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A Pair of Galaxies in Gravitational Conflict: Arp 86 | Hubble
This observation from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope showcases Arp 86, a peculiar pair of interacting galaxies which lies roughly 220 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Arp 86 is composed of the two galaxies NGC 7752 and NGC 7753—NGC 7753 is the large spiral galaxy dominating this image, and NGC 7752 is its smaller companion. The diminutive companion galaxy almost appears to be attached to NGC 7753, and it is this peculiarity that has earned the designation “Arp 86”—signifying that the galaxy pair appears in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies compiled by the astronomer Halton Arp in 1966. The gravitational squabble between the two galaxies is doomed to end catastrophically for NGC 7752. It will eventually either be flung out into intergalactic space or be entirely engulfed by its far larger neighbor.
Hubble observed Arp 86 as part of a larger effort to understand the connections between young stars and the clouds of cold gas in which they form. Hubble gazed into star clusters and clouds of gas and dust in a variety of environments dotted throughout nearby galaxies. Combined with measurements from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a gigantic radio telescope perched high in the Chilean Andes, these Hubble observations provide a treasure trove of data for astronomers working to understand how stars are born.
These observations helped sow the seeds of research by the NASA/European Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This telescope will study star formation in dusty regions such as the galaxies of Arp 86.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble and NASA, Dark Energy Survey, J. Dalcanton
Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
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.
Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
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.
Orion is Back in Florida After Artemis I Moon Mission | This Week at NASA
The Orion spacecraft is back in Florida after Artemis I, a direct deposit on Mars, and an insightful mission comes to an end. These are a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!
Arturo Campos: The Man Behind the Artemis Moonikin | NASA
The Purposeful Passengers consist of one manikin and two phantoms that flew aboard the Orion spacecraft during NASA's Artemis I Moon Mission in order to collect important data that will prepare astronauts for future Artemis missions.
The manikin was used to study vibrations and accelerations during the flight and was named Commander Moonikin Campos after NASA held a public naming contest in June 2021. The name "Campos" is a dedication to Arturo Campos, a Mexican-American electrical engineer who worked for NASA’s Johnson Space Center and contributed to the rescue of the Apollo 13 mission and crew.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program: Leading the Way in Human Spaceflight
For more than a decade, NASA’s groundbreaking Commercial Crew Program (CCP) has led the way toward a new era in human spaceflight, impacting the agency and industry in tremendous ways. Together with commercial partners Boeing and SpaceX, CCP is delivering on its goal to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective human space transportation to and from the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, enabling NASA to maximize station utilization, and highlighting the benefits of NASA’s commercial model with industry.
The Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is a project in which NASA is working with business partners to build rockets and spacecraft. The Commercial Crew Program has made it possible for astronauts to launch to space from the United States again.
Learn more about NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP):
Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
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 Wind Tunnels: AETC Portfolio 2022 Year in Review
NASA Wind Tunnels: AETC Portfolio 2022 Year in Review—A highlight of The Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities Portfolio (AETC) annual review featuring NASA's aerospace ground testing, wind tunnel facilities, mission accomplishments, new capabilities, and sustainability of the portfolio's test facilities in 2022.
Learn more about NASA's Aerosciences Evaluation and Test Capabilities (AETC):
What an Astronaut Needs to Know: Flight Control, Space Weather & Debris | ESA
Recently, Andreas Mogensen, now getting ready for his ‘Huginn’ mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023, stopped by the European Space Agency’s European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, to meet with experts who keep Europe's satellites flying. Andreas was the first Danish astronaut to go to space!
Andreas usually works at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston as an ISS ‘capcom’, and we do not often see him in Europe. A few months back, while returning to Germany for some training at ESA’s Astronaut Centre in Cologne, we seized the opportunity to ask him if he would like to stop over in Darmstadt for a look behind the scenes at mission control, and he immediately answered, ‘Yes’!
Andreas’ studied aeronautical engineering with a focus on ‘guidance, navigation and control of spacecraft’ and we thought he would be delighted to meet with the teams at mission control doing precisely that sort of work for our robotic missions.
We figured he would also enjoy meeting colleagues from our Space Safety program, especially the ones working on space debris and space weather, as these are crucial areas that influence the daily life of astronauts on the ISS.
Andreas met with Bruno Sousa and Julia Schwartz, who help keep ESA's Solar Orbiter healthy and on track on its mission to gather the closest-ever images of the Sun, observe the solar wind and our Star’s polar regions, helping unravel the mysteries of the solar cycle.
He also met with Stijn Lemmens, one of the analysts keeping tabs on the space debris situation in orbit, and Melanie Heil, a scientist helping ESA understand how space weather and our active Sun can affect missions in orbit and crucial infrastructure—like power grids—on ground.
