NASA Artemis II Moon Spacecraft Heat Shield Installed | Kennedy Space Center

NASA Artemis II Moon Spacecraft Heat Shield Installed | Kennedy Space Center

Teams install the heat shield on the Artemis II Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2023. The 16.5-foot-wide shield will ensure the safe return of the astronauts on board as the spacecraft travels at speeds of about 25,000 miles per hour and experiences outside temperatures of nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Artemis II will be NASA’s first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon to verify today’s capabilities for humans to explore deep space and pave the way for long-term exploration and science on the lunar surface.

Learn more about Artemis II: https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii

Follow progress on Artemis II: https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/ 

Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Image Date: June 22, 2023

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Earth #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #Heatshield #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Science #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #ESA #Canada #CSA #STEM #Education

Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Spaceflight: Galactic 01

Celebrating the Success of Virgin Galactic’s First Commercial Spaceflight: Galactic 01

Galactic 01—Virgin Galactic’s first commercial suborbital spaceflight—was launched from Spaceport America, New Mexico, on June 29, 2023, with VSS Unity being released from VMS Eve at 11:29am ET. VSS Unity, the second SpaceShipTwo, transported a full crew of two pilots, Michael Masucci (Commander) and Nicola Pecile (Pilot) and four mission specialists in the cabin: Col. Walter Villadei and Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi from the Italian Air Force, Pantaleone Carlucci (Engineer, National Research Council of Italy - CNR), Colin Bennett (Astronaut Instructor, Virgin Galactic). VMS Eve was piloted by Kelly Latimer (Commander) and Jameel Janjua (Pilot)

The Galactic 01 mission was a research flight for the Italian Air Force and Italy’s National Research Council. Virgin Galactic and the Italian Air Force signed the contract for the flight in October 2019, agreeing to fly three Italian payload specialists on a dedicated research flight.

Credit: Illustration, images & video footage courtesy of Virgin Galactic

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 8 minutes

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #CommercialSpaceflight #VirginGalactic #SpaceShipTwoVehicle #Galactic01  #VSSUnity #SuborbitalFlight #MichaelMasucci #NicolaPecile #WalterVilladei #AngeloLandolfi #PantaleoneCarlucci #ColinBennett #Italy #Italia #VMSEve #SpaceportAmerica #NewMexico #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earliest Strands of The Cosmic Web: The ASPIRE Cosmic Filament | NASA Webb

Earliest Strands of The Cosmic Web: The ASPIRE Cosmic Filament | NASA Webb

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured a filament of ten galaxies seen just 830 million years after the birth of the universe. Woven across our universe is a weblike structure of galaxies called the cosmic web. Galaxies are strung along filaments in this vast web, which also contains enormous voids. Now, astronomers using Webb have discovered an early strand of this structure, a long, narrow filament of 10 galaxies that existed just 830 million years after the big bang. The 3 million light-year-long structure is anchored by a luminous quasar—a galaxy with an active, supermassive black hole at its core. The team believes this early thread of the cosmic web will eventually evolve into a massive cluster of galaxies.

Image Description: This deep galaxy field from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows an arrangement of ten distant galaxies marked by eight white circles in a diagonal, thread-like line. (Two of the circles contain more than one galaxy.) The quasar, called J0305-3150, appears in the middle of the cluster of three circles on the right side of the image. Its brightness outshines its host galaxy. The team believes the filament will eventually evolve into a massive cluster of galaxies.

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA)/Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Feige Wang (University of Arizona)

Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Release Date: June 29, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #CosmicFilament #CosmicWeb #Quasars #QuasarJ0305-3150 #DistantGalaxies #Fornax #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #Cosmology #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

Star System R Aquarii: Closeup of a Stellar Couple's Orbital 'Embrace' | ESO

This image is from the SPHERE/ZIMPOL observations of R Aquarii, and shows the binary star itself, as well as the jets of material spewing from the stellar couple. R Aquarii (R Aqr) is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years. The main Mira-type star is a red giant. This star system is located over 1,300 light years away from Earth.

