nebula. Bubble Nebula. 

It's not just fun to say, it's spectacular to admire. 

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Ever wanted to ask a NASA astronaut a question? Here’s your chance!

NASA astronaut Nick Hague will be taking your questions in an Answer Time session on Thursday, January 16 from 12pm - 1pm ET here on NASA’s Tumblr! Find out what it’s like to live and work 254 miles above our planet’s surface. Make sure to ask your question now by visiting http://nasa.tumblr.com/ask!

Nick Hague was selected as one of eight members of the 21st NASA Astronaut class in 2013. Hague was the first astronaut from his class to be assigned to a mission which launched on October 11, 2018. Unfortunately, he and his crewmate Alexey Ovchinin, of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, were forced to abort the mission when a rocket booster experienced a malfunction shortly after the launch of their Soyuz MS-10. The aborted spacecraft landed safely. 

His first flight to the International Space Station was from March 2019 through October 2019 as a a part of the Expeditions 59 and 60 crew. Together, the crew conducted hundreds of experiments, including investigations into devices that mimic the structure and function of human organs, free-flying robots and an instrument to measure Earth’s distribution of carbon dioxide. While at the International Space Station, Hague conducted three spacewalks, totaling 19 hours and 56 minutes with a total of 203 days in space.

Nick Hague Fun Facts:

Hague was awarded the Order of Courage from the Russian Federation for his actions during the Expedition 57/58 launch abort. 

Hague was selected for the Air Force Fellows program where he was assigned as a member of the personal staff in the U.S. Senate, advising on matters of national defense and foreign policy.

He was a top flight test engineer in the U.S. Air Force.

He deployed five months to Iraq in support of Iraqi Freedom, conducting experimental airborne reconnaissance.

He enjoys exercise, flying, snow skiing and scuba.

Follow Nick Hague on Twitter at @AstroHague and follow NASA on Tumblr for your regular dose of space.

What is your advice to someone who wants to follow the same steps you take?

@dasandwichguy: What precautions do you take to curb the effects of weightlessness?

Solar System: 5 Things to Know This Week

From Mars to the asteroid belt to Saturn, our hardworking space robots are exploring the solar system. These mechanical emissaries orbit distant worlds or rove across alien landscapes, going places that are too remote or too dangerous for people (for now).

We often show off the pictures that these spacecraft send home, but this week we’re turning that around: here are some of the best pictures of the space robots, taken by other robots (or themselves), in deep space.

1. So Selfless with the Selfies

The Mars Curiosity rover makes breathtaking panoramas of the Martian landscape — and looks good doing it. This mission is famous for the remarkable self portraits of its robotic geologist in action. See more Martian selfies HERE. You can also try this draggable 360 panorama HERE. Find out how the rover team makes these images HERE.

2. Two Spaceships Passing in the Moonlight

In a feat of timing on Jan. 14, 2014, our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter caught a snapshot of LADEE, another robotic spacecraft that was orbiting the moon at the time. LADEE zoomed past at a distance of only about five miles below.

3. Bon Voyage, Galileo

The history-making Galileo mission to Jupiter set sail from the cargo bay of another spacecraft, Space Shuttle Atlantis, on Oct. 18, 1989. Get ready for Juno, which is the next spacecraft to arrive at Jupiter in July.

4. Cometary Close-Up

Using a camera on the Philae lander, the Rosetta spacecraft snapped an extraordinary self portrait at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from a distance of about 10 miles. The image captures the side of Rosetta and one of its 14-meter-long solar wings, with the comet in the background. Learn more about Rosetta HERE.

5. Man and Machine

This snapshot captures a remarkable moment in the history of exploration: the one and only time a human met up in space with a robotic forerunner on location. The Surveyor 3 lander helped pave the way for the astronaut footsteps that came a few years later. See the story of Apollo 12 and this unique encounter HERE.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE.

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Why does it take so long for the rover to reach Mars?

Questions coming up from….

@Dee-an-ugh-deactivated20210528: My 4-year-old is already interested in space. How can I nurture her interest the older she gets in a productive way

@marvelpjostarwarsobssessed: What inspired/caused your interest in space?

@Anonymous: Do you like your job?

We’re Turning up the Heat on the Artemis I Spacecraft 🔥

The Orion spacecraft for Artemis I is headed to Ohio, where a team of engineers and technicians at our Plum Brook Station stand ready to test it under extreme simulated in-space conditions, like temperatures up to 300°F, at the world’s premier space environments test facility.