We hope you enjoy this lively and informative day at mission control as much as Andreas and the teams at ESOC did!
133 Days on The Sun: Solar Dynamics Observatory | NASA Goddard
This video chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the Sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly 13 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system.
With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. Compiling images taken 108 seconds apart, the movie condenses 133 days, or about four months, of solar observations into 59 minutes. The video shows bright active regions passing across the face of the Sun as it rotates. The Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days. The loops extending above the bright regions are magnetic fields that have trapped hot, glowing plasma. These bright regions are also the source of solar flares, which appear as bright flashes as magnetic fields snap together in a process called magnetic reconnection.
While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed toward the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. Some of the dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. Other blackouts are caused by instrumentation being down or data errors. SDO transmits 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground every day. The images where the Sun is off-center were observed when SDO was calibrating its instruments.
SDO and other NASA missions will continue to watch our Sun in the years to come, providing further insights about our place in space and information to keep our astronauts and assets safe.
Expedition 68: New Crew & Spacecraft Images | International Space Station
NASA astronaut Nicole Mann poses with a spacesuit
Astronaut Koichi Wakata (Japan) poses with a spacesuit
SpaceX Dragon cargo craft is docked to the International Space Station
Cygnus space freighter's cymbal-shaped UltraFlex solar array
Jan. 4, 2022 Crew Update: NASA Flight Engineer Nicole Mann partnered with NASA Flight Engineer Frank Rubio during the afternoon continuing to load the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship with cargo ahead of its return to Earth next week. The duo, along with NASA Flight Engineer Josh Cassada and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), will accelerate its cargo activities going into the weekend finally loading sensitive research samples for analysis on Earth into Dragon before it undocks on Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, at 5:05 p.m. EST.
Expedition 68 Crew
Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Anna Kikina & Dmitri Petelin
NASA: Flight Engineers Nicole Mann, Frank Rubio & Josh Cassada
JAXA (Japan): Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata
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 Joint Extravehicular Activity & Human Surface Mobility Program Test Team
The Joint Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program Test Team (JETT) is a specialized group that develops, integrates, and executes tests and analog missions that enable the Artemis Campaign Development (ACD) mission.
JETT3 is the final test in the JETT integrated test plan series for 2022, which is a fully integrated mission scale test to ensure successful surface operations and technology development for Artemis III. JETT is led out of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The group is sponsored by Johnson’s Extravehicular Activity & Human Surface Mobility Program (EHP) in collaboration with the Science Mission Directorate (SMD).
“Walt Cunningham was a fighter pilot, physicist, and an entrepreneur—but, above all, he was an explorer. On Apollo 7, the first launch of a crewed Apollo mission, Walt and his crewmates made history, paving the way for the Artemis Generation we see today,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA will always remember his contributions to our nation’s space program and sends our condolences to the Cunningham family.”
Cunningham was born March 16, 1932, in Creston, Iowa. He graduated from Venice High School, in Venice, California, before going on to receive a Bachelor of Arts with honors in physics in 1960 and a Master of Arts with distinction in physics in 1961 from the University of California at Los Angeles. He then completed a doctorate in physics with exception of thesis at the Advanced Management Program in the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1974.
Former Astronaut Walt Cunningham's Official NASA Biography:
The Cunningham family offered the following statement: “We would like to express our immense pride in the life that he lived, and our deep gratitude for the man that he was – a patriot, an explorer, pilot, astronaut, husband, brother, and father. The world has lost another true hero, and we will miss him dearly.”
He joined the Navy in 1951 and served on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring with the rank of colonel. He flew 54 missions as a night fighter pilot in Korea. He worked as a scientist for the Rand Corporation for three years. While with Rand, he worked on classified defense studies and problems related to the Earth's magnetosphere. Cunningham has accumulated more than 4,500 hours of flying time in 40 different aircraft, including more than 3,400 in jet aircraft.
Cunningham was selected as an astronaut in 1963 as part of NASA's third astronaut class.
“On behalf of NASA's Johnson Space Center, we are beholden to Walt's service to our nation and dedication to the advancement of human space exploration,” said Vanessa Wyche, center director. “Walt's accomplished legacy will continue to serve as an inspiration to us all.”
Prior to his assignment to the Apollo 7 crew, Cunningham was on the prime crew for Apollo 2 until it was cancelled and the backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 1.
