Friends of NASA (FoN) is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.
Galaxies are the visible foundation of the universe; each one a collection of stars, planets, gas, dust, and dark matter held together by gravity. Hubble’s observations give us insight into how galaxies form, grow, and evolve through time.
Hubble’s namesake, astronomer Edwin Hubble, pioneered the study of galaxies based simply on their appearance. He divided galaxies into three basic forms.
This “Field Guide” will quickly teach you those three basic forms, and some new ones that astronomers have added over the years!
Images of Edwin Hubble via Edwin P. Hubble Papers of the Huntington Library, San Mario, California.
Music Credits:
“Gravity Cruise - Underscore” by Jon Buster Cottam [PRS], and Samuel William John Walker [PRS] via Ninja Tune Production Music, and Universal Production Music
NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkin's View of Earth | International Space Station
NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins floats in the International Space Station’s cupola, a direct nadir viewing window from which Earth and celestial objects are visible.
Watkins reported for duty in August 2017 and completed two years of training as an astronaut candidate. Her astronaut candidate training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in space station's systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, water and wilderness survival training, geology training, and expeditionary skills training.
Watkins also served as an aquanaut crew member in the Aquarius underwater habitat for the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, 23 mission in 2019.
Watkins is currently serving as a mission specialist on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, which launched on April 27, 2022.
NASA's Psyche Asteroid Mission Spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center
Mission Launch Expected: August 2022
Since its arrival on April 29, 2022, on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III large military transport aircraft, the Psyche spacecraft has moved into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where technicians removed it from its protective shipping container, rotated it to vertical, and have begun the final steps to prepare the spacecraft for launch. In the coming months, crews will perform a range of work including re-installing its solar arrays, re-integrating a radio, testing the telecommunications system, loading propellants, and encapsulating the spacecraft inside payload fairings before it leaves the facility and moves to the launch pad.
The Psyche spacecraft will explore a metal-rich asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, made largely of nickel-iron metal. The mission is targeting an Aug. 1, 2022 launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy. After arriving in 2026, the spacecraft will spend 21 months orbiting its namesake asteroid, mapping and gathering data, potentially providing insights on how planets with a metal core, including Earth, formed. The spacecraft will use solar-electric propulsion to travel approximately 1.5 billion miles to rendezvous with its namesake asteroid in 2026.
The Psyche mission is led by Arizona State University (ASU). NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and testing, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies in Palo Alto, California, provided the high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy, is managing the launch. Psyche will be the 14th mission in the agency's Discovery program and LSP’s 100th primary mission.
For more information about NASA’s Psyche mission go to:
Comparison: New James Webb Space Telescope vs. Spitzer Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope is aligned across all four of its science instruments, as seen in a previous engineering image showing the observatory’s full field of view. Now, we take a closer look at that same image, focusing on Webb’s coldest instrument: the Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI.
The MIRI test image (at 7.7 microns) shows part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way provided a dense star field to test Webb’s performance.
Here, a close-up of the MIRI image is compared to a past image of the same target taken with NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope’s Infrared Array Camera (at 8.0 microns). The retired Spitzer was the first observatory to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared Universe. The Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 and science operations ended in 2020. Webb, by virtue of its significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors, will allow us to see the infrared sky with improved clarity, enabling even more discoveries.
For example, Webb’s MIRI image shows the interstellar gas in unprecedented detail. Here, you can see the emission from ‘polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons’—molecules of carbon and hydrogen that play an important role in the thermal balance and chemistry of interstellar gas. When Webb is ready to begin science observations, studies such as these with MIRI will help give astronomers new insights into the birth of stars and protoplanetary systems.
In the meantime, the Webb team has begun the process of setting up and testing Webb’s instruments to begin science observations this summer. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is now experiencing all seasons—from hot to cold—as it undergoes the thermal stability test. Meanwhile, activities are underway for the final phase of commissioning: digging into the details of the science instruments, the heart of Webb. To complete commissioning, we will measure the detailed performance of the science instruments before we start routine science operations in the summer.
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). MIRI is part of Europe’s contribution to the Webb mission. It is a partnership between Europe and the USA; the main partners are ESA, a consortium of nationally funded European institutes, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the tattered remnant of a supernova—a titanic explosion marking the end of the life of a dying star. This object—known as DEM L249—is thought to have been created by a Type 1a supernova during the death throes of a white dwarf. While white dwarfs are usually stable, they can slowly accrue matter if they are part of a binary star system. This accretion of matter continues until the white dwarf reaches a critical mass and undergoes a catastrophic supernova explosion, ejecting a vast amount of material into space in the process.
