TOM JONES

ASTRONAUT SPEAKER

The Biggest Asteroid in our Solar System Is…

June 20, 2023 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

A student question came my way asking me which object holds the title of “largest known asteroid.” Out in the main asteroid belt, beyond Mars and inside Jupiter’s orbit, over a million asteroids represent the leftovers of solar system formation–small fragments of rock and dust and a little ice that never coalesced into a planet. Altogether, the mass of the asteroid belt is about five percent of the mass of Earth’s moon. About sixty percent of the asteroid belt mass is contained in the four largest asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea.

The largest asteroid (in fact it’s known as a minor planet) is 1 Ceres, about 950 km in diameter, roughly the size of Texas. No other asteroid is larger than 600 km in diameter. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft rendezvoused with asteroid 4 Vesta in 2011-2012, then reached Ceres orbit in 2015, where it still orbits today, its mission concluded.

Asteroid 4 Vesta, seen from Dawn on July 24, 2011. (NASA)

Dawn’s mapping and exploration mission finally concluded in 2018, with the spacecraft running out of fuel. Here’s an image of Ceres captured by Dawn:

Dwarf planet Ceres, the largest asteroid in our solar system, is shown in this false-color rendering of Dawn imagery, highlighting differences in surface materials. (NASA)

Ceres shows extensive evidence of mineral alteration by liquid water, and even today it may harbor subsurface pockets of liquid water. Small icy areas are exposed at the surface, along with bright white salt deposits. Ceres’ density is so low that it may still contain large amounts of ice and water.

While the Dawn mission ended five years ago, NASA continues its asteroid exploration program with the Lucy mission on its way to Jupiter’s mysterious, dark-red Trojan asteroid groups. In late 2023 NASA hopes to launch the Psyche mission to the large asteroid 16 Psyche, whose surface may be mostly metallic iron and nickel.

Our study of these large main belt asteroids helps us to understand the composition and origin of their many fragments, nudged by collisions and Jupiter’s dominant gravity into Earth-approaching orbits, where they may someday threaten a collision with Earth. Asteroid exploration both helps us understand the story of the solar system’s birth, and the hazards and resources stemming from near-Earth asteroids, which have long influenced the path of life on our world.

Dan Durda’s painting showing a human expedition to a near-Earth asteroid. (Dan Durda, SWRI)

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: Space

Pad Flyby of Shuttle Discovery, 1993

May 11, 2023 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Shuttle Discovery, STS-51, is readied on Pad 39B on Aug. 18, 1993. The Vehicle Assembly Building rises in the background. (photo by author)

On Aug. 18, 1993, I was flying a Cessna Citation II down to Kennedy Space Center for some test work on our upcoming mission, STS-59, when Rick Hieb and I arrived for landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility. We requested a pad flyby, and permission granted, swung out over the shoreline to circle the two shuttle pads of Launch Complex 39. Less than a week before, Discovery STS-51 had suffered a pad abort at T-3 seconds due to faulty fuel flow sensors in one of the space shuttle main engines. That was STS-51’s third launch scrub with the crew already strapped in, so we took several snapshots of Discovery as we banked past Pad 39B, then headed for the runway for touchdown and parking.

STS-51 Discovery rests on pad 39B. The crawlerway and ramp up to the pad show up well, as do the water suppression system tower and two propellant spheres for the shuttle’s external tank. The rotating service structure nestles against the orbiter, protecting most of its surfaces from weather and providing access to the payload bay. Photo by author, 8-18-93.
STS-51 Discovery rests atop its mobile launch platform. At ignition, solid rocket motor exhaust will vent largely from this end of the flame trench. Photo by author, 8-18-93
STS-51 Discovery on pad 39B, with empty Pad 39A at rear. The pad’s personnel blast bunker is the square-topped structure at far right, below the crawlerway. Launch complexes 41 and 40 are visible on the distant shoreline. Photo by author, 8-18-93.

Discovery did launch successfully on September 12, 1993. My astronaut classmates Dan Bursch, Carl Walz, and Jim Newman helped crew STS-51, along with Frank Culbertson and Bill Readdy. Dan came back in August 1994 to join me on STS-68, but first Dan had to suffer through another pad abort, on Aug. 18, ’94. We got off the ground, finally, on Pad 39A on September 30, 1994. But STS-68 is another story.

Read the STS-51 story in my new book, “Space Shuttle Stories,” due out from Smithsonian Books in October. It’s available now for pre-order on Amazon.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: History, Space

Fun Liftoff with Space Center Houston

January 31, 2022 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

I enjoyed a fun weekend speaking to space explorers at Space Center Houston, next to the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, Texas. Outside, next to the NASA/Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft, SCH now displays a Falcon 9 first-stage booster rocket, recovered and reused on two cargo delivery missions to the International Space Station:

Space shuttle replica “Independence” atop the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. (author photo)
SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster (author photo)

Thanks to Space Center Houston for the invitation to speak this past weekend. I’ll be back in mid-November for another appearance.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: History, Recreation, Space

Pearl Harbor Attack: 80 Years of Infamy. Dec. 7, 2021.

December 7, 2021 By TOM JONES 2 Comments

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Territory, back then). The sudden aerial assault out of the blue of a sunny morning on Oahu marked America’s entry into World War II, a conflict that for us lasted over three years and nine months. I’ve visited Pearl Harbor many times since the 1980s, and each time I do, I am still moved by the visible evidence of the events that took place there.

More than 2400 Americans died in the strike from six aircraft carriers of the Japanese Imperial Navy. The attack lasted over two hours, resulting in the sinking of four battleships and severe damage to several other battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Hundreds of American aircraft were destroyed–mostly on the ground.