Cunningham was designated the lunar module pilot for the 11-day flight of Apollo 7, which launched on Oct. 11, 1968 and was the first human flight test of the Apollo spacecraft. With Walter M. Schirra, Jr. and Donn F. Eisele, he tested maneuvers necessary for docking and lunar orbit rendezvous using the third stage of their Saturn IB launch vehicle. The crew successfully completed eight tests, igniting the service module engine, measuring the accuracy of performance of all spacecraft systems, and providing the first live television transmission of onboard crew activities. The 263-hour, 4.5-million-mile flight splashed down Oct. 22, 1968, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Cunningham’s last assignment at NASA Johnson was chief of the Skylab branch of the Flight Crew Directorate. In this capacity, he was responsible for the operational inputs for five major pieces of manned space hardware, two different launch vehicles and 56 major experiments that comprised the Skylab Program.
Cunningham retired from NASA in 1971 and would go on to lead multiple technical and financial organizations. He served in senior leadership roles with Century Development Corp., Hydrotech Development Company, and 3D International. Cunningham also was a longtime investor and entrepreneur, organizing small businesses and private investment firms. He also was a frequent keynote speaker and radio talk show host.
His numerous awards include the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal. For his service he was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame, International Space Hall of Fame, Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame, San Diego Air and Space Museum Hall of Fame, and Houston Hall of Fame. Cunningham and the Apollo 7 crew also earned an Emmy in the form of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustee Award.
Serpent in the Sky: NebulaSh2-54 (visible light) | ESO
A visible-light image of the Sh2-54 nebula, captured by the VLT Survey Telescope at the European Southern Observatory Paranal Observatory in Chile.
When the ancients looked up at the night sky they saw random patterns in the stars. The Greeks, for instance, named one of these “constellations” Serpens, because of its resemblance to a snake. What they would not have been able to see is that at the tail end of this constellation there is a wealth of stunning astronomical objects. These include the Eagle, the Omega and the Sh2-54 nebulae; the last of these is revealed in this visible-light image.
Nebulae are vast clouds of gas and dust from which stars are born. Telescopes have allowed astronomers to identify and analyze these rather faint objects in exquisite detail. The nebula shown here, located about 6,000 light-years away, is officially called Sh2-54; the “Sh” refers to the US astronomer Stewart Sharpless, who cataloged more than 300 nebulae in the 1950s.
This image is dotted with countless stars that appear as shiny white dots of varying size and brightness against the black background of space. In the center of the image, there are more stars immersed in a violet cloud. Surrounding this is the Serpens nebula, which in this image appears as a faint, dark orange glow. Several stars are still visible through the cloud though.
Distance: 6,000 light-years
A myriad of stars is revealed behind the faint orange glow of the Sh2-54 nebula in this new infrared image. Located in the constellation Serpens, this stunning stellar nursery has been captured in all its intricate detail using the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) based at the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.
When the ancients looked up at the night sky they saw random patterns in the stars. The Greeks, for instance, named one of these “constellations” Serpens, because of its resemblance to a snake. What they would not have been able to see is that at the tail end of this constellation there is a wealth of stunning astronomical objects. These include the Eagle, the Omega and the Sh2-54 nebulae; the last of these is revealed, in a new light, in this spectacular infrared image.
Nebulae are vast clouds of gas and dust from which stars are born. Telescopes have allowed astronomers to identify and analyze these rather faint objects in exquisite detail. The nebula shown here, located about 6,000 light-years away, is officially called Sh2-54; the “Sh” refers to the US astronomer Stewart Sharpless, who cataloged more than 300 nebulae in the 1950s.
As the technology used to explore the Universe progresses, so too does our understanding of these stellar nurseries. One of these advances is the ability to look beyond the light that can be detected by our eyes, such as infrared light. Just as the snake, the namesake of this nebula, evolved the ability to sense infrared light to better understand its environment, so too have we developed infrared instruments to learn more about the Universe.
While visible light is easily absorbed by clouds of dust in nebulae, infrared light can pass through the thick layers of dust almost unimpeded. The image here therefore reveals a wealth of stars hidden behind the veils of dust. This is particularly useful as it allows scientists to study what happens in stellar nurseries in much greater detail, and thus learn more about how stars form.
This image was captured in infrared light using the sensitive 67-million-pixel camera on ESO’s VISTA telescope at Paranal Observatory in Chile. It was taken as part of the VVVX survey—the VISTA Variables in the Via Láctea eXtended survey. This is a multi-year project that has repeatedly observed a large portion of the Milky Way at infrared wavelengths, providing key data to understand stellar evolution.
Osprey & Artemis I Moon Rocket Prepare for Flight at Kennedy Space Center
An osprey is seen in front of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen atop a mobile launcher at Launch Pad 39B as preparations for launch continue, Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
An osprey is seen in front of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard as launch preparations continued Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This photo was chosen by the NASA Headquarters photographers as one of the best from 2022.
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