While testing a new subsystem on the SPHERE planet-hunting instrument on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers were able to capture dramatic details of the turbulent stellar relationship in the binary star R Aquarii with unprecedented clarity—even compared to observations from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/Schmid et al.

Release Date: Dec. 12, 2018

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #BinaryStars #RAquarii #StarSystem #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #Aquarius #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #SPHERE #ZIMPOL #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

R Aquarii Star System Data Sonification | NASA Chandra & Hubble

R Aquarii Star System Data Sonification | NASA Chandra & Hubble

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope collected digital data on a system called R Aquarii, which contains two stars—a white dwarf and a red giant. The system is located over 1,300 light years away. The data was combined and transformed into this sonification, revealing evidence of outbursts and shock waves generated by the pair of stars.

Visual Description: In the sonification of R Aquarii, the piece evolves as the image is scanned clockwise starting at the 12 o’clock position. The volume changes in proportion to the brightness of sources in visible light and the distance from the center dictates the musical pitch. The deep thuds toward the four corners are “diffraction spikes”. Listeners can hear jets from the white dwarf as the cursor travels near the two o’clock and eight o’clock positions.

R Aquarii (R Aqr) is a variable star in the constellation Aquarius. R Aquarii is a symbiotic star believed to contain a white dwarf and a Mira-type variable in a binary system. The orbital period is approximately 44 years. The main Mira-type star is a red giant.

Sonification Credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/K.Arcand, SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)

Duration: 38 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #RAquarii #StarSystem #WhiteDwarf #RedGiant #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #ChandraXrayObservatory #NASAMarshall #MSFC #UnitedStates #Audio #Sonification #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Fate of Exoplanets around White Dwarf Stars | NOIRLab

The Fate of Exoplanets around White Dwarf Stars | NOIRLab

A short video explaining white dwarf stars and their evolution, and the resulting effects on their planetary systems. A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Near the end of its nuclear burning stage, this type of star expels most of its outer material, creating a planetary nebula. Only the hot core of the star remains. 

Credit: NOIRLab

Duration: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #WhiteDwarfs #Exoplanets #Planets #Nebulae #PlanetaryNebulae #StarSystems #PlanetarySystems #SolarSystems #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Montdenier & Montagnac | NASA/JPL

Meet the Mars Perseverance Rover's Samples: Montdenier & Montagnac | NASA/JPL

Meet two of the Martian samples that have been collected and are awaiting return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign. As of late June 2023, NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover has collected and sealed 20 scientifically selected samples inside pristine tubes. The next stage is to get them back for study.

Considered one of the highest priorities by the scientists in the Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-2032, Mars Sample Return would be the first mission to return samples from another planet and provides the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life. NASA is teaming with the European Space Agency (ESA) on this important endeavor.

Learn more about Samples No. 2 and 3–“Montdenier” and “Montagnac”–the first pair of rock cores collected by Perseverance, which were taken from an igneous rock on the floor of Jezero Crater. Scientists believe that detailed analysis of these samples could help them piece together the timeline of the area’s past, which was marked by volcanic activity and periods of persistent water.

Read about all the carefully selected samples: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars-rock-samples

Learn more about the Mars Sample Return campaign: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr 

A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, as well as be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #UnitedStates #Europe #MoonToMars #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Students Explore Climate Data in New Ways | NASA's New Earth Information Center

Students Explore Climate Data in New Ways | NASA's New Earth Information Center

Local students can be seen taking in the sights—and data—at an Earth Information Center (EIC) student engagement event, Friday, June 23, 2023, at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Earth Information Center is a new immersive experience that combines live data sets with innovative data visualization and storytelling to show visitors how our planet is changing.

