Rosetta...

Image Source: Women in Planetary Science

Dr. Alexander is the Project Scientist for the U.S. portion of the international Rosetta mission. She has also been the Cassini Project Staff Scientist and as the final project manager of the Galileo mission, overseeing its fiery crash into Jupiter. Her scientific interests include gaskinetic theory, theory of gaseous escape from planetary and cometary regoliths, theory of surface bound exospheres, magnetospheric plasma theory (terrestrial and planetary), exobiology, interdiciplinary science, and oxidation / reduction potential of planetary and cometary regoliths.

Her most recent publications include:

• C. Alexander, A. Chmielewski, S. Gulkis, P. Weissman, D. Holmes, J. Burch, R. Goldstein, P. Mokashi, S.A. Stern, J. Parker, S. Fuselier, M. Kueppers, A. Accommazzo, “The U.S. Rosetta Project at its second Science Target: Asteroid (21) Lutetia,” IEEE Conference Proceedings, in press.
• C. Alexander, D. Sweetnam, S. Gulkis, P. Weissman, D. Holmes, J. Burch, R. Goldstein, P. Mokashi, J. Parker, S. Fuselier, L. McFadden, “The U.S. Rosetta Project at its first Science Target: Asteroid (2867) Steins,” IEEE Conference Proceedings, 2010.
• C. Alexander, R. Carlson, G. Consolmagno, D. Morrison, 400 Years of Discovery at Europa, Europa, Pappalardo, McKinnon, Khurana eds., University of Arizona Press, 2009.

2014, Rosetta will enter orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenkoand land a probe on it, two firsts.

Rosetta’s goal is to learn the primordial story a comet tells as it gloriously falls to pieces.

Comets are primitive leftovers from our solar system's 'construction' about 4.5 billion years ago. Because they spend much of their time in the deep freeze of the outer solar system, comets are well preserved—a gold mine for astronomers who want to know what conditions were like back “in the beginning.”

NASA Science News: Mission to Land on a Comet
European Space Agency: Rosetta

Rosetta's MIDAS...

Courtesy: http://blogs.esa.int/rosetta/2014/03/26/introducing-midas-rosettas-micro-imaging-dust-analysis-system/

Topics: Astrophysics, Comets, ESA, NASA, Rosetta, Space Exploration, Women in Science

There is a movie coming out in 2017 called "Hidden Figures" about the African American women that were "computers" as they were all called at the time. Behind the scenes and out of notice (purposely) from the public eye, these scientists were responsible for mankind getting to the moon, despite what your conspiracy provocateur uncle spouts around the dinner table at Thanksgiving.

Dr. Claudia Alexander was a project scientist on the American portion of the international Rosetta mission. She sadly lost her battle with breast cancer last year. I always try to highlight such achievements since its obvious from a societal structural sense, negative stereotypes are often forwarded to maintain an inane "status quo" while simultaneously complaining about "bootstraps." I salute Dr. Alexander, a modern Hidden Figure in Science that paved the way for new discoveries by humankind.

Thanks to in situ measurements from MIDAS (the Micro-Imaging Dust Analysis System) on-board the Rosetta spacecraft, researchers have now found out more about the structure of the dust particles on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The particles are made up of aggregates and cover a range of sizes – from tens of microns to a few hundred nanometres. They also appear to have formed from the hierarchical assembly of smaller constituents and come in a range of shapes, from single grains to larger, porous aggregated particles with some dust grains being elongated. The study could shed more light on the processes that occurred when our Solar System formed nearly five billion years ago.

Planetary systems like our own Solar System started out as dust particles in protoplanetary nebulae – clouds of gas and dust that gave rise to stars and planets. The particles collided and agglomerated to form planetesimals – the building blocks of planets. Comets are leftover planetesimals and are made of ice and dust particles. They range in size from a few hundreds of metres to ten of kilometres and are mainly found on the outskirts of the Solar Systems, far from damaging radiation, high temperatures and collisions with other objects.

