NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine - May 2018

Read KSC's May 2018 Spaceport Magazine (Free 20-Page PDF)
www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/spaceport-magazine.html
Direct Download: www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spm_may_2018_web.pdf

In the May 2018 issue:

· TESS begins quest to find habitable extrasolar planets

· Space Launch System flight hardware touches down at Kennedy

· NASA, Boeing may evolve flight test strategy

· Space explorers inducted into U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

· Tupperware takes to space to help improve astronaut diets

· Students help NASA decide what plants to grow in space

· Emergency Response Team trains to protect space center

· Center Director Cabana provides update to National Space Club

· JoAnn Morgan shares story for Women's History Month

· Crowds flock to spaceport for Family Open House Day

Spaceport Magazine is a monthly NASA publication that serves Kennedy Space Center employees and the American public. The magazine’s wide topic variety mirrors Kennedy's diverse spaceport operations. From launch processing to center development and employee stories, Spaceport Magazine covers it all.

Credit: NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Release Date: May 1, 2018
#NASA #KSC #Space #Science #SLS #Boeing #Women #Family #Students #ISS #Astronaut #TESS #Exoplanets #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Magazine #PDF

Heading to Gibraltar | International Space Station

Timelapse HD 1080p video
Credit: AstronautiCAST/JSC
Duration: 3 minutes, 11 seconds
Video Capture Date: February 13, 2018
Release Date: February 17, 2018

Original timelapse by Riccardo Rossi (ISAA) - Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License -

Music: Lost by Zell - Attribution International License -
https://www.jamendo.com/artist/419285/zell

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #Gibraltar #UK #Spain #España #Mediterranean #Sea #Africa #Ocean #Atlantic #Spacecraft #Astronauts #Expedition54 #Photography #Art #Science #HD #Video #Timelapse #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #AstronautiCAST

The Aurora and The Sunrise | International Space Station

"Sunrise crashes an aurora party over the southern hemisphere," said NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold of this image he snapped from the International Space Station.

Auroras are one of the many Earthly phenomena the crew of the space station observe from their perch high above the planet. The dancing lights of auroras provide spectacular views, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from our Sun. Auroras are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the Sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind or from giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs. After a trip toward Earth that can last three days, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light. The result: the Northern and Southern lights.

On the International Space Station (ISS), you can only admire an aurora until the sun rises. Then the background Earth becomes too bright. Unfortunately, after sunset, the rapid orbit of the ISS around the Earth means that sunrise is usually less than 47 minutes away.

In this image, a green aurora is visible below the ISS—and on the horizon to the upper right, while sunrise approaches ominously from the upper left. Watching an aurora from space can be mesmerizing as its changing shape has been compared to a giant green amoeba. Auroras are composed of energetic electrons and protons from the Sun that impact the Earth's magnetic field and then spiral down toward the Earth so fast that they cause atmospheric atoms and molecules to glow. The ISS orbits at nearly the same height as auroras, many times flying right through an aurora's thin upper layers, an event that neither harms astronauts nor changes the shape of the aurora.

Image Credit: NASA, Astronaut Ricky Arnold, Expedition 55
Release Date: April 11, 2018

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #Aurora #Sunrise #Atmosphere #ISS #Spacecraft #Astronaut #RickyArnold #Expedition55 #JSC #Photography #Art #Science #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #APoD

Lenticular Galaxy: Stuck in the middle | Hubble

This pretty, cloud-like object may not look much like a galaxy—it lacks the well-defined arms of a spiral galaxy, or the reddish bulge of an elliptical—but it is in fact something known as a lenticular galaxy. Lenticular galaxies sit somewhere between the spiral and elliptical types; they are disc-shaped, like spirals, but they no longer form large numbers of new stars and thus contain only ageing populations of stars, like ellipticals.

NGC 2655’s core is extremely luminous, resulting in its additional classification as a Seyfert galaxy: a type of active galaxy with strong and characteristic emission lines. This luminosity is thought to be produced as matter is dragged onto the accretion disc of a supermassive black hole sitting at the center of NGC 2655. The structure of NGC 2655’s outer disc, on the other hand, appears calmer, but it is oddly-shaped. The complex dynamics of the gas in the galaxy suggest that it may have had a turbulent past, including mergers and interactions with other galaxies.

