Space Quote: A Private Mission to Save Hubble?

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): The Hubble Space Telescope returning to orbit after its second servicing mission in February 1997. (NASA)

“Perhaps the opportunity with Polaris won’t be there, but NASA can work with Congress and the Administration to request funds for a Hubble reboost or enhancement mission, using a commercial partner where NASA is in the drivers [sic] seat, and the maturity of the space systems is higher and lower risk.”

-Statement by John Grunsfeld, an astronaut who operated on Hubble multiple times, in an NPR story regarding an offer by businessman Jared Isaacman to privately fund a mission to move the Hubble Space Telescope to a higher orbit and conduct necessary repairs to extend the telescope’s life. His offer has been met with some skepticism due to the difficulty of such a mission.

ISS May Soon Have an Indian Astronaut

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): India’s Vikram lander on the Moon’s surface. (India Space Research Organization)

A U.S. official speaking in India promised that an Indian astronaut would be on the International Space Station (ISS) soon, maybe by year end. The Hindustan Times reports that the comments were made by U.S. Envoy Eric Garcetti at the US-India Commercial Space Conference: Unlocking Opportunities for US & Indian Space Startups.

Mr. Garcetti was quoted as stating:

NASA will soon provide advanced training to Indian astronauts, with the goal of mounting a joint effort to the International Space Station, hopefully, this year or shortly thereafter, which was one of the promises of our leaders’ visit together.

India already has a growing space program, including last year’s rover mission on the Moon, yet this is a smart move by the U.S. It is similar to Russian efforts to expand the list of visitors to the ISS.

NASA is the Place to Work

Posted on by onespaceman2000

Even with the recent budget-related stress, NASA continues to be a happy place for its workers. The agency was rated by its employees as the best place work for the 12th straight year in the 2023 Best Places to Work in the Federal Government survey, issued by the Partnership for Public Service and Boston Consulting Group. This top ranking was among the larger agencies. A more complete listing based on agency size is shown in the graphic below.

In a press release regarding the survey results, NASA’s Administrator Bill Nelson stated:

Once again, NASA has shown that with the world’s finest workforce, we can reach the stars…Through space exploration, advances in aviation, groundbreaking science, new technologies, and more, the team of wizards at NASA do what is hard to achieve what is great. That’s the pioneer spirit that makes NASA the best place to work in the federal government. With this ingenuity and passion, we will continue to innovate for the benefit of all and inspire the world.

Congrats to the team at NASA that has kept the agency in the lead through interesting work and positive management. A big mission needs an ambitious and happy staff to keep the dream alive.

Pic of the Week: A Triple-Star System

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Hubble image of a triple-star system. (NASA, ESA, G. Duchene (Universite de Grenoble I); Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America))

This week’s image is from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It shows a triple-star system that consists of the variable star HP Tau, HP Tau G2, and HP Tau G3.

NASA explains:

HP Tau is known as a T Tauri star, a type of young variable star that hasn’t begun nuclear fusion yet but is beginning to evolve into a hydrogen-fueled star similar to our Sun. T Tauri stars tend to be younger than 10 million years old ― in comparison, our Sun is around 4.6 billion years old ― and are often found still swaddled in the clouds of dust and gas from which they formed.