NASA X-plane Preliminary Design Model Tests Quiet Supersonic Technology

Image: Engineer stands with X-plane design model in wind tunnel
Samantha O’Flaherty, Test Engineer for Jacobs Technology Inc., finalizes the set-up of the Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) Preliminary Design Model inside the 14- by- 22 Foot Subsonic Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. Over the next several weeks, engineers will conduct aerodynamic tests on the 15% scale model and the data collected from the wind tunnel test will be used to predict how the vehicle will perform and fly in low-speed flight.

The QueSST Preliminary Design is the initial design stage of NASA’s planned Low-Boom Flight Demonstration experimental airplane, otherwise known as an X-plane. This future X-plane is one of a series of X-planes envisioned in NASA’s New Aviation Horizons initiative, which aims to reduce fuel use, emissions and noise through innovations in aircraft design that depart from the conventional tube-and-wing aircraft shape.

For more information about QueSST and LBFD, visit:
https://go.nasa.gov/2tdiNif

For more information about NASA’s aeronautics work, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics

Image Credit: NASA/Chris Giersch
Release Date: September 21, 2017

#NASA #Aviation #Aerospace #Aeronautics #Supersonic #XPlane #Aircraft #Technology #Engineering #SonicBoom #Commercial #QueSST #Xplanes #Xvehicles #Experimental #Ames #Langley #Armstrong #JacobsTechnology #Research #STEM #Education

Hurricane Maria Makes Landfall in Puerto Rico | NOAA

This GOES-16 geocolor image was captured as Category 4 Hurricane Maria made landfall near Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, around 6:15 a.m. EDT on September 20, 2017.

Maria knocked out radar on the island just before Maria made landfall. With this critical technology disabled and a major hurricane approaching, forecasters were able to utilize data from NOAA’s latest geostationary satellite, GOES-16, to track the storm in real-time.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Credit: Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)
Release Date: September 21, 2017
#NASA #NOAA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Hurricane #Maria #PuertoRico #Yabucoa #Caribbean #Atlantic #Ocean #Storm #Weather #Meteorology #GOES #GOES16 #Geocolor #CIRA #Goddard #GSFC #STEM #UnitedStates #Education

Hurricane Maria | NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP Satellite

Thermal image of Maria
Sept. 20, 2017: NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite VIIRS instrument captured this thermal image on Sept. 20, 2017, at 2:12 a.m. EDT (0612 UTC). At the time, Maria’s eye was just east of the American Virgin Islands, and its northwestern quadrant stretched over Puerto Rico.

NASA looked into Hurricane Maria and found that powerful convective storms within the hurricane were dropping heavy rainfall. Maria brought that heavy rainfall to Puerto Rico and made landfall on Sept. 20 at 6:15 a.m. EDT. NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite VIIRS instrument captured a thermal image on Sept. 20 at 2:12 a.m. EDT (0612 UTC). The image showed very cold cloud top temperatures in the powerful thunderstorms in Maria’s eyewall. At the time, Maria’s eye was just east of the American Virgin Islands, and its northwestern quadrant stretched over Puerto Rico.

Credit: NASA Goddard Rapid Response Team
Release Date: September 20, 2017

#NASA #NOAA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Hurricane #Maria #PuertoRico #Caribbean #Atlantic #Ocean #Storm #Weather #Meteorology #SuomiNPP #VIIRS #Thermal #Goddard #GSFC #STEM #UnitedStates #Education

Northern Lights over Canada | International Space Station

The spectacular aurora borealis, or the “northern lights,” over Canada is sighted from the International Space Station near the highest point of its orbital path. The station’s main solar arrays are seen in the left foreground. This photograph was taken by a member of the Expedition 53 crew aboard the station on Sept. 15, 2017.

Image Credit: NASA
Image Date: September 15, 2017
Release Date: September 19, 2017

#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Aurora #Borealis #NorthernLights #EarthObservation #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition53 #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

Hurricane Maria | International Space Station

Sept. 19, 2017: External cameras on the International Space Station captured dramatic views of Hurricane Maria as it churned through the Caribbean Sept. 19 as a potentially catastrophic category 5 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 165 MPH. Maria is forecast to pass near or over the U. S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico tonight and Wednesday.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Duration: 55 seconds
Release Date: September 19, 2017

#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Hurricane #Maria #Dominica #VirginIslands #PuertoRico #Caribbean #Sea #Atlantic #Ocean #Weather #Storm #EarthObservation #Astronaut #RandyBresnik #Human #Spaceflight #Expedition53 #JSC #OverviewEffect #OrbitalPerspective #STEM #Education

NTT and beyond

Rising up to block part of the star-studded sky, the New Technology Telescope (NTT) cuts a striking and dramatic figure in this European Southern Observatory (ESO) Picture of the Week.

Located at ESO's La Silla Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert, the NTT was inaugurated in 1989. It was the first ever telescope to have a computer-controlled main mirror. This 3.58-meter mirror is very flexible and its shape can be continuously changed, allowing astronomers to counteract deformations due to external influences such as wind, temperature and mechanical stress mid-observation in order to see the objects as clearly as possible.