Nanotech Web:
Rosetta’s MIDAS analyses cometary dust particles, Belle Dumé

Rosetta Encounter...

Image Source: Women in Planetary Science

Dr. Alexander is the Project Scientist for the U.S. portion of the international Rosetta mission. She has also been the Cassini Project Staff Scientist and as the final project manager of the Galileo mission, overseeing its fiery crash into Jupiter. Her scientific interests include gaskinetic theory, theory of gaseous escape from planetary and cometary regoliths, theory of surface bound exospheres, magnetospheric plasma theory (terrestrial and planetary), exobiology, interdiciplinary science, and oxidation / reduction potential of planetary and cometary regoliths. Source: see #P4TC links below.

Watch live streaming video from eurospaceagency at livestream.com

Space.com: Rosetta Probe Arrives at Comet #P4TC links: Rosetta... Rosetta's Stone...

Dr. Claudia Alexander, In Memoriam...

Claudia Alexander: 1959 - 2015

Topics: African Americans, Civil Rights, Diaspora, Diversity, Diversity in Science, History, NASA, Science Fiction, Women in Science

As a research scientist, she inspired a generation, especially young women, to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

This weekend was one of great excitement for the planetary science community as the New Horizons spacecraft moved in on Pluto following decades of hard work. But that optimism took on a somber tone Saturday as news quickly traveled that pioneering scientist Claudia Alexander had died at age 56. Friends and family writing online tributes reported she suffered from breast cancer, but no official cause of death was given.

Alexander was an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the final project manager for NASA’s Galileo mission. But her public profile rose dramatically last fall due to her duties as project scientist for NASA’s role in the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

"The passing of Claudia Alexander reminds us of how fragile we are as humans but also as scientists how lucky we are to be part of planetary science,” James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement. “She and I constantly talked about comets. Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in particular. She was an absolute delight to be with and always had a huge engaging smile when I saw her. It was easy to see that she loved what she was doing. We lost a fantastic colleague and great friend. I will miss her." [1]

The C. Alexander Gate, located on the smaller lobe of Comet 67P/C-G, has been named for Claudia J. Alexander, a U.S. Rosetta project scientist. Alexander passed away on July 11, 2015, after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. She was 56.

Alexander earned a bachelor's degree in geophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to earn her doctorate degree in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She began working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California before completing her doctorate. At the relatively young age of 40, she served as project manager for NASA's Galileo mission in 2000.

Alexander strove to inspire young people, writing children's books on science and mentoring young African-American girls. She also wrote "steampunk" science-fiction short stories. [2]

1. Pioneering Rosetta mission scientist Claudia Alexander dead at 56, Eric Betz, Astronomy Magazine
2. Rosetta Team Names Comet Features for Lost Colleagues, Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com

Alice's Wonderland...

Image Source: ESA Rosetta Blog

Topics: Astronomy, Astrophysics, Comets, Rosetta, Spectrograph

A close-up of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by NASA's ultraviolet instrument surprised scientists by revealing that electrons close to the comet's surface—not photons from the Sun as had been believed—cause the rapid breakup of water and carbon dioxide molecules spewing from the surface.

Since last August, the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft has orbited within a hundred miles of the comet in this historic mission. The spectrograph onboard, named Alice, specializes in the far-ultraviolet wavelength band and was developed by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). Alice examines light the comet is emitting to understand the chemistry of the comet's atmosphere, or coma. A spectrograph is a tool astronomers use to split light into its various colors. Scientists can identify the chemical composition of gases by examining their light spectrum. Alice is the first such far-ultraviolet spectrograph to operate at a comet.