NGC 2655 is located about 80 million light-years from Earth in the constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe). Camelopardalis contains many other interesting deep-sky objects, including the open cluster NGC 1502, the elegant Kemble’s Cascade asterism, and the starburst galaxy NGC 2146.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Fillipenko
Release Date: April 23, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #Galaxy #Lenticular #NGC2655 #Seyfert #Camelopardalis #Telescope #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education

Japan: North to South | International Space Station

This view of Japan from the International Space Station looks from north to south and encompasses the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: March 30, 2018

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #Japan #日本 #Tokyo #東京都 #名古屋市 #大阪市 #広島市 #福岡市 #JAXA #Ocean #Pacific #Spacecraft #Astronauts #Expedition55 #Photography #Art #Science #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

New Zealand's North Island | International Space Station

The International Space Station was orbiting above the Tasman Sea when an Expedition 55 crew member took this picture of New Zealand's North Island where the city of Auckland is located. The sun's glint over the South Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea clearly outlines the island nation.

Credit: NASA/JSC
Image Date: March 25, 2018

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #NewZealand #Auckland #NorthIsland #Tasman #Sea #Ocean #Pacific #Sunglint #Spacecraft #Astronauts #Expedition55 #Photography #Art #Science #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Wanderers - a short film by Erik Wernquist | Narrated by Carl Sagan

"Wanderers is a vision of humanity's expansion into the Solar System, based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like, if it ever happens. The locations depicted in the film are digital recreations of actual places in the Solar System, built from real photos and map data where available."

"Without any apparent story, other than what you may fill in by yourself, the idea of the film is primarily to show a glimpse of the fantastic and beautiful nature that surrounds us on our neighboring worlds—and above all, how it might appear to us if we were there."

"As some may notice I have borrowed ideas and concepts from science fiction authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson and Arthur C. Clarke, just to name a few. And visually, I of course owe many tips of my hat to painter Chesley Bonestell—the legendary master of space art."

"More directly, with kind permission from Ann Druyan I have also borrowed the voice of astronomer and author Carl Sagan to narrate the film. The audio I used are excerpts from his own reading of his book:
'Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space' (1994, Random House)
penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159735/pale-blue-dot-by-carl-sagan/
—needless to say, a huge inspiration for this film.

Watch 1080p Vimeo version:
https://vimeo.com/108650530

For more information and stills gallery, please turn to: erikwernquist.com/wanderers

--------------
CREDITS:
VISUALS BY - Erik Wernquist - erik@erikwernquist.com
MUSIC BY - Cristian Sandquist - cristiansandquist@mac.com
WRITTEN AND NARRATED BY - Carl Sagan - from his book 'Pale Blue Dot' penguinrandomhouse.com/books/159735/pale-blue-dot-by-carl-sagan/, courtesy of Ann Druyan, copyright by Democritus Properties, LLC, with all rights reserved
COLOR GRADE BY - Caj Müller/Beckholmen Film - caj@beckholmenfilm.se
LIVE ACTION PHOTOGRAPHY BY - Mikael Hall/Vidiotism - mikael@vidiotism.com
LIVE ACTION PERFORMANCE BY - Anna Nerman, Camilla Hammarström, Hanna Mellin
VOCALIST - Nina Fylkegård - nina@ladystardust.se
THANK YOU - Johan Persson, Calle Herdenberg, Micke Lindgren, Satrio J. Studt, Tomas Axelsson, Christian Lundqvist, Micke Lindell, Sigfrid Söderberg, Fredrik Strage, Johan Antoni, Henrik Johansson, Michael Uvnäs, Hanna Mellin

THIS FILM WAS MADE WITH USE OF PHOTOS AND TEXTURES FROM:
NASA/JPL, NASA/CICLOPS, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, ESA, John Van Vliet, Björn Jonsson (and many others, of which I unfortunately do not know the names)

Duration: 3 minutes, 50 seconds
Release Date: 2015

#NASA #Space #Exploration #SolarSystem #CarlSagan #Science #Astronomy #Humanity #Future #STEM #Education #ErikWernquist #Film #Art #Visualization #Cosmos #Universe #HD #Video #APoD

Earth Rotation: Nepal, Himalayas

Earth's rotation is the rotation of the planet Earth around its own axis. The Earth rotates from the west towards east. As viewed from North Star or polestar Polaris, the Earth turns counter-clockwise.

