Testing Success: The James Webb Space Telescope in Full Focus

Testing Success: The James Webb Space Telescope in Full Focus

Alignment of the James Webb Space Telescope is now complete. After full review, the observatory has been confirmed to be capable of capturing crisp, well-focused images with each of its four powerful onboard science instruments.

Upon completing the seventh and final stage of telescope alignment, the team held a set of key decision meetings and unanimously agreed that Webb is ready to move forward into its next and final series of preparations, known as science instrument commissioning. This process of setting up and testing the instruments will take about two months before scientific operations begin in the summer.

The alignment of the telescope across all of Webb’s instruments can be seen in a series of images that captures the observatory’s full field of view.

Engineering images of sharply focused stars in the field of view of each instrument demonstrate that the telescope is fully aligned and in focus. For this test, Webb pointed at part of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, providing a dense field of hundreds of thousands of stars across all the observatory’s sensors.

The sizes and positions of the images shown here depict the relative arrangement of each of Webb’s instruments in the telescope’s focal plane, each pointing at a slightly offset part of the sky relative to one another.

Webb’s three imaging instruments are NIRCam (images shown here at a wavelength of 2 microns), NIRISS (image shown here at 1.5 microns), and MIRI (shown at 7.7 microns, a longer wavelength revealing emission from interstellar clouds as well as starlight).

ESA's NIRSpec is a spectrograph rather than imager but can take images, such as the 1.1 micron image shown here, for calibrations and target acquisition. The dark regions visible in parts of the NIRSpec data are due to structures of its microshutter array, which has several hundred thousand controllable shutters that can be opened or shut to select which light is sent into the spectrograph.

Lastly, Webb’s Fine Guidance Sensor tracks guide stars to point the observatory accurately and precisely; its two sensors are not generally used for scientific imaging but can take calibration images such as those shown here. This image data is used not just to assess image sharpness but also to precisely measure and calibrate subtle image distortions and alignments between sensors as part of Webb’s overall instrument calibration process.

The optical performance of the telescope continues to be better than the engineering team’s most optimistic predictions. Webb’s mirrors are now directing fully focused light collected from space down into each instrument, and each instrument is successfully capturing images with the light being delivered to them. The image quality delivered to all instruments is “diffraction-limited,” meaning that the fineness of detail that can be seen is as good as physically possible given the size of the telescope. From this point forward the only changes to the mirrors will be very small, periodic adjustments to the primary mirror segments.

Now, the Webb team will turn its attention to science instrument commissioning. Each instrument is a highly sophisticated set of detectors equipped with unique lenses, masks, filters, and customised equipment that helps it perform the science it was designed to achieve. The specialised characteristics of these instruments will be configured and operated in various combinations during the instrument commissioning phase to fully confirm their readiness for science. With the formal conclusion of telescope alignment, key personnel involved with the commissioning of each instrument have arrived at the Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA, and some personnel involved with telescope alignment have concluded their duties.

Though telescope alignment is complete, some telescope calibration activities remain: As part of scientific instrument commissioning, the telescope will be commanded to point to different areas in the sky where the total amount of solar radiation hitting the observatory will vary to confirm thermal stability when changing targets. Furthermore, ongoing maintenance observations every two days will monitor the mirror alignment and, when needed, apply corrections to keep the mirrors in their aligned locations.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

Learn more about Webb’s mission: http://webb.nasa.gov

Story Credit: European Space Agency

Release Date: April 28, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JamesWebb #Webb #Telescope #JWST #Cosmos #Universe #Exoplanets #Atmospheres #Biosignatures #Astrobiology #Europe #CSA #Canada #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

Picturesque Clouds off Greenland | NASA Aqua Satellite

Picturesque Clouds off Greenland | NASA Aqua Satellite

A few times every spring, the skies over the Labrador Sea fill with row after row of long, parallel bands of cumulus clouds. The magnificent organization of these clouds, known as cloud streets, was on full display when this image was acquired on April 19, 2022.

Captured with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, the image shows cloud streets sweeping over the open water between Labrador, Canada, and southwest Greenland.

The appearance of cloud streets indicates that strong, cold winds were blowing toward the southeast over comparatively warmer water. In springtime, sea ice has already entered the melting season, but there is still plenty of ice over land and sea to produce very cold, dry air. There is also enough open water from which that air can draw moisture and form clouds.

