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Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Earth Aurora | International Space Station

Earth Aurora | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and flight engineer Josh Cassada captured this picture of aurora activity on Earth from the International Space Station on Feb. 28, 2023.

Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]

Learn more:

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

NASA - About Aurora

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-news-stories/index.html

Follow Expedition 68 crew updates at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

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.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Feb. 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Aurora #Sun #SpaceWeather #SolarWind #ISS #Astronauts #NicoleMann #FrankRubio #JoshCassada #KoichiWakata #JAXA #Japan #Cosmonauts #SergeyProkopyev #AnnaKikina #DmitriPetelin #Роскосмос #Russia #Science #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #JSC #UnitedStates #Canada #CSA #Research #Laboratory #STEM #Education

Hubble Captures Asteroid Impact Debris after NASA DART Spacecraft Impact

Hubble Captures Asteroid Impact Debris after NASA DART Spacecraft Impact

These panels capture the breakup of the asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately hit by NASA’s 545-kilogram Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission spacecraft on September 26, 2022. The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope had a ringside view of the space demolition derby. The top panel, taken 2 hours after impact, shows an ejecta cone of an estimated 900,000 kilograms of dust.

[Image Description: Three labeled images are stacked vertically. All three images show a bright white spot in the center surrounded by an irregular cloud of blue that decreases in brightness with distance from the bright spot. The size and shape of the blue cloud are different in each image, as are the labels. In all three images the background is black and there are subtle diffraction spikes radiating from the bright spot.]

The center frame shows the dynamic interaction within the asteroid’s binary system that starts to distort the cone shape of the ejecta pattern about 17 hours after the impact. The most prominent structures are rotating, pinwheel-shaped features. The pinwheel is tied to the gravitational pull of the companion asteroid, Didymos.

In the bottom frame Hubble next captures the debris being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on the tiny dust particles. This stretches out into a debris train where the lightest particles travel the fastest and farthest from the asteroid. The mystery is compounded when Hubble records the tail splitting in two for a few days.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), STScI, J. Li (PSI)

Release Date: March 1, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #DARTMission #Spacecraft #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

Hubble Captures Movie of DART Asteroid Impact Debris

Hubble Captures Movie of DART Asteroid Impact Debris

This movie (no audio) captures the breakup of the asteroid Dimorphos when it was deliberately hit by NASA’s 545-kilogram Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022. The NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope had a ringside view of the space demolition derby.

The Hubble movie starts at 1.3 hours before impact. The first post-impact snapshot is 20 minutes after the event. Debris flies away from the asteroid in straight lines, moving faster than four miles per hour (fast enough to escape the asteroid’s gravitational pull, so it does not fall back onto the asteroid). The ejecta forms a largely hollow cone with long, stringy filaments.

At about 17 hours after the impact the debris pattern entered a second stage. The dynamic interaction within the binary system started to distort the cone shape of the ejecta pattern. The most prominent structures are rotating, pinwheel-shaped features. The pinwheel is tied to the gravitational pull of the companion asteroid, Didymos.

Hubble next captures the debris being swept back into a comet-like tail by the pressure of sunlight on the tiny dust particles. This stretches out into a debris train where the lightest particles travel the fastest and farthest from the asteroid. The mystery is compounded later when Hubble records the tail splitting in two for a few days.

Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), J. Li (PSI), J. DePasquale (STScI)

Duration: 19 seconds

Release Date: March 1, 2023

NASA's DART Mission Confirms Crashing Spacecraft Can Deflect Asteroids

NASA's DART Mission Confirms Crashing Spacecraft Can Deflect Asteroids

Since NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) successfully impacted its target on Sept. 26, 2022—altering the orbit of the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos by a whopping 33 minutes—the DART team has determined that the mission's kinetic impactor technique can be an effective way to change the trajectory of an asteroid.

These findings were published in four papers in the journal Nature on March 1, 2023.

