iQIYI Announces Theatrical Release of its First Original Animation Film 'Spycies' Across Overseas Markets [Trailer Included]

Spycies - British Movie Poster (image via CineMaterial)

iQIYI, Inc. has announced that Spycies, a family-friendly animated film produced by iQIYI Pictures, will hit theaters across China on January 11. Following its China premiere, the film will be subsequently released in overseas markets including Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

Spycies revolves around an alluring and complex action-adventure between "Spy Cat" Vladimir and "Hacker Mouse" Hector set in a modern animal kingdom. In the thrilling and entertaining animal world, the production team created and produced more than 40 species, over 90 animal characters, and more than 60 scenes. 

Spycies features endangered animals such as white rhinos and snow leopards, nationally protected animals such as lorises, and extinct animals such as mammoths. 

The film realized numerous special effects. For example, the design of distinctive fur animations for each species in Spycies was based on research of the animals' actual physical characteristics including fur pattern, material, length, and density. 

"With the superb animation effects, exciting storyline, and family-friendly themes, this film will undoubtedly succeed in delighting parents and children alike," said Ya Ning, President of iQIYI Pictures. "Spycies will further be released in overseas markets, and we look forward to bringing more premium content to our global audiences in the future."

iQIYI Announces Theatrical Release of its First Original Animation Film Spycies Across Overseas Markets

More About Spycies:

(via IMDb)

"Vladimir, a highly skilled but disobedient secret agent, gets left to rot for his attitude on an off-shore platform, watching over a top-secret material: the Radiuzite. There, he is compelled to team up with Hector, a rookie agent, whose only wish is to play video games and watch soap operas. Following an intrusion on the platform, this unusual team rush into a crazy investigation inside an even crazier hospital. There, they'll have to find the stolen Radiuzite and discover the truth about a climate threat which endangers species on the brink of extinction. "

The Trailer:

• In 2018, Spycies was nominated by the Cannes International Film Festival's "Annecy Goes Cannes" unit based on the Annecy International Animated Film Festival's judging panel recommendation.

SOURCE: iQIYI, Inc.

Alien Life Is Out There, But Our Theories Are Probably Steering Us Away From It

  

Distant planet system in space with exoplanets during sunrise (sdecoret/Shutterstock)

If we discovered evidence of alien life, would we even realise it? Life on other planets could be so different from what we’re used to that we might not recognise any biological signatures that it produces.

Recent years have seen changes to our theories about what counts as a biosignature and which planets might be habitable, and further turnarounds are inevitable. But the best we can really do is interpret the data we have with our current best theory, not with some future idea we haven’t had yet.

This is a big issue for those involved in the search for extraterrestrial life. As Scott Gaudi of Nasa’s Advisory Council has said: “One thing I am quite sure of, now having spent more than 20 years in this field of exoplanets … expect the unexpected.”

But is it really possible to “expect the unexpected”? Plenty of breakthroughs happen by accident, from the discovery of penicillin to the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. These often reflect a degree of luck on behalf of the researchers involved. When it comes to alien life, is it enough for scientists to assume “we’ll know it when we see it”?

Many results seem to tell us that expecting the unexpected is extraordinarily difficult. “We often miss what we don’t expect to see,” according to cognitive psychologist Daniel Simons, famous for his work on inattentional blindness. His experiments have shown how people can miss a gorilla banging its chest in front of their eyes. Similar experiments also show how blind we are to non-standard playing cards such as a black four of hearts. In the former case, we miss the gorilla if our attention is sufficiently occupied. In the latter, we miss the anomaly because we have strong prior expectations.

Watching this video shows how you can miss something as unusual as a gorilla if your attention is diverted.

There are also plenty of relevant examples in the history of science. Philosophers describe this sort of phenomenon as “theory-ladenness of observation”. What we notice depends, quite heavily sometimes, on our theories, concepts, background beliefs and prior expectations. Even more commonly, what we take to be significant can be biased in this way.

For example, when scientists first found evidence of low amounts of ozone in the atmosphere above Antarctica, they initially dismissed it as bad data. With no prior theoretical reason to expect a hole, the scientists ruled it out in advance. Thankfully, they were minded to double check, and the discovery was made.

More than 200,000 stars captured in one small section of the sky by Nasa’s TESS mission. (Nasa)

Could a similar thing happen in the search for extraterrestrial life? Scientists studying planets in other solar systems (exoplanets) are overwhelmed by the abundance of possible observation targets competing for their attention. In the last 10 years scientists have identified more than 3,650 planets - more than one a day. And with missions such as NASA’s TESS exoplanet hunter this trend will continue.

Each and every new exoplanet is rich in physical and chemical complexity. It is all too easy to imagine a case where scientists do not double check a target that is flagged as “lacking significance”, but whose great significance would be recognised on closer analysis or with a non-standard theoretical approach.

The Müller-Lyer optical illusion. (Fibonacci/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

However, we shouldn’t exaggerate the theory-ladenness of observation. In the Müller-Lyer illusion, a line ending in arrowheads pointing outwards appears shorter than an equally long line with arrowheads pointing inwards. Yet even when we know for sure that the two lines are the same length, our perception is unaffected and the illusion remains. Similarly, a sharp-eyed scientist might notice something in her data that her theory tells her she should not be seeing. And if just one scientist sees something important, pretty soon every scientist in the field will know about it.

