Multiple Choice: The craters on the Martian moon Phobos were named after the works of what author?
A. Erasmus
B. Jonathan Swift
C. Jules Verne
D. Voltaire
Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Astronomy Question Answer Sheet” page.
“As an astronaut, I believe our current technology may not have solutions for critical situations we are bound to face moving away from low Earth orbit, and this incident illustrates exactly that. NASA needs to address some urgent and sometimes uncomfortable questions. For example, should a doctor always be on the crew? Should a spaceship heading to Mars have high-tech medical capabilities and facilities — not just a ‘med kit’? A kit consisting of only medications, saline solution, a defibrillator and a few basic instruments places a crew at a serious disadvantage if things really go south.”
-Statement for former NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson in a Washington Post editorial published after this week’s return of four crew members who needed to be evacuated from the International Space Station due to a medical emergency. Had the health issue occurred six months into a trip to Mars the circumstances would have been dire without sufficient health resources. This is more evidence that acquiring the necessary hardware for space travel may be the easy part compared to the software, also known as humans.
This week’s image shows return of Crew-11 from the International Space Station (ISS). They landed safely on the morning of January 15th. As shown above, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke was the first member of the mission to exit the capsule. You can watch the entire video here.
Earlier this week, Mr. Fincke posted a few comments about the team’s early departure from the ISS:
What stands out most to me is how clearly NASA cares about its people. Flight surgeons, engineers, managers, and support teams came together quickly and professionally to chart the best path forward. The ground teams—across mission control centers and partner organizations around the world—have been extraordinary. We’re proud of the joint work we’ve done and the camaraderie we’ve shared, including some great songs and more than a few dad jokes.
The Crew-11 mission departed the International Space Station (ISS) earlier today for their trip home. The four astronauts that are part of this medical evacuation – NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov – are expected to splash down off the coast of California early Thursday morning.
Here is NASA’s schedule of events from yesterday covering both days:
Wednesday, Jan. 14
Following the conclusion of undocking coverage, NASA will distribute audio-only communications between Crew-11, the space station, and flight controllers during Dragon’s transit away from the orbital complex.
Thursday, Jan. 15
The remaining member of Expedition 74 will be commanded by Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who will remain on board with Flight Engineers Sergei Mikaev (Roscosmos) and Chris Williams (NASA). The Crew-12 mission may be moved up to cover the gap caused by this early departure.
NASA is keeping quite about the underlying medical conditions, yet something will probably need to be said sooner rather than later. Maybe the news conference tomorrow will give us a few more details.
“I was immediately enthralled with reading it. I wanted to see what Paul was going to do next and could I do it with him? That was an unusual opportunity that was presented.”
–Statement by actress Holly Hunter (playing the part of Starfleet Academy’s chancellor) regarding actor Paul Giamatti (playing the part of Klingon and Tellarite villain Nus Braka) in the new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy television series premiering on January 15th.
Regarding the involvement of Hunter in the series, Giamatti stated to his co-star:
I had heard that you were considering the part and that was very exciting to me because I thought it was a brilliant choice…I thought this makes a lot of sense. It’s going to fit right, but it’s going to be different. And I don’t know what she’s going to do with it, but it’s going to be something great. So it was a big selling point for me.
We can only hope that the rest of us have as much fun watching the series as they did making it. The filming of season two of this new series is almost complete as well. Hopefully, the jump to a second season is not presumptuous.
Our Awesome Universe 