Ford Island and Battleship Row at center left. The harbor entrance is at lower center under cloud. USS Missouri and USS Arizona Memorial are visible at upper center. (I was sitting on the left side of the plane as we approached Honolulu, and got lucky).
attack mural from the Pacific Aviation Museum (Nov. 2011)

Every American should visit the Pearl Harbor National Memorial & Visitor Center, now run by the National Park Service. The USS Arizona Memorial is maintained by the U.S. Navy, which runs a shuttle boat from the visitor center out to the Memorial on Battleship Row.

USS Arizona Memorial over the sunken battleship. (US Navy photo)
USS Arizona Memorial next to Ford Island (from my last visit here in Jan. 2017)

The Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri is moored just to the west, and standing on her deck one can view the site where the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945.

USS Missouri, docked where USS Maryland was once berthed during the attack. (Jan. 2017)

At the Arizona Memorial, one enters the shrine over the sunken battleship where those entombed aboard are remembered:

The memorial wall within the Arizona Memorial (Jan. 2017)

Bunker oil still leaks from the wreck.

oil sheen above wreck of the Arizona (Jan. 2017)

On Ford Island, bullet scars in the concrete apron and bullet holes in the hangars that house the Pacific Aviation Museum are still visible:

Hangar 37 bullet-shattered glass at the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island (Sept. 2011)

Out at Schofield Barracks north of Pearl Harbor, a P-40 Warhawk replica stands at the edge of Wheeler Field. Dozens of American planes were destroyed on the ground here in the opening moments of the attack.

P-40 Warhawk replica, used in the filming of the 1970s film, “Tora! Tora! Tora!”)

Aboard USS Missouri, a visitor can close the circle of the Pacific War, standing on the spot where WWII ended that September of 1945.

USS Missouri (2017)

To those lost at Pearl Harbor, rest in peace. To those who restored peace by serving in the Pacific War, accept our continued thanks. And to my fellow Americans: Remain vigilant, and never forget.

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: History

My “Science Headliner” Talk with Linda Hall Science Library

August 3, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Eric Ward (VP for Public Programs at the Linda Hall Science Library in Kansas City, MO) spoke with me about all things “astronaut”: my career path, what it’s like to fly (and walk!) in space, and the future of human spaceflight. Eric asks about my four Space Shuttle missions and the three spacewalks performed during the construction of the International Space Station. Back in 2008, the Library invited me and co-author, Dr. Ellen Stofan, to visit the library and give a talk about our book, “Planetology.” I think you’ll find this interview interesting and fun. Thanks to Eric and the Library for this opportunity. And when you’re in Kansas City, drop by the Library and see an original edition of Newton’s “Principia.” It’s almost as good as reading “Sky Walking.”

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: History, Media, Space

“An Astronaut’s Faith” — A Conversation with Shalom World’s “Glory to God”

July 21, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Thanks to my friends at Shalom World for a great interview about “An Astronaut’s Faith” and the help God gave me on the way to the stars. I thought Pete Burak asked some excellent questions, and we talked about receiving Communion in orbit on STS-59. Enjoy the interview (link below), and God bless!

https://www.shalomworld.org/episode/an-astronauts-faith-dr-thomas-d-jones

sunrise with atmosphere layers from STS-59

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: History, Space

“Off World” Friends at Spacefest XI

July 21, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Last weekend in Tucson I enjoyed the company of 16 Astronaut Friends — backdropped by some cool spacesuits at Spacefest XI!(back row) Ken Cameron, Clay Anderson, Anna Fisher, Walt Cunningham, Charlie Duke, Nicole Stott, Linda Godwin, Hoot Gibson, Rhea Seddon, Jack Lousma, Mario Runco; (front row) Mike Mullane, Eileen Collins, Tom Jones, Dan Bursch, Kathy Sullivan, Charlie Walker. (thanks to Nicole Stott for passing the photo along, and to Sally Poor and her company, NovaSpace, for hosting the event).

NASA astronauts at Spacefest XI, July 17, 2021

www.AstronautTomJones.com

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Filed Under: History, Space

Virgin Galactic’s Branson Reaches Space

July 12, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

With Branson’s success yesterday (congrats to his team at #VirginGalactic, the door to paying passenger flights is open, at most a few months away. Bezos won’t be far behind. Expect a flood of “I’m in space!” viral videos in the months to come…popularizing the idea of space as a realistic adventure and entrepreneurial arena for many more. NASA will continue to draw the dreamers and innovators who want to push out and explore on the deep space frontier–Moon, nearby asteroids, and finally Mars. Here is my bit of coverage on #FNC just after Branson’s team’s personally historic flight yesterday .

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6263270743001?fbclid=IwAR1JlW1YGd1KgwrSkgM9Y1QRcGpa8v5h6G7-2Ahb5DEKFyzA_jmLTEG6dVg#sp=show-clips

I discuss Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, SpaceX, and other commercial space companies in my talk, “Beyond Earth: Humanity’s Future in Space.” See www.AstronautTomJones.com/speaking

Filed Under: History, Space, Uncategorized

Launch of VSS Unity: July 11, 2021

July 11, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Here’s my Saturday Fox News interview with Jackie Heinrich about the planned launch of #RichardBranson and his crew aboard the #VirginGalactic VSS Unity on Sunday. I should be back on #FNC today at noon for more coverage of this suborbital milestone flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico. Watch the Saturday interview:

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6263166506001

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: Uncategorized

On Mars Exploration & Perseverance: Feb. 26, 2021

February 27, 2021 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Thanks to Neil Cavuto for inviting me Friday to talk with him about Mars exploration. NASA’s Perseverance team continues to amaze. Here’s the video link:

https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6235748879001

IDL TIFF file

Filed Under: Media, Space

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