History also shows that scientists are able to notice surprising phenomena, even biased scientists who have a pet theory that doesn’t fit the phenomena. The 19th-century physicist David Brewster incorrectly believed that light is made up of particles travelling in a straight line. But this didn’t affect his observations of numerous phenomena related to light, such as what’s known as birefringence in bodies under stress. Sometimes observation is definitely not theory-laden, at least not in a way that seriously affects scientific discovery.

We need to be open-minded

Certainly, scientists can’t proceed by just observing. Scientific observation needs to be directed somehow. But at the same time, if we are to “expect the unexpected”, we can’t allow theory to heavily influence what we observe, and what counts as significant. We need to remain open-minded, encouraging exploration of the phenomena in the style of Brewster and similar scholars of the past.

Studying the universe largely unshackled from theory is not only a legitimate scientific endeavour – it’s a crucial one. The tendency to describe exploratory science disparagingly as “fishing expeditions” is likely to harm scientific progress. Under-explored areas need exploring, and we can’t know in advance what we will find.

In the search for extraterrestrial life, scientists must be thoroughly open-minded. And this means a certain amount of encouragement for non-mainstream ideas and techniques. Examples from past science (including very recent ones) show that non-mainstream ideas can sometimes be strongly held back. Space agencies such as NASA must learn from such cases if they truly believe that, in the search for alien life, we should “expect the unexpected”.

About Today's Contributor:

Peter Vickers, Associate Professor in Philosophy of Science, Durham University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

eBay Unveils the Most Interesting and Expensive Purchases of 2019

2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster, 2019 Lamborghini Urus "Bianco Icarus,” 2005 Ford Ford GT, 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class, and a 2019 Lamborghini Huracan are among the most expensive 2019 eBay Motors purchases.

Today, eBay has released its annual 'Most Interesting and Expensive Purchases' of the year list, taking a look back at some of the most notable purchases of 2019. This year high-end shoppers scooped up everything from rare sports memorabilia, supercars, luxury timepieces, to experiences for good, regardless of the price tag. 

In 2019 alone, some of the most expensive items sold on eBay fetched more than $4 million.

These high ticket items varied from over $7,000 to $4.5 million. And, the biggest sales came from multiple categories, including investment caliber cards, luxury vehicles, fine watches and more! Record high sales included a Tom Brady 2000 Autographed Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Trading Card, which sold over $400,000 (signed by the six-time Super Bowl winner set the record for highest-sum ever paid for a football card) and a Michael Jordan 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Card that sold over $350,000 (one of 10 ever made and the highest priced basketball card ever sold on eBay).

eBay also pulled the most expensive purchases on eBay for Charity in 2019, which included lunch with Warren Buffett, an overnight stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite at Magic Kingdom Park, benefiting organizations like The V Foundation for Cancer Research and Homes For Our Troops.

Check out a breakdown of 2019's most expensive purchases on eBay across gaming, sports, fashion, cars and more:

Top 20 Overall Most Expensive eBay Purchases in 2019

• 20th Annual Power Lunch with Warren Buffett to Benefit GLIDE: $4,567,888
• Tom Brady 2000 Autographed Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Trading Card: $400,100
• Michael Jordan 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Card: $350,100
• 2015 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster: $349,800
• 2014 Newmar King Aire Motorhome: $280,000
• 2019 Lamborghini Urus "Bianco Icarus": $245,995
• 1986 Piper Malibu: $225,000
• 2005 Ford Ford GT: $220,000
• 2019 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2: $209,900
• 2012 Lamborghini Aventador 2dr Coupe: $200,000
• 2019 Porsche 911: $199,000
• 2009 Lamborghini Murcielago: $190,000
• 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia: $185,000
• 2014 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder: $174,995
• 2013 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead: $172,100
• 2017 Aston Martin Vanquish Coupe: $169,700
• Magic The Gathering MTG Black Lotus Card: $166,100
• Patek Philippe Grand Complications Calendar Manual Gold Men's Watch, 5270G-014: $139,500
• Patek Philippe Grand Complications Perpetual Calendar Chrono Watch, 5270G-018: $125,000
• Rolex New 18 Kt Rose Gold Masterpiece Pave Diamond Bracelet, 86285, Sant Blanc: $100,001

GLIDE’s 20th annual eBay for Charity Power Lunch with Warren Buffett sold for a record-breaking $4,567,888 on May 31, 2019, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the legendary auction.

