It's About Time We Explained Why Science Denier Hall Of Shame Exists. Here's The Short Answer.

Successful Launch of Orbital ATK’s Cygnus Spacecraft

Successful Launch, #FlatEarth crowd!

At 11:05 p.m. (EDT) on March 22 the Atlas V rocket successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

  Included in the 7,500 pounds of cargo aboard the Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft are numerous science payloads to support experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science.  (more…)

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Living and Working Aboard Station

 Join us on Facebook Live for a conversation with astronaut Kate Rubins and the director of the National Institutes for Health on Tuesday, October 18 at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Astronaut Kate Rubins has conducted out of this world research aboard Earth’s only orbiting laboratory. During her time aboard the International Space Station, she became the first person to sequence DNA in space. On Tuesday, she’ll be live on Facebook with National Institute of Health director Francis Collins, who led the effort to map the human genome. You can submit questions for Kate using the hashtag #SpaceChat on Twitter, or during the live event. Here’s a primer on the science this PhD astronaut has been conducting to help inspire your questions: 

Kate has a background in genomics (a branch of molecular genetics that deals with the study of genomes,specifically the identification and sequencing of their constituent genes and the application of this knowledge in medicine, pharmacy,agriculture, and other fields). When she began her tenure on the station, zero base pairs of DNA had been sequenced in space. Within just a few weeks, she and the Biomolecule Sequencer team had sequenced their one billionth base of DNA aboard the orbital platform.

“I [have a] genomics background, [so] I get really excited about that kind of stuff,” Rubins said in a downlink shortly after reaching the one billion base pairs sequenced goal.

Learn more about this achievement:

+First DNA Sequencing in Space a Game Changer

+Science in Short: One Billion Base Pairs Sequenced

Why is DNA Sequencing in Space a Big Deal?

A space-based DNA sequencer could identify microbes, diagnose diseases and understand crew member health, and potentially help detect DNA-based life elsewhere in the solar system.

+Why Sequencing DNA in Space is a Big Deal

https://youtu.be/1N0qm8HcFRI 

Miss the Reddit AMA on the subject? Here’s a transcript:

+NASA AMA: We just sequenced DNA in space for the first time. Ask us anything! 

NASA and Its Partnerships

We’re not doing this alone. Just like the DNA sequencing was a collaborative project with industry, so is the Eli Lilly Hard to Wet Surfaces investigation. In this experiment aboard the station, astronauts will study how certain materials used in the pharmaceutical industry dissolve in water while in microgravity. Results from this investigation could help improve the design of tablets that dissolve in the body to deliver drugs, thereby improving drug design for medicines used in space and on Earth. Learn more about what we and our partners are doing:

+Eli Lilly Hard to Wet Surfaces – been happening the last week and a half or so

Researchers to Test How Solids Dissolve in Space to Design Better Tablets and Pills on Earth

With our colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine, we’re also investigating the effects of spaceflight on stem cell-derived heart cells, specifically how heart muscle tissue, contracts, grows and changes  in microgravity and how those changes vary between subjects. Understanding how heart muscle cells change in space improves efforts for studying disease, screening drugs and conducting cell replacement therapy for future space missions. Learn more:

+Heart Cells

+Weekly Recap From the Expedition Lead Scientist for Aug. 18, 2016 

It’s Not Just Medicine

Kate and her crew mates have also worked on the combustion experiments.

Kate has also worked on the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), an experimental expandable capsule that docks with the station. As we work on our Journey to Mars, future space habitats  are a necessity. BEAM, designed for Mars or other destinations, is a lightweight and relatively simple to construct solution. Kate has recently examined BEAM, currently attached to the station, to take measurements and install sensors.

Kate recently performed a harvest of the Plant RNA Regulation experiment, by removing seed cassettes and stowing them in cold stowage.

The Plant RNA Regulation investigation studies the first steps of gene expression involved in development of roots and shoots. Scientists expect to find new molecules that play a role in how plants adapt and respond to the microgravity environment of space, which provides new insight into growing plants for food and oxygen supplies on long-duration missions. Read more about the experiment:

+Plant RNA Harvest

NASA Astronaut Kate Rubins is participating in several investigations examining changes in her body as a result of living in space. Some of these changes are similar to issues experienced by our elderly on Earth; for example, bone loss (osteoporosis), cardiovascular deconditioning, immune dysfunction, and muscle atrophy. Understanding these changes and how to prevent them in astronauts off the Earth may help improve health for all of us on the Earth. In additional, the crew aboard station is also working on more generalized studies of aging.

+ Study of the effects of aging on C. elegans, a model organism for a range of biological studies.

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Our solar system is huge, let us break it down for you. Here are a few things you should know this week: 

1. Closeup of a King

For the first time since it entered orbit around Jupiter in July, our Juno spacecraft has flown close to the king of planets—this time with its eyes wide open. During the long, initial orbit, Juno mission managers spent time checking out the spacecraft “from stem to stern,” but the science instruments were turned off as a precaution. During this latest pass, Juno’s camera and other instruments were collecting data the whole time. Initial reports show that all went well, and the team has released a new close-up view that Juno captured of Jupiter’s north polar region. We can expect to see more close-up pictures of Jupiter and other data this week.

+Check in with Juno

2. Getting Ready to Rocket

Our OSIRIS-REx mission leaves Earth next week, the first leg of a journey that will take it out to an asteroid called Bennu. The mission will map the asteroid, study its properties in detail, then collect a physical sample to send back home to Earth. The ambitious endeavor is slated to start off on Sept. 8.