Take a virtual tour of NASA's Earth Information Center: https://gis.earthdata.nasa.gov/portal/apps/sites/#/earth-information-center/pages/virtual-tour

The center gives a whole Earth view down to local information, from temperatures in our cities to sea level rise, greenhouse gas emissions to agricultural productivity. Visit this hybrid exhibit in person at NASA Headquarters in Washington or online.

Image Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

Editor: Monika Luabeya

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Planet #Earth #Environment #Atmosphere #Land #Agriculture #Oceans #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #Science #EIC #Exhibits #Learning #Students #Teachers #Educators #Families #NASAHQ #WashingtonDC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Jellyfish Galaxy JO206 "Under the Sea" | Hubble

Jellyfish Galaxy JO206 "Under the Sea" | Hubble

The jellyfish galaxy JO206 trails across this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, showcasing a colorful star-forming disc surrounded by a pale, luminous cloud of dust. A handful of bright stars with criss-cross diffraction spikes stand out against an inky black backdrop at the bottom of the image. JO206 lies over 700 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius, and this image of the galaxy is the sixth and final instalment in a series of observations of jellyfish galaxies.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, M. Gullieuszik and the GASP team  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #JO206 #Aquarius #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Dishevelled Irregular Galaxy in Pegasus: NGC 7292 | Hubble

A Dishevelled Irregular Galaxy in Pegasus: NGC 7292 | Hubble

The galaxy NGC 7292 billows across this image from the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope, accompanied by a handful of bright stars and the indistinct smudges of extremely distant galaxies in the background. It lies around 44 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Hubble #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC7292 #Supernova #SN1964H #Pegasus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Is NASA Mining Asteroids? We Asked a NASA Expert

Is NASA Mining Asteroids? We Asked a NASA Expert

Is NASA mining asteroids? No, NASA is not in the business of mining asteroids, but we do love to study them. 

This year, NASA's Psyche Mission launches to a unique metal-rich asteroid to study what appears to be the exposed nickel-iron core of an early planet, one of the building blocks of our solar system. However, the science we gain from missions like this could one day benefit future humans in cosmic mining and resource endeavors.

And in September 2023, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will deliver an asteroid sample back to Earth. Analysis from the sample may help improve future asteroid missions: https://go.nasa.gov/43PoK2y

Explore more: https://nasa.gov/asteroids

NASA’s Psyche mission:

www.nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producers: Jessica Wilde, Scott Bednar

Editor: James Lucas

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Asteroids #OSIRISRExMission #NickelIronAsteroids #PsycheMission #PsycheSpacecraft #Technology #Engineering #Robotics #Earth #Planets #SolarSystem #SpaceMining #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #MaxarTechnologies #JPL #Caltech #ASU #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Surprisingly STEM: Space Tire Engineer Heather Oravec | NASA Glenn

Surprisingly STEM: Space Tire Engineer Heather Oravec | NASA Glenn

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads . . . but we still need tires! In this episode, we rolled on over to NASA’s Glenn Research Center where engineer Heather Oravec is reinventing the wheel—literally! Heather explains her work in creating wheels intended for use on other celestial bodies, such as the Moon, and how she got traction in this unique career.

Get your engineering wheels spinning with this hands-on activity: 

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/learn/project/make-a-cardboard-rover/

Or, if you’re ready to hit the road with your own version of an off-planet vehicle, check out NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/roverchallenge/home/index.html 

We’re launching STEM Engagement to new heights with learning resources that connect teachers, students, parents and caregivers to the inspiring work at NASA. Join us as we apply science, technology, engineering and mathematics to explore space, improve aeronautics, examine Earth and strive to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon with the Artemis program. 

