Hundreds Tour Kennedy on Two Wheels

Hundreds of bicyclists mingled with spacecraft Oct. 23 as Kennedy employees, family and guests pedaled around the center for the second Tour de KSC. Grouped by speed and skill levels, some riders covered all the landmarks Kennedy has to offer, including the Vehicle Assembly Building, both shuttle launch pads and the Shuttle Landing Facility. Plenty of stops along the way offered employees and their guests photo ops with space shuttle Discovery on Launch Pad 39A. In all, 681 people rode their bikes onto the space center for the event, said Dicksy Hansen, chair of Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. " We had a range of those employees who haven’t been on a bike for years up to very talented cyclists who cycle passionately," Hansen said.

"There were beach cruisers, recumbents, touring, and racing bikes. Some people were dressed in cycling gear and others dressed in regular, every day clothes. There was even an 18th Century style bicycle with a very large rear wheel and small front wheel. This made the event even more diverse and entertaining." The entry fee for each person included a donation to the CFC and organizers of this year's event were able to contribute $10,215 to the annual fundraising drive. Riders also received a T-shirt. "We increased our CFC donation from $5 to $15 a ticket which increased our donation from $2,500 last year to $10,000 this year," Hansen said. Center Director Bob Cabana, a former astronaut and avid cyclist, led a group out from the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex then up to the VAB.

"I believe that there is a variety of reasons folks come out," Hansen said. "Some because they love cycling and KSC so it is a great day for them when the two come together. Other folks just enjoy coming out to KSC and bringing their guests to view the Center. There aren’t very many opportunities for employees to bring guests on Center. Others wanted to support CFC and contribute by enjoying a few hours cycling around the Center." Last year's inaugural event also opened the CFC season. This was the second Tour de KSC, but will not be the last, Hansen said. Each event takes considerable planning and Hansen's group already anticipates holding the third event next year. 

Antarctic Ozone Hole 2010

The yearly depletion of stratospheric ozone over Antarctica more commonly referred to as the “ozone hole” started in early August 2010 and is now expanding toward its annual maximum. The hole in the ozone layer typically reaches its maximum area in late September or early October, though atmospheric scientists must wait a few weeks after the maximum to pinpoint when the trend of ozone depletion has slowed down and reversed. The hole isn’t literal; no part of the stratosphere the second layer of the atmosphere, between 8 and 50 km is empty of ozone. Scientists use "hole" as a metaphor for the area in which ozone concentrations drop below the historical threshold of 220 Dobson Units. Historical levels of ozone were much higher than 220 Dobson Units, according to NASA atmospheric scientist Paul Newman, so this value shows a very large ozone loss.

Earth's ozone layer protects life by absorbing ultraviolet light, which damages DNA in plants and animals (including humans) and leads to skin cancer. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura satellite acquired data for this map of ozone concentrations over Antarctica on September 12, 2010. OMI is a spectrometer that measures the amount of sunlight scattered by Earth’s atmosphere and surface, allowing scientists to assess how much ozone is present at various altitudes particularly the stratosphere and near the ground. So far in 2010, the size and depth of the ozone hole has been slightly below the average for 1979 to 2009, likely because of warmer temperatures in the stratosphere over the far southern hemisphere.

Even slight changes in the meteorology of the region this month could affect the rate of depletion of ozone and how large an area the ozone hole might span. You can follow the progress of the ozone hole by visiting NASA’s Ozone Hole Watch page. September 16 is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, a commemoration of the day in 1987 when nations commenced the signing of the Montreal Protocol to limit and eventually ban ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other chlorine and bromine-containing compounds. The ozone scientific assessment panel for the United Nations Environment Program, which monitors the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol, is expected to release its latest review of the state of the world’s ozone layer by the end of 2010. Newman is one of the four co-chairs of the assessment panel.