Mercurial Musings

For the first time since 1975, a manmade spacecraft is surveying the innermost planet of our Solar System.

MESSENGER, which stands for "MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging," left Earth's surface back in 2004 and took the long way round the inner Solar System before reaching its final destination on March 17th, 2011. And when I say "long," I mean 4.9 billion miles long. The full route consists of multiple flybys of Earth, Venus, and Mercury itself, as visualized in this animation. (For a more detailed discussion of gravitational assists, see my previous post on MESSENGER here.)

Now, almost eight years later, MESSENGER has settled into its new home and will begin taking data next week. The spacecraft's primary mission is to look for answers to such questions as: Why is Mercury so dense? What is the nature of Mercury's magnetic field? And what is the structure of Mercury's core?

Of the terrestrial planets in our Solar System, Mercury is by far the smallest and densest. Its surface is extremely old and undergoes daily temperature swings of over 1000 degrees. And its also the least explored. The better we can understand how Mercury formed and evolved, the better we can understand the conditions during the formation of our Solar System -- and our Earth.

Designing, building, and operating MESSENGER is no small feat. Neither is launching a sophisticated chunk of electronics into space and maneuvering it through the solar neighborhood. The scientists and engineers who got it there deserved to be celebrated. As does our desire to explore.

(Image credit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/main/index.html)

Remembrance of Things Past

Today is the day NASA sets aside to remember those who gave their lives in pursuit of our dreams to explore above and beyond the surface of our planet.

January 27, 1967 - the Apollo 1 space capsule was engulfed in flames during a pre-launch test.

January 28, 1986 - the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded less than a minute and a half after launch.

February 1, 2003 - the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up upon re-entry.

While I wasn't alive during the Apollo program, I am old enough to remember exact where I was during both the Challenger and Columbia disasters. They both affected me deeply.

I have been in love with the Universe for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure it was a done deal when I first saw the Moon in the night sky. My mom can attest to that. Be it movie, book, or museum, I devoured all things space related. And while I've come out the other side of my astronaut phase (for various reasons), I would still gladly sit on top of a rocket, no matter what the risks, to have the chance to touch the stars. And I know each of the astronauts who lost their lives in these disasters felt the same.

So I'm glad NASA has established this day of remembrance to honor both the sacrifice that comes with exploration and the dreams that drives us to explore in the first place. Ad astra per aspera.

One Down, Two to Go

Yesterday the Space Shuttle Atlantis landed at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), completing its final mission for NASA. I don't feel a special connections to Atlantis per se, but I have had mad love for a space vehicle before, so I can relate to those that have been with her, flown her, and worked on her since she was added to the orbiter fleet in 1985.

I was lucky enough to watch Atlantis lift off on her final flight in the shadow of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), another inanimate structure that I feel strangely drawn towards. I participated in a NASA tweet-up for the launch at KSC and got to hear from several of the people integral to keeping Atlantis flying. I have been obsessed with all thing air and space since the year I saw both Top Gun and Space Camp in the theaters. I am still in awe of the machinery, both human and otherwise, that it takes to accomplish such things.

Everyone one I met at the tweet-up was passionate about space, exploration, education, and of course - rocket launches. I'll let my space-tweep Gene, who witnessed his very first shuttle launch, explain it to you:


Gene Gordon, Fairport, NY

A lot of us wear our heart on our sleeves when it comes to space, and another dedicated space-tweep at the launch took it one step further:


Norah Schneider, Wexford, PA

I'm still coming down from the high of this experience, so it was bittersweet to see Atlantis come back down to Earth yesterday, knowing that she'll be grounded from here on out.

No one likes to be grounded.

Colbert in Space

Stephen Colbert has set his sights on the International Space Station.

On February 20th, NASA asked the public to help name the next module to be launched and mated to the International Space Station (ISS). In addition to providing additional room for the vital life support systems on-board the station, the new module will serve as coolest observation deck ever. One end of the module is essentially a cupola surrounded by windows on all sides to allow astronauts to observe and photograph the Earth from the ISS like never before.


Naturally, such an amazing module deserves an amazing name, right? NASA thinks so.

"Individuals can vote for the module's name online, choosing one of four NASA suggestions -- Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity or Venture -- or writing in a name. Submissions will be accepted Feb. 19 through March 20. The name should reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station and follow in the tradition set by Node 1, named 'Unity,' and Node 2, named 'Harmony.' "

As you may have noticed, NASA has conveniently allowed for write-in votes. They clearly aren't familiar with the power of Colbert Nation. Stephen Colbert has previously mobilized his fan base to get a minor-league hockey team mascot, a bald eagle, a leatherback turtle, a new species of spider, a Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor, a Virgin American airplane, and a bridge in Hungary named after him. Can you see where I going with this...?