NASA's Alice ultraviolet (UV) spectrograph, seen here during construction, is aboard the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft. Credit: Southwest Research Institute

"The discovery we're reporting is quite unexpected," said Alice instrument Principal Investigator Dr. Alan Stern, an associate vice president in SwRI's Space Science and Engineering Division. "It shows us the value of going to comets to observe them up close, since this discovery simply could not have been made from Earth or Earth's orbit with any existing or planned observatory. And, it is fundamentally transforming our knowledge of comets.

Phys.org: Alice instrument's ultraviolet close-up provides a surprising discovery about comet's atmosphere

Heavenly Gates...

Topics: Astrophysics, Comets, Diversity, Diversity in Science, Space Exploration, Rosetta, Women in Science

Yesterday was "Back to the Future, Part II" day. I saw a lot of commentary about how far we've come in 30 years. Interestingly not only did I not comment on it, I don't really recall seeing the second movie! I saw the first and third. I guess I'll have to rent it to catch up. We don't have flying cars or hover boards, but we seem to have a plethora of "Biff" personalities. I'll let you interpret...

This also happened yesterday, which didn't get a lot of notice. I don't expect it will, but if our priorities were actually calibrated to regard important people doing important things other than athletes, bombastic public characters, rappers and "reality shows"...it would.

The C. Alexander Gate, located on the smaller lobe of Comet 67P/C-G, has been named for Claudia J. Alexander, a U.S. Rosetta project scientist. Alexander passed away on July 11, 2015, after a 10-year battle with breast cancer. She was 56.

Alexander earned a bachelor's degree in geophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She went on to earn her doctorate degree in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She began working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California before completing her doctorate. At the relatively young age of 40, she served as project manager for NASA's Galileo mission in 2000.

Alexander strove to inspire young people, writing children's books on science and mentoring young African-American girls. She also wrote "steampunk" science-fiction short stories.

The A. Coradini Gate, located on the larger lobe of the comet, was dedicated to Angioletta Coradini, the former principal investigator of Rosetta's VIRTIS instrument. Coradini passed away in September 2011 after a year-long battle with cancer. She was 65.

Coradini earned her master's degree in physics at the University of Rome, where she also earned her doctorate degree. She worked for the National Research Council of Italy before moving on to the National Astrophysics Institute of Italy. She led the Italian team for the Cassini VIMS visual channel. She worked on NASA's Dawn mission team, which explored the asteroid Vesta and is presently in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres.

"Angioletta was one of the world-recognized leading experts in the Planetary Sciences, with varied interests ranging from minor bodies to outer planets and theoretical work on the formation of our solar system," said a tribute posted on the American Astronomical Society website. "She made fundamental contributions in all these domains."

Space.com: Rosetta Team Names Comet Features for Lost Colleagues
Nola Taylor Redd

Our Loss, the Universe's Gain...

Claudia Alexander (1959–2015)

Topics: Comets, Diversity, Diversity in Science, Rosetta, Space Exploration, STEM, Women in Science

As a research scientist, she inspired a generation, especially young women, to seek careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

This weekend was one of great excitement for the planetary science community as the New Horizons spacecraft moved in on Pluto following decades of hard work. But that optimism took on a somber tone Saturday as news quickly traveled that pioneering scientist Claudia Alexander had died at age 56. Friends and family writing online tributes reported she suffered from breast cancer, but no official cause of death was given.

Alexander was an employee of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the final project manager for NASA’s Galileo mission. But her public profile rose dramatically last fall due to her duties as project scientist for NASA’s role in the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

"The passing of Claudia Alexander reminds us of how fragile we are as humans but also as scientists how lucky we are to be part of planetary science,” James Green, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement. “She and I constantly talked about comets. Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko in particular. She was an absolute delight to be with and always had a huge engaging smile when I saw her. It was easy to see that she loved what she was doing. We lost a fantastic colleague and great friend. I will miss her."

Astronomy: Pioneering Rosetta mission scientist Claudia Alexander dead at 56, Eric Betz

Landing on a Comet...

So, what will we find?