DEM L249 lies in the constellation Mensa and is within the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way only 160,000 light-years from Earth. The LMC is an ideal natural laboratory where astronomers can study the births, lives, and deaths of stars, as this region is nearby, oriented towards Earth, and contains relatively little light-absorbing interstellar dust. The data in this image were gathered by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 instrument, and were obtained during a systematic search of the LMC for the surviving companions of white dwarf stars which have gone supernova.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, Y. Chu
Friends of NASA (FoN) is an independent non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to building international support for peaceful space exploration, commerce, scientific discovery, and STEM education.
The interacting galaxy pair NGC 1512 and NGC 1510 take center stage in this image from the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, a state-of-the-art wide-field imager on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. NGC 1512 has been in the process of merging with its smaller galactic neighbor for 400 million years, and this drawn-out interaction has ignited waves of star formation.
Credit:
Images and Videos: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA S. Brunier/Digitized Sky Survey 2, E. Slawik.
Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams: Spacewalks—Sensory Overload
In episode two of Down to Earth: Conversations, veteran astronaut Sunita Williams and environmental studies student Adrien Prouty explore what it is like to conduct a spacewalk on the International Space Station.
Expedition 14/15 (December 9, 2006 to June 22, 2007):
Sunita performed four spacewalks on the International Space Station totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes.
Expedition 32/33 (July 14 to November 18, 2012):
Sunita conducted three spacewalks to replace a component that relays power from the International Space Station's solar arrays to its systems, and to repair an ammonia leak on a station radiator.
Perseverance May 4, 2022 Update: One of the prime objectives of NASA's Mars Perseverance rover mission is to collect a diverse cache of rock samples for eventual return to Earth. Among the highest priority rocks to sample are those that make up the well-preserved delta located on the western side of Jezero crater. This delta was one of the key attributes that made this landing site so appealing in our search for ancient Martian life. Close examination of deltaic rocks is critical for interpreting their depositional environment and establishing whether this paleoenvironment may have been habitable.
Since landing in Jezero crater last year, the rover has been investigating and drilling crater floor rocks to add to the sample cache. However, the rover has not yet had access to coveted deltaic rocks—until now, that is. After conducting a “rapid traverse” toward the delta, Perseverance finally arrived at the delta front. Last week the rover parked at a site called Enchanted Lake, where the team was hopeful we might sample deltaic rocks for the very first time.
Unfortunately, the rover can only collect a finite number of samples so the team has to carefully weigh all options, keeping in mind what has already been sampled and also trying to anticipate what we might encounter along the rest of the traverse. Although we are eager to drill into the delta, we have to be judicious.
Therefore, our first action item at Enchanted Lake was to examine the rocks there using the rover’s remote science instruments in order to decide whether they fit the desired criteria for sampling. The rocks at this site displayed many distinct—and interesting—characteristics compared to the others we have studied thus far in Jezero. Yet, after a thorough assessment, the team decided to forego sampling at this location. It was a difficult decision to make, but we feel optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead. The data collected at Enchanted Lake will be used instead to build context for future investigations of the delta.
The rover is now headed east toward a location called Hawksbill Gap, another promising location for sampling the delta. While traversing along the delta front, Perseverance will continue to collect data to help characterize the contact between the crater floor and deltaic rocks before ascending onto the delta itself. What about our long-awaited sample of delta rocks? For that, we will have to wait a bit longer.
Mission Name: Mars 2020
Rover Name: Perseverance
Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.
Launch: July 30, 2020
Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars
Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Rover Name: Curiosity
Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.
Launch: November 6, 2011
Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars
For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov
Caption Credit: Mariah Baker, Planetary Scientist at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill/Elisabetta Bonora & Marco Faccin
The Landsat program conceived of in the 1960s, has been running longer than any remote sensing program. The idea was simple: position a satellite in a nearly polar orbit fixed to the solar angle so that each daytime pass would cross the equator at roughly the same local time.
Data representing bands of the spectrum are captured and processed into grayscale recordings, which can be combined to create natural looking views like this or false color views like this. Nine Landsat satellites have been launched in partnership with NASA since 1972.
Expectations were high when Landsat 1 carried two sensors into orbit. This view of Dallas, Texas, was the first cloudless image received. Landsat 1 data led to immediate and fundamental changes to practices of the cartographic and geographic communities. Country borders were redrawn and entire islands were discovered.
Imagery was received and processed at the new USGS EROS Center in South Dakota, which would become the hub of the Landsat archive for the next 50 years. The first three Landsats added a wealth of insight to many areas of science, from forestry and hydrology to cartography, environmental pollution and more.
Landsat 3 data was used in over 400 programs in 31 countries. Groups in Bolivia leaned on Landsat to discover new lithium deposits. Officials in Kenya monitored the relationship between cheetahs and cattle, and engineers in Pakistan studied silt patterns in the data to plan for a new seaport.
The second generation of Landsat was one of great technical innovation. The new thematic mapper sensor offered higher spatial resolution and additional bands, including a thermal band. Landsat 5 launched less than two years after Landsat 4. Landsat 5 was a workhorse for the program, contributing over 2.5 million scenes to the archive.
