GALAXIES!

I cannot get over this image. SO. MANY. GALAXIES. We are so small!!!

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H.Teplitz and M.Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech),
A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst(ASU), Z. Levay (STScI)

On Being the Solar System ( @The_SolarSystem )

Hi, I'm your Solar System, it's very nice to meet you!

As I've just crossed the 20,000 follower mark on twitter, I wanted to say a few words about being space itself :-) That many followers is truly not a huge deal for a ton of people, but for me, it's cool. I've very carefully watched who follows me and taken care to note that, truly, most are genuine and active scientists, astronomers, science organizations, and space super fans. That's exciting! As a NASA Solar System Ambassador program volunteer, I have the opportunity to reach a great audience in person. It is such an honor! I've had several presentations this year and have some big ones in the works for next year (A big Music of the Spheres concert......then, a panel of guests to discuss science, faith, space exploration, and the big questions of life). On Twitter, I also get to talk to people about space and various missions. My account is not the NASA account (@NASASolarSystem - which you should definitely follow), but mine is also a space news service. It is both that and a personal account, as the 4.568 to 6 billion-year-old entity, the Solar System. Here are ten things about me. As space itself, I have a unique perspective :-)

                                  

It's been tremendously fun interacting with all of my followers over the two years of being spacey! Here are some of the highlights in screenshots and list!

- Meeting so many space science fans
- Interacting with space and science organizations
- Promoting STEM and STEAM education in a fun way
- It keeps me joyfully reading and on my toes with space science and launches!
- Humor! The interactions between real people can be very funny, but is almost always hilarious when inanimate objects, planets, nebulae, galaxies, spacecraft etc. start tweeting!

                                

- Occasionally, I live-tweet a launch or other NASA event. It is SO MUCH FUN to be online and part of the chatter that goes on and to feel the excitement of what's happening even if you're not actually there! MSL Curiosity's landing, ISS launches, and the Philae lander's release from the Rosetta spacecraft and landing on Comet #67P are examples.

                                 

                               

- Questions from people about space, science, and exploration: Fairly often, I am asked a question and I do take the time to answer. If I don't know the answer, I do some research and if I still can't find the answer, I point them to an expert! I always learn a bunch in the process.
- Conversations from young people around the world. One of my favorites was a conversation about how to be a scientist and how to stay in the know about space from a child in Pakistan. He asked me some great questions and I was able to share some online resources with him and give him some encouragement. Another time, it was a memorable conversation from someone in Japan who is very very ill and shares my same admiration for all things space.
- Astronomers share their photography with me. This is a special treat! Photographs they want to be seen, their amazing ongoing projects and photography work, and sometimes breaking photos of events such as the total solar eclipse that took place over a very thin line in remote locations. 
- Sometimes, someone asks me to say happy birthday to someone, from space :-) 

                               

- Sharing: I've been able to share content, photos, and space humor that I love! Plus seeing major organizations have fun exchanges is extra fabulous!

- The big guys interact sometimes! My personal favorites and the ones with whom I've interacted the most over time are The Canadian Space Agency, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, NASA Dawn, and Astronaut Cady Coleman.

So, with all that said, if you follow @The_SolarSystem, 

THANK YOU and keep looking up!

Episcopal Prayer at the Close of Day

Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne. Illuminate the darkness of this night with your celestial brightness, and from us, the children of light, banish for ever the deeds of darkness. God our judge and our teacher, let us not waste time when the day is done in guilt or self-reproach. Give us rather the courage to face whatever has been, accept forgiveness, and move on to something better. Amen. 

~ from the New Zealand Prayer Book

Link to image: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100413.html 

Unusual Spiral Galaxy M66 from Hubble 

Credit: #NASA, #ESA, #Hubble Heritage

Ideas for WORLD SPACE WEEK Activities from The Solar System

IT'S WORLD SPACE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post is written for those who may not have World Space Week activities in their areas or the ability to travel to an activity. World Space Week  #WSW2014  is from October 4-10.

“The General Assembly declares 4 to 10 October World Space Week to celebrate each year at the international level the contributions of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition.”
                                 ~ UN General Assembly resolution, 6 December 1999 

Founded in 1999, it has grown larger each year and often has an annual theme. In 2013, there were more than 1400 events in 80 countries! This year's 2014 theme is a new satellite navigation theme “Space: Guiding Your Way”, aiming to inspire millions! Check out this link to see events in your area or to search for specific events. 

