Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, officially referred to as Regione Siciliana (in Italian, Sicilian Region). Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,329 m (10,922 ft) high. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA/JSC, ESA Astronaut Paolo Nespoli of Italy
Image Date: August 15, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Sicily #Mediterranean #Sea #EarthObservation #Astronaut #PaoloNespoli #ASI #ESA #Europe #Night #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #UnitedStates #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM
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The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA
Release Date: December 27, 2005
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U.S. Astronaut Randy Bresnik: "[the Yucatan Peninsula]…has lovely Cozumel hovering just offshore"
Cozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatán Channel. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 19, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Yucatan #Peninsula #Cozumel #Island #Mexico #Caribbean #Sea #EarthObservation #Astronaut #RandyBresnik #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM
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U.S. Astronaut Randy Bresnik: "Eastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula looks very inviting…"
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a northwestern geographic partition separating the region of Central America from the rest of North America. (Source: Wikipedia)
Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 19, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Yucatan #Peninsula #Mexico #Caribbean #Sea #EarthObservation #Astronaut #RandyBresnik #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM
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U.S. Astronaut Randy Bresnik: "…but all we had to do was look down to be reminded that they were 250 miles high, not 250 fathoms deep"
Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy conducted a spacewalk Aug. 17 to assess the condition of the exterior of the Russian segment of the complex and to install struts and handrails to facilitate future excursions. During the outing, Ryazanskiy manually deployed five small nanosatellites to collect data on a variety of scientific investigations. The spacewalk, which was the 202nd in support of space station assembly and maintenance, was the ninth in Yurchikhin’s career and the fourth for Ryazanskiy.
Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 19, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Spacewalk #EVA #Cosmonaut #Commander #FyodorYurchikhin #FlightEngineer #SergeyRyazanskiy #космонавт #Роскосмос #Roscosmos #Russia #Россия #Astronaut #RandyBresnik #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #UnitedStates #JSC #STEM
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U.S. Astronaut Randy Bresnik: "As the sun rose on our Russian crew’s 7.5 hr spacewalk, their helmets lights gave off a glow that made it look like they were underwater…"
Outside the International Space Station, Expedition 52 Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy conducted a spacewalk Aug. 17 to assess the condition of the exterior of the Russian segment of the complex and to install struts and handrails to facilitate future excursions. During the outing, Ryazanskiy manually deployed five small nanosatellites to collect data on a variety of scientific investigations. The spacewalk, which was the 202nd in support of space station assembly and maintenance, was the ninth in Yurchikhin’s career and the fourth for Ryazanskiy.
Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 19, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Spacewalk #EVA #Cosmonaut #Commander #FyodorYurchikhin #FlightEngineer #SergeyRyazanskiy #космонавт #Роскосмос #Roscosmos #Russia #Россия #Astronaut #RandyBresnik #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #UnitedStates #JSC #STEM
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International Space Station crew members captured this nighttime image of Johannesburg, South Africa, a few minutes before crossing over the Indian Ocean on Aug. 7.
Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: August 7, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Johannesburg #SouthAfrica #EarthObservation #Canadarm2 #Dextre #CSA #Canada #Robotics #Photography #Astronauts #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #UnitedStates #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM
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Darth Vader and other Star Wars characters from the 501st Legion address students and sponsors in the Center for Space Education at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams from across the state of Florida were gathered at Kennedy for the finals of the Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program national championship. The five-week program allows rising sixth- through ninth-graders to write programs for small satellites called SPHERES (Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites). Finalists saw their code tested aboard the International Space Station.
A middle-school student high-fives a Star Wars character from the 501st Legion in the Center for Space Education at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams from across the state of Florida were gathered at Kennedy for the finals of the Zero Robotics Middle School Summer Program national championship. The five-week program allows rising sixth- through ninth-graders to write programs for small satellites called SPHERES (Synchronized, Position, Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites). Finalists saw their code tested aboard the International Space Station.
Smoke from the wildfires in Canada's Northwest Territories, as well as British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are seen in this image from the Suomi NPP satellite. The smoke spewing from the fires has been swept up by the jet stream and is being carried across the continent. The largest fires seem to be in the Northern Territories. Fire is worrisome enough but the smoke that is produced from wildfires is extremely dangerous. Wind patterns have the ability to move smoke and dangerous particles across continents to affect people in far-flung parts of the world. The hotter the fire is the higher the smoke goes into the atmosphere and the farther it can travel. Winds in the upper atmosphere are stronger and allow the smoke to travel greater distances.
Smoke from extremely hot wildfires can even trigger massive thunderstorms, as they did in August of 2014 in Canada's Northern Territories. Once in the stratosphere, above the part of the atmosphere where weather occurs, aerosol particles can travel long distances. In a case from 2010, the smoke from a massive thunderstorm triggered by Russian wildfires reached the eastern United States. The smoke stayed in the stratosphere for a long time because it was above the part of the atmosphere where weather occurs, so it was not able to rain or fall out easily.
There is some comfort, however, if you aren't able to smell the smoke. Chances are the smoke most likely won't negatively affect you, but always check the Air Quality Index in your area to be sure, especially if the skies seem hazy. If you do smell smoke, take precautions to avoid it.
The Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument captured a look at multiple fires, smoke from those fires, and cloud cover over northern Canada on August 14, 2017. The Suomi NPP satellite is a joint mission between NASA and NOAA.
Image Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team.
Caption Credit: NASA/Goddard, Lynn Jenner with information from NASA stories cited above.
Release Date: August 15, 2017#NASA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Smoke #Wildfires #Fires #Atmosphere #Clouds #Canada #BritishColumbia #NorthwestTerritories #Alberta #Saskatchewan #Manitoba #UnitedStates #NorthAmerica #EarthObservation #NOAA #SuomiNPP #VIIRS #MODIS #Goddard #GSFC #STEM #Education
U.S. Astronaut Peggy Whitson: "Over 638 days in space and the view is still amazing! Soaking up some sunset time in the cupola…"
NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson's Official Biography:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/whitson.pdf
The Cupola is a panoramic control tower for the International Space Station, a dome-shaped module with windows through which operations on the outside of the station can be observed and guided. It is a pressurized observation and work area that accommodates command and control workstations and other hardware. Through the robotics workstation, astronauts control the station’s robotic arm, which helps with the attachment and assembly of station elements much like the operator of a building crane perched in a control cabin. Crew members in the Cupola can communicate with other crew members in another part of the station or outside during spacewalk activities. Spacewalks can be observed from the Cupola along with visiting spacecraft and external areas of the station with the Cupola offering a viewing spectrum of 360 degrees.
Credit: NASA
Release Date: August 6, 2017#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Astronaut #PeggyWhitson #Commander #Leader #Scientist #USA #UnitedStates #Science #Sunset #Cupola #Spacecraft #Technology #Engineering #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #JSC #STEM #Education #Mars #JourneyToMars
U.S. Astronaut Jack Fischer: "I’m so proud to be a part of this international team—Expedition 52"
The Expedition 52 crew poses for a unique portrait. Pictured clockwise from top right are, Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli, Jack Fischer, Peggy Whitson, Sergey Ryazanskiy, Randy Bresnik and Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin.
Credit: NASA/JSC
Release Date: August 12, 2017#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Cosmonauts #Astronauts #Crew #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #ESA #Italy #Italia #CSA #JAXA #JackFischer #Flight #Engineers #Commander #FyodorYurchikhin #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition52 #UnitedStates #JSC #International #Cooperation #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM
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