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Launch of NASA's CAPSTONE Moon Mission | Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab has successfully launched NASA's CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) satellite to the Moon aboard their Electron rocket. Liftoff occurred at 5:55 AM EDT (09:55 UTC) on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, from Launch Complex 1B at Rocket Lab’s launch facility on Māhia Peninsula, New Zealand. This mission made Electron the smallest rocket to launch a payload toward the Moon and the first lunar flight to lift off from New Zealand. The second stage of the Electron placed the payload in an initial low Earth orbit. To propel the 25 kg (55 lbs) CubeSat to the moon, Rocket Lab’s Lunar Photon—optimized especially for Lunar missions—will give the payload the extra thrust needed to get it to the Moon. Powered by green-hypergolic propellants, its onboard Hypercurie engine will place the CAPSTONE satellite on a ballistic lunar transfer orbit. Once in the vicinity of the Moon, the CAPSTONE satellite will use its onboard propulsion systems to place itself in a Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit around it.
This is the first mission to launch that directly supports NASA’s Artemis program.
Like Gateway, CAPSTONE continues the tradition of NASA's commercial partnerships, including American small businesses. The spacecraft was built and tested by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., a Terran Orbital Corporation in Irvine, California, operated by Advanced Space, and was launched by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California.
The People at Rocket Lab Behind NASA's CAPSTONE Moon Mission
Rocket Lab: "Going to the Moon is no small feat. Our team has been working on the historic CAPSTONE mission for more than 2 years, developing innovative tech to help us explore the Moon and beyond with small sats. Here is just a tiny glimpse of our incredible people behind the mission."
CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a new small satellite that will explore a unique orbit around the Moon, and blaze a trail for future lunar exploration. CAPSTONE will test a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon and lead the way for our future Artemis lunar space station, called Gateway.
CAPSTONE is scheduled to launch on June 28 at 5:55 a.m. EDT (9:55 UTC) on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Watch live June 28 at 5 a.m. EDT (9 UTC) on NASA TV: NASA.gov/NASATV and on NASA social media.
Like Gateway, CAPSTONE continues the tradition of commercial partnerships, including American small businesses. The spacecraft was built and tested by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., a Terran Orbital Corporation in Irvine, California, operated by Advanced Space, and will be launched by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California.
China Manned Space Agency Releases Photos Shot in Space
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) has released its first batch of photos captured by Shenzhou-13 taikonauts, Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, aboard China's Tiangong Space Station. They show splendid views of space during their six-month mission that was completed on April 16, 2022.
Wang Yaping is China's second female astronaut or taikonaut. On November 7, 2021, Wang Yaping became China's first female spacewalker. Wang became China's second female spacefarer as a member of the Shenzhou 10 spaceship crew when it orbited the Earth in June 2013.
China's Tiangong Space Station is expected to be fully assembled in 2022.
Credit: China's Manned Space Agency (CMSA)/China Global Television Network (CGTN)
The Belize Barrier Reef captured by European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy from aboard the International Space Station.
Belize is a country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It borders Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly 300 meters (980 ft) offshore in the north and 40 kilometers (25 mi) in the south within the country limits. The Belize Barrier Reef is a 300-kilometer (190 mi) long section of the 900-kilometer (560 mi) Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, which is continuous from Cancún on the north-eastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula through the Riviera Maya and down to Honduras, making it the second largest coral reef system in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. [Wikipedia]
Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)
NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)
European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)
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 Astronaut Jessica Watkins Talks with California TV Station
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight event June 27, 2022, with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, California. Watkins is in the midst of a science expedition mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory. The goal of her mission is 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.
NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins' Official Biography:
Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)
NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)
European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)
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 CAPSTONE Mission to the Moon: Preparing for Rocket Lab Launch
CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a new small satellite that will explore a unique orbit around the Moon, and blaze a trail for future lunar exploration. CAPSTONE will test a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon and lead the way for our future Artemis lunar space station, called Gateway.
CAPSTONE is scheduled to launch on June 28 at 5:55 a.m. EDT (9:55 UTC) on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Watch live June 28 at 5 a.m. EDT (9 UTC) on NASA TV: NASA.gov/NASATV and on NASA social media.
Like Gateway, CAPSTONE continues the tradition of commercial partnerships, including American small businesses. The spacecraft was built and tested by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc., a Terran Orbital Corporation in Irvine, California, operated by Advanced Space, and will be launched by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California.
Globular Cluster NGC 6569: An Astronomical Treasure Trove | Hubble
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the sparkling globular cluster NGC 6569 in the constellation Sagittarius. Hubble explored the heart of this cluster with both its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing a glittering hoard of stars in this astronomical treasure trove.
Globular clusters are stable, tightly bound clusters containing tens of thousands to millions of stars, and are associated with all types of galaxies. The intense gravitational attraction of these closely packed clusters of stars means that globular clusters have a regular spherical shape with a densely populated center—as can be seen in the heart of this star-studded image.
This observation comes from an investigation of globular clusters which lie close to the center of the Milky Way. These objects have been avoided in previous surveys, as the dust spread throughout the center of our galaxy blocks light from these globular clusters and alters the colors of the stars residing in them. The last factor is particularly important for astronomers studying stellar evolution, as the colors of stars can give astronomers insights into their ages, compositions, and temperatures.
The astronomers who proposed these observations combined data from Hubble with data from astronomical archives, allowing them to measure the ages of globular clusters including NGC 6569. Their research also provided insights into the structure and density of globular clusters towards the center of the Milky Way.
