The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse

"What is the meaning of life? That was all—a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years, the great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead, there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark; here was one."

—Virginia Woolf

The Fading Milky Way

Light pollution is a growing environmental problem that threatens to erase the night sky before its time. A recent study revealed that perhaps two-thirds of the world's population can no longer look upwards at night and see the Milky Way—a hazy swath of stars that on warm summer nights spans the sky from horizon to horizon.

The Milky Way is dimming, not because the end of the Universe is near, but rather as a result of light pollution: the inadvertent illumination of the atmosphere from street lights, outdoor advertising, homes, schools, airports and other sources. Every night billions of bulbs send their energy skyward where microscopic bits of matter—air molecules, airborne dust, and water vapor droplets—reflect much of the wasted light back to Earth. 

(Source: NASA)

Learn more:

International Dark-Sky Association

https://www.darksky.org/light-pollution

Globe at Night

https://www.globeatnight.org

Night Sky Network (NASA JPL)

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm

Image Credit: Marcel Weber

Follow Marcel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tales.of.the.north_/

Location: Iceland

Image Date: October 7, 2021

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Stars #MilkyWay #Galaxy #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #Iceland #Ísland #Astrophotography #Photography #STEM #Education

Trifid Nebula | Gemini North Telescope

Trifid Nebula | Gemini North Telescope

Image of the central region of the Trifid Nebula (M20 in the Messier Catalogue) taken by the Gemini North 8-meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii, June 5, 2002. Located in the constellation of Sagittarius, the beautiful nebula is a much-photographed, dynamic cloud of gas and dust where stars are being born. One of the massive stars at the nebula's center was born approximately 100,000 years ago. The nebula's distance from the Solar System remains in dispute, but it is generally agreed to be somewhere between 2,200 to 9,000 light years away.

Credit: Gemini Observatory/GMOS Image/National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)/National Science Foundation (NSF)

Release Date: Aug. 4, 2002

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Nebula #TrifidNebula #M20 #Sagittarius #Constellation #Gemini #GeminiNorth #Telescope #Science #Optical #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #JPL #Caltech #Maunakea #Hawaii #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA F-15D Eagle Aircraft Test Flight | Armstrong Flight Research Center

NASA F-15D Eagle Aircraft Test Flight | Armstrong Flight Research Center

These are award-winning photos of NASA test pilots Jim Less and Nils Larson flying heavily modified F-15D Eagle aircraft built by Boeing (formerly McDonnell Douglas).

NASA's Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center currently flies F-15D Eagle aircraft for research support and pilot proficiency. NASA research support aircraft are commonly called chase planes and fill the role of escort aircraft during research missions. Chase pilots are in constant radio contact with research pilots and serve as an "extra set of eyes" to help maintain total flight safety during specific tests and maneuvers. They monitor certain events for the research pilot and are an important safety feature on all research missions. The F-15Ds are also used by Armstrong research pilots for routine flight training required by all NASA pilots.

NASA Armstrong’s Flight Research Center is honoring 75 years of advancing technology and science through flight.

Stay updated with NASA Armstrong’s 75th anniversary celebrations: 

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/about/75years/index.html

The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is an aeronautical research center. Its primary campus is located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California and is considered NASA's premier site for aeronautical research. 

Learn more about the Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) in California:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/home/index.html

Credit: NASA Armstrong’s Flight Research Center

Image Date: July 13, 2021

#NASA #Aerospace #Flight #Aviation #Aircraft #F15 #F15D #F15Eagle #Science #Physics #Engineering #Civilian #Research #Aeronautical #FlightTests #Boeing #McDonnellDouglas #Armstrong #AFRC #EdwardsAFB #California #UnitedStates #Photography #STEM #Education

To Mars & Back Again: A Rock's Tale with Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa! | NASA

To Mars & Back Again: A Rock's Tale with Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa! | NASA

Our guest is Dr. Meenakshi “Mini” Wadhwa, professor and the Director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University (ASU). She's a planetary scientist and isotope cosmochemist interested in the time scales and processes involved in the formation and evolution of the Solar System and planets, and she was also a recent keynote speaker for the Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon). Beyond being an expert in planetary materials like meteorites, Dr. Wadhwa is also the Principal Scientist for NASA's Mars Sample Return (MSR) program.