Complementing the NTT’s groundbreaking technology is the innovative design of its housing. Its octagonal dome is relatively small and includes a series of flaps that ventilate the structure with reduced turbulence, allowing air to flow smoothly across the mirror. The dome walls can be opened entirely—as opposed to only opening the roof, as with conventional domes—to reveal large swathes of the southern sky.

This image was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi.

Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)
Release Date: September 18, 2017

#ESO #Astronomy #Science #Space #Stars #Telescope #NewTechnology #NTT #LaSilla #Observatory #Technology #Chile #Atacama #Desert #SouthAmerica #Astrophotography #Photography #Cosmos #Universe #Europe #STEM #Education

Spiral Galaxy NGC 6753 | Hubble

Despite the advances made in past decades, the process of galaxy formation remains an open question in astronomy. Various theories have been suggested, but since galaxies come in all shapes and sizes—including elliptical, spiral, and irregular—no single theory has so far been able to satisfactorily explain the origins of all the galaxies we see throughout the Universe.

To determine which formation model is correct (if any), astronomers hunt for the telltale signs of various physical processes. One example of this is galactic coronas, which are huge, invisible regions of hot gas that surround a galaxy’s visible bulk, forming a spheroidal shape. They are so hot that they can be detected by their X-ray emission, far beyond the optical radius of the galaxy. Because they are so wispy, these coronas are extremely difficult to detect. In 2013, astronomers highlighted NGC 6753, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as one of only two known spiral galaxies that were both massive enough and close enough to permit detailed observations of their coronas. Of course, NGC 6753 is only close in astronomical terms—the galaxy is nearly 150 million light-years from Earth.

NGC 6753 is a whirl of color in this image—the bursts of blue throughout the spiral arms are regions filled with young stars glowing brightly in ultraviolet light, while redder areas are filled with older stars emitting in the cooler near-infrared.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt
Release Date: September 18, 2017

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #Space #Galaxy #NGC6753 #Spiral #Pavo #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #GSFC #Goddard #STScI #STEM #Education

Cassini Spacecraft's Final Image of Saturn | NASA

This natural color view, created using images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters, was provided by the Cassini spacecraft before the mission concluded on September 15, 2017. The view was acquired on September 14 at 19:59 GMT (spacecraft event time) with the spacecraft's wide-angle camera at a distance of 634,000 km from Saturn.

The Cassini–Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency.

Read the press release here:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Cassini_concludes_pioneering_mission_at_Saturn

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Date: September 14, 2017
Release Date: September 15, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Rings #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education

Ocean Moon Enceladus Setting Behind Saturn | NASA Cassini Mission

Saturn's active, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus sinks behind the giant planet in a farewell portrait from the international Cassini spacecraft. The image was taken on September 13, 2017 and is among the last images Cassini sent back.

It was taken using Cassini's narrow-angle camera at a distance of 1.3 million km from Enceladus and about 1 million km from Saturn. Image scale on Enceladus is 8 km/per pixel. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were assembled to create the natural colour view.

The Cassini–Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency.

Press Release:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Cassini_concludes_pioneering_mission_at_Saturn

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Date: September 13, 2017
Release Date: September 15, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Moon #Enceladus #Ocean #Water #Astrobiology #Life #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education

Farewell to Cassini on This Week @NASA

On Sept. 15, our Cassini spacecraft concluded its remarkable mission with a plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere. This was the last of 22 close orbits Cassini made between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission’s Grand Finale. No other spacecraft has ever explored this unique region. Although the spacecraft may be gone after the finale, the enormous amount of data collected about Saturn, its magnetosphere, rings and moons during this last dive is expected to yield new discoveries for decades.

Also, Recovering from Irma, New Crew Launches to the Space Station, Successful Orion Chute Test and Shane Kimbrough in Washington!

Credit: NASA
Duration: 3 minutes, 35 seconds
Release Date: September 15, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Rings #Moons #Enceladus #Titan #Huygens #Probe #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education #Orion #ISS #Astronaut #HD #Video

Jose, Western Atlantic Ocean | NOAA Satellite

This full-disk GOES-16 satellite image captured early on September 15, 2017 shows Tropical Storm (now Hurricane) Jose near the Bahamas.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Created by NOAA's partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA).

Credit: NOAA/CIRA
Release Date: September 15, 2017

#NASA #NOAA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #TropicalStorm #Jose #Hurricane #Storm #Caribbean #Sea #Atlantic #Ocean #Bahamas #UnitedStates #Weather #Storm #GOES #GOES16 #Geocolor #CIRA #GSFC #STEM #Education

Ocean Moon Enceladus Setting Behind Saturn | NASA Cassini Mission

Saturn's active, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus sinks behind the giant planet in a farewell portrait from the international Cassini spacecraft. The image was taken on September 13, 2017 and is among the last images Cassini sent back.

It was taken using Cassini's narrow-angle camera at a distance of 1.3 million km from Enceladus and about 1 million km from Saturn. Image scale on Enceladus is 8 km/per pixel. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were assembled to create the natural colour view.

The Cassini–Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and the Italian Space Agency.