Top 10 Most Expensive eBay for Charity Purchases in 2019

• 20th Annual Power Lunch with Warren Buffett to Benefit GLIDE: $4,567,888
• Miranda Lambert Closet Clear Out + Meet & Greet: $103,850.29
• Stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite at Magic Kingdom Park: $75,600
• Custom "Moon Landing" Under Armour Curry 6 Shoes Worn & Signed by Stephen Curry: $58,100.00
• UFC Ultimate Fan Experience + Private Meet & Greet with Dana White: $52,137
• Pitch Lunch with Dallas Mavericks' Owner Mark Cuban: $43,108
• Creation Storm, 2017 Art Piece by April Gornik: $39,100
• Attend the Premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of SkyWalker: $35,108
• Alabama Football Experience with Coach Nick Saban: $35,100
• Ultimate Le Batard Experience: $25,708

Most Expensive Cars Bought on eBay in 2019

• 2015 Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 Roadster: $349,800
• 2019 Lamborghini Urus "Bianco Icarus": $245,995
• 2005 Ford Ford GT: $220,000
• 2019 Mercedes-Benz G-Class: $219,000
• 2019 Lamborghini Huracan LP580-2: $209,900

Record-breaking sale of a rare Tom Brady rookie trading card for $400,100 sold in February 2019, the highest price for a football card sold at auction.

Most Expensive Trading Cards Bought on eBay in 2019

• Tom Brady 2000 Autographed Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket Trading Card: $400,100
• Michael Jordan 1997 Metal Universe Precious Metal Gems Card: $350,100
• Magic The Gathering MTG Black Lotus Card: $166,100
• Magic The Gathering MTG 1993 Alpha Black Lotus Card: $39,900.68
• Magic The Gathering MTG 1993 Alpha Birds Of Paradise Card: $37,877

Most Expensive Entertainment Memorabilia Bought on eBay in 2019

• 1964 Rolling Stones First Tour Concert Poster with Ticket Sub, Rare: $25,100
• World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary Signed Art Print: $20,000
• Rock-ola Beatles Yellow Submarine Juke Box, Original, New In Box: $18,500
• Life Size Star Wars R2D2 Remote Control Aluminum Full Size Prop: $17,500
• 1940s-1950s Hollywood Autograph Collection featuring James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne: $15,100
• Stan Lee Signed Infinity Gauntlet: $15,000

Top Luxury Watches Bought on eBay in 2019

• Patek Philippe Grand Complications Calendar Manual Gold Men's Watch, 5270G-014: $139,500
• Patek Philippe Grand Complications Perpetual Calendar Chrono Watch, 5270G-018: $125,000
• Rolex 18 Kt Rose Gold Masterpiece Pave Diamond Bracelet: $100,001
• Richard Mille Automatic Chronograph in Rose Gold/ Titanium Watch : $96,900
• Rolex Daytona White Gold Auto 40mm Diamond Strap Deployant Watch: $89,950

Top Jewelry Bought on eBay in 2019

• 5.01 Yellow Diamond in Gold ring + 1ct Side Stones: $65,950
• 7.31 Ct Light Yellow Princess Cut Diamond in Platinum 18K: $55,000
• Tiffany & Co 2.52 Ct Lucida Diamond Engagement Ring: $41,500
• 8.84 Ct Natural Sapphire Diamond Ring: $40,000
• Roberto Coin Cento 2.008 Ct Round Diamond Solitaire Engagement Ring: $36,000

Top Handbags Bought on eBay in 2019

• Hermes Birkin 30 Malachite Togo Green Handbag: $9,850
• Hermes Birkin 30 Black Clemence Leather Palladium Hardware Handbag: $9,500
• Hermes Birkin Palladium Hardware Handbag with Key and Lock: $9,500
• Hermes Birkin 30CM Black Gold Tone Togo Handbag: $9,000
• Hermes Constance Handbag Evercolor 24: $8,924

Top Sneakers Bought on eBay in 2019

• Nike Zoom Vapor Roger Federer Tennis Shoes: $10,000
• Nike Air Mag 2016 Back to the Future, Marty McFly, Self Lacing: $9,000
• Nike Sb Dunk Low "Freddy Kreuger": $8,000
• 1985 Original OG Nike Air Jordan 1 Chicago, White, Black Red Bred 4280: $7,500

Top Vinyl Bought on eBay in 2019

• Northern Soul Del Larks Queen City 1967: $13,101
• Mozart's Piano Sonatas by Vlado Perlemuter: $13,000
• Beethoven's Violin Concerto by Leonid Kogan: $9,400
• George Szell Beethoven No 9: $7,760
• Bob Dylan Freewheelin' with 4 Different Tracks: $7,500

Top Comic Books Bought on eBay in 2019

• 1962 Marvel Amazing Fantasy #15, CGC 5.0, Spider Man's Origin/First Appearance, Huge Key Issue: $32,000
• Fantastic Four #1: $30,000
• Amazing Fantasy #15, Origin/First Appearance of Spider Man: $29,999
• Incredible Hulk #1, Hulk's Origin/First Appearance: $29,500
• Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider Man's Origin/First Appearance: $26,422

Top Action Figures Sold in 2019

• 1977 Star Wars Action Figures: $12,600
• Ideal Super Queens Batgirl Original 1967 Action Figure: $6,000
• Complete Set of Original Star Wars Kenner Action Figures from 1976 to 1985: $5,600
• Lord of the Rings Action Figures: $4,875
• Captain Action Super Queen 1967 Ideal Wonder Woman: $4,200

Top Video Games Sold in 2019

• NES Stadium Events NTSC Nintendo Game: $15,499
• NES Nintendo Kid Icarus VGA 85+, Gold: $14,000
• Super Mario World Nintendo Black Label SNES: $13,500
• Nintendo World Championships 1990 NWC Cartridge #273: $13,500
• Mike Tyson's Punch-Out Original NES 1989 White Label: $12,211

Top eBay for Charity sales in 2019 also included an overnight stay in the Cinderella Castle Suite at Magic Kingdom® Park, custom "Moon Landing" Under Armour Curry 6 Shoes Worn & Signed by Stephen Curry, UFC Ultimate Fan Experience + Private Meet & Greet with Dana White. Campaigns have benefited organizations like The V Foundation for Cancer Research and Homes For Our Troops.