Why so much heat? What’s the point of the test? We’ve got answers to all your burning questions.

Here, in the midst of a quiet, rural landscape in Sandusky, Ohio, is our Space Environments Complex, home of the world’s most powerful space simulation facilities. The complex houses a massive thermal vacuum chamber (100-foot diameter and 122-foot tall), which allows us to “test like we fly” and accurately simulate space flight conditions while still on the ground.

Orion’s upcoming tests here are important because they will confirm the spacecraft’s systems perform as designed, while ensuring safe operation for the crew during future Artemis missions.

Tests will be completed in two phases, beginning with a thermal vacuum test, lasting approximately 60 days, inside the vacuum chamber to stress-test and check spacecraft systems while powered on.

During this phase, the spacecraft will be subjected to extreme temperatures, ranging from -250°F to 300 °F, to replicate flying in-and-out of sunlight and shadow in space.

To simulate the extreme temperatures of space, a specially-designed system, called the Heat Flux, will surround Orion like a cage and heat specific parts of the spacecraft during the test. This image shows the Heat Flux installed inside the vacuum chamber. The spacecraft will also be surrounded on all sides by a cryogenic-shroud, which provides the cold background temperatures of space.

We’ll also perform electromagnetic interference tests. Sounds complicated, but, think of it this way. Every electronic component gives off some type of electromagnetic field, which can affect the performance of other electronics nearby—this is why you’re asked to turn off your cellphone on an airplane. This testing will ensure the spacecraft’s electronics work properly when operated at the same time and won’t be affected by outside sources.

What’s next? After the testing, we’ll send Orion back to our Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be installed atop the powerful Space Launch System rocket in preparation for their first integrated test flight, called Artemis I, which is targeted for 2020.

To learn more about the Artemis program, why we’re going to the Moon and our progress to send the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface by 2024, visit: nasa.gov/moon2mars.

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Flying Observatory Has Big Plans for New Zealand

Our flying observatory, called SOFIA, carries a 100-inch telescope inside a Boeing 747SP aircraft. Scientists onboard study the life cycle of stars, planets (including the atmospheres of Pluto and Jupiter), nearby planetary systems, galaxies, black holes and complex molecules in space.

Flying South

Usually based in California, SOFIA and its team are returning to the Southern Hemisphere to study objects that aren't visible from the Northern Hemisphere and to take advantage of the long winter nights. The team operates from Christchurch, New Zealand, regularly between June and August and continues with more big plans for this year.

Working with New Horizons 

Our SOFIA and New Horizons teams are working together again, to learn more about the next object that the New Horizons spacecraft will fly past, Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69, or MU69. This will be the farthest object ever encountered by any spacecraft, but little is known about it. Our team on SOFIA will be searching for possible debris around MU69 that could damage the spacecraft and will measure its size, helping the New Horizons team plan their next flyby.

How We Study Distant Celestial Objects from Earth

Our SOFIA team will study MU69 on July 10, 2017, well before New Horizons arrives in January 2019. We can study this distant object from Earth by flying in the faint shadow that it will cast on Earth’s surface as it passes in front of a star. SOFIA will fly directly into the center of this shadow as it moves across the Pacific Ocean. From inside the shadow, the team onboard will study how the light from the star changes as MU69 passes in front it, allowing them to measure its size and to establish if there are any rings or debris around it. The observations will work in the same way that we studied Pluto using SOFIA two weeks before New Horizon’s Pluto Flyby in 2015.

Observing Other Galaxies

The Magellanic Clouds are neighboring galaxies to our own Milky Way Galaxy. We’re studying how stars are forming in the Large and Small Magellanic clouds to compare those processes to star formation in our own galaxy. The Magellanic Clouds are best observed from the southern hemisphere.

And Supernova 1987A

Inside the Large Magellanic Cloud is Supernova 1987A, the closest supernova explosion witnessed in almost 400 years. Our team onboard SOFIA will continue studying this supernova to better understand the material expanding out from it, which may become the building blocks of future stars and planets. Many of our telescopes have studied Supernova 1987A, including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and SOFIA’s predecessor, the Kuiper Airborne Observatory, but the instruments on SOFIA are the only tools we can use to study the debris around it at infrared wavelengths, to better understand characteristics of the dust that cannot be measured using other wavelengths of light.

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