Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.
Where is This? December 16, 2023 Quiz
Space Quote: $5 Million for A Probe of Drug Use at SpaceX
“It is essential for the integrity of the United States space program to ensure that the development and production of the space systems that will transport astronauts is conducted in a manner that prioritizes safety…The Safety and Health provision in the contract requires SpaceX to comply with standard industry practices, applicable laws, and other relevant provisions of the contract, such as the requirement to maintain a drug-free workplace.”
-Statement by NASA’s Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier in a letter to SpaceX back in September 2018, as noted in a recent article in Business Insider. The reporter was not able the results of this expensive audit, but noted that Mr. Gerstenmaier later left NASA and joined SpaceX. Nothing to see here, folks.
Pic of the Week: Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A
This week’s image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope is both violent yet beautiful. It is also NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for today.
Here are some details about the image from NASA:
Massive stars in our Milky Way Galaxy live spectacular lives. Collapsing from vast cosmic clouds, their nuclear furnaces ignite and create heavy elements in their cores. After only a few million years for the most massive stars, the enriched material is blasted back into interstellar space where star formation can begin anew. The expanding debris cloud known as Cassiopeia A is an example of this final phase of the stellar life cycle. Light from the supernova explosion that created this remnant would have been first seen in planet Earth’s sky about 350 years ago, although it took that light 11,000 years to reach us. This sharp NIRCam image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the still hot filaments and knots in the supernova remnant. The whitish, smoke-like outer shell of the expanding blast wave is about 20 light-years across. Light echoes from the massive star’s cataclysmic explosion are also identified in Webb’s detailed image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A.
Voyager I Not Communicating at the Moment
NASA is experiencing communication issues with the distant Voyager 1 spacecraft. As a result, NASA reports that no science or engineering data is being sent back to Earth.
Voyager 1 is about 15 billion miles from Earth, so its binary code signals take about 22.5 hours to reach Earth.
The communication issue with the spacecraft is expected to be resolved in the next few weeks. Of course, Voyager dates back to 1977. At some point we will need to say goodbye to our friend, but no one is ready for that.
NASA’s Voyager FAQ page states:
Engineers expect each spacecraft to continue operating at least one science instrument until around 2025. Even if science data won’t likely be collected after 2025, engineering data could continue to be returned for several more years. The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036, depending on how much power the spacecraft still have to transmit a signal back to Earth.
It would be great to have another 13 years of discussions with humanity’s most distant probes.
Television: A Murder at the End of the World
If you are looking for a new television series, you cannot go wrong with FX’s A Murder at the End of the World. You can catch it on Hulu.
Here is the paltry description from Hulu:
A young woman accepts a mysterious invitation from a billionaire and his wife.
Fortunately, the FX trailer is better (as is the trailer description):
A Murder at the End of the World is a mystery series featuring a Gen Z amateur sleuth and tech-savvy hacker “Darby Hart.” Darby and eight other guests are invited by a reclusive billionaire to participate in a retreat at a remote location. When one of the other guests is found dead, Darby must use her skills to prove it was murder before the killer takes another life.
However, even this longer description is too minimal and does not encourage an audience. I have watched six of the seven episodes and can say (without spoiling anything) that the retreat itself as well as the underlying purpose of the retreat may remind you of space colonies and their issues. It might also remind you of present day billionaires who want to hide from the world they have helped to create (think Don’t Look Up.)
The series is already on some of the top 10 lists for 2023, and I expect it will be on mine as well, as long as it has a good finale.
If you like murder mysteries, it is for you. If you like love stories, ditto. Technology, ditto. And if you miss shows that touch on space travel, this has enough sci-fi elements in that realm to keep you interested.
Update: I can report that the series had a great ending. Give it a try if you are looking for a new show. You will not be disappointed.
Our Awesome Universe 