I hope you enjoy these space-related ideas - It's certainly not a comprehensive list, but just a few suggestions from yours truly :-)

The Pleiades Deep and Dusty
Image Credit & Copyright: David Lane

- Go outside & look up! Honestly, this most basic activity is often forgotten!
- Join The Planetary Society
- Find when the ISS passes overhead & wave at it!

- Write a poem or read a poem about space, the sky, or technology each day

- Plan a trip to one of several NASA, CSA, ESA, or other space facilities!
- Check out NASA TV, Star Walk, & all sorts of Space apps - there are so many!

- Write a THANK YOU LETTER to a space agency or an astronaut. Make a copy for your                senator, governor, or school.
- Think about the Universe and our place in it for one solid minute!

- Check out NASA's EYES ON THE SOLAR SYSTEM - http://eyes.nasa.gov/index.html 
- Donate space-themed toys to children and/or education programs
- Write to your government asking support for your national space agency
- Wear a space t-shirt

- Science lesson plans for kids
- Watch a documentary about space
- Support STEM Education and the STEM Education Coalition

- Read about human space flight - Here's one site

- Check out http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ 

- Listen to the sounds of space - Voyager, The Sun, a Meteor Shower 

- Follow space organizations on social media and keep up with posts
- Make plans to visit a planetarium or local observatory if there are any in your area
- Look into your local astronomy society and check their activities

- Check out NASA's SPACE PLACE and activities, printable PDFs
- Learn about one astronaut each day this coming week. Here are some NASA astronauts
- Drive out to where the sky is dark and spend the evening stargazing
- Read an article about space

- Sign up for an online astronomy class - such as this one

- Check out some astronaut and space facts here
- Learn about current missions

- SPACE-THEMED BAKING - someone needs to do this for me, LOL!
- Make a solar system in an arts & crafts project
- Listen to Holst's "The Planets"

- Other NASA space education activities

- Leave other suggestions in the comments or send me a tweet!

- Again, go outside & look up!

Filaments of the Vela Supernova Remnant
Image Credit & Copyright: Angus Lau, Y Van, SS Tong (Jade Scope Observatory)
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap131001.html 

Episcopal Prayer: The Wonders and Mysteries of the Universe

God, grant as we discover the fascinating wonders and mysteries of the universe, we may
come to know you more truly! Amen .

Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, H.Teplitz and M.Rafelski (IPAC/Caltech),
A. Koekemoer (STScI), R. Windhorst(ASU), Z. Levay (STScI)

Episcopal Prayers at the Close of Day

Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne. Illuminate the darkness of this night with your celestial brightness, and from us, the children of light, banish for ever the deeds of darkness. God our judge and our teacher, let us not waste time when the day is done in guilt or self-reproach. Give us rather the courage to face whatever has been, accept forgiveness, and move on to something better. Amen. (from the New Zealand Prayer Book)

Credit:  NASA, ESA, and E. Perlman (Florida Institute of Technology)

Episcopal Prayers at the Close of Day

Look down, Lord, from your heavenly throne. Illuminate the darkness of this night with your celestial brightness, and from us, the children of light, banish for ever the deeds of darkness. God our judge and our teacher, let us not waste time when the day is done in guilt or self-reproach. Give us rather the courage to face whatever has been, accept forgiveness, and move on to something better. Amen. (from the New Zealand Prayer Book)

El Gordo Galaxy, a NASA / ESA image

Exploring God's Wonder and Mystery

God, grant as we discover the fascinating wonders and mysteries of the universe, we may come to know you more truly! Amen. 