Ice, minerals are sure bets. Hopefully the harpoons they've engineered hold on whatever qualifies as a "surface" on a comet. The fun of science is the unknown; that's the adventure!

The ancient Greek on the Rosetta Stone told archaeologists that it was inscribed by priests honoring the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in the second century B.C. More startlingly, the Greek passage announced that the three scripts were all of identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been "dead" for nearly 2,000 years. Source: The History Channel

It is appropriate that we'll be reaching back in time, perhaps to the dawn of our solar system, a hieroglyphics of radiometric and Carbon-14 dating: back to our very beginnings.

European Space Agency: Live Rosetta Updates

Rosetta's Stone...

The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft is performing flyby missions producing a number of up-close observations of Lutetia that astronomers will use to investigate its composition and history. The visit should also help clear up which family of asteroids Lutetia belongs to—the C-type of primitive carbonaceous bodies or the more metallic M-type asteroids.

Link: Lutetia

Physics 2014...

First Realistic Virtual Universe (see 5 below)

In May cosmologists took the place on the pedestal by releasing the first simulated universe of such a large scale: it simulated 13 billion years of cosmic evolution in a cube with 350 million light year long sides. “Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the universe on both large and small scales simultaneously,” said the lead author Mark Vogelsberger.

1. Deepest Image of a Galaxy Cluster (January)
2. NASA Releases First Images Taken by the Curiosity Rover ( February)
3. The Discovery of Gravitational Waves (March), though there's some recent data that cast doubt.
4. NASA’s Exoplanet Discoveries (April)
5. The First Realistic Virtual Universe (May)
6. Hybrid Carbon Nanotube Circuits (June)
7. OCO-2 Launched (July) The OCO-2 will study carbon dioxide concentrations and distributions in the atmosphere.
8. Field Medals and IBM’s Neuromorphic Computer Chip (August)
9. Water Vapour Found on an Exoplanet + India’s First Probe to Mars (September)
10. Nobel Prizes (October), the winners were Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, who were responsible for the development of the efficient blue light diodes.
11. Landing on a Comet (November), the first landing on the surface of a comet performed by the Rosetta spacecraft equipped with Philae landing module.
12. Planck 2014 Results (December)
The newest data suggests that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and is composed of 4.9 percent atomic matter, 26.6 percent dark matter and 68.5 percent dark energy.

Physics Database: Top Physics News of 2014

The Great Filter...

Image Source: Gizmodo and originally, Wait, But Why

Topics: Astrobiology, Carl Sagan, Climate Change, Drake Equation, Existentialism, Fermi Paradox, Nuclear Power

“The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” Carl Sagan

My First Contact scenario doesn't involve Vulcans, warp drive or impossible scenarios: it involves radio transmissions, as communication is a big part of the Drake Equation. Specifically audio, video and digital data (Internet?) of extraterrestrial origin as we would confirm before announcing to the world. Assuming the aliens developed their technology in an oxygen-nitrogen environment, the language we could hear might amount to a lot of "clicking" noises, that mathematicians - specifically specialists in cryptography, and linguists - would dive into deciphering. Eventually after coming up with a Rosetta Stone of syntax, we could translate what would amount to news, drama and sitcoms. Of specific interest might be their political climate and sectarian strife (if any). More particularly, did they successfully translate through their "Great Filter"...

...or, if they did not.

*****

I'm a big fan of Jordon Peele's incarnation of The Twilight Zone, particularly the sixth episode: "Six Degrees of Freedom." It is unfortunate that popular show title describes our current political climate.

I won't give away the intriguing ending, but Peele has mastered the macabre plot twist of Rod Serling's writing style, and (my opinion) his surreal monologue delivery. It's streaming, so you may have to pay less than you would for a single movie ticket per month to view it. I've enjoyed it and other shows so far, and I get no monetary gain for the endorsement.

