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Latest Posts by passkale - Page 6
I just watched the 4 clearly visible planets march across the sky with the moon in the center, so here’s a short guide to the night sky as the last 3 move across.
mammenxTime lapse of the milky way rolling across the night sky, flanked by the planets Jupiter, Saturn & Mars. Taken from Diskit Ladakh, this place truly has some fantastic unobstructed views of the night sky
2019’s Top Tumblr Communities
Whether you’re into studying, building a perfect tank for your betta, casting spells, or tuning cars, there’s a community on Tumblr for you. This year, we’ve expanded this list to a whopping 50 communities that connect you to what you love and make Tumblr what it is.
Artists on Tumblr
Studyblr +1
Photographers on Tumblr −1
Mineblr
Writers on Tumblr
Witchblr +1
Poets on Tumblr −3
Fitblr −2
Simblr −1
Curators on Tumblr
Booklr −2
Langblr −2
Cats of Tumblr +3
Birblr −3
Throwbackblr
Reptiblr −4
Jumblr
Studentblr
Petblr
Dogblr −6
Greek Tumblr −1
Medblr −3
Plantblr +1
Kustomblr −2
Fishblr −7
Classicfilmblr
Frogblr
Gradblr −2
Dice Nerds on Tumblr −2
Ratblr
Furblr
Travelblr
Lawblr −12
Bunblr
Amphiblr
Litblr
Bettablr −14
Sciblr −13
Wiccablr
Bugblr
Stimblr
Runblr −13
Bi Tumblr
Mathblr
Pregblr −32
Knitblr
Toonblr
Vetblr
Palaeoblr
Snootblr
The number in italics indicates how many spots a community moved up or down from the previous year. Bolded communities weren’t on the list last year.
Getting ready for an early winter dip !
We Like Big Rockets and We Cannot Lie: Saturn V vs. SLS
On this day 50 years ago, human beings embarked on a journey to set foot on another world for the very first time.
At 9:32 a.m. EDT, millions watched as Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, flying high on the most powerful rocket ever built: the mighty Saturn V.
As we prepare to return humans to the lunar surface with our Artemis program, we’re planning to make history again with a similarly unprecedented rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). The SLS will be our first exploration-class vehicle since the Saturn V took American astronauts to the Moon a decade ago. With its superior lift capability, the SLS will expand our reach into the solar system, allowing astronauts aboard our Orion spacecraft to explore multiple, deep-space destinations including near-Earth asteroids, the Moon and ultimately Mars.
So, how does the Saturn V measure up half a century later? Let’s take a look.
Mission Profiles: From Apollo to Artemis
Saturn V
Every human who has ever stepped foot on the Moon made it there on a Saturn V rocket. The Saturn rockets were the driving force behind our Apollo program that was designed to land humans on the Moon and return them safely back to Earth.
Developed at our Marshall Space Flight Center in the 1960s, the Saturn V rocket (V for the Roman numeral “5”) launched for the first time uncrewed during the Apollo 4 mission on November 9, 1967. One year later, it lifted off for its first crewed mission during Apollo 8. On this mission, astronauts orbited the Moon but did not land. Then, on July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was the first Saturn V flight to land astronauts on the Moon. In total, this powerful rocket completed 13 successful missions, landing humans on the lunar surface six times before lifting off for the last time in 1973.
Space Launch System (SLS)
Just as the Saturn V was the rocket of the Apollo generation, the Space Launch System will be the driving force behind a new era of spaceflight: the Artemis generation.
During our Artemis missions, SLS will take humanity farther than ever before. It is the vehicle that will return our astronauts to the Moon by 2024, transporting the first woman and the next man to a destination never before explored – the lunar South Pole. Over time, the rocket will evolve into increasingly more powerful configurations to provide the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit to deep space destinations, including Mars.
SLS will take flight for the first time during Artemis 1 where it will travel 280,000 miles from Earth – farther into deep space than any spacecraft built for humans has ever ventured.
Size: From Big to BIGGER
Saturn V
The Saturn V was big.
In fact, the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume and was built specifically for assembling the massive rocket. At a height of 363 feet, the Saturn V rocket was about the size of a 36-story building and 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty!
Space Launch System (SLS)
Measured at just 41 feet shy of the Saturn V, the initial SLS rocket will stand at a height of 322 feet. Because this rocket will evolve into heavier lift capacities to facilitate crew and cargo missions beyond Earth’s orbit, its size will evolve as well. When the SLS reaches its maximum lift capability, it will stand at a height of 384 feet, making it the tallest rocket in the world.
