Volume 11, Issue 1 OCTOBER, 2017 Hello there Science Addict,

Yet another school year starts and we are back with more space news! If you did not know, hundreds of articles and photos have been shared with students and teachers via our Astro Newsletter over the last eleven years and this year will be no different. With some new schools joining our educational programs, we look forward to reaching more people. During the 2016­2017 school year, we have conducted 51 videoconferences within our Partner School Science Program (PSSP) and 130 videoconferences within our Future Explorers Program (FEP). This year, we have added a new topic to our curriculum called "Space Junk". This new topic is focused on all the space junk that is orbiting our planet and the dangers they possess as well as solutions on how to get rid of them. We wish all the teachers and students a successful school year. May this be the best school year ever!

Cassini's descent into Saturn was intentional. The spacecraft was SPACE NEWS IN A FLASH rapidly running out of fuel, after spending nearly 20 years in space, ­ RIP, Cassini: Historic Mission and NASA scientists decided to Ends with Fiery Plunge into make use of the mission's inevitable Saturn conclusion. By crashing into Saturn, Cassini had the opportunity to see ­ Scientists Just Emerged From RIP, Cassini: Historic Mission what the planet's upper atmosphere a Year in Isolation After an Epic Ends with Fiery Plunge into is made of, and that's the data that Mars Simulation Saturn NASA received its last data the probe sent back to Earth during transmission from the Cassini its final few moments of life. The ­ SpaceX's New Spacesuit spacecraft at 4:55:46 a.m. PDT probe took its last images of the (7:55:46 a.m. EDT, 1146 GMT) on Saturn system on September 14th, ­ Hubble discovers a unique September 15th, before losing contact and transmitted those images back to type of object in the Solar with the probe as it hurtled into Earth the same day, ahead of its System Saturn's atmosphere. It was a fiery plunge. grand finale for the probe, which ­ More Surface Ice On Mercury spent 13 years orbiting the ringed Than Previously Thought planet. NASA officials expect that Cassini broke apart about 45 seconds ­ OSIRIS­REx Views the Earth after that final transmission, due to the During Flyby intense friction and heat generated by The Cassini team cheered, hugged the fall. and cried after receiving the final ­ New Horizons Probe Wakes "I hope you're all ... deeply proud of signal from Cassini that indicated from 5­Month Slumber this amazing accomplishment," Earl the mission had come to an end with Maize, the Cassini program manager, the spacecraft's disintegration in said to the mission team after the Saturn's atmosphere. spacecraft signal was lost. (https://www.space.com) Scientists Just Emerged From a SpaceX's New Spacesuit Hubble discovers a unique type Year in Isolation After an Epic of object in the Solar System Now we know what SpaceX's new Mars Simulation spacesuit looks like from head to toe. With the help of the NASA/ESA The longest­running NASA Hubble Space Telescope, a German­ experiment of its kind designed to led group of astronomers have simulate living conditions on Mars observed the intriguing characteristics has come to an end, with six of an unusual type of object in the volunteers emerging from a year­long asteroid belt between Mars and stay in a sealed dome in Hawaii. Jupiter: two asteroids orbiting each For 365 days, the HI­SEAS other and exhibiting comet­like (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog On September 8th, SpaceX founder features, including a bright coma and and Simulation) crew lived in and CEO Elon Musk posted a photo a long tail. This is the first known isolation in a geodesic dome on the on Instagram of a spacesuit­clad binary asteroid also classified as a barren slopes of the Big Island's person standing next to the Dragon comet. Mauna Loa, with the rocky, sparse capsule. The company is developing (http://phys.org) terrain outside chosen for its that spacecraft to fly people to and similarity to the red planet's natural from the International Space Station environment. (ISS), among other destinations. While previous jaunts have seen (SpaceX aims to launch paying scientists enclosed in the habitat for customers on a trip around the moon up to eight months in the near future, for example.) (http://www.sciencealert.com) (http://www.livescience.com)

More Surface Ice On Mercury OSIRIS­REx Views the Earth New Horizons Probe Wakes Than Previously Thought During Flyby from 5­Month Slumber Back in 2012, scientists were NASA's New Horizons spacecraft delighted to discover that within the is zooming through the outer solar polar regions of Mercury, vast system with its eyes open once again. amounts of water ice were detected. New Horizons woke from a five­ While the existence of water ice in month hibernation period — its first this permanently­shaded region had A color composite image of Earth stretch of rest since before its epic been the subject of speculation for taken on Sept. 22 by the MapCam Pluto flyby in July 2015 — last week, about 20 years, it was only after the camera on NASA’s OSIRIS­REx right on schedule, mission team Mercury Surface, Space Environment, spacecraft. This image was taken just members said. Geochemistry, and Ranging hours after the spacecraft completed The probe is in good health and (MESSENGER) spacecraft studied its Earth Gravity Assist at a range of ready to resume studying the dark, the polar region that this was approximately 170,000 kilometers. frigid depths of the Kuiper Belt, the confirmed. MapCam is part of the OSIRIS­REx ring of bodies beyond Neptune's orbit, Based on the MESSENGER data, it Camera Suite (OCAMS) operated by they added. was estimated that Mercury could the University of Arizona. Visible in The $700 million New Horizons have between 100 billion to 1 trillion this image are the Pacific Ocean and mission, which launched in January tons of water ice at both poles, and several familiar landmasses, including 2006, got the first­ever good looks at that the ice could be up to 20 meters Australia in the lower left, and Baja Pluto during the spacecraft's historic deep in places. However, a new study California and the southwestern flyby, revealing the dwarf planet to be by a team of researchers from Brown United States in the upper right. The a stunningly complex world with vast University indicates that there could dark vertical streaks at the top of the nitrogen­ice plains, towering be three additional large craters and image are caused by short exposure mountains of water ice and a diversity many more smaller ones in the times (less than three milliseconds). of other landscapes. northern polar region that also contain Short exposure times are required for New Horizons is currently about ice. imaging an object as bright as Earth, 5.83 billion kilometers from Earth — (https://www.universetoday.com) but are not anticipated for an object as so far away that it takes commands dark as the asteroid Bennu, which the more than 5 hours to reach the probe camera was designed to image. at the speed of light. (http://www.asteroidmission.org) (https://www.space.com) How to Identify that Light in the Sky

Explanation: What is that light in the sky? Perhaps one of humanity's more common questions, an answer may result from a few quick observations. For example ­­ is it moving or blinking? If so, and if you live near a city, the answer is typically an airplane, since planes are so numerous and so few stars and satellites are bright enough to be seen over the din of artificial city lights. If not, and if you live far from a city, that bright light is likely a planet such as Venus or Mars ­­ the former of which is constrained to appear near the horizon just before dawn or after dusk. Sometimes the low apparent motion of a distant airplane near the horizon makes it hard to tell from a bright planet, but even this can usually be discerned by the plane's motion over a few minutes. Still unsure? The featured chart gives a sometimes­humorous but mostly­accurate assessment. Dedicated sky enthusiasts will likely note ­­ and are encouraged to provide ­­ polite corrections.