SOURCE: eBay Inc.

Dracula: Free Movement Of Vampires A Fitting Horror Story For The #Brexit Era

Bloody and unbowed: Claes Bang as Dracula. (BBC/Hartswood Films/Netflix/David Ellis)

Fictional vampires tend to reflect the politics of the times that produce them: “Because they are always changing, their appeal is dramatically generational,” says the late American scholar Nina Auerbach in her classic work of criticism Our Vampires, Ourselves. The figure of the vampire, she suggests, always tells us as much about ourselves as it does about vampires per se.

With this in mind, the first episode of the new adaptation of Dracula for the BBC and Netflix by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss is at first perplexing. Unlike Moffat’s previous, modernising adaptations of 19th-century fiction – Jekyll (2007) and Sherlock (2010-17) – the series returns to 1897, the year in which Bram Stoker published his novel.

The setting is high Gothic, featuring a crumbling, eastern European castle (Orava Castle in Slovakia) and a convent full of crucifix-toting nuns. Eschewing the sentimental romance of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation or the wildly successful Twilight franchise, Moffat and Gatiss appear – initially at least – to take us back to the horror of the original text.

But as the episode progresses the European setting becomes more than just spooky window dressing. One of the most famous arguments about the novel, first made by Stephen D. Arata, is that Dracula enacts “reverse colonisation” – Stoker’s vampire expresses the threat that imperialism might not be a one-way operation. From his home in eastern Europe, the count travels to Britain to buy up its real estate and add its women to his harem, bypassing the need for a passport or immigration documents and threatening British manhood in the process.

‘Brexit Gothic’

Seen in this light, Dracula offers a clear application to our times. In an article for The Guardian on “Brexit Gothic”, Neil McRobert points out:

"When Nigel Farage expresses concern about Romanian men moving in next door, it makes one wonder if he has read Dracula – the story of a Romanian man who literally moves in beside some stuffy British people."

Moffat and Gatiss are too canny to give us a straightforward metaphor for Brexit – and yet there are clear nods to contemporary anxieties in the first episode. Dracula quizzes Jonathan Harker on English language and culture out of a desire to “pass among your countrymen as one of their own”. He will be the good immigrant who assimilates, who blends invisibly with the host culture. There is a moment of discomfort, however, as he promises to “absorb” Harker – this immigrant is a parasite who feeds off its host.

There is no direct correlation with itinerant agricultural workers, however, as Dracula seeks to infiltrate the highest echelons of society. In a warped version of late 19th-century eugenics, we discover that Dracula’s choosiness about his victims is the secret to his vampiric success – consuming only the blood of the best enables him to retain his human qualities. Hence his appetite for the British Empire. “Vampires go where power is,” says Auerbach. “You are what you eat,” quips Claes Bang’s Dracula.

Dolly Wells as Sister Agatha with Joanna Scanlan as Mother Superior. (BBC/Hartswood Films/Netflix/Robert Viglasky)

Moreover, this is a tale of two Europeans. Sister Agatha, the Dutch nun who questions Harker after his escape from Dracula’s castle (a significantly expanded role from the book, played with exquisite exasperation by Dolly Wells), scoffs at Jonathan’s English masculinity when he fails to realise the incongruity of a secret message written to him in English in a Transylvanian castle: “Of course not! You are an English man! A combination of presumptions beyond compare.” British exceptionalism looks set to take a tumble as Dracula reaches England in the second instalment.

Dark humour

The episode displays the acute self-aware characteristic of vampire films, which are what Ken Gelder calls “citational”, constantly referring to previous examples of the genre. There are multiple moments when viewers anticipating romance have their expectations rudely shattered. Twilight in particular comes in for some sharp debunking, with Mina playing the role of Twilight’s heroine Bella, appealing to her lover’s higher moral fibre and coming in for a shock as she discovers that true love does not trump bloodlust after all. Instead of Twilight’s lingering shots of gleaming male torsos we get intimate body horror in excruciating close up – a fly crawling across an eyeball, a blackened nail flaking off a finger.

One of the most striking features of Moffat and Gatiss’s adaptation is its humour. Comedy has always been a crucial element of Gothic literature, which continually teeters between terror and laughter. “King Laugh,” a metaphorical figure invented by Professor Van Helsing in Bram Stoker’s novel to explain his own hysterics, is a version of death, leading the characters in a kind of danse macabre. The novel exhibits black humour in the character of the lunatic Renfield, in particular, who calculates how many lives he can consume, starting by eating flies and trading up the food chain.