The Guinness Book of World Records took notice in 2013, marking it the world's longest operating Earth observation satellite. Landsat 7 added to the observation record with years of science value monitoring water quality, glacier recession, fire progression, flooding, population growth and more.
Landsat 8 launched in February 2013. A rapid expansion of science applications included fire observation, permafrost research, desert management, iceberg tracking, volcanic activity, lithium mining and much more. Landsat 9 launched in 2021. The Landsat satellites perform technical wonders in orbit.
However, without a global partnership on the ground, the data they collect would never make it to users. From the beginning, data collection and distribution was directed by the EROS Center in South Dakota. For 50 years, the USGS team at EROS has served the Landsat program by innovating through generations of technology and science.
The archive at EROS is currently home to over 10 million Landsat scenes and growing rapidly. To receive data from the satellite's EROS partners with global ground stations. The current Landsat 8 and 9 ground network consists of five receiving stations in four countries.
These stations download science and telemetry data, which eventually make their way to EROS. Ground stations can also upload commands. Further enriching Landsat's global partnership is the International Cooperative Network. An international cooperator is an international governmental organization with which the USGS enters into a formal agreement for the direct reception of Landsat data.
International cooperators serve their user community by providing direct access to Landsat data in real time and are integral to the Landsat program. Today, the network includes 13 active stations from ten organizations around the world and has contributed over 6.5 million Landsat scenes to the Landsat archive through the Landsat Global Archive Consolidation Initiative.
The USGS meets with the international cooperators twice a year to discuss operational management and technical matters. It is a valuable learning opportunity for every partner involved with Landsat. Together engineers, scientists, community managers and users across the globe have been central to the 50 year success of Landsat.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-3 Astronauts Return from the International Space Station
This Week @NASA—May 6, 2022: The Crew-3 astronauts return from the space station, the spacecraft for another commercial crew mission is on the move, and discussing NASA’s budget . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!
The SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Endurance spacecraft landed with NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer aboard, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Friday, May 6, 2022. Maurer, Marshburn, Chari, and Barron returned after 177 days in space as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Samantha & Jessica Talk with CBS News & CNN | International Space Station
Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins of NASA and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency (ESA) discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event May 6, 2022, with CBS News and CNN. Watkins and Cristoforetti are in the midst of a planned four-and-a-half month mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
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: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Spacecraft Arrives in Gulf of Mexico
NASA astronaut Kayla Barron is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship after she and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Friday, May 6, 2022. Maurer, Marshburn, Chari, and Barron returned after 177 days in space as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 onboard the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronaut Raja Chari greets friends after being helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.
NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn greets friends after being helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship.
From left to right, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthias Maurer, NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida.
Crew-3 received medical checks before the NASA astronauts took a helicopter ride to board a plane for Houston, Texas. Now that his mission has ended, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will return to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where he will participate in post-flight debriefings, provide samples for scientific evaluation and readapt to Earth’s gravity with the support of ESA experts.
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.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Night Landing in Gulf of Mexico
Support teams work around the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer aboard, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Tampa, Florida, Friday, May 6, 2022. Maurer, Marshburn, Chari, and Barron returned after 177 days in space as part of Expeditions 66 and 67 aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Teams on the Shannon recovery ship, including two fast boats, secured Dragon and ensured the spacecraft was safe for the recovery effort. As the fast boat teams completed their work, the recovery ship hoisted Dragon Endurance onto the main deck of Shannon with the astronauts inside. Once on the main deck, the crew was taken out of the spacecraft. They received medical checks before the NASA astronauts took a helicopter ride to board a plane for Houston.
Now that his mission has ended, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will return to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where he will participate in post-flight debriefings, provide samples for scientific evaluation and readapt to Earth’s gravity with the support of ESA experts.
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.
Week of May 6, 2022: The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron, plus European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer, home from the International Space Station splashed down off the coast of Florida, United States, on Friday, May 6, 2022.
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron home from the International Space Station splashed down off the coast of Florida, United States, on Friday, May 6, 2022 at 05:43 BST/06:43 CEST.
Its return marks the end of Crew-3’s almost six-month stay in orbit and the end of Matthias’s first mission, known as Cosmic Kiss.
Crew-3 undocked from the International Space Station in Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance at 06:20 BST/07:20 CEST Thursday, May 5.
When a Crew spacecraft splashes down, it is met by nearby ships with experts ready to bring it on board, open the hatch, and welcome the astronauts home. After initial medical checks, the crew is transported by helicopter to shore.
Now that his mission has come to an end, Matthias will return to ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, where he will participate in post-flight debriefings, provide samples for scientific evaluation and readapt to Earth’s gravity with the support of ESA experts.
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