Press Release:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Cassini_concludes_pioneering_mission_at_Saturn

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Date: September 13, 2017
Release Date: September 15, 2017
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Moon #Enceladus #Ocean #Water #Astrobiology #Life #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Caltech #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education

Astronaut Moments with NASA astronaut Joe Acaba

Acaba and his crewmates, Mark Vande Hei of NASA and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft on Sept. 12. They are scheduled to return to Earth in March 2018. The crew members will continue several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity's only permanently occupied orbiting lab.

Joseph M. Acaba was selected by NASA in 2004. The California native has logged a total of 138 days in space during two missions. In 2009, Acaba flew aboard STS-119 on the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. During this mission, he conducted two spacewalks. In 2012, Acaba flew aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to the space station where he worked as Flight Engineer for the Expedition 31/32. Acaba recently served as Director of Operations Russia in Star City supporting crew training in Soyuz and Russian Segment systems.

Joe's Official NASA Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/joseph-m-acaba/biography

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: September 12, 2017

#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #JoeAcaba #Human #Spaceflight #Geology #Geologist #Marine #Soyuz #MS06 #Spacecraft #Expedition53 #Expedition54 #UnitedStates #JSC #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Astronaut Moments with NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei

Vande Hei and his crewmates, Joe Acaba of NASA and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, launched on the Russian Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft on Sept. 12. They are scheduled to return to Earth in March 2018. The crew members will continue several hundred experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science currently underway and scheduled to take place aboard humanity's only permanently occupied orbiting lab. 

Mark T. Vande Hei was selected by NASA in 2009. From Falls Church, Virginia, Vande Hei earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Saint John's University and a Master of Science in Applied Physics from Stanford University.  He was commissioned in the U.S. Army through the ROTC program and served as a combat engineer.  In 1999, he became an assistant professor of physics at the United States Military Academy in West Point.  He is currently assigned to Expedition 53/54, which is planned to launch in August 2017.

Mark's Official NASA Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/mark-t-vande-hei/biography
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/vande-hei.pdf

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: September 12, 2017

#NASA #ISS #Earth #Science  #Astronaut #MarkVandeHei #Human #Spaceflight #Physics #Engineer #Army #Military #Soyuz #MS06 #Spacecraft #Expedition53 #Expedition54 #UnitedStates #JSC #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Saturn's Dreamy Swirls | NASA Cassini Mission

Sept. 13, 2017: NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazed toward the northern hemisphere of Saturn to spy subtle, multi-hued bands in the clouds there. This view looks toward the terminator—the dividing line between night and day—at lower left. The sun shines at low angles along this boundary, in places highlighting vertical structure in the clouds. Some vertical relief is apparent in this view, with higher clouds casting shadows over those at lower altitude.

Images taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural-color view. The images were acquired on Aug. 31, 2017, at a distance of approximately 700,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is about 4 miles (6 kilometers) per pixel.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and https://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at https://ciclops.org.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Release Date: September 13, 2017

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #Planet #Atmosphere #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education

The Saturn System Through the Eyes of Cassini | NASA

Free 110-Page e-Book: The Cassini-Huygens mission has revolutionized our knowledge of the Saturn system and revealed surprising places in the solar system where life could potentially gain a foothold—bodies we call ocean worlds.
eBook Download Page [All Formats]:
http://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/the-saturn-system.html

Since its arrival in 2004, Cassini–Huygens has been nothing short of a discovery machine, captivating us with data and images never before obtained with such detail and clarity. Cassini taught us that Saturn is a far cry from a tranquil lone planet with delicate rings. Now, we know more about Saturn’s chaotic, active, and powerful rings, and the storms that rage beneath. Images and data from Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus hint at the possibility of life never before suspected. The rings of Saturn, its moons, and the planet itself offer irresistible and inexhaustible subjects for intense study. As the Cassini mission comes to a dramatic end with a fateful plunge into Saturn on Sept. 15, 2017, scientists are already dreaming of going back for further study.

Over a period of 13 years, Cassini has captured about 450,000 spectacular images within the Saturn system, providing new views of the “lord of the rings” and a plethora of iconic images. To honor the art and science of Cassini, this book was developed collaboratively by a team from NASA’s Planetary Science Division (PSD), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI). While these images represent the tip of the iceberg—each telling a story about Saturn and its mysterious moons—our hope is that the mission will inspire future artists and explorers. The sheer beauty of these images is surpassed only by the science and discoveries they represent.

› iBooks: The Saturn System [37 MB]:
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/the_saturn_system_0.ibooks

› Kindle readers: MOBI [34.1 MB]
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/the_saturn_system_ebook.mobi

› All other eBook readers: EPUB [14.5 MB]
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/the_saturn_system_ebook.epub

› Fixed layout: PDF [27.8 MB]
http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/the_saturn_system_090817.pdf

Credit: NASA
Release Date: September 12, 2017
#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Saturn #ebooks #Books #Reading #Planet #Rings #Moons #Titan #Huygens #Probe #Enceladus #SolarSystem #Exploration #Cassini #Spacecraft #GrandFinale #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #ESA #ASI #STEM #Education #PDF #ePub #MOBI #iBook