As I argued in my recent book, Post-Millennial Gothic, a distinguishing characteristic of contemporary vampires is their increasing comic agency. The first self-conscious vampire joke is the iconic one-liner first spoken by Bela Lugosi in Tod Browning’s classic 1931 film: “I never drink … wine.” Moffat and Gatiss get this out of the way in the first few minutes – and even add a callback later in the episode.

There are more zingers to come as Bang quips his way across Europe like an infernal James Bond. When Harker spots him with a glass and queries that he never drinks, I almost expected him to clarify: “Shaken, not stirred.”

The comparison between Dracula and Bond is not a casual one. Bond props up a crumbling British Empire – Dracula aims to infiltrate it and use it to his own ends. They emerge from the same social and historical concerns, two sides of the same coin. Both reflect us back in multiple ways, and neither offers a flattering picture.

About Today's Contributor:

Catherine Spooner, Professor of Literature and Culture, Lancaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

NASA's Moon to Mars Plans, Artemis Lunar Program Gets Fast Tracked in 2019 [Video Included]

NASA spacesuit engineer Amy Ross and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine introduce spacesuit engineer Kristine Davis, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and Orion Crew Survival Systems Project Manager Dustin Gohmert, wearing the Orion Crew Survival System suit, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. (Credit: NASA)

In 2019, NASA celebrated the 50th anniversary of the agency's Apollo 11 Moon landing, the most historic moment in space exploration, while also making significant progress toward putting the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis program.

Through America's Moon to Mars exploration approach, Artemis gained bipartisan support this year among members of Congress, the U.S aerospace industry, as well as with international partners, including Canada, Australia, and Japan, and member states of the European Space Agency.

"2019 will be remembered as the year the Artemis program really became a reality with real spaceflight hardware built, U.S. commercial and international partnerships standing behind it, and hardworking teams across NASA and the world coming together like never before to quickly and sustainably explore the Moon and use what we learn there to enable humanity's next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "While the Artemis program came into sharp focus this year, NASA continued to show what leading in space exploration is all about, whether it was kicking off 2019 with New Horizons' historic Kuiper Belt object flyby, conducting the first all-woman spacewalk outside the International Space Station, or developing the first flying robotic explorer to study Saturn's moon Titan. And wait until you see what we do in 2020!"

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer received a successful clean audit in 2019 – the ninth consecutive clean financial audit opinion for the agency. And for the eighth year in a row, NASA retained its standing as the number one large agency in the Best Places to Work in Government rankings, published by the Partnership for Public Service.

"Throughout this year, as I have visited each of our centers, I have personally witnessed their unparalleled commitment to accomplishing our mission. The daily devotion of our employees makes them well deserving of this award," Bridenstine said. "I am honored to lead such a dedicated team. They are what makes NASA the Best Place to Work in Government."

Moon to Mars

This year, NASA officially named the new lunar exploration program Artemis, for the goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo. Under Artemis, NASA will send new science instruments and technology demonstrations to study the Moon, accelerate plans to send astronauts to the Moon by 2024, and establish sustainable lunar exploration by 2028.

Science and technology progress in Artemis includes:

• Two sets of Moon rocks, sealed since they were collected by Apollo astronauts and returned to Earth nearly 50 years ago, were opened for study.
• NASA announced it will send a new mobile robot, VIPER, to the lunar South Pole to scout and sample ice in the region.
• Twelve new lunar science and technology investigations were selected in February and July, 24 total, to fly on early Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) flights to the Moon.
• The agency awarded initial surface task orders for commercial Moon deliveries.
• New CLPS contracts were awarded to five companies to support the next generation of lunar landers that can land heavier payloads on the surface of the Moon. A total of 14 companies now are eligible to bid on these deliveries.
• NASA received a record-breaking 10,932,295 names to travel to Mars on the agency's upcoming Mars 2020 mission.
• Engineers attached the Mars Helicopter to the Mars 2020 rover. After the rover lands at the Jezero Crater, the helicopter will be deployed to conduct test flights.
• The international mission team for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) lander continues to assess the lander's heat probe, while the lander's seismometer collects data on quakes.
• NASA selected 14 Tipping Point and 19 Announcement of Collaboration Opportunity proposals from U.S. companies that focus on technologies and capabilities needed for a sustainable presence on the Moon by 2028.
• The agency partnered with Advanced Space to develop and build a pathfinder CubeSat destined for the same lunar orbit planned for NASA's lunar Gateway.
• The Sample Analysis at Mars chemistry lab on NASA's Curiosity rover measured seasonal methane and oxygen spikes in Mar's atmosphere.
• Technology sensors and an in-situ resource utilization experiment were installed on the Mars 2020 entry vehicle and rover.

The Orion spacecraft being lifted onto the truck for transport to NASA's Plum Brook Station. (Credit: NASA)

NASA continues to advance development of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, which will send astronauts to deep space.