What is Ask An Astrobiologist?

Once a month, SAGANet (https://www.saganet.org) and the NASA Astrobiology Program host a program called "Ask an Astrobiologist", where the public is invited to interact with a high-profile astrobiologist, who replies to Twitter and YouTube comment questions live on video. Each session lasts about an hour.

Ask An Astrobiologist: Episode 50

To Mars & Back Again: A Rock's Tale

Featuring Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa (Arizona State University)

Hosted by Dr. Graham Lau (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science)

Video Credit: NASA Astrobiology

Production Assistants:

Sarah Treadwell (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science)

Anurup Mohanty (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science)

Mariam Naseem (Blue Marble Space Institute of Science)

Directed by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program)

Illustrations by Aaron Gronstal (NASA Astrobiology Program)

Music & Animation by Mike Toillion (NASA Astrobiology Program)

Duration: 58 minutes

Release Date: July 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Astrobiology #Chemistry #Geology #Mars #MSR #Planet #Scientist #MeenakshiWadhwa #Interview #Pioneer #Women #ASU #Arizona #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Pleiades Star Cluster | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (Infrared)

The Pleiades Star Cluster | NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (Infrared)

Before the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was the largest infrared telescope in space. This is a color composite image of the Pleiades star cluster and surrounding region produced by Inseok Song of the Spitzer Science Center. The image was created by combining B, R and I band images from individual second generation Digital Sky Survey images into blue, green and red image layers, respectively. 

The Pleiades, also known as The Seven Sisters, Messier 45, and other names by different cultures, is an asterism and an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars in the north-west of the constellation Taurus.

The cluster is dominated by hot blue luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Reflection nebulae around the brightest stars were once thought to be left over material from their formation, but are now considered likely to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the stars are currently passing.

The Spitzer Space Telescope (formerly SIRTF, the Space Infrared Telescope Facility) was launched by a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 25, 2003. Consisting of a 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically-cooled science instruments, Spitzer was the largest infrared space telescope before the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched in December 2021. The telescope was named in honor of American astronomer, Lyman Spitzer, who had promoted the concept of space telescopes in the 1940s. The retired Spitzer was the first observatory to provide high-resolution images of the near- and mid-infrared Universe. Webb, by virtue of its significantly larger primary mirror and improved detectors, will allow us to see the infrared sky with improved clarity (better spatial resolution), enabling even more discoveries.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, managed the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Science operations were conducted at the Spitzer Science Center, at Caltech, in Pasadena, California. Spacecraft operations were based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colorado. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at Caltech/IPAC. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

Credit: Inseok Song/Digital Sky Survey/Spitzer Space Telescope/JPL/Caltech

Image Release Date: Nov. 14, 2007

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Pleiades #Messier45 #Taurus #Constellation #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Cosmos #Universe #Spitzer #SpaceTelescope #Telescope #Infrared #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Mars Perseverance & Curiosity Rovers—New July 2022 Images | JPL

NASA's Mars Perseverance & Curiosity Rovers—New July 2022 Images | JPL

MSL - Sol 3522 - Mastcam

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Sunrise on Kukenán Hill - MSL - sol 3522

Kukenán Hill is the stratified hill on the left, its slopes still in shadow. This hill is 125 m high and 1.3 km far from Curiosity rover.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Thomas Appéré

   Mars2020 - Sol 489 - Mastcam-Z

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill 

Mars2020-sol 489-Mastcam Z-Left

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Del-4Ri

MSL-MastCam-sol3523-right MastCam

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/PipploIMP

    MSL-ChemCam-sol3523-MastCam-Image B

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/PipploIMP

MSL-ChemCam-sol3523-MastCam-Image A

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/PipploIMP

July 8, 2022 Update for Curiosity Rover: Sols 3528-3529: Everyone Gets to Savor the Avanavero Flavors!

