Are you actually enjoying social isolation?

NASA wants you!

NASA is looking for participants to isolate in a Russian lab for 8 months - CNN May 23

"NASA is seeking US citizens for an eight-month study on social isolation in preparation for missions to Mars and the moon. The research is being done to study the effects of isolation and confinement as participants work to complete simulated space missions.

Participants will be staying in a lab located in Moscow, and they will experience environmental aspects similar to those astronauts are expected to experience on future missions to Mars that will have crew members from different nations."

The posting on NASA's site:

NASA Seeking US Citizens for Social Isolation Study for Moon and Mars Missions - - NASA May 15

"NASA is looking for highly motivated U.S. citizens who are 30-55 years old and are proficient in both Russian and English languages. Requirements are: M.S., PhD., M.D. or completion of military officer training. Participants with a Bachelor’s degree and other certain qualifications (e.g., relevant additional education, military, or professional experience) may be acceptable candidates as well."

If you are interested, but not a US citizen yet, then just develop a strategy. 

I'm interested, but not truly proficient in Russian at the moment - there are solutions for that! : )

I’m failing at least three of their criteria, but am trying to understand the use of “highly motivated” in this sentence. I don’t think it is meant to modify “U.S. citizens”, but that leaves the question whether one can be highly motivated in general? Doesn’t motivation need some kind of objective or direction? Perhaps this means I’m missing a fourth criterion, too: proficiency in the English language...

A quick search does in fact turn up a vast industry that promises to make anybody highly motivated in general, relying heavily on scenic posters.

I’m failing at least three of their criteria, but am trying to understand the use of “highly motivated” in this sentence. I don’t think it is meant to modify “U.S. citizens”, but that leaves the question whether one can be highly motivated in general? Doesn’t motivation need some kind of objective or direction? Perhaps this means I’m missing a fourth criterion, too: proficiency in the English language...

A quick search does in fact turn up a vast industry that promises to make anybody highly motivated in general, relying heavily on scenic posters.

Haha - good spot.  I'd say that is American-speak for "This role is going to be extremely tough and if you are in any way fragile or a quitter, don't bother applying."

We (or at least a subsegment of us) tend to frame things in the positive, but there can be an underlying word of caution or even a direct/indirect warning.

It's obvious to me and I see it every day, but true that some cultures would just say - "This would be a horrible hardship experience, so don't even think about applying."

And then who would apply?  

True masochists and a few Vikings, I suppose.  : D

It is busy on Earth these days, but I am keeping an eye on Outer Space too.

 Some interesting news about FRBs (Fast Radio Bursts):

Four ‘Mysterious Signals From Outer Space’ Are Coming From Galaxies Like Ours, Say Scientists - Forbes June 3 2020

"The most famous one is FRB 121102, unusual because it’s been detected a few hundred times since it first “burst” onto the scene in 2014. FRB 121102 is coming from a small dwarf galaxy about three billion light-years from Earth. 

So what’s causing them? Colliding stars? Supermassive black holes? Radio broadcasts from a distant alien civilization?

Well, it’s not black holes, according to Dr. Shivani Bandar  an astronomer with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, whose new research published this week in The Astrophysical Journal Letters reveals that four FRBs are coming not from the heart of galaxies, but from their edge."

Stay tuned!

SpaceX return from ISS in a couple hours (on cspan in US).

So, what else happened this week - bigger picture?

SpaceXlaunches Turksat5A - CNET Jan 8 - nice launch video in the article.

2021 is going to be an interesting year for space - rockets, planets, and stars. 

Calendar of Astronomical Events - In the Sky.org

The US will test the return-to-the-moon Artemis system with a launch now scheduled (no earlier than) Feb 2022.
Now, where's Waldo?
 
Source: wikipedia

The US will test the return-to-the-moon Artemis system with a launch now scheduled (no earlier than) Feb 2022.
Now, where's Waldo?

Artemis_1.jpg 
Source: wikipedia

I’m reminded of an occasion more than a decade ago, when we were temporarily missing our seminar speaker, Valdo Durrleman. This naturally gave rise to the question “vere is Valdo?”

The James Webb Space Telescope, the premier space science observatory of the next decade, is targeted for launch Dec. 24 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America

Launch targeted for 7:20 a.m. EST Friday, Dec. 24.
Now, try to imagine how they get this folded up into a rocket:
And the answer is:

Nice timing. There is a role for origami artists at NASA and they offer tutorials too:

Space Origami: Make Your Own Starshade - NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Live broadcast now - go for launch

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ ... tml#public

Excellent launch: telescope is now 2% of the way to its final location (L2 point). 
You can follow milestone events over the next 30 days here

Final Webb expected location (rendering from wikipedia):

Would it be a good idea for Bezos to take a Flat Earther into space?