"The Great Filter, in the context of the Fermi paradox, is whatever prevents dead matter from undergoing abiogenesis, in time, to expanding lasting life as measured by the Kardashev scale.[1][2] The concept originates in Robin Hanson's argument that the failure to find any extraterrestrial civilizations in the observable universe implies the possibility something is wrong with one or more of the arguments from various scientific disciplines that the appearance of advanced intelligent life is probable; this observation is conceptualized in terms of a "Great Filter" which acts to reduce the great number of sites where intelligent life might arise to the tiny number of intelligent species with advanced civilizations actually observed (currently just one: human).[3] This probability threshold, which could lie behind us (in our past) or in front of us (in our future), might work as a barrier to the evolution of intelligent life, or as a high probability of self-destruction.[1][4] The main counter-intuitive conclusion of this observation is that the easier it was for life to evolve to our stage, the bleaker our future chances probably are.

The idea was first proposed in an online essay titled "The Great Filter - Are We Almost Past It?", written by economist Robin Hanson. The first version was written in August 1996 and the article was last updated on September 15, 1998. Since that time, Hanson's formulation has received recognition in several published sources discussing the Fermi paradox and its implications.

Using extinct civilizations such as Easter Island as models, a study conducted in 2018 posited that climate change induced by "energy intensive" civilizations may prevent sustainability within such civilizations, thus explaining the lack of evidence for intelligent extraterrestrial life.[5]" Source: Wikipedia/The Great Filter

The Great Filter is alluded to in science fiction with or without warp drive: Star Trek described global wars on Earth and the fictional Vulcan that involved their respective nuclear holocausts. For the Vulcans, recovery involved a relentless embrace of logic, or as I recall reading in a Trek novel, "reality-truth." For Earth, it essentially involved accepting help from the Vulcans after the human species was discovered warp capable through a singular genius with a funny name post self-induced Apocalypse, a Deus ex Machina plot device used since publicly performed Greek and Roman plays. We don't have warp drive, but we do have thermonuclear devices poised for Armageddon. We don't have Vulcans, but we once did have the Easter Islanders, just as once we had the Dodo.

I've often encapsulated The Great Filter in my own dictum: "intelligence is its own Entropy." I think when Carl Sagan was alive, the regressive forces we see now denying science, climate change; verifiable facts and reality were well engaged in his day of the original COSMOS. Slowly, shows like COSMOS lost their appeal to Game Shows cum Reality Shows, and as a country we reveled in our distractions, added as channels on cable and Internet multiplied like E. coli. and measles resurgence as well as our grasp of what is real and verifiable. In fact, we seek distractions in gadgets and online machinations in the constant need to fill "horror vacui."

In the east, nothing meant something, particularly in clarity of thought: Mu Shin No Shin - "the mind without mind" or more colloquially, "no mind." As translated from the martial battlefield to artists both martial and objective; and Zen philosophers, it offers a certain clarity that can be attained when not focused on minutiae detail, but accepted reality "as-is" after diligent practice. A practice like karate forms that takes years of repetition, dedication and study. That is the key to mastering anything, from martial arts to science to civics.

The stars are silent. Intelligence may be rare. Vulcans if existing may not be benevolent, and in the myopic attention span of the erect species of which I am member - "wise men"...fleeting in longevity.

We hope we're past The Great Filter. I'm not sure we are.

Related links:

The Great Filter Might Be What's Preventing Aliens from Reaching Us,
Joanie Faletto, Curiosity

The Reason We've Never Found Intelligent Life Might be Because We Are Already Going Extinct,
Climate change might be humanity’s "Great Filter." Karla Lant, Futurism

The Great Filter, a possible explanation for the Fermi Paradox – interview with Robin Hanson
Science, Technology, Future

CAESAR and Dragonfly...