• NASA demonstrated that Orion's launch abort system can pull astronauts to safety if an emergency occurs during launch, and assembled the spacecraft for the first Artemis mission, Artemis I. It was delivered to Ohio for final testing for the extreme environment of space before it's returned to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparation.
• On the SLS rocket for the first Artemis mission, engineers completed the segments for the boosters and assembled the core stage. The core stage next will ship to NASA's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for a Green Run test of the integrated propulsion system before joining Orion at Kennedy for stacking.
• Teams at Kennedy conducted a series of water flow tests of the sound suppression system at the launch pad and tested the flow of cryogenic fluids through the pad's infrastructure – the systems that will send liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the rocket at the time of launch.
• The launch team at Kennedy held its first formal training simulation for Artemis I, and flight controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated part of Orion's uncrewed flight to the Moon.

Work also began on hardware for Artemis II, the first SLS/Orion test flight with astronauts aboard. NASA and Northrop Grumman technicians applied insulation to the final booster motor segment of SLS and completed casting of all 10 booster motor segments. The agency also issued a request for proposals from U.S. small satellite developers to fly their missions as secondary payloads on Artemis II.

Development of the key pieces of NASA's lunar architecture is underway:

• NASA awarded a contract for the first element of the Gateway, which will provide power, propulsion, and communications to the lunar outpost. The new Gateway Program is based out of Johnson.
• Negotiations are underway for the Gateway's habitation and logistics outpost (HALO) module, and awards are expected in the future for logistics supply services.
• NASA announced astronaut spacesuit designs for the Artemis III mission, which will include the return of astronauts to the Moon's surface. The agency is asking industry for input on production for Artemis IV missions and beyond.
• The agency also announced its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will manage its new Human Landing System Program and asked American companies to design, develop, and demonstrate a human lander.

NASA's InSight lander captured audio of the first likely quake on Mars on April 6.

The agency also bid farewell to a veteran Martian science rover on Feb. 13 and captured audio of the first likely quake on Mars. The Mars Opportunity Rover mission stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel less than 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), Opportunity far surpassed all expectations, exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, traveling more than 28 miles (45 kilometers), and returning more than 217,000 images.

Solar System and Beyond

It was a great year for astrobiology and the agency's search for life in the universe:

• Scientists synthesized a molecular DNA-like system in NASA-funded research – a feat that suggests there could be an alternative to DNA-based life as we know it.
• NASA selected Dragonfly, a rotocraft-lander that will survey locations on Saturn's moon Titan for prebiotic chemical processes common on Titan and Earth.

Other highlights this year include:

• On New Year's Day 2019, NASA's New Horizons mission flew by the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft and became the first to directly explore an object that holds remnants from the birth of our solar system.
• NASA launched the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft and announced the first results from the agency's Parker Solar Probe mission.
• Significant progress was made on the agency's James Webb Space Telescope. The two halves of Webb were assembled into one observatory and the sunshield passed a critical test.
• After a navigation maneuver to keep NASA's Juno mission out of an eclipse that could have frozen the solar powered spacecraft, it discovered a new cyclone at Jupiter's south pole. The cyclone is the size of Texas, small by Jupiter standards.
• NASA's next Mars rover, Mars 2020, passed its first driving test as it rolled forward and backward and pirouetted in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, on Dec. 17. The next time the rover drives, it will be rolling over Martian soil.
• The Europa Clipper mission's next phase was confirmed with a decision in August to allow the mission to progress to completion of final design, followed by the construction and testing of the entire spacecraft and science payload.
• NASA's Chandra, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NUSTAR), Fermi, Swift, and Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) telescopes contributed to the first direct imaging of a black hole. Chandra, which celebrated its 20th anniversary, separately spotted three black holes on a collision course.
• The agency's Hubble Space Telescope observed the first confirmed interstellar comet and found water vapor on a habitable-zone exoplanet for the first time.
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) completed its first year of science, capturing a panorama of the southern sky and finding 29 confirmed planets and more than 1,000 planet candidates. TESS also captured a rare astrophysical event – a black hole tearing apart a star.
• The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) detected the universe's first type of molecule, helium hydride.
• The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission was selected to help us understand how our universe evolved and to search our galaxy for the ingredients for life.
• NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) was cleared for the next development phase: finalizing the spacecraft's design.
• The Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) made the first-ever close-up observations of particle plumes erupting from an asteroid's surface, and the mission team announced the site on the asteroid Bennu where the mission will collect samples that will be returned to Earth in 2023.

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft is seen during sunrise on Pad-0A April 16, 2019, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Northrop Grumman’s 12th contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station launched around 8,200 pounds of science and research, crew supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital laboratory and its crew (Credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Humans in Space

NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nick Hague, Christina Koch, Andrew Morgan, and Jessica Meir of the 2013 astronaut class all participated in their first spaceflight missions to the International Space Station. Each also conducted their first spacewalks, including the first all-woman spacewalk with Meir and Koch.