The pattern is the result of the ice-chilled air being warmed by the ocean surface and forming strong currents of upward moving air, or thermals. The moist air rises until it hits a temperature inversion, which acts like a cap and causes the air to roll over and form parallel cylinders of rotating air. On the upper side of these cylinders (the rising air), clouds form. Along the downward side (descending air), skies are clear.

The wide view reveals even more compelling cloud patterns. Notice that the cloud streets are adjacent to an area of vortices off the southeast coast of Greenland. According to Gunilla Svensson, a meteorologist at Stockholm University, those clouds were likely related to a narrow band of high winds known as a “tip jet.” A tip jet is thought to be caused by winds that accelerate as they are forced to go around the steep topography of Cape Farewell on the southern tip of Greenland.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. 

Story Credit: Kathryn Hansen

Release Date: April 19, 2022

#NASA #Earth #Planet #Science #Satellite #Atmosphere #Clouds #Cumulus #CloudStreets #Greenland #Grønland #Denmark #Danmark #Labrador #Canada #LabradorSea #EarthObservation #EO #Aqua #MODIS #Goddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

Earth's Greenland Ice and Jupiter's Moon Europa Share Similar Feature

Earth's Greenland Ice and Jupiter's Moon Europa Share Similar Feature

The surface geology of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is on display in this view made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

Parallel ice ridges, a common feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa, are found on Greenland’s ice sheet—and could bode well for Europa’s potential habitability. Parallel ice ridges in Greenland bear a striking resemblance to ridges on Jupiter’s ice-encased moon Europa, suggesting the moon’s icy shell could be riddled with pockets of water.

A double ridge cutting across the surface of Europa

A double ridge cutting across the surface of Europa is seen in this mosaic of two images taken by NASA’s Galileo during the spacecraft’s close flyby on Feb. 20, 1997. Analysis of a similar feature in Greenland suggests shallow liquid water may be ubiquitous across the Jovian moon’s icy shell. 

Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

This similarity could greatly improve the odds of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission detecting potentially habitable environments on the Jovian moon. The spacecraft’s ice-penetrating radar instrument REASON (short for Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface) will be ideal for conducting such a search.

“If there are pockets of water under the ridges, we have the right instruments to see them,” said Dustin Schroeder, a Stanford University associate professor and coauthor of a new study comparing Greenland’s “double ridges” with those of Europa.

Scientists say evidence gathered so far shows that Europa harbors a deep liquid ocean, hidden beneath an ice shell that could be 10 to 15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick. Because the ice is so substantial, a big question about the moon is whether anything from the deep ocean makes contact with the surface—or if contact goes the other way, with surface material filtering down to the ocean water.

“It’s exciting, what it would mean if you have plenty of water within the ice shell,” said coauthor Gregor Steinbrügge, a former Stanford researcher who is now a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It would mean the ice shell on Europa is extremely dynamic. It could facilitate exchange processes between the surface and the subsurface ocean. It could go in both directions.”

Potential life-sustaining nutrients on Europa’s surface—perhaps deposited there by another Jupiter moon, volcanic Io—might find their way to the subsurface ocean, he said. And chemicals or other material from the subsurface indicating a habitable ocean environment could end up on the surface.

How Ridges May Have Formed

During a presentation on Europa’s ridges, the study’s lead author, Stanford graduate student Riley Culberg, said he noticed similar landforms in Greenland. Ice-penetrating radar data collected from 2015 to 2017 by NASA’s Operation IceBridge, an aerial observation campaign, showed not only the existence of a double ridge in northwestern Greenland, but also details of how it evolved.

The double ridges observed on the surface of the Greenland Ice Sheet formed when water from nearby surface lakes drained into a layer of impermeable ice within the ice sheet. Once there, the water pocket refroze and fractured the overlying ice, forcing peaks to rise on either side.

Something similar could be happening on Europa, but instead with water forced up toward the surface from the subsurface ocean. The ridge features on Europa, while similar to the Greenland ridges, are much larger and with taller peaks, perhaps due in part to lower gravity on Europa.

Europa Clipper’s REASON instrument is designed to make the same kind of measurements at Europa that the IceBridge radar made in Greenland. Both use radio waves that can penetrate deeply into ice. The same waves, however, cannot penetrate liquid water and are instead reflected back to the radar instrument. Water shows up as a bright patch in the radar images. These radargrams can therefore provide a vertical profile of water and ice deep below the surface.

“You get reflections that are a thousand times brighter for water as opposed to ice,” Schroeder said.

