Hamish Prince, who graduated from college in 2014, recently spoke to students about his journey from Dunedin to NASA.

Prince, a graduate research assistant in atmospheric science, shared how his love for fieldwork and the outdoors led him to a career at NASA.

"I didn't really know what I wanted to do ... I knew I liked field work and being outside" he told the students.

After completing a geography degree at the University of Otago and a master's degree, Prince received a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. This opportunity paved the way for his involvement with NASA.

Working on the Prefire Mission

For the past three years, Prince has been part of the science team working on NASA's Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (Prefire) Mission.

This project involves launching two small satellites to study Earth's radiant energy, crucial for understanding sea ice loss and polar warming.

"There are big changes happening in our world, and we want to be measuring them so we know how they are changing and what we can do to stop these changes" Prince explained.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Prince emphasised that he never planned to work for NASA but simply followed his interests.

"I never had the goal of becoming a scientist on a NASA project. I just followed my nose and did what I enjoyed. If you do something that you enjoy, then it won't feel like work and it'll just come naturally."

Prince is set to complete his PhD next year and plans to return to Dunedin to continue exploring where his passion will lead him next.

Source

• ODT

The call, which was organised by the European Space Agency and NASA, aimed to connect Francis with the astronauts on board the space station - three Americans, two Russians and one Italian.

The Vatican planned for the phone call to be transmitted live by its Television Center.

Although the phone call was timed to take place after this issue of CathNews went to print, it is possible to catch up with what Francis and the astronauts said via a webcast of the in-flight interview on NASA TV and the Vatican's YouTube page.

This will be the second time Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli has received a phone call from a pope. He was on board when Pope emeritus Benedict XVI called the space station in 2011.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the archbishop of Galveston-Houston, was booked to join the Pope for the call.

Source

• Space.com
• The Week
• Zenit
• Image: nasa.gov

A group of Christian employees at the Johnson Space Center in Houston included the phrase "Jesus is our life" in an advert for their weekly meeting.

This was in a newsletter emailed to all employees at the centre.

NASA lawyers informed the Christian club leaders that using Jesus' name made the announcement sectarian and denominational.

Including the name in an agency newsletter was an unconstitutional "government" endorsement of religion, the lawyers stated.

A lawyer from the Liberty Institute has filed a complaint to NASA on behalf of the Johnson Space Center Praise & Worship Club.

The lawyer said NASA's action was religious discrimination, censorship and was illegal.

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The microfilm King James version Bibles are the size of a postage stamp. They were produced by a group of Christian NASA employees who prayed for the astronauts.

Hundreds of the Bibles went on Apollo missions and 100 were left on the surface of the moon by the Apollo 14 commander.

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As tributes continued to pour in on Sunday for the former astronaut who died aged 82 there were also expressions of regret that no human has been back to the moon since 1972, just three years after Armstrong set foot on it and gave his famous "giant leap for mankind" speech.

Elliot Pulham, chief executive of the Space Foundation, decried today's lack of backing for America's space agency Nasa, compared with the vast resources devoted to the moon landings programme in the 1960s.

"In this age of timid exploration goals and paltry Nasa budgets, Armstrong looms as a larger-than-life reminder of what our nation was once capable of," he said. Pulham said the real life drama of Armstrong's moon landing - watched by a fifth of the world's population - was unlikely to be repeated now except fictionally in a summer blockbuster.

He said: "In an age when Hollywood and professional sports manufacture so-called 'heroes', Armstrong exemplified the right stuff. He was the real deal."

Armstrong died on Saturday following heart problems that ensued after he underwent bypass surgery near his Ohio home earlier this month. His recovery had been thought to be going well, and his death came as a surprise to many.

A statement released by his family gave few details, but spoke of a "reluctant American hero" and said to those who might want to pay tribute to him: "Honour his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink." Read more

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