The space station is facilitating a strong commercial market in low-Earth orbit for research, technology development, and crew and cargo transportation, and remains the sole space-based proving ground and stepping stone for the Artemis program. In 2019:

• SpaceX's Crew Dragon returned to Earth after a five-day demonstration mission to the space station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. SpaceX now is preparing for an in-flight abort test in advance of its first flight with astronauts.
• NASA and Boeing are collecting data and lessons learned from the uncrewed flight test of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, which launched and landed successfully, but was unable to dock with the space station. Boeing successfully completed a key safety milestone in November with a test of its abort system.
• NASA astronauts assigned to the first Commercial Crew Program flights trained extensively in preparation for their flight tests on Crew Dragon and Starliner.
• Koch and Morgan are participating in extended missions to provide further opportunities to observe the effects of long-duration space travel. On Dec. 28, Koch will set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.
• Results from NASA's landmark Twins Study were published, revealing the resilience of the human body in space.
• NASA announced a five-point plan to open the space station to U.S. industry to accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-Earth orbit.
• Five commercial cargo missions delivered more than 32,000 pounds of science investigations, tools, and critical supplies to the space station and returned more than 10,800 pounds of investigations and equipment to researchers on Earth.
• Commercial resupply missions enabled the crew to support more than 100 new U.S. science investigations to advance human space exploration and conduct research for the U.S. National Laboratory to benefit life on Earth.
• Research conducted on station included experiments to better understand: human adaptations to spaceflight; how fluid shifts affect an astronaut's blood flow and regolith behaves in microgravity; black holes and quantum mechanics; and how best to grow and harvest vegetables in space and measure atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• Also tested on the space station was a free-flying robot system, a new air quality monitoring system, a vest designed to protect astronauts from radiation, a new medical research technology called tissue chips, and a virtual reality camera.
• NASA astronauts participated in 10 spacewalks to install a new docking port for commercial crew spacecraft, upgrade the station's power system, and repair an instrument that is searching for dark matter, anti-matter, and dark energy.

SpaceX launched its 19th cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station at 12:29 p.m. EST Dec. 5, 2019, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Credit: NASA TV)

Flight

NASA's aeronautics team reached several major milestones in its efforts to enable commercial supersonic air travel over land.

• NASA tested the eXternal Vision System, a forward-facing camera and display system that lets the pilot see the airspace in front of him or her, for the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST).
• NASA deployed CarpetDiem along a 30-mile-stretch of the Mojave Desert in California to test a specially-configured microphone array that will be used when the X-59 makes a series of acoustic validation flights in 2021.
• The X-59 project team completed its critical design review and the aircraft was cleared in December for final assembly and systems integration.

NASA's research into electric-powered flight with the X-57 Maxwell made headlines throughout the year.

• NASA devised a custom-designed skin around the aircraft's motor electronics to cool them without changing the aircraft's shape or design.
• NASA and General Electric announced a $12 million partnership to further explore electrified aircraft propulsion and received the X-57's Mod II aircraft, paving the way for NASA engineers to put the aircraft through ground, taxi and flight tests.

Another major aeronautics focus was NASA's ongoing work in Urban Air Mobility – a safe and efficient system for passenger and cargo air transportation.

• NASA selected two organizations to host the final phase of its four-year series of technical demonstrations involving small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), or drones, in Reno, Nevada, and Corpus Christi, Texas.
• NASA and Uber partnered on computer modeling and simulation of airspace management for small aircraft in crowded city environments. NASA also launched its solicitation for companies to participate in the Urban Air Mobility Grand Challenge.

Continuing other avenues of research in aviation technology, the agency:

• signed contracts with three industry partners to demonstrate the use of systems for the safe operation of drones in the national airspace;
• successfully tested an advanced photographic technology that captured the first-ever images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft in flight;
• demonstrated a new aircraft wing using advanced carbon fiber composites that can flex in flight to maximize aerodynamic efficiency;
• brought onboard its newest world-class research facility, the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT), in Sandusky, Ohio, which provides a reconfigurable research platform capable of accommodating power systems for large passenger airplanes with megawatts of power;
• demonstrated air traffic management tools that manage the movement of aircraft from an airport gate to a spot in the sky after takeoff; and,
• installed onto a flying testbed small fins made from shape memory alloys to help control airflow during flight.

Space Technology

As NASA embarked on the next era of exploration in 2019, the agency continued to advance technologies needed for a sustainable human presence on the Moon and future human missions to Mars.

• Two NASA technology demonstrations were launched to improve how spacecraft travel and navigate. The Green Propellant Infusion Mission is successfully demonstrating a low-toxin propellant and NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock is close to determining how well the clock keeps time, down to the nanosecond.
• A biology experiment on the space station is testing a method of using microorganisms to produce nutrients usually found in vegetables.
• Google, in partnership with NASA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, achieved quantum supremacy by demonstrating the ability to compute in seconds what would take the largest and most advanced supercomputers thousands of years.
• NASA demonstrated the first coordinated maneuver between two CubeSats in low-Earth orbit, and two CubeSats teamed up for a laser communications pointing experiment.
• NASA awarded a contract to Made In Space to 3D print and assemble spacecraft parts in low-Earth orbit.
• NASA helped test a commercial terrain-relative navigation system for precise lunar landings and dozens of other technologies aboard suborbital rockets, spacecraft, planes and balloons.
• The 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge wrapped up after 30 hours of 3D printing prototype planetary habitats. College students practiced drilling for water on the Moon and Mars using simulated soil and ice stations.
• NASA established two new space technology research institutes to study smart habitats. NASA-funded university faculty and graduate students researched technologies for robot explorers, spacecraft temperature control and more.
• Two NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts aimed at exploring lunar craters and mining asteroids received another round of NASA funding
• The agency licensed to commercial companies NASA technologies and software that can be used to create products and solutions to benefit people everywhere.
• NASA awarded nearly $180 million, in May, June and November, to hundreds of U.S. small businesses to advance capabilities in aeronautics and space.