Power: Turning Up the Heat
Saturn V
For the 1960s, the Saturn V rocket was a beast – to say the least.
Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 6.2 million pounds and generated 7.6 million pounds of thrust at launch. That is more power than 85 Hoover Dams! This thrust came from five F-1 engines that made up the rocket’s first stage. With this lift capability, the Saturn V had the ability to send 130 tons (about 10 school buses) into low-Earth orbit and about 50 tons (about 4 school buses) to the Moon.
Space Launch System (SLS)
Photo of SLS rocket booster test
Unlike the Saturn V, our SLS rocket will evolve over time into increasingly more powerful versions of itself to accommodate missions to the Moon and then beyond to Mars.
The first SLS vehicle, called Block 1, will weigh 5.75 million pounds and produce 8.8 million pounds of thrust at time of launch. That’s 15 percent more than the Saturn V produced during liftoff! It will also send more than 26 tons beyond the Moon. Powered by a pair of five-segment boosters and four RS-25 engines, the rocket will reach the period of greatest atmospheric force within 90 seconds!
Following Block 1, the SLS will evolve five more times to reach its final stage, Block 2 Cargo. At this stage, the rocket will provide 11.9 million pounds of thrust and will be the workhorse vehicle for sending cargo to the Moon, Mars and other deep space destinations. SLS Block 2 will be designed to lift more than 45 tons to deep space. With its unprecedented power and capabilities, SLS is the only rocket that can send our Orion spacecraft, astronauts and large cargo to the Moon on a single mission.
Build: How the Rockets Stack Up
Saturn V
The Saturn V was designed as a multi-stage system rocket, with three core stages. When one system ran out of fuel, it separated from the spacecraft and the next stage took over. The first stage, which was the most powerful, lifted the rocket off of Earth’s surface to an altitude of 68 kilometers (42 miles). This took only 2 minutes and 47 seconds! The first stage separated, allowing the second stage to fire and carry the rest of the stack almost into orbit. The third stage placed the Apollo spacecraft and service module into Earth orbit and pushed it toward the Moon. After the first two stages separated, they fell into the ocean for recovery. The third stage either stayed in space or crashed into the Moon.
Space Launch System (SLS)
Much like the Saturn V, our Space Launch System is also a multi-stage rocket. Its three stages (the solid rocket boosters, core stage and upper stage) will each take turns thrusting the spacecraft on its trajectory and separating after each individual stage has exhausted its fuel. In later, more powerful versions of the SLS, the third stage will carry both the Orion crew module and a deep space habitat module.
A New Era of Space Exploration
Just as the Saturn V and Apollo era signified a new age of exploration and technological advancements, the Space Launch System and Artemis missions will bring the United States into a new age of space travel and scientific discovery.
Join us in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and hear about our future plans to go forward to the Moon and on to Mars by tuning in to a special two-hour live NASA Television broadcast at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, July 19. Watch the program at www.nasa.gov/live.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Today at 7 pm, learn how the Constitution and the Magna Carta are related!Join us at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC! Enter at the special events entrance on Constitution Avenue.
To celebrate the return of Magna Carta to the National Archives, we present a discussion on its connection to the American Constitution including its place in the charters of the American colonies, its impact on the era of the Founding Fathers, and its legacy in the context of world constitutionalism.
A. E. Dick Howard, professor of law, University of Virginia, will set the stage and moderate a panel including David M. Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlyle Group; Peter Onuf, BackStory Radio’s “18th Century Guy” and professor of history, University of Virginia; Renée Lettow Lerner, associate professor of law, the George Washington University; and Zachary Elkins, associate professor of government, University of Texas at Austin.
Map of the world created during the Civil War era showing plans for an overland telegraph route that would connect San Francisco and Moscow. Despite distance and cultural differences, this map effectively demonstrates how interconnected the world was at the outbreak of the Civil War. (National Archives Identifier 306678).
Words As Powerful As Bullets: Diplomats during the U.S. Civil War
Paige Weaver, intern, History Office | Pieces of History
When most people think about the U.S. Civil War, they typically consider it a purely American affair that pitted the geographic regions of the North versus the South. Yet, this so-called “War Between the States” was hardly limited to the confines of the United States’ borders. It was in fact a truly international event that involved countries across the globe.