In the Center of Spiral Galaxy M61
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA; Acknowledgements: G. Chapdelaine & L. Limatola

ÖWF, PolAres, and Aouda Spacesuit Lab in Innsbruck, Austria

My Visit to the Austrian Space Forum





Earlier this week, on Tuesday, July 29, I had the honor of visiting the ÖWF  (Öesterreichisches Weltraum Forum), the Austrian Space Forum! Just how did I come by this terrific experience? Twitter! That's right...I mentioned something about JUST arriving in Innsbruck too late and missing an awesome European space tweetup (a meeting in person for those who have met online and share / tweet about similar interests) and the fantastic Remco Timmermans (@timmermansr ), head of World Space Week (another link explaining the event HERE), saw my tweet and wrote that while I was in Innsbruck teaching, I should try to meet a few Austrian spacetweeps and he gave me their twitter handles. As it turned out, the wonderful, witty, and sweet Olivia Haider (@olidax ), chief financial officer and social media guru of the ÖWF, wrote me back! So, after teaching a while and getting my bearings in Innsbruck, we made a plan to meet at the forum office so I could see the PolAres program and see the Aouda spacesuit lab! Needless to say, I was very excited!!!

Olivia Haider

From the website: "The OeWF is The Austrian Space Forum (Österreichisches Weltraum Forum, OeWF) is a national network for aerospace specialists and space enthusiasts. Our organization serves as a communication platform between the space sector and the public; it is embedded in a global network of specialists from the space industry, research and politics." ~ http://www.oewf.org/cms/oewf_en.phtml

It has a history and habit of outreach to young people in Austria and beyond!
They told me some of the plans for the following day included setting up a telescope with a solar filter in the Old Town near the Goldenes Dachl (Golden Roof) for the morning and a city park for the afternoon. The goal was to give young people....or any people really, a glance at the sun and to talk to them about the sun and space! How COOL!

Some of the OeWF's recent projects include:
- PolAres field simulations - In February 2013, the team went to Morocco to do testing in high temperatures and arid environment. They conducted an analogue Mars field simulation to prepare for future Mars missions.
- Stratospheric balloon tests
- Aouda - Aouda.X Analog spacesuit prototype for planetary surface exploration

- Phileas - a rover built for robotic work and in cooperation with astronauts

When I arrived, the president of the board of the OeWF, Dr. Gernot  Grömer, and Olivia Haider greeted me. We went upstairs to Dr. Grömer's office to chat for a bit. He is charming, brilliant, funny, and very hospitable. We talked about how the ideas of space exploration, and in particular, Mars exploration, are becoming more widely accepted in places like Austria and how the forum is expanding its outreach and media efforts across all ages. He mentioned that now, instead of saying IF we go to Mars, more people are saying WHEN we go. That is a giant leap of progress!

Dr. Gernot Grőmer, President of the Board of the OeWF in his office w/ a lovely Alpine setting

Next, we went into the lab and I saw a 3-D printer that they had assembled. This was a treat for me as I had not yet seen one in person. Dr. Grömer told me that they had a previous opportunity where people could write code for the printer and send it to the OeWF. What resulted was that some people wrote code to make it move and used the different pitches of the printer's movements to create music. One such piece that someone wrote for was the Star Wars "Imperial March"!   HAHAHAHA!

Following this, I met "Dignity" the grandfather of the Phileas rover that was given to the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009.

It was very special that I got to play with the rover. My goal was to move it across the floor and pick up a candy bar.....which just happened to be a Mars bar :-)

SUCCESS! I did it :-)

Proof that I did picked it up off the ground :-)

Now it was time to see the Aouda spacesuit!
I was able to touch it and ask questions about the suit. Analogue means that it is the practice /ground version of  the suits the astronauts wear and not the real one. Nor is it always hooked up to working cameras, air systems, etc.

Inside was a rather low-tech piece of blue pillowed cloth and I wondered what it was for.
Dr. Grömer told me that when you begin to sweat in the suit, your nose begins to itch. The stripe of pillow cloth is actually for you to scratch your nose! I also got to see some of the garments worn by astronauts. In particular, an inner layer for underwear, has a unique cooling cloth which was very interesting.

We talked a little about upcoming projects including an event for World Space Week where the OeWF Innsbruck office and lab will be the hub of activity for Austrian space events. THIS IS SUPER EXCITING!!!! They will include live feeds interacting with the OeWF for a number of events.

Mars meteorite at the OeWF

I cannot thank Gernot and Olivia enough for taking their time out to visit with me and to let me play with their rover and see the lab! I had a wonderful time. For more information on the OeWF, see the links above or contact them! Know that space exploration, serious and recognized research, and tons of science is being done in Austria at the OeWF sites! They are an inspiration!

Follow them on Twitter!!! @OEWF and @halidax