Both the CheMin and SAM instruments have dined on the Avanavero drill samples and have decided their appetites are sated. CheMin has completed X-ray diffraction mineralogical analysis of the Avanavero drill sample, and SAM their Evolved Gas Analysis. Both instrument teams are satisfied with their analyses and SAM are not opting to do a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry run. Now it is the turn of MAHLI, APXS and ChemCam to investigate the flavour of the drill fines around the Avanavero drill hole for texture and chemistry, finishing up observations at this site before we drive away next week. The composition of the drill fines determined by APXS and ChemCam will help the CheMin and SAM teams refine interpretations of their data. The science team are all eagerly awaiting their results as we drive through this interesting transition from clay-bearing to sulfate-bearing strata.

Source: Lucy Thompson, Planetary Geologist at University of New Brunswick

Perseverance Rover July 7, 2022 Update: Searching for Sand Transport

"Perseverance is currently stopped for sampling at Skinner Ridge rock. Sampling activities constitute an important aspect of Perseverance’s mission, and the rover’s strategic path is developed around sampling stops. During these stops, the rover must remain stationary for at least twelve sols in order to conduct proximity science and activities related to abrasion and coring. But being parked in one location for this extended period of time is also useful for something else. "

"Sampling stops provide rare opportunities to conduct “change detection” experiments, which are used to monitor wind-driven — or aeolian — transport of sand. The basic concept behind change detection is simple: compare identical images of the surface acquired at different times to search for wind-induced movement of sand. These observations can be used to deduce information about the relative strength and direction of winds blowing in the time between the two images. Sand deposits and aeolian bedforms (such as the sand ripples seen in the accompanying Mastcam-Z image) are ideal targets for change detection."

Source: Mariah Baker, Planetary Scientist at Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

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

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov

Image Release Dates: July 4-8, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Jezero #Crater #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Perseverance #Curiosity #Rovers #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

Peter Cullen & The James Webb Telescope: One Transformer Meets Another | NASA

Peter Cullen & The James Webb Telescope: One Transformer Meets Another | NASA

One “Transformer” meets another!

Enjoy this short trailer for our upcoming broadcast of Webb’s first full-color images and data on July 12! Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime from TRANSFORMERS, says hello to the James Webb Space Telescope—which unfolded like a “Transformer” in space!

Special thanks to Peter Cullen!

Peter Cullen IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191520/

The Transformers [Movie] (2007): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418279

The Transformers Animated TV Series (1984): 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086817/

Catch the Webb space telescope’s first full-color images on NASA TV: NASA.gov/NASATV 

You can also check out: https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

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

Credit: NASA Goddard

Lead Producer: Michael McClare

Duration: 22 seconds

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JamesWebb #WebbTelescope #JWST #Telescope #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Ready for the Webb Space Telescope’s First Full-Color Images | This Week @NASA

Ready for the Webb Space Telescope’s First Full-Color Images | This Week @NASA

This Week @NASA: Ready to showcase the Webb space telescope’s first full-color images, back in touch with a spacecraft on an important mission to the Moon, and our Artemis I Moon rocket and spacecraft move a step closer to launch . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Catch the Webb space telescope’s first full-color images on NASA TV: NASA.gov/NASATV 

You can also check out: 

https://www.nasa.gov/webbfirstimages

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

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 

Producer: Andre Valentine

Editor: Lacey Young

Music: Universal Production Music

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: July 8, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Artemis #Moon #ISS #Astronomy #Space #Science #JamesWebb #Webb #Telescope #JWST #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Mars: Layering in Danielson Crater | NASA MRO

Mars: Layering in Danielson Crater | NASA MRO

This image shows a classic example of Martian sedimentary rock in Danielson Crater. The many layers of rock are regularly spaced, forming steps; this implies a series of strong cap layers alternating with weaker layers.

At small scale, much of the rock is heavily fractured. Because the fractured pieces neatly fit together, this occurred after the deposit turned to rock.

It is not known with certainty how these rocks formed, but the regularity of the layers suggests a process that repeated many times, perhaps on annual or longer timescales. This suggests that the layers did not accumulate in a series of random events, as layers of crater ejecta might.