Schroeder, a co-investigator on REASON and part of a group that studies Europa’s interior, said the new study could help the Europa Clipper team design observations to determine whether the ridges on the moon and in Greenland arose from the same underlying causes—and whether water pockets are common within Europa’s icy shell.

The study also highlights the growing synergy between scientists who study our planetary neighbors in the solar system and those who focus on Earth.

“This research will help us either use Earth to understand what we will see on Europa or, when we get to Europa, help us interpret what we see when we get there,” Schroeder said.

More About the Mission

Missions such as Europa Clipper contribute to the field of astrobiology, the interdisciplinary research on the variables and conditions of distant worlds that could harbor life as we know it. While Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, it will conduct detailed reconnaissance of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life. Understanding Europa’s habitability will help scientists better understand how life developed on Earth and the potential for finding life beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission. 

More information about Europa can be found here:

https://europa.nasa.gov

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Written by Pat Brennan

Release Date: April 25, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #EuropaClipper #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #Exploration #APL #Marshall #MSFC #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Peeking Above the Horizon | La Silla Observatory in Chile

Peeking Above the Horizon | La Silla Observatory in Chile

This image, taken at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile’s Atacama Desert, shows the Milky Way as it peeks above the horizon, with two of the observatory’s telescopes bracketing the starry, dusty band as it stretches across the sky.

To the right stands the domed enclosure of the ESO 3.6-meter telescope and its adjacent smaller sibling, the now-decommissioned Coudé Auxiliary Telescope. To the left is the receiver dish for the Swedish–ESO Submillimeter Telescope, also now decommissioned. 

Stretching into the distance to the left, and nearly at the centre of the image, lie the other buildings and telescope enclosures hosted at La Silla, their outlines silhouetted against the glowing sky. Visible in the far distance are city lights which, although faint in absolute terms, can become noticeable over long exposures such as this one. The soft glow of light just to the left of centre, which gently curves through the sky, is called zodiacal light, and it’s sunlight scattered by dust particles in the plane of the Solar System.

Credit: ESO/P. Horálek

Release Date: April 25, 2022

#ESO #Earth #Astronomy #Space #Science #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Stars #ZodiacalLight #LaSilla #Observatory #Cosmos #Universe #Chile #Atacama #Desert #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Spots Gear That Helped Perseverance Rover Land

NASA’s Mars Helicopter Spots Gear That Helped Perseverance Rover Land

This image of Perseverance’s backshell and parachute was collected by NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 26th flight on April 19, 2022. Images obtained during the flight may provide insight into the components’ performance during the rover’s entry, descent, and landing on Feb. 18, 2021.

Eyeing some of the components that enabled the rover to get safely to the Martian surface could provide valuable insights for future missions.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently surveyed both the parachute that helped the agency’s Perseverance rover land on Mars and the cone-shaped backshell that protected the rover in deep space and during its fiery descent toward the Martian surface on Feb. 18, 2021. Engineers with the Mars Sample Return program asked whether Ingenuity could provide this perspective. What resulted were 10 aerial color images taken April 19 during Ingenuity’s Flight 26.

Entry, descent, and landing on Mars is fast-paced and stressful, not only for the engineers back on Earth, but also for the vehicle enduring the gravitational forces, high temperatures, and other extremes that come with entering Mars’ atmosphere at nearly 12,500 mph (20,000 kph). The parachute and backshell were previously imaged from a distance by the Perseverance rover.

However, images collected by the rotorcraft (from an aerial perspective and closer) provide more detail. The images have the potential to help ensure safer landings for future spacecraft such as the Mars Sample Return Lander, which is part of a multimission campaign that would bring Perseverance’s samples of Martian rocks, atmosphere, and sediment back to Earth for detailed analysis.

“Perseverance had the best-documented Mars landing in history, with cameras showing everything from parachute inflation to touchdown,” said JPL’s Ian Clark, former Perseverance systems engineer and now Mars Sample Return ascent phase lead. “But Ingenuity’s images offer a different vantage point. If they either reinforce that our systems worked as we think they worked or provide even one dataset of engineering information we can use for Mars Sample Return planning, it will be amazing. And if not, the pictures are still phenomenal and inspiring.”

