Current NASA Earth Science Satellite Missions

From the TEMP talks http://www.nsstc.uah.edu/tempo/agenda.html

NASA/OrbitalATK SLS Rocket Booster Test: Promontory Point, Ut

Hundreds of people, including myself and fellow NASA nerdy classmates, gathered at the seemingly desolate Promontory Point in Utah, the location the transcontinental railroad was finished, to watch a rocket! NASA and Orbital ATK tested a booster rocket for the Space Launch System (SLS), the most powerful rocket ever built and designed to carry humans to Mars.

It was a sunny morning with some scattered alto-cumulus that made for a great sunrise.

After picking up the NASA swag (stickers, pens, posters) we met an astronaut, Don Tomas!

The test was delayed an hour due to computer issues. With hundreds of people in the crowd we were anxious to start the countdown...

Then the countdown began...and then ignition, and the cheers erupted! (Video)

ASTER is the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) launched on the Terra satellite in 1999. All the data is now available for free. Data viewers and downloaders I like are http://glovis.usgs.gov/ and http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/.

Here's an awesome image of Utah County from September 17, 2014.

NASA Student Airborne Research Program

I just got accepted to NASA's Student Airborne Research Program for this summer. I'll be in California this summer working on this sweet DC-8 research airplane...