Although no foreign country ever officially entered the war or engaged in the action on the battlefield, many were dramatically affected by the war’s repercussions. Countries around the world all had varying motives for meddling in the conflict. Great Britain suffered severely from the dramatic shortage of cotton as a result of the Union blockade of Southern ports. Emperor Napoleon III of France had imperial ambitions in Mexico that he believed could be expedited with a Confederate victory. And Russia championed the Union cause since it believed that the United States served as a counterbalance to Great Britain.
Countries around the world had serious vested interest in the outcome of the American Civil War. Thus, the political actions that each nation took as the conflict progressed were delicate matters that needed to be handled with care. Enter diplomats: underappreciated agents and delegates who participated in the war by using diplomacy instead of guns.
Read more of this story at Pieces of History
(via Vermont's Northland Journal — Chronicles of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom)
Go Star Gazing: Let Star Walk 2 be your guide to the skies.
Scott Wheeler was born and raised in what’s known as the Northeast Kingdom, the rugged and beautiful countryside where Vermont abuts Canada. Even so, he didn’t realize he was supposed to check in with Canadian immigration authorities when driving across the border recently.
Two polite, officious Mounties tell him to make a U-turn and follow them back to the port of entry where he’s questioned about his intentions inside Quebec. He explains his mistake, and eventually, the Mounties return his identification and he’s free to go.
“That’s pretty much life on the border; it’s changing,” Wheeler says, resignedly.
While the southern border gets all the attention with President Trump’s massive wall and the backlog of desperate asylum-seekers stuck in Mexico, things are tense on the northern border with Canada, as well. The number of illegal crossers is on the rise. And residents complain that heightened security has changed the character of the once-neighborly frontier.
“It’s even confusing for a local to understand,” says Wheeler, a former state representative and history buff who publishes the Northland Journal. “Back when I was growing up, you could come across the border with a wave to the border agents.”
“It’s a barrier, and we feel it”
In the past two fiscal years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has logged a 400% jump in apprehensions of people crossing illegally from Canada. That’s the biggest increase anywhere along the 5,525-mile northern border.
Border authorities made it harder to cross freely after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but things have gotten even stricter since President Trump took office.
Consider Canusa Avenue — the name is a hybrid of Canada and USA. The international boundary runs for a third of a mile along this street. This is where Wheeler inadvertently turned into Canada.
There are 14 houses, with Americans living on the south side of the street and Canadians on the north. Two residents recently met on their respective sides of the white boundary line.
“We cannot leave our street on our own free will,” says Janice Beadle, who describes herself as a retired snack bar owner, dairy worker and maple syrup maker.
U.S.-Canada Border Community’s Culture Changes As Security Tightens
Photos: Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for NPR
Step into one of the nation’s top art museums, and most of the works you’ll see were made by men.
The Baltimore Museum of Art has decided to make a bold step to correct that imbalance: next year, the museum will only purchase works made by female-identifying artists.
“This how you raise awareness and shift the identity of an institution,” museum director Christopher Bedford told The Baltimore Sun. “You don’t just purchase one painting by a female artist of color and hang it on the wall next to a painting by Mark Rothko. To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.”
The policy will only apply to works purchased by the museum, not gifts. The number of works purchased by the museum each year varies, and works are bought on a rolling basis.
The move is part of a larger initiative launched in October called 2020 Vision, a series of 22 exhibits at the museum celebrating female-identifying artists. The initiative includes 13 solo exhibitions and seven thematic shows, with more being planned. Next year marks a century since women were guaranteed the right to vote in the United States, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
The Baltimore Museum of Art has 95,000 works, including the world’s largest collection of works by Henri Matisse.
Its collections include 3,800 works by women artists and designers – just 4% of its holdings.
Baltimore Museum Of Art Will Only Buy Works By Women Next Year
Image: The Baltimore Museum of Art Caption: The Baltimore Museum of Art will only buy works by women next year, as part of a yearlong series exhibiting art by women. Amy Sherald’s Planes, rockets, and the spaces in between (2018) is among the 3,800 works by women in the museum’s collection
Our Innovation Hub has officially sent over 500,000 pages to the National Archives catalog! The 500,000th page is a form that Antonio Dardell filled out to apply for an increase in his Civil War veteran’s pension.
Antonio Dardell is one of the small number of Chinese American soldiers who fought in the American Civil War.