In the images of the upright backshell and the debris field that resulted from it impacting the surface at about 78 mph (126 kph), the backshell’s protective coating appears to have remained intact during Mars atmospheric entry. Many of the 80 high-strength suspension lines connecting the backshell to the parachute are visible and also appear intact. Spread out and covered in dust, only about a third of the orange-and-white parachute – at 70.5 feet (21.5 meters) wide, it was the biggest ever deployed on Mars – can be seen, but the canopy shows no signs of damage from the supersonic airflow during inflation. Several weeks of analysis will be needed for a more final verdict.

The new area of operations in Jezero Crater’s dry river delta marks a dramatic departure from the modest, relatively flat terrain Ingenuity had been flying over since its first flight. Several miles wide, the fan-shaped delta formed where an ancient river spilled into the lake that once filled Jezero Crater. Rising more than 130 feet (40 meters) above the crater floor and filled with jagged cliffs, angled surfaces, projecting boulders, and sand-filled pockets, the delta promises to hold numerous geologic revelations – perhaps even proof that microscopic life existed on Mars billions of years ago.

Upon reaching the delta, Ingenuity’s first orders may be to help determine which of two dry river channels Perseverance should climb to reach the top of the delta. Along with route-planning assistance, data provided by the helicopter will help the Perseverance team assess potential science targets. Ingenuity may even be called upon to image geologic features too far afield for the rover to reach or to scout landing zones and sites on the surface where sample caches could be deposited for the Mars Sample Return program.

The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity’s development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.

At NASA Headquarters, Dave Lavery is the program executive for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter.

More About Perseverance

A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet’s geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

For more information about Ingenuity: mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #River #Delta #Astrobiology #Geology #Geoscience #Jezero #Crater #Perseverance #Rover #Backshell #Parachute #Robotics #Technology #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Flight Day 2 Highlights

 NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Flight Day 2 Highlights

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts docked autonomously to the forward port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 7:37 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 27. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, along with European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, arrived after a one-day journey to begin a six-month science mission on the International Space Station. Following docking Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti joined the Expedition 67 crew of NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, as well as Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsakov, and Denis Matveev.

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 24 minutes

Release Date: April 28, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchAmerica #JSC #UnitedStates #Reasearch #Laboratory #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Astronauts Arrive at International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Astronauts Arrive at International Space Station

NASA astronauts Mission Commander Kjell Lindgren, Pilot Bob Hines, and Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, and Mission Specialist Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) now are aboard the International Space Station following Crew Dragon’s hatch opening about 9:15 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, April 27, 2022.

Crew-4 joins Expedition 67 crew of Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, all of NASA, Matthias Maurer of ESA, and cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Sergey Korsakov, and Denis Matveev of Roscosmos.

NASA TV coverage will conclude shortly after hatch opening and return for live coverage of the welcoming ceremony at 2:40 a.m. Thursday, April 28.

Crew-4 astronauts launched to International Space Station at 3:52 a.m. Wednesday, April 27, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The international crew of four will spend several months on the orbital complex on a science expedition mission.

Credit: NASA TV

Duration: 2 minutes, 9 seconds

Capture Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet Bob Hines, NASA's Crew-4 Pilot

Meet Bob Hines, NASA's Crew-4 Pilot

It was an innate desire to explore that led Bob Hines into the Air Force, and now has him poised for his first trip to space as the pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station.  Hear the story of his childhood in an Army family and his desire to fly, which led Hines to become a test pilot and later a research pilot for NASA before he was chosen as an astronaut, and now has him on the cusp of having a lifelong dream come true.

NASA Astronaut Bob Hines Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/bob-hines

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/bob-hines/biography

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hines-b.pdf

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Video Credits

Director: Sami Aziz

Producer: Gary Jordan

Editor/Sound Mixer: Jamie Quinn

Cinematographer: Charles Clendaniel

Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet Kjell Lindgren, NASA's Crew-4 Commander

Meet Kjell Lindgren, NASA's Crew-4 Commander

Exploration helps us “better understand who we are” and how we fit into the cosmic scheme of things—that’s why Dr. Kjell Lindgren is making his second trip to the International Space Station, this time as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission.  Learn about his international childhood and his Air Force career, and how his choice to study medicine led him to NASA and ultimately to becoming an astronaut. 

NASA Astronaut Kjell Lindgren Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren/biography

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/lindgren-kn.pdf

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Video Credits

Director: Sami Aziz

Producer: Gary Jordan

Editor: Jason Clemons

Cinematographer: Charles Clendaniel

Sound Mixer: Greg Wiseman

Duration: 2 minutes, 59 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet Jessica Watkins, NASA's Crew-4 Mission Specialist

Meet Jessica Watkins, NASA's Crew-4 Mission Specialist

A belief that exploration expands the boundaries of who we are as people, and unites us all at the same time, is why Jessica Watkins is so excited for her first spaceflight on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station. Join her for the story of how her childhood interest in being an astronaut, and finding her passion for geology in college, led her to being chosen as an astronaut and now to becoming the first Black woman to be a long-duration station crew member.