Danielson Crater is an impact crater in the Oxia Palus quadrangle on Mars at 7.93° N and 7.11° W. and is 66.7 km in diameter, and is north of the Meridiani Planum, south of Arabia Terra and west of the planet's meridia. Its name was approved in 2009. The crater was named after American engineer G. Edward Danielson. [Wikipedia]

Enhanced color image is less than 1 km (under a mile) top to bottom and is 276 km (171 mi) above the surface. North is to the right.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is the second longest-lived spacecraft to orbit Mars, after 2001 Mars Odyssey. It has been studying the Red Planet since March 2006. The spacecraft collects and relays daily science and weather data. It also scouts for landing locations for Mars landers and serves as a critical relay station for science beamed back from the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on MRO, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.

Credit: NASA/JPL/UArizona

Release Date: March 9, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Geology #Danielson #Crater #SedimentaryRock #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education

The Horsehead Nebula

The Horsehead Nebula

This exceptional image of the Horsehead Nebula was taken at the National Science Foundation's 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak with the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) Mosaic CCD camera. Located in the constellation of Orion, the Hunter, the Horsehead is part of a dense cloud of gas in front of an active star-forming nebula known as IC434. The nebulosity of the Horsehead is believed to be excited by the bright star Sigma Orionis, which is located above the top of the image. Just off the left side of the image is the bright star Zeta Orionis, which is the easternmost of the three stars that form Orion's belt. Zeta Orionis is a foreground star, and is not related to the nebula.

The streaks in the nebulosity that extend above the Horsehead are likely due to magnetic fields within the nebula. Close study reveals that many more stars are visible in the top half of the image. Stars in the lower half of the image are obscured by a dark cloud of hydrogen gas. The edge of this large cloud is the horizontal strip of glowing gas that bisects the image. The Horsehead is located about 1,600 light-years away from Earth.

The area shown in this image is quite large on the sky, covering about five times the area of the full Moon. This false-color image was created by combining emission-line images taken in hydrogen-alpha (red), oxygen [OIII] (green) and sulfur [SII] (blue).

Credit: T.A.Rector - National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab) / National Science Foundation (NSF) / Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Hubble Heritage Team - Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) / AURA / NASA

Release Date: November 23, 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebula #IC434 #HorseheadNebula #Stars #SigmaOrionis #ZetaOrionis #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Observatory #Telescope #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #KittPeak #NationalObservatory #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

U.S. Marine Astronauts Maj. Jasmin “Jaws” Moghbeli & Col. Nicole “Duke” Mann

U.S. Marine Astronauts Maj. Jasmin “Jaws” Moghbeli & Col. Nicole “Duke” Mann

Award-nominated portrait of United States Marine Corps NASA astronauts Major Jasmin “Jaws” Moghbeli (left) and Lieutenant Colonel Nicole “Duke” Mann (right). Both are part of NASA's Artemis team dedicated to Moon exploration. They are laughing together during a photoshoot for a "Leatherneck: Magazine of the Marines" cover story. Moghbeli is a naval aviator and aerospace engineer. Mann is a naval aviator and a mechanical engineer. Moghbeli and Mann are U.S. combat veterans.

Download Free Adobe PDF copy of Leatherneck: Magazine of the Marines - October 2021 Issue with a feature article on Moghbeli & Mann: https://mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/LNK-October-2021.pdf (see front cover and article on pages 37-43)

Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli Official NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jasmin-moghbeli

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jasmin-moghbeli/biography

Astronaut Nicole Mann Official NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/nicole-a-mann

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/nicole-a-mann/biography

Image Credit: Friends of NASA Member Norah Moran of NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: June 22, 2021

#NASA #Space #Earth #Moon #Artemis #Astronauts #JasminMoghbeli #NicoleMann #USNavy #Marines #USMarines #USMC #Military #Aviators #Engineers #Women #Leaders #Pioneers #HumanSpaceflight #Houston #Texas #JSC #UnitedStates #LeatherneckMagazine #Photography #STEM #Education

NASA's Space to Ground: Cargo Countdown | Week of July 8, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground: Cargo Countdown | Week of July 8, 2022

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. NASA and SpaceX now are targeting no earlier than Thursday, July 14, 2022, for launch of the CRS-25 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Two veteran station crew members, European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti and Roscosmos Commander Oleg Artemyev, continued their preparations for an upcoming spacewalk. The duo from Italy and Russia will exit the station Poisk airlock at 10 a.m. on July 21, 2022, and spend approximately seven hours continuing to outfit the European robotic arm attached to the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module.