Globular Cluster NGC 6569: An Astronomical Treasure Trove | Hubble
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the sparkling globular cluster NGC 6569 in the constellation Sagittarius. Hubble explored the heart of this cluster with both its Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, revealing a glittering hoard of stars in this astronomical treasure trove.
Globular clusters are stable, tightly bound clusters containing tens of thousands to millions of stars, and are associated with all types of galaxies. The intense gravitational attraction of these closely packed clusters of stars means that globular clusters have a regular spherical shape with a densely populated center—as can be seen in the heart of this star-studded image.
This observation comes from an investigation of globular clusters which lie close to the center of the Milky Way. These objects have been avoided in previous surveys, as the dust spread throughout the center of our galaxy blocks light from these globular clusters and alters the colors of the stars residing in them. The last factor is particularly important for astronomers studying stellar evolution, as the colors of stars can give astronomers insights into their ages, compositions, and temperatures.
The astronomers who proposed these observations combined data from Hubble with data from astronomical archives, allowing them to measure the ages of globular clusters including NGC 6569. Their research also provided insights into the structure and density of globular clusters towards the center of the Milky Way.
Our Earth: June 21, 2022: Summer Solstice | NOAA/NASA DSCOVR
These are "EPIC" Earth images from the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States.
These color views of Earth were taken on June 21, 2022, on the summer solstice by the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope from one million miles away—beyond the Moon's orbit.
Earth orbits at an angle, so half the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun—this is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The other half of the year, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, creating winter in the north and summer in the south.
Solstices happen twice per year, at the points in Earth’s orbit where this tilt is most pronounced. These days are the longest (in the summer hemisphere) and shortest (in the winter hemisphere) of the year, and mark the change of seasons to summer and winter, respectively.
The Deep Space Climate Observatory is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) space weather, space climate, and Earth observation satellite at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point. It was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 11, 2015, from Cape Canaveral in Florida. This is NOAA's first operational deep space satellite and became its primary system of warning Earth in the event of solar magnetic storms. [Wikipedia]
Video Credit: NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
NASA's Quesst to Build X-59 Research Aircraft: Speed Never Sounded So Quiet
NASA's aeronautical innovators are leading a government-industry team to collect data that could make supersonic flight over land possible, dramatically reducing travel time in the United States or anywhere in the world.
The Quesst mission has two goals: 1) design and build NASA’s X-59 research aircraft with technology that reduces the loudness of a sonic boom to a gentle thump to people on the ground; and 2) fly the X-59 over select U.S. communities to gather data on human responses to the sound generated during supersonic flight and deliver that data set to U.S. and international regulators.
Using this data, new sound-based rules regarding supersonic flight over land can be written and adopted, which would open the doors to new commercial cargo and passenger markets to provide faster-than-sound air travel.
Elements of NASA's Quesst mission are organized within two of the agency's aeronautics programs—the Advanced Air Vehicles Program and the Integrated Aviation Systems Program—and managed by a systems project office whose members span both programs and all four of NASA's aeronautical research field centers: Langley Research Center in Virginia; Glenn Research Center in Cleveland; and Ames Research Center and Armstrong Flight Research Center, which are both located in California.
How China will Complete the Tiangong Space Station in 2022
"Welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour! In this video, we describe step-by-step how the Chinese Space Station will be fully assembled in 2022 and adopt its final T-shape configuration."
"At the end, we also speculate on what the Space Station could look like in the future if extended 😉"
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Outters 4 is a bipolar nebula (seen in blue) that is embedded in the giant HII emission nebula Sh2-129 (seen in red). It was discovered by amateur astronomer Nicolas Outters. It is not yet clear if Outters 4 is associated with HR 8119, the bright star at the center of the image. The image was generated with observations in Hydrogen alpha (red) and Sulphur [S II] (blue) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.
Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
June 21 marked the official start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The summer solstice—the longest day and shortest night of the year—occurred at 5:14 a.m. EDT.
The seasons change at various times of the year due to the planet’s axial tilt of 23.5 degrees as it orbits the sun. This tilt means the two hemispheres are exposed to different sun angles and variable lengths of daylight throughout the year. The solstices mark when the sun reaches its most northerly or southerly position relative to the Earth’s equator.
Thus, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the exact moment each year when this region of Earth reaches its greatest possible tilt toward the sun. The sun's direct rays reach their northernmost position with respect to Earth's equator, along the Tropic of Cancer, at 23.5 degrees north latitude. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the North Pole experiences 24 hours of daylight, while the South Pole is obscured in darkness. The opposite occurs at each pole in December, when the Northern Hemisphere sees its shortest day and longest night of the year.
Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Ian Inverarity: "Road sign by moonlight, north of Hawker in southern Australia. Calm when I left Hawker, it was windy on Moralana Scenic Drive, so I turned back. When I got to this sign, the wind had mostly gone."
Technical details:
Special effect lens. This is a 35mm Laowa lens at f/0.95.
It lets in a lot of light, but is not very sharp at all at f/0.95!
European Space Agency (ESA) Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy: "Who says you can’t do yoga in space! At least you can try."
On the occasion of International Yoga Day 2022, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gave an insight into a yoga practice aboard the International Space Station.
ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Official Biography
Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)
NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)
European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)
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.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/ESA/Samantha Cristoforetti
NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy Discusses Historic SpaceX Crew Dragon Test Flight
In this week's episode of "Down to Earth," NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Warren "Woody" Hoburg discuss the NASA and SpaceX Demo-2 mission, human spaceflight history, and the challenges of spacewalking.
NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission on May 30, 2020, was the first launch with astronauts of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
Chris Cassidy's Spaceflight Experience:
STS‐127 (July 15 through July 31, 2009)
ISS Expedition 35 (March 28 through September 10, 2013)
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.
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