Copernical Team
University of Florida professor to fly Blue Origin New Shepard on mission for NASA
University of Florida horticulture science professor Rob Ferl is going where some men have gone before, including William Shatner and Jeff Bezos, but he's bringing along some experimental plant life for NASA.
Ferl, a researcher within UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is also the director of UF's new Astraeus Space Institute. He is joining five other people on the launch of Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocket today for what will be its eighth human spaceflight. Dubbed NS-26, the capsule is set for liftoff as early as 9:00 a.m. EDT from Blue Origin's West Texas launch facility.
Along for the ride will be a species of plant called Arabidopsis thaliana. Ferl will be looking at how its genes adapt on the way to space.
"Space is a challenging environment, one that we're not evolutionarily designed for," he said during a phone interview from the launch site. "And so the question is, what tools can we bring to bear to understand how much adaptation, how much physiological change has to occur in order to survive and thrive in space.
Sentinel-2C: ready for liftoff
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Sentinel-2C is ready for launch! The new satellite will soon join its Copernicus Sentinel-2 family in orbit – where it will continue to provide detailed views of Earth’s land and coastal waters.
The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites: Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. The constellation was originally designed to monitor land surfaces – but its scope has since expanded.
It now covers a wide range of applications including deforestation, water quality, monitoring natural disasters, methane emissions and much more.
Sentinel-2C, once in orbit, will replace the Sentinel-2A unit – prolonging the life of the Sentinel-2 mission –
NASA record holder can relate to astronauts stuck in space. He was, too
NASA's record-holding astronaut is urging his two stuck-in-space colleagues to stay positive and "keep up the good work."
Frank Rubio knows firsthand about unexpectedly long spaceflights. His own visit to the International Space Station lasted just over a year, twice as long as planned.
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LZ, led by the Department New Horizons Offers Precise Measurements of Cosmic Light in the Universe
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