Earth

NASA continued to use its perspective of Earth from space to improve lives and revolutionize our understanding of how our planet is changing.

• After powerful Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in September, NASA assisted emergency response organizations by creating detailed damage assessment and flood maps based on satellite data.
• The largest migration of small sea creatures on the planet was studied globally for the first time using the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite.
• A study showed that the increasing dryness of the atmosphere above the Amazon rainforest is primarily the result of human activities and is increasing the demand for water and leaving ecosystems vulnerable to fires and drought.
• A new NASA laser instrument on the space station began collecting data to create detailed 3D maps of Earth's forests and topography.

STEM Engagement

NASA provided more than $32 million in financial support to more than 8,000 students participating in internships and fellowships through its: Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP); Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR); Space Grant Project; and Next Gen STEM. Nearly 40% of the opportunities were filled by women, and 30% went to racial or ethnic minorities.

Participating in NASA's Micro-g Neutral Buoyancy Experiment Design Team (Micro-g NExT) program, Team CERO, from Lone Star College-CyFair in Cypress, Texas, became the first team to have their tool sent to the International Space Station, where it was used during a spacewalk on Nov. 22 to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

This picture, taken July 12, 2011, shows the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment on the International Space Station. AMS is a state-of-the-art particle physics detector designed to search for antimatter and dark matter. (Credit: NASA/Ron Garan)

NASA also engaged students, educators and the public in STEM through a series of public events including:

• Future of Space, a live television event for college students to learn more about NASA's newest mission, Artemis and hear from NASA's leadership
• Forward to the Moon, a 30-minute show to accompany the Apollo 50th live broadcast to engage the public in STEM activities
• Space and STEM: Where do you fit in?, a show for college students participating at 2019 International Astronautical Congress

Public Engagement

NASA is dedicated to engaging the public in the excitement, accomplishments and opportunities available only through the nation's space program. The agency hosted and participated in events across the country marking the 50th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing in July 1969, including two events in Washington: a concert on July 20 at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts co-hosted by former Myth Busters host Adam Savage, and a three-day festival on the National Mall that featured exhibits and talks and had more than 50,000 attendees.

Other public events included:

• NASA Day of Remembrance, attended by Vice President Mike Pence
• Earth Day celebration at Union Station in Washington
• The agency's Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, was renamed in honor of West Virginia native and NASA "human computer" Katherine Johnson.
• Hidden Figures Way dedication at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Events leading up to the premier of the movie Ad Astra, including a conversation between astronauts on the International Space Station and actor Brad Pitt
• Star Wars actors Kelly Marie Tran and Naomi Ackie visited Johnson Space Center, where they met with astronauts and learned about training to live and work in space. Tran also narrated a new video detailing how we'll go to the Moon with the Artemis program.
• Ariana Grande, Blake Griffin, and Karol G also visited Johnson to learn more about human space flight.
• The cast of Lost in Space toured NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
• Interactions on social media with celebrities such as Barbara Streisand, Billie Jean King, Priyanka Chopra, Ava DuVernay, Misha Collins, David Bowie, Alicia Keys, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Tony Hawke, Tig Notaro, and others.

NASA had a significant exhibit presence at two high-profile annual space policy conferences: Space Symposium, which brought together space industry leaders and entrepreneurs from around the globe to discuss the current and future state of space exploration; and the International Astronautical Congress, hosted this year by NASA and during which more than 6,660 people visited the agency's exhibit.

NASA now has more than 219.7 million social media followers – up from 187 million in 2018. In addition to increasing engagement on various platforms, the agency hosted 10 NASA Social events, bringing together nearly 500 followers for unique, in-person experiences of exploration and discovery. The agency's social media activity was honored in April with two Webby Awards and two People's Voice awards.

The agency's website received its 11th People's Voice Award in the Government & Civil Innovation category. The busiest day for the website was April 10, when NASA shared a black hole image from the National Science Foundation, which had 1.7 million visits. The second-busiest day, with 1.6 million visits, was May 21, when NASA invited to the public to send their names to Mars on the Mars 2020 rover.

The agency launched two new mediums to communicate with the public. In March, NASA debuted a weekly email newsletter that already has more than 1.1 million subscribers. In September, NASA TV launched a new video series called #AskNASA, in which agency experts answer questions from the public about its incredible mission.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences recognized NASA's engagement efforts in September with two Emmy Awards for its coverage of the landing on Mars of NASA's InSight mission and the agency's first test of a spacecraft that will help bring crewed launches to the International Space Station back to U.S. soil.

The Video:

SOURCE: NASA

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