Learn more: https://go.nasa.gov/3ZcTOae

For more on DART, visit:

https://nasa.gov/dart

https://dart.jhuapl.edu

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 1 minutes, 47 seconds

Release Date: March 1, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #DART #DARTMission #Spacecraft #DRACO #SpaceX #USSF #Asteroids #Dimorphos #Didymos #Earth #PlanetaryDefense #Test #SolarSystem #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6: Behind The Scenes | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6: Behind The Scenes | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts stand near the mission emblem in the astronaut crew quarters inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2023. From left are Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist; NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot; NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander; and Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates astronaut and mission specialist.

After suit-up and final fit checks, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts participate in a traditional game of cards inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center crew in Florida on Feb. 26, 2023.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts walk down the hallway from the astronaut crew quarters to the elevator in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2023.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 crewmember Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander, is in his SpaceX spacesuit

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 crewmember Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist, checks his SpaceX spacesuit

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 crewmember Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot, checks his SpaceX spacesuit

These are example views inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida during the first launch attempt to the International Space Station on Feb. 26, 2023.

Crew-6 astronauts are NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander; NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot; Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates astronaut and mission specialist; and Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist.

Launch is now targeted for no earlier than Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 12:34am EST (0534 UTC).

Crew-6 is the sixth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station, and the seventh flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with people as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Obtain updates about the Crew-6 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-6/

You can watch the launch live on NASA TV:

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Image Date: Feb. 26, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #SpaceXCrew6 #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Spacecraft #Tesla #Cars #Falcon9 #Rocket #Astronauts #SultanAlNedayi #MBRSC #UAE #Cosmonaut #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #WilliamHoburg #StephenBowen #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Moon Mission Update: Artemis IV Orion & Artemis II European Service Module

NASA Moon Missions: Artemis IV Orion & Artemis II European Service Module

Seen in these images is the pressure vessel for the NASA Artemis IV Moon Mission inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023. The pressure vessel is the underlying structure of the Orion crew module, containing the pressurized atmosphere astronauts will breathe and work in while in the vacuum of deep space. Artemis IV will be the first operational mission to Gateway—an outpost in lunar orbit serving as a staging point for deep space exploration—followed by a week-long surface mission on the Moon. Using Gateway, NASA will develop a long-term presence on the Moon, using this as a steppingstone before venturing on to Mars.

The European Service Module for the Artemis II mission is photographed inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 21, 2023. Artemis II will be the first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. The service module will provide the power necessary to propel Orion on a trip around the Moon, including the in-space maneuvering capability and other commodities necessary to sustain crew for the duration of the mission.

Learn more about the Artemis II Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/subject/14152/artemis-ii-was-exploration-mission-2/

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/Artemis_II

Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Image Date: Feb. 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Earth #Moon #MoonToMars #Mars #Artemis #ArtemisII #ESM #ArtemisIV #Orion #Spacecraft #Gateway #LunarGateway #Astronauts #Science #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #Exploration #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #ESA #STEM #Education

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

NASA's EZIE Mission: Exploring Earth's Link to Space | Applied Physics Laboratory

NASA's EZIE Mission: Exploring Earth's Link to Space | Applied Physics Laboratory

Developed and led for NASA by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, EZIE is a mission to explore Earth’s electrojets—intense electric currents flowing high above Earth’s polar regions and the dayside equatorial region. EZIE will provide unprecedented measurements of these electrical currents to answer decades-old—and much debated—mysteries. Understanding these currents is key to scientists’ ability to develop capabilities for predicting hazardous space weather.

For more information, visit: https://ezie.jhuapl.edu

Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Feb. 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Sun #SolarWind #SpaceWeather #Satellite #EZIE #EZIEMission #Electrojets #ElectricalCurrents #Aurora #JHUAPL #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Tesla Vehicles | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Tesla Vehicles | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts greet their family members after walking out of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2023

In these views outside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 26, 2023, are two Tesla vehicles that will transport NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts to Launch Complex 39A for launch to the International Space Station.

Launch is now targeted for no earlier than Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 12:34am EST (0534 UTC).

Crew-6 is the sixth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station, and the seventh flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft with people as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Obtain updates about the Crew-6 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-6/

You can watch the launch live on NASA TV:

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

Image Credit: NASA/Brandon Garner

Image Date: Feb. 26, 2023

Zoom into "Seeing Triple": Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

Zoom into "Seeing Triple": Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

This video from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope takes the viewer on a journey through space to the location of the massive galaxy cluster RX J2129. Due to gravitational lensing, this observation contains three different images of the same supernova-hosting galaxy, which you can see in closer detail here. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime to bend the path of light travelling past or through it, almost like a vast lens. In this case, the lens is the galaxy cluster RX J2129, located around 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius.

Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Kelly, Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, DSS, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb), E. Slawik, N. Risinger, D. de Martin (ESA/Webb), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Feb. 28, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #RXJ2129 #GravitationalLensing #Aquarius #Constellation #JamesWebb #SpaceTelescope #JWST #Cosmos #Universe #UnfoldTheUniverse #Europe #CSA #Canada #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Pan of "Seeing Triple": Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

Pan of "Seeing Triple": Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

This video from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space James Webb Space Agency Telescope features the massive galaxy cluster RX J2129. Due to Gravitational lensing, this observation contains three different images of the same supernova-hosting galaxy, which you can see in closer detail here. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime to bend the path of light travelling past or through it, almost like a vast lens. In this case, the lens is the galaxy cluster RX J2129, located around 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime to bend the path of light travelling past or through it, almost like a vast lens. In this case, the lens is the galaxy cluster RX J2129, located around 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. Gravitational lensing can cause background objects to appear strangely distorted, as can be seen by the concentric arcs of light in the upper right of this image.

Image Description: Stars and galaxies, mostly reddish in color, are scattered across a dark background. In the foreground upper-right corner, a large elliptical galaxy is surrounded by many smaller similar galaxies in a cluster. These galaxies have bright centers and a diffuse white glow around them. The large galaxy has distorted images and arcs around it.

Astronomers discovered the supernova in the triply-lensed background galaxy using observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, and they suspected that they had found a very distant Type Ia supernova. These supernovae always produce a fairly consistent luminosity—at the same distance, one looks as bright as any other—which makes them particularly helpful to astronomers. As their distance from Earth is proportional to how dim they appear in the night sky, objects with known brightness can be used as 'standard candles' to measure astronomical distances.

The almost uniform luminosity of a Type Ia supernova could also allow astronomers to understand how strongly the galaxy cluster RX J2129 is magnifying background objects, and therefore how massive the galaxy cluster is. As well as distorting the images of background objects, gravitational lenses can cause distant objects to appear much brighter than they would otherwise. If the gravitational lens magnifies something with a known brightness, such as a Type Ia supernova, then astronomers can use this to measure the ‘prescription’ of the gravitational lens.

This observation was captured by Webb's Near-InfraRed Camera to measure the brightness of the lensed supernova. As part of the same program, NIRSpec spectroscopy of the supernova was also obtained, which will allow comparison of this distant supernova to Type Ia supernovae in the nearby Universe. This is an important way to verify that one of astronomers’ tried-and-tested methods of measuring vast distances works as expected.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Kelly

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 28, 2023

Seeing Triple: Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

Seeing Triple: Galaxy Cluster RX J2129 | James Webb Space Telescope

This observation from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features the massive galaxy cluster RX J2129. Due to gravitational lensing, this observation contains three different images of the same supernova-hosting galaxy, which you can see in closer detail here. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime to bend the path of light travelling past or through it, almost like a vast lens. In this case, the lens is the galaxy cluster RX J2129, located around 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius. Gravitational lensing can cause background objects to appear strangely distorted, as can be seen by the concentric arcs of light in the upper right of this image.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Kelly

Release Date: Feb. 28, 2023

JUICE Mission to Jupiter's Moons Moves Closer to Launch | European Space Agency

JUICE Mission to Jupiter's Moons Moves Closer to Launch | European Space Agency

After many years of study, development, building and testing, the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, JUICE, has finally arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. At the end of 2022 the spacecraft underwent its final thermal vacuum test at an Airbus Defence and Space facility in Toulouse, as well as its final software verification tests, whereby it was controlled from the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany.

Soon, an Ariane 5 rocket will lift Juice into orbit and send it on its journey to explore the largest planet in our Solar System and its three icy moons, Europa, Callisto and in particular Ganymede. By exploring and studying the Jovian system, the mission neatly fullfills its role in ESA’s Cosmic Vision program, teaching us about our Universe and the origins of life.