Learn more about the important research being operated on ISS:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on ISS:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Education

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

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.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Release Date: July 8, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceX #CrewDragon #CRS25 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #EVA #Spacewalk #Science #Technology #Engineering #Research #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #Italy #Italia #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #International #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China's Chang'e 4 Moon Probe Continues Third Year of Work at Lunar South Pole

China's Chang'e 4 Moon Probe Continues Third Year of Work at Lunar South Pole

The lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe were again switched to dormant mode on July 6, 2022, for the lunar night after working stably for a 44th lunar day. The lander was switched to dormant mode at 06:00 on July 6 (Beijing Time), and the rover, Yutu-2, at 19:14 on July 5. The lunar rover has traveled 1,239.88 meters on the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-4 probe, launched on December 8, 2018, made the first-ever soft landing on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on Jan 3, 2019. The Chang'e-4 lander and the rover Yutu-2 have been working for more than three years on the far side of the moon, collecting over 3,800 Gigabyte of scientific data.

The previous Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: July 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #China #中国 #Change4 #嫦娥四号 #Lander #Yutu2 #Rover #Robotics #VonKarman #Crater #SouthPole #AitkenBasin #Exploration #STEM #Education #CGTN #HD #Video

Asteroid Bennu’s Surprising Surface Revealed | NASA OSIRIS-REx

Asteroid Bennu’s Surprising Surface Revealed | NASA OSIRIS-REx

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu is a rubble pile of rocks and boulders left over from the formation of the solar system. On October 20, 2020, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft briefly touched down on Bennu and collected a sample for return to Earth. During this “TAG event,” the spacecraft’s arm sank far deeper into the asteroid than expected, confirming that Bennu’s surface is incredibly weak. Now, scientists have used data from OSIRIS-REx to revisit the TAG event and better understand how Bennu’s loose upper layers are held together.

OSIRIS-REx Mission: 

http://www.asteroidmission.org

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Duration: 5 minutes, 37 seconds

Release Date: July 7, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OSIRISREx #Spacecraft #Asteroid #Bennu #ToBennuAndBack #Organics #Minerals #Mapping #SampleReturn #Technology #GSFC #CSA #JAXA #Japan #日本 #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Trash Disposal | International Space Station

Trash Disposal | International Space Station

A trash container is pictured on a trajectory away from the station.

The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as it is positioned away from the International Space Station.

The Nanoracks Bishop Airlock is pictured in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm as it is positioned away from the International Space Station. The commercial platform was being maneuvered prior to jettisoning a trash container for a fiery, but safe disposal above Earth's atmopshere. At right, the Canadarm2 is attached to the U.S. Destiny laboratory module as ground controllers remotely maneuver the robotic arm.

Bishop is a multi-faceted airlock attached to the Tranquility module used not only to discard trash, but also to host research payloads, deploy satellites, and serve as a testbed for a variety of space technologies. 

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Dates: July 2-3, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronauts #Nanoracks #BishopAirlock #Trash #Garbage #Disposal #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Laboratory #UnitedStates #Canada #ESA #Europe #Italy #Italia #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #International #STEM #Education

Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Pose for Fun | International Space Station

Expedition 67 Flight Engineers Pose for Fun | International Space Station

Expedition 67 Flight Engineers (clockwise from bottom) Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, and Bob Hines, all from NASA, and Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency), pose for a fun portrait inside their individual crew quarters aboard the International Space Station.

Learn more about the important research being operated on ISS:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on ISS:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Education

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

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 Date: July 2, 2022

Release Date: July 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronauts #JessicaWatkins #KjellLindgren #BobHines #SamanthaCristoforetti #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Research #Laboratory #UnitedStates #Canada #ESA #Europe #Italy #Italia #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #International #STEM #Education