+See what it takes to prep for a deep space launch

3. New Moon Rising

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has already mapped the entire surface of Earth’s moon in brilliant detail, but the mission isn’t over yet. Lunar explorers still have questions, and LRO is poised to help answer them.

+See what’s next for the mission

4. A Mock-Eclipse Now

We don’t have to wait until next year to see the moon cross in front of the sun. From its vantage point in deep space, our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) sometimes sees just that. Such an event is expected on Sept. 1.

+See the latest sun pictures from SDO

5. Jupiter’s Cousins

Our galaxy is home to a bewildering variety of Jupiter-like worlds: hot ones, cold ones, giant versions of our own giant, pint-sized pretenders only half as big around. Astronomers say that in our galaxy alone, a billion or more such Jupiter-like worlds could be orbiting stars other than our sun. And we can use them to gain a better understanding of our solar system and our galactic environment, including the prospects for finding life.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

(via Is Genesis History?)

Science Denier Hall of Shame Rep to Attend Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A representative of Science Denier Hall of Shame/Science Strike Force will be attending a NASA Social event for the launch of Orbital ATK Antares Rocket at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

“NASA commercial cargo provider Orbital ATK is scheduled to launch its sixth mission to the International Space Station at 9:13 p.m. EDT Thursday, Oct. 13.”

– NASA (More…

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SDHoS Attends Fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund

SDHoS Attends Fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund

Tonight we are not debunking anything. This will come as a surprise to our regular readers, since we normally spend our time refuting the claims of flat-earthers, conspiracy theorists, science deniers and such.

On Tuesday, June 28th, two representatives from Science Denier Hall of Shame attended a pasta dinner fundraiser for The Jeremy Fund.

I would urge all of our readers to take a look at their…

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Ken Ham's Island

Want to be featured on our YouTube channel?

Sing this song and send a link to the audio file to SciStrike@sciencedenierhallofshame.com or post it in comments.

To be sung to this tune: https://youtu.be/XN-IamG0hT4

Ken Ham’s Island

Just sit right back And you’ll hear a tale A tale of a fateful trip, That started in Kentucky, Aboard this fraudulent ship. The boss was a mighty preachin’ man, Deceptive…

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Spacewalk Friday: Installing a New "Parking Spot" on Station

This Friday, Aug. 19, two U.S. astronauts will install a new gateway for American commercial crew spacecraft at the International Space Station. 

Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space Coast to the International Space Station will restore America’s human spaceflight launch capability and increase the time U.S. crews can dedicate to scientific research.

The adapter being installed (imaged below) was launched on a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and arrived on orbit July 20. NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Kate Rubins will perform the spacewalk to install the equipment this Friday, Aug. 19. This will be the fourth spacewalk in Williams’ career and the first for Rubins.

Four previous spacewalks…like the one below…helped set the stage for installation of this docking adapter. During those previous spacewalks, other crew members laid hundreds of feet of power and data cables outside the space station. 

On Wednesday, the robotics team using the Canadarm2 and its attached “Dextre” manipulator, will reach into the SpaceX Dragon trunk and pull out the docking adapter and position it for Friday’s spacewalk activities.

The morning of the spacewalk, while the astronauts are getting suited up, the robotic arm will position the docking adaptor near the port so that it will be ready for installation.

The two astronauts will venture outside the space station to install the first International Docking Adapter (IDA). This new adapter port will provide a parking space for U.S. Commercial Crew vehicles.

Watch LIVE!

Coverage of the spacewalk begins at 6:30 a.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 19; with the spacewalk scheduled to begin at 8:05 a.m. EDT. Stream live online HERE. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Let’s All Look at the Moon!

Celebrating Earth’s Nearest Neighbor

Humanity has observed the nighttime sky for millennia, eyeing celestial bodies with wonder. Until the last 50 years or so, telescopes provided our best views of the sky at night. That is, until the Ranger mission broadcast the craft’s descent onto the moon live on March 24, 1965.

+Learn more about Ranger 9

+Watch the video

Our fascination with the moon continues, and since 2010 the organizers of International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) have turned it into a worldwide, public celebration of lunar science and exploration held annually. One day each year, they invite everyone, everywhere to learn about the moon and to celebrate the cultural and personal connections. We’ll all invited and anyone can host an InOMN event. 

+Locations of InOMN Events Around the World

+ Visit International Observe the Moon Night’s site

And, we’re doing our part to let the public know more about our moon. This month’s “What’s up” video is very moon-centric.

+View JPL’s What’s Up for October

Our Night Sky Network at JPL, which bills itself as “astronomy clubs bringing the wonders of the universe to the public,” has a list of astronomy clubs and events across by area, as well as a monthly calendar.

+Learn more 

Organizations in our Museum Alliance across the country are also hosting activities. The Museum Alliance was created to be the “front door” to NASA for the world of informal education. The Alliance is a NASA-centric STEAM "community of practice" that includes informal educational organizations, namely, all those outside of the traditional K-12 school system. Our STEAM–Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math–communities include more than 1,400 professionals at more than 700 U.S. museums, science centers, planetariums, NASA Visitor Centers, Challenger Centers, observatories, parks, libraries, camps, and youth-serving organizations as partners in the Museum Alliance.  

+Learn more about the Museum Alliance

All us Earth-dwellers can tour the moon via our Moon Tours app that lets you explore the lunar surface from your mobile device. The app includes imagery from lunar orbiters and Apollo missions and is a free download for iOS and Android.

+iOS

+Android

+Check out a full range of NASA apps

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com