Photo of the Day: Visiting the Curiosity Mars Rover at NASA JPL 10 Years Ago...

It was on this day in 2011 that I attended a social media event (called the JPL Tweetup) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California...during which I got to see the Curiosity Mars rover undergo final testing inside the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF). By the end of that June, the 6-wheeled, nuclear-powered robot was transported to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to be prepared for launch—which took place aboard an Atlas V rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on November 26, 2011. This was such a cool moment, and I was glad that I was also able to see Curiosity's successor, Perseverance, built inside the SAF several years later.

For more images that I took at the JPL Tweetup, click here.

Photos of the Day: The "Moon 2 Mars" NASA Social Event at JPL...

Just thought I'd end this month with these pics that I took on March 11...during the Moon 2 Mars NASA Social event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California. During this event, about 20 other social media users and I watched a televised conference held by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (who was at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the time) from inside the von Kármán Auditorium at JPL. During the conference, Bridenstine discussed the 2020 NASA budget (which was just released earlier that morning)—and talked about major NASA projects such as the Space Launch System rocket and Gateway space station that NASA plans to place in orbit around the Moon next decade. The conference was also viewed by social media users who attended the Moon 2 Mars event at several other NASA field centers nationwide, such as Kennedy Space Center and the Langley Research Center in Virginia.



After the conference, our NASA Social group took a tour of difference facilities on the JPL campus. First up was the JPL Museum next door to the von Kármán Auditorium, and then after that, the historic Space Flight Operations Facility (a.k.a. "The Center of the Universe") up the hill. And afterwards, we walked over to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF) where the Mars 2020 rover continues to be built. And finally, we took a van to the Mars Yard—which is all the way at the top of a hill on the JPL campus. We could've walked to this facility, but we were running low on time (this NASA Social was only from 8:30 AM to 1 PM...and Bridenstine's conference lasted from 11 AM to 12 noon) and had to get there as soon as possible. And our JPL hosts were incredibly generous!



This marked the second time in a little over a month that I visited JPL (I attended a JPL public tour on February 4...but I apparently forgot to blog about it, heh)! I'll probably be back here in late May—for the annual Explore JPL event (formerly known as the JPL Open House). But first, I need to make sure that I get a ticket (which becomes available on the JPL website on April 6) for it... I'm well aware that I typed 'JPL' five times in this paragraph. Oh wait, make that six. Happy Sunday!

Video of the Day: Curiosity Celebrates 5 Years on the Red Planet...

In honor of the Curiosity rover successfully landing on Mars five years ago tonight, just thought I'd share this video that I put together from footage that I took at Planetfest 2012. It was at this event, which was hosted by the non-profit space organization The Planetary Society (based in Pasadena, California), where I watched NASA TV coverage of the nuclear-powered spacecraft making its way to its landing site at Gale Crater on the Red Planet. 2,000 fellow space enthusiasts were also at Planetfest to watch this historic event unfold.



All I can say is, I can't wait to attend another Planetfest (assuming that I won't be working that day) to see a NASA lander or rover make another triumphant touchdown on the Red Planet. Fortunately, the wait should't be too long... Assuming that it stays on schedule (after its launch was delayed from last year due to an issue during testing of one of its science instruments), NASA's InSight lander is set to take off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base next May and touch down on Mars six months after that in late November. And three years from now, the Mars 2020 rover (which should begin construction at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory very soon; its flight components such as the cruise stage are already being assembled) will leave the Earth to follow in the wheel tracks of its Gale Crater-roaming brethren. Considering the complexity of landing a 1-ton nuclear-powered rover on the Red Planet, and how great it feels to watch this process flawlessly carried out in real time (somewhat; there's a 20+ minute delay in transmitting and receiving radio signals from Mars), I definitely want to be on-hand to see live footage of Curiosity's successor setting its wheels down onto the Red Planet in early 2021! That is all.

Sonic Booms and Unmanned Drones: What an Awesome Day at Edwards AFB!

Earlier today, I attended a NASA Social event at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in Edwards Air Force Base, California. I haven't been to a NASA-hosted social media gathering since December of 2014...when I drove down to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena to celebrate the maiden launch of Orion on Exploration Flight Test 1. This is my third Social since the NASA Tweetup I went to in June of 2011...which also took place at JPL and celebrated the then-impending launch of the Curiosity Mars rover.



Today's event was devoted to learning about how the noise level of sonic booms can be reduced to avoid causing disruption in populated areas...and applying this knowledge to an experimental aircraft that NASA is planning to build, known as the Low Boom Flight Demonstration Quiet Supersonic Transport—or QueSST. During the Social, we stood outside at one point and watched as an F/A-18 Hornet performed several so-called “low-boom dive maneuvers” to demonstrate different sonic boom intensities. The F/A-18 then did a low flyover near our area so we could get some cool snapshots and video footage of the jet before it landed.



Afterwards, we walked over to various hangars that housed other aircraft being used by AFRC, such as two F-15 Eagles, a Gulfstream III aircraft, as well as the Ikhana Predator B (which I also learned about during the NASA Social in December of 2014) and RQ-4 Global Hawk drones. The twin Solid Rocket Boosters that will be transported to the California Science Center to be mated with shuttle fuel tank ET-94 and orbiter Endeavour in 2018 were at a hangar nearby, but visiting these wasn't on today's itinerary so we were unable to check them out. Oh well.