Jessica Watkins Official NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography/

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Video Credits

Director: Sami Aziz

Producer: Gary Jordan

Editor: Jason Clemons

Cinematographer: Charles Clendaniel

Sound Mixer: Greg Wiseman

Duration: 2 minutes, 59 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet Samantha Cristoforetti, NASA's Crew-4 Mission Specialist

Meet Samantha Cristoforetti, NASA's Crew-4 Mission Specialist

From an adventurous childhood in the Italian Alps to her trailblazing role as one of the first women in the Italian air force, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has been exploring most of her life and is ready for more, as a mission specialist on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station.  Watch and listen to her story of childhood dreams of spaceflight, and traveling the world to complete her high school and college education, led her to the military and ultimately to becoming an astronaut, and now the opportunity for a second trip to the “outpost of humanity up there in space.”

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes, 28 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #CCP #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Overview | Johnson Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Overview | Johnson Space Center

The next flight to the International Space Station is ready to launch!  NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will deliver four new crewmembers to the space station and power the next increment of groundbreaking science research.  Join NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, for a look into their expedition to low-Earth orbit, and share their excitement about the prospect of flying on the Dragon vehicle for the first time.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Video Credits

Director: Sami Aziz

Producer: Gary Jordan

Editor: John Streeter

Cinematographer: Charles Clendaniel

Sound Mixer: Greg Wiseman

Duration: 3 minutes, 38 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA SpaceX Crew-4 Prelaunch & Launch Highlights | Kennedy Space Center

NASA SpaceX Crew-4 Prelaunch & Launch Highlights | Kennedy Space Center

Featured highlights of the SpaceX Crew-4 prelaunch milestones and launch. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti are on their way to the International Space Station, following the picture-perfect launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, named Freedom by the crew, launched atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida at 3:52 a.m. EDT.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Duration: 1 minute, 18 seconds

Capture Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #CCP #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Liftoff to the International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Liftoff to the International Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti onboard, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission is the fourth crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Lindgren, Hines, Watkins, and Cristoforetti launched at 3:52 a.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center to begin a six month mission onboard the orbital outpost. 

In this three minute exposure, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station

Image Credits: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani/Joel Kowsky

Caption Credit: NASA/KSC

Capture Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #CCP #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Launches to International Space Station | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Launch to International Space Station | Kennedy Space Center

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:52 a.m. EDT on April 27, 2022. Onboard the Dragon spacecraft are Crew-4 astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, all NASA astronauts, along with Samantha Cristoforetti with European Space Agency (ESA) for the mission to the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Duration: 33 seconds

Capture Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #CCP #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Depart for Launchpad | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Depart for Launchpad | Kennedy Space Center

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 depart for the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft sitting on Launchpad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on April 27, 2022.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti later launched in this spacecraft alongside NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert “Bob” Hines and Jessica Watkins. Collectively, the astronauts are known as Crew-4.

During their journey to the orbital outpost Samantha and Jessica will serve as Mission Specialists, Kjell will be Commander and Bob will be the crew’s Pilot.

Samantha first flew to space in 2014 for her Italian Space Agency ASI-sponsored mission Futura. Her ESA space mission, known as Minerva, will officially begin once she reaches the Station.

Crew-4 will be welcomed by the International Space Station’s current crew, including ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. Samantha and Matthias will enjoy a brief handover in orbit before Matthias returns to Earth with Crew-3.

Throughout her mission, Samantha will hold the role of US Orbital Segment (USOS) lead, taking responsibility for all operations within the US, European, Japanese and Canadian modules and components of the Space Station. She will support around 35 European and many more international experiments in orbit.

For more about Samantha and her Minerva mission, visit the Minerva mission page: 

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Minerva

Caption & Image Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja/NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Capture Date: April 27, 2022

#NASA #ESA #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #CrewDragon #Freedom #ISS #Earth #Science #Astronaut #Astronauts #KjellLindgren #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #Minerva #Italy #Italia #Human #Spaceflight #Crew4 #CCP #LaunchComplex39A #Kennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education