Follow mission updates here: www.esa.int/juice

NASA's Europa Clipper Mission will complement the European Space Agency's JUICE Mission. JUICE will fly-by Europa twice and Callisto multiple times before moving into orbit around Ganymede.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 27, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Jupiter #Moons #Europa #Callisto #Ganymede #Juice #Mission #Spacecraft #Airbus #Arianespace #Ariane5 #Rocket #SolarSystem #Exploration #Spaceport #Kourou #FrenchGuiana #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6: Sultan Alneyadi (UAE) & Andrei Fedyaev (Russia)

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6: Sultan Alneyadi (UAE) & Andrei Fedyaev (Russia)

NASA SpaceX Crew-6 astronaut and mission specialist Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates, stands inside the crew access arm leading to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endeavour

At right, Sultan Alneyadi, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut and mission specialist, checks his spacesuit inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev (Russia) is photographed in his SpaceX spacesuit inside the crew suit-up room in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

Seated from left are Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates astronaut and mission specialist; and Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut and mission specialist

Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, NASA astronaut Warren “Woody" Hoburg, second from left, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right, and United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, right, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

These are pictures of Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut and mission specialist and of Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist. UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center will make history by becoming the first astronaut from the Arab world to spend six months on the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA's Crew-6 astronauts will launch to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA and SpaceX teams are now targeting no earlier than Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 12:34am EST (0534 UTC) for the next launch attempt of the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station.

Crew-6 is the sixth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station, and the seventh flight of Dragon with people as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Obtain updates about the Crew-6 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-6/

You can watch the launch live on NASA TV:

https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Dates: Feb. 23, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #SpaceXCrew6 #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Spacecraft #Falcon9 #Rocket #Astronauts #SultanAlNedayi #MBRSC #UAE #Cosmonaut #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #WilliamHoburg #StephenBowen #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition68 #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Monday, February 27, 2023

SpaceX Starlink Mission: Feb. 27, 2023 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

SpaceX Starlink Mission: Feb. 27, 2023 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

On Monday, February 27, 2023, at 6:13 p.m. ET, SpaceX launched 21 second-generation Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This was the third launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched CRS-26 and OneWeb Launch 16.

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Date: Feb. 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Satellites #Starlink #Broadband #Internet #Earth #LEO #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #CommerceSpace #Spaceport #CapeCanaveral #SpaceForce #Florida #FAA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Intense Aurora Borealis over Scotland

Intense Aurora Borealis over Scotland

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth

Earth auroras have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

Learn more:

The Colors of the Aurora (National Park Service)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/-articles-aps-v8-i1-c9.htm

NASA - About Aurora

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-news-stories/index.html

Image Credit & Copyright: Alan Tough

Location: Scotland, United Kingdom

Image Date: Feb. 26, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #Planet #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Sun #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #AlanTough #Scotland #UK #UnitedKingdom #STEM #Education #International

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Astronauts: Ready for Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Astronauts: Ready for Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

NASA SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts stand inside the crew access arm leading to the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endeavour during a countdown dress rehearsal at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 23, 2023. From left are NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander; Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist; Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates astronaut and mission specialist; and NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts are secured in their seats inside the Dragon spacecraft Endeavour on Feb. 27, 2023. From left are Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist; NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot; NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander; and Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut and mission specialist.

From left are Sultan Alneyadi, United Arab Emirates astronaut and mission specialist; and Andrei Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut (Russia) and mission specialist

From left are Warren “Woody” Hoburg, pilot; and Stephen Bowen, spacecraft commander

NASA's Crew-6 astronauts will launch to the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch was originally targeted for 1:45 a.m. EST on Feb. 27, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A, but the launch was scrubbed. NASA and SpaceX teams are now targeting no earlier than Thursday, March 2, 2023, at 12:34am EST (0534 UTC) for the next launch attempt of the Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station.

Crew-6 is the sixth crew rotation mission with SpaceX to the station, and the seventh flight of Dragon with people as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Obtain updates about the Crew-6 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-6/

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Dates: Feb. 23-27, 2023

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Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

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