I'm currently on the waiting list to attend another NASA Social at JPL during the Independence Day weekend (on July 3-4, specifically). Hopefully, I'll be able to get selected for the event if one of the confirmed attendees drops out. This Social is commemorating the arrival of NASA's Juno spacecraft at Jupiter on July 4...and I want to be at JPL's Space Flight Operations Facility (a.k.a. mission control) to witness this event unfold in person! Carry on.

LINK: Photos I took at the May 2016 NASA Social

JPL's 'Flying Saucer' Will Soar Once Again...

NASA / Bill Ingalls

Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Prepared For Second Flight Test (Press Release)

The second flight test of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) will be attempted on Tuesday, June 2 at no earlier than 1:30 p.m. EDT (7:30 a.m. HST), launching a rocket-powered, saucer-shaped test vehicle into near-space from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai in Hawaii. The test launch window is from June 2-12. At launch time, a giant balloon will carry the test vehicle to an altitude of 120,000 feet (37,000 meters). After release from the balloon, a booster rocket will lift the disk-shaped vehicle to 180,000 feet (55,000 meters), during which it will accelerate to supersonic speeds. Traveling at about three times the speed of sound, the vehicle’s inner-tube-shaped decelerator, called a supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator, will inflate and slow the vehicle. Then, at Mach 2.35, its parachute will inflate and gently carry the vehicle to the ocean's surface.

The LDSD project, led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate in Washington, is conducting this full-scale flight test of two breakthrough technologies: a supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator, or SIAD, and an innovative new parachute. These devices potentially will help us deliver double the current amount of payload — 1.5 metric tons — to the surface of Mars. They also will greatly increase the accessible surface area we can explore, and will improve landing accuracy from a margin of approximately 6.5 miles to a little more than 1 mile. All these factors will dramatically increase the success of future missions on Mars. The LDSD project's successful first flight test was launched on June 28, 2014.

In this photograph (above), a full mission dress rehearsal is held for the LDSD project, Friday, May 29, 2015, at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, HI.

Source: NASA.Gov

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Celebrating Orion's Big Moment...

NASA

Just thought I'd share these photos that were taken during yesterday's NASA Social event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California. Around 40 lucky social media users including myself had the privilege of watching presentations pertaining to today's (scrubbed) launch attempt for the Orion spacecraft...which is set to make its first flight into space and set America back on the path of sending astronauts beyond Earth's atmosphere from U.S. soil. Along with learning about Orion's mission, dubbed Exploration Flight Test 1, we also got to take a tour of JPL facilities (I never get tired of these)—such as the Space Flight Operations Facility, the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (where a second version of NASA's "flying saucer," also known as the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, is being assembled) and the In-Situ Instrument Laboratory (where an engineering model for the now-in-construction InSight Mars lander resides). I should've went back to JPL this morning to watch on TV Orion's splashdown in the Pacific Ocean after a flawless flight from Florida, but it's all good. All that matters is that the capsule destined to take us to Mars one day sees the vacuum of space by the end of this weekend. Carry on.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2014 Orion NASA Social

NASA / Bill White

ONWARD TO MARS (AGAIN)! At 7:02 AM, Pacific Standard Time today, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft departed from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on an 8-plus month journey to the Red Planet. MSL will arrive at Mars around August 6, 2012...deploying the Curiosity rover onto the Martian surface at Gale Crater and begin a minimum of 2 years studying its surroundings and seeing if the environment is or was ever hospitable to microorganisms. In other words, Curiosity will check to see if Mars is the second world in this solar system (guess what the first planet is) that is or was ever friendly to life.



Other than the fact it’s always exciting whenever we launch a spacecraft to another world, there’s another reason why I’m glad Curiosity is finally out in deep space. Onboard the rover are two microchips that (combined) bear the names of 1.25 million people...including Yours Truly. Most of the names were submitted via the Internet between March of 2009 and June of this year, while 20,000 handwritten signatures were digitized after being collected via guestbooks at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California (where Curiosity was built). Other than submitting my name on the Web, I had the opportunity to provide my own signature when I attended the JPL Open House last May. I also had the privilege of taking a picture with the rover, so-to-speak, at the Spacecraft Assembly Facility during the JPL Tweetup a month later (shown above). Totally awesome. The autographs of President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and several high-ranking NASA officials such as administrator Charles Bolden are also onboard Curiosity.



Below are images of MSL prior to it separating from the Centaur upper stage about an hour after launch this morning. I’m definitely glad that NASA made the effort to provide visual proof that this ambitious mission is well on its way to Mars. Now all that needs to be done is wait for visual proof after Curiosity safely touches down on the Red Planet next summer. Carry on.


NASA TV


NASA TV


NASA TV

JPL TWEETUP... Last Monday, I attended a special event at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California, that was held for around 110 lucky folks who were invited via Twitter to go to JPL. During the Tweetup, we listened to presentations held by NASA engineers and scientists who were working on past and present deep space projects such as Voyager, the Mars Exploration Rovers, Dawn, GRAIL and the Juno mission. At the end of the day, we got to go to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility to see the Curiosity Mars rover (which is undergoing final testing before being shipped out to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida around June 22 for launch preparations). All-in-all, it was a great experience. To see more photos from the JPL Tweetup, click on the red link below.

LINK: Photos I took at the 2011 JPL Tweetup