Dragonfly is a dual-quadcopter lander that would take advantage of the environment on Titan to fly to multiple locations, some hundreds of miles apart. (Credit: NASA)

Topics: NASA, Space Exploration, Spaceflight

NASA accepted twelve mission proposals comprising six themes: comet surface sample return, lunar south pole-Aitken Basin sample return, ocean worlds (e.g., Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus), Saturn probe, Trojan asteroid tour and rendezvous and Venus in situ explorer. They whittled these proposals down to two, through an extensive peer review process. These missions will proceed into Phase A development, after which, one will be selected for flight in July 2019, to launch by 2025.

The two missions selected, the Comet Astrobiology Exploration Sample Return (CAESAR) and Dragonfly, would see NASA return to old stomping grounds, but with new technology.

Comets, which are essentially amalgamations of some of the oldest materials in the solar system, are among the most poorly understood, pristine records of the solar system’s history.  CAESAR, led by principal investigator Steve Squyres, proposes a return to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a comet previously explored by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft.

“By going to that comet, there’s an enormous amount of risk reduction that takes place,” says Squyres. “We’re going to an object we’ve already got good maps of.”

He continued:

“What distinguishes them from every other primitive body out there is what we call their volatile component: ices, the volatile organic compounds that just aren’t present in any other planetary body.”

The CAESAR mission would extract separate volatile and nonvolatile samples from the comet’s icy nucleus, and return them to analysis in November of 2038.

Dragonfly, the second finalist, would set sail to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons.

“Titan is a unique ocean world,” principal investigator Elizabeth Turtle said.

Indeed, Titan is rich with complex hydrocarbons and water beneath its frozen shell, richly detailed by Cassini. The probe itself, a rotocraft, would spend most of its time collecting samples on the ground, studying Titan’s habitability by determining how far prebiotic chemistry has progressed. Turtle said it would be able to fly hundreds of kilometers at a time to make measurements in different geologic settings.

NASA’s New Frontiersmen, Ian Graber-Stiehl, Discovery Magazine

URMs...

Source: Link below

This year's APS Bridge Program meeting (June 25 – 27, 2014) focused on the role of the Master's degree in advancing underrepresented minority students toward PhDs in physics.

This is a very short article, but specifically one of the last paragraphs caught my attention:

This year's meeting focused on the role of the Master's degree in advancing URMs in physics. In her plenary talk, Sheila Lange, University of Washington, discussed results from an analysis of the Survey of Earned Doctorates that indicates URM students take very different pathways to doctoral degrees compared to White and Asian American students.

In my previous post "And Statistics," also discussed this subject in an admitted inequality (and I mean both mathematically and politically). Quoting from the link:

"The Asian > White > Hispanic > Black pattern permeates standardized testing: it is the same for the SAT, and is reflected in the recent race-based levels set by Florida and Virginia for grade schoolers' performance on state-wide standardized tests."

It is refreshing that academia is noting they tend to produce the "usual suspects." As a society, we have to promote STEM as an emancipator; as a "Path to Freedom" (Carl Sagan, and title of post) and a means to put a dent in the rising inequality that is pervasive in our country and American culture - easily seen systemic and designed in a primitive, backwards; archaic era. Faux controversies in accepted scientific discoveries only take us to such a state, and thus exacerbates an unsustainable status quo in the long run.

I got a note from our human resources to update my internal profile (modeled on LinkedIn.com, and largely pulled data from it). One of the questions other than "resume" and "experience" (apparently different), was the tab "languages," of which I indicated "French - beginner." I did take two years of French in high school and college respectively. Until I get a chance to freshen my gray matter with Rosetta Stone, I felt it the most honest assessment of my previous abilities to speak and write a romantic language.

We have to advocate and encourage diversity in a country based on "E pluribus unum" (out of many, one in Latin). We do not in a global economy have the luxury of a nearly homogeneous citizenry, nor do I believe such a populace in any country will be possible as humans constantly move about; find themselves employed in other nations not their own; fulfill the demands of their employers by being "flexible." To keep from being irrelevant on the world stage (and rather quickly), we will all need to be.

APS: APS Bridge Program Annual Meeting