Credit: Anton Yankovyi
Release Date: March 30, 2018

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Earth #Nepal #Himalayas #Asia #Astrophotography #Photography #Timelapse #Art #STEM #Education #नेपाल

Crossing Panama | International Space Station

Timelapse HD 1080p video
Credit: AstronautiCAST/JSC
Duration: 2 minutes, 15 seconds
Video Capture Date: February 13, 2018
Release Date: February 18, 2016

Original timelapse by Riccardo Rossi (ISAA) - Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License -

Music: Piano Beautiful Full Version by Maryna - Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike International License -
https://www.jamendo.com/artist/491819/maryna

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #ISS #Earth #Panama #CentralAmerica #Ocean #Pacific #Atlantic #Spacecraft #Astronauts #Expedition54 #Photography #Art #Science #HD  #Video #Timelapse #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect #AstronautiCAST

The Sun: Active Region Coming Around the Bend | NASA SDO

A good-sized active region with bright, towering arches began to rotate into view on April 19, 2018. The arches consist of charged particles spiraling along magnetic field lines revealed in this wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light. They rise up above the sun's surface many times the size of Earth. We will keep our eyes on this region to see if it has the kind of dynamism to produce solar storms.

Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA
Image Date: April 19, 2018

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Solar #Sun #Earth #ActiveRegion #Plasma #SDO #Observatory #MagneticField #Ultraviolet #Wavelength #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

Europe's ExoMars Spacecraft: First images from new orbit

April 26, 2018: The European Space Agency's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has returned the first images of the Red Planet from its new orbit. The spacecraft arrived in a near-circular 400 km altitude orbit a few weeks ago ahead of its primary goal to seek out gases that may be linked to active geological or biological activity on Mars.

The orbiter’s Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, took this stunning image, which features part of an impact crater, during the instrument’s test period. The camera was activated on March 20 and was tested for the start of its main mission on April 28.

“We transmitted new software to the instrument at the start of the test phase and after a couple of minor issues, the instrument is in good health and ready to work,” says the camera’s principal investigator, Nicolas Thomas from the University of Bern in Switzerland.

The image captures a 40 km-long segment of Korolev Crater located high in the northern hemisphere. The bright material on the rim of the crater is ice.

“We were really pleased to see how good this picture was given the lighting conditions,” says Antoine Pommerol, a member of the CaSSIS science team working on the calibration of the data. “It shows that CaSSIS can make a major contribution to studies of the carbon dioxide and water cycles on Mars.”

The image is assembled from three images in different colors that were taken almost simultaneously on April 15.

“We aim to fully automate the image production process,” says Nick. “Once we achieve this, we can distribute the data quickly to the science community for analysis.”

The team also plans to make regular public releases.

The orbiter’s camera is one of four instruments on the Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, which also hosts two spectrometer suites and a neutron detector.

The spectrometers began their science mission on April 21 with the spacecraft taking its first ‘sniff’ of the atmosphere. In reality, the sniffing is the spectrometers looking at how molecules in the atmosphere absorb sunlight: each has a unique fingerprint that reveals its chemical composition.

A long period of data collection will be needed to bring out the details, especially for particularly rare—or not even yet discovered—ingredients in the atmosphere. Trace gases, as hinted at from their name, are only present in very small amounts: that is, less than one percent of the volume of the planet’s atmosphere. In particular, the orbiter will seek evidence of methane and other gases that could be signatures of active biological or geological activity.

The camera will eventually help characterise features on the surface that may be related to trace gas sources.

“We are excited to finally be starting collecting data at Mars with this phenomenal spacecraft,” says Håkan Svedhem, ESA’s TGO project scientist. “The test images we have seen so far certainly set the bar high.”

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is on a multiyear mission to understand the tiny amounts of methane and other gases in Mars’ atmosphere that could be evidence for possible biological or geological activity.

The ExoMars program is a joint endeavor between ESA and Roscosmos. The Trace Gas Orbiter is the first of two missions in the program: the next is scheduled for launch in 2020 and will comprise a rover and a surface science platform. TGO will act as a communication relay for both. It proved this capability earlier this week in the first of a series of relay communications with NASA’s Curiosity rover, highlighting the cooperation between ESA and NASA to maintain a communications infrastructure around Mars for future missions.

Image Description#1:
The ExoMars Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, captured this view of the rim of Korolev crater (73.3ºN/165.9ºE) on April 15, 2018. The image is a composite of three images in different colors that were taken almost simultaneously. They were then assembled to produce this color view. The original image has a nominal scale of 5.08 m/pixel and was re-projected at a resolution of 4.6 m/pixel to create the final version. The dimensions are therefore about 10 x 40 km. The image was taken with a ground-track velocity of 2.90 km/s. The solar incidence angle was 76.6º at a local solar time of 07:14:11.

In this orientation, north is off-center to the upper left.