Dardell had been adopted as a young boy by an American whaling ship captain, and brought to Connecticut. He enlisted in the 27th Connecticut Infantry Regiment at age 19. After the war he worked as a tinsmith, and in 1880 he became a naturalized citizen, showing his honorable discharge certificate in lieu of a Declaration of Intent.
This pension file was scanned as part of a two-week project by two citizen scanners who were interested in digitizing records relating to Asian American history. In addition to Antonio Dardell’s pension, the citizen scanners also worked on his Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR), and the CMSRs and pensions of other Chinese American soldiers.
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered their time in the Innovation Hub working to scan documents that are now part of our online Catalog (https://catalog.archives.gov). You are making history more accessible! Learn more about the Innovation Hub: https://www.archives.gov/innovation-hub
höstfärger - coulors of autumn
Onsala - Sweden 2019
Astronaut out! Thank you for all the amazing questions.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
Lago di Saoseo
NASA Spotlight: Christina Hernandez, NASA Mars 2020 Rover Instrument Engineer
“I was in love with the beauty of space. It was my introduction to appreciating the beauty of complex, chaotic things—black holes, giant gas planets, or killer asteroids—that got my imagination riled up.“ -Christina Hernandez
Christina Hernandez, a space enthusiast and self-proclaimed nerd, is an aerospace engineer at our Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California where she works as an instrument engineer on our newest rover mission – Mars2020. The Mars2020 rover is a robotic scientist that is launching to the Red Planet next year. If you would like to launch to the Red Planet as well, you can Send Your Name to Mars along with millions of other people! Christina’s job is to make sure that the instruments we send to the Martian surface are designed, built, tested and operated correctly so we can retrieve allll the science. When she isn’t building space robots, she loves exploring new hiking trails, reading science fiction and experimenting in the kitchen. Christina took a break from building our next Martian scientist to answer some questions about her life and her career:
If you could go to Mars, would you? And what are three things you’d bring with you?
Only if I had a round trip ticket! I like the tacos and beach here on Earth too much. If I could go, I would bring a bag of Hot Cheetos, a Metallica album, and the book On the Shoulders of Giants.
If you could name the Mars2020 rover, what would you name it and why?
Pilas, a reference to a phrase my family says a lot, ponte las pilas. It literally means put your batteries on or in other words, get to work, look alive or put some energy into it. Our rover is going to need to have her batteries up and running for all the science she is going to be doing! Luckily, the rover has a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) to help keep the batteries charged!
What’s been your most memorable day at NASA?
It’s been seeing three of the instruments I worked on getting bolted and connected to the flight rover. I’ll never forget seeing the first 1’s and 0’s being exchanged between the rover compute element (RCE), the rover’s on-board brain, and the instruments’ electronics boxes (their brains). I am sure it was a wonderful conversation between the two!
It’s a long journey to get from Earth to Mars. What would be on your ultimate road trip playlist?
Metallica, The Cure, Queen, Echo and the Bunnymen, Frank Sinatra, Ramon Ayala, AC/DC, Selena, Los Angeles Azules, ughhhh – I think I just need a Spotify subscription to Mars.
What is one piece of advice you wish someone would’ve told you?
Take your ego out of the solution space when problem solving.
Do you have any secret skills, talents, or hobbies?
I love reading. Each year I read a minimum of 20 books, with my goal this year being 30 books. It’s funny I increased my goal during what has definitely been my busiest year at work. I recently got into watercolor painting. After spending so much time connected at work, I started looking for more analog hobbies. I am a terrible painter right now, but I painted my first painting the other day. It was of two nebulas! It’s not too bad! I am hoping watercolor can help connect me more to the color complexities of nature…and it’s fun!
What’s a project or problem that you would love the ability to tackle/work on?
I would love to work on designs for planetary human explorers. So far, I have focused on robotic explore, but when you throw a “loveable, warm, squishy thing” into the loop, its creates a different dimension to design – both with respect to operability and risk.
Thanks so much Christina! The Mars2020 rover is planned to launch on July 17, 2020, and touch down in Jezero crater on Mars on February 18, 2021.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com
WWE Legends @beckylynchwwe and @wwerollins want to remind Global Citizens they are powerful and strong
( 📸: @mary.kang for Global Citizen)
https://player.vimeo.com/video/359790323?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&app_id=122963
CALDERA - documentary (via Vimeo)
Orion Rising over Brazil via NASA https://ift.tt/2nK8Jfr