Image Description#2:
The ExoMars Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, captured this view of the rim of Korolev crater (73.3ºN/165.9ºE) on April 15, 2018. The image is a composite of three images in different colors that were taken almost simultaneously. They were then assembled to produce this color view. The original image has a nominal scale of 5.08 m/pixel and was re-projected at a resolution of 4.6 m/pixel to create the final version. The dimensions are therefore about 10 x 40 km. The image was taken with a ground-track velocity of 2.90 km/s. The solar incidence angle was 76.6º at a local solar time of 07:14:11.

In this orientation north is just below center to the left.

Image Credit: ESA/Roscosmos/CaSSIS
Image Date: April 15, 2018
Release Date: April 26, 2018

#NASA #ESA #Roscosmos #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Geology #Crater #Korolev #Planet #RedPlanet #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #ExoMars #Orbiter #Spacecraft #Europe #Russia #STEM #Education

The Lagoon Nebula: Wide-field view

This ground-based image from the Digitized Sky Survey shows the area around the Lagoon Nebula, otherwise known as Messier 8. This nebula is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust.

Credit: NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey 2
Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin
Release Date: April 19, 2018
#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #Nebula #Lagoon #Messier8 #Anniversary #Telescope #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education

The Lagoon Nebula: Infrared view | Hubble

To celebrate its 28th anniversary in space the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this amazing and colorful image of the Lagoon Nebula. Using its infrared capabilities, the telescope was able to peer through the thick clouds of dust and gas.

The most obvious difference between Hubble’s infrared and visible images of this region is the abundance of stars that fill the field of view in the infrared. Most of them are more distant, background stars located behind the nebula. However, some of them are young stars within the Lagoon Nebula itself.

Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI
Release Date: April 19, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #Nebula #Lagoon #Anniversary #Telescope #Infrared #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education

The Lagoon Nebula: Fulldome view | Hubble

This fulldome clip shows the anniversary image released for Hubble’s 28th year in space: the Lagoon Nebula.

The observations made with Hubble reveal a fantastic landscape of ridges, cavities, and mountains of gas and dust. This dust-and-gas landscape is being sculpted by powerful ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-like stellar winds unleashed by a young star. Located at the center of the image, the star, known as Herschel 36, is about 200,000 times brighter than our Sun.

Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, STScI
Duration: 20 seconds
Release Date: April 19, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #Nebula #Lagoon #Herschel36 #Anniversary #Telescope #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Diving into the Lagoon Nebula | Hubble's 28th Anniversary

On April 24, 1990, Hubble was launched into space. To celebrate its 28th year in orbit, some of Hubble’s precious observation time was used to observe the colorful Lagoon Nebula. One of only two star-forming nebulae visible to the unaided eye, this spectacular stellar nursery is not quite the tranquil landscape its name suggests.

This new Hubblecast explores the image in more detail and shows some of the delicate features of this cosmic lagoon.

Credit: ESA/NASA
Duration: 4 minutes, 7 seconds
Directed by: Mathias Jäger
Visual design and editing: Martin Kornmesser
Written by: Rosa Jesse, Mathias Jäger
Narration: Sara Mendes da Costa
Images: NASA, ESA/Hubble, STScI
Videos: NASA, ESA/Hubble
Music: Stellardrone
Web and technical support: Mathias Andre and Raquel Yumi Shida
Executive producer: Lars Lindberg Christensen
Release Date: April 19, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #ESO #Nebula #Lagoon #Sagittarius #Anniversary #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Core of the Lagoon Nebula | Hubble's 28th Anniversary

A Garden of Gas and Dust

This video zooms into the core of a rich star-birth region called the Lagoon Nebula, located in the constellation Sagittarius in the direction of our Milky Way galaxy’s central bulge. The sequence then dissolves to a series of imagined three-dimensional flights past striking structures of this gaseous landscape. Viewers examine dark, dusty clouds silhouetted against a colorful background of luminous gas that has been heated by a massive star. Pillars of dense gas and bow shocks around newborn stars are shaped by the strong winds from the brightest stars. The intense high-energy emission from these same stars creates the glowing ridges of gas in ionization fronts. These features are some of the highlights of this vibrant region where new stars and planets are born.

Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, D. Player, J. DePasquale, F. Summers, and Z. Levay (STScI)
Music: J. DePasquale
Acknowledgement: A. Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey, ESO/VPHAS, and R. Crisp
Duration: 2 minutes, 15 seconds
Release Date: April 19, 2018

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Science #ESA #ESO #Nebula #Lagoon #Sagittarius #Anniversary #STScI #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #HD #Video