Credit: NASA STEM

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Engineering #Technology #Robotics #RoboticVehicles #Tires #Wheels #Engineer #HeatherOravec #WomenInSTEM #Pioneers #SpaceResearch #Moon #Mars #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #NASAGlenn #Cleveland #Ohio #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Mars: Aram Chaos, Reconsidered | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: Aram Chaos | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Aram Chaos is terrain that is located within a massive 280 kilometer-diameter crater. It consists of darker volcanic rocks that were disrupted as a result of water and/or magma withdrawal in the subsurface. Some of the materials made up of different kinds of sulfates that formed when water filled the crater. Aram Chaos lies at the eastern end of the large canyon Valles Marineris and close to Ares Vallis. Various geological processes have reduced it to a circular area of chaotic terrain.

This clip uses the enhanced color red-green-blue filter of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. Blue in enhanced color images often represents basalt, indicating a volcanic origin. 

This is a non-narrated clip with ambient sound. Image is less than 1 km (under a  mile) across and the spacecraft altitude was 271 km (168 mi). 

The HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured these images.

MRO is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California.

Image Acquisition Date:

April 19, 2022

Local Mars time:

15:46

Latitude (centered):

2.222°

Longitude (East):

339.904°

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: June 27, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Mars #Planet #RedPlanet #Science #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #AramChaos #Crater #VolcanicRocks #Water #Sulfates #MRO #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #HiRISECamera #JPL #Caltech #UniversityOfArizona #BallAerospace #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Sagittarius Star Cloud: Messier 24

Sagittarius Star Cloud: Messier 24

Unlike most entries in Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep sky objects, M24 is not a bright galaxy, star cluster, or nebula. It is a gap in nearby, obscuring interstellar dust clouds that allows a view of the distant stars in the Sagittarius spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy. Direct your gaze through this gap with binoculars or small telescope and you are looking through a window over 300 light-years wide at stars some 10,000 light-years or more from Earth. Sometimes called the Small Sagittarius Star Cloud, M24's luminous stars fill this gorgeous starscape. Covering over 3 degrees or the width of 6 full moons in the constellation Sagittarius, the telescopic field of view includes dark markings B92 and B93 near center, along with other clouds of dust and glowing nebulae toward the center of the Milky Way.

Image Credit & Copyright: Emmanuel Astronomono

Emmanuel's Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/astronomono

Release Date: June 28, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #M24 #Messier24 #SmallSagittariusStarCloud #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Telecope #Astrophotography #EmmanuelAstronomono #ObservatorioAstronómicoOriente #Mexico #STEM #Education #APoD

SpaceX Starship 25 Six-engine Static Fire Test at Starbase Texas

SpaceX Starship 25 Six-engine Static Fire Test at Starbase Texas

    

"Starship is essential to both SpaceX’s plans to deploy its next-generation Starship system as well as for NASA, which will use a lunar lander version of Starship for landing astronauts on the moon during the Artemis III mission through the Human Landing System (HLS) program."

Key Starship Parameters:

Height: 120m/394ft

Diameter: 9m/29.5ft

Payload to LEO: 100 – 150t (fully reusable)

Satellites: "Starship is designed to deliver satellites further and at a lower marginal cost per launch than our current Falcon vehicles. With a payload compartment larger than any fairing currently in operation or development, Starship creates possibilities for new missions, including space telescopes even larger than the James Webb."

Starship's Engines: Raptors

"The Raptor engine is a reusable methalox staged-combustion engine that powers the Starship launch system. Raptor engines began flight testing on the Starship prototype rockets in July 2019, becoming the first full-flow staged combustion rocket engine ever flown."

Raptor Engine Parameters:

Diameter: 1.3m/4ft

Height: 3.1m/10.2ft

Thrust: 230tf/500 klbf

Download the Free Starship User Guide (PDF):

https://www.spacex.com/media/starship_users_guide_v1.pdf

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Image Capture Date: June 26, 2023

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #Mars #Moon #MoonToMars #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIII #Starship #StarshipS25 #EngineTest #Spacecraft #SuperHeavyRocket #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Science #Technology #Engineering #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #Starbase #BocaChica #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Mars Images: June 22-26, 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Mars Images: June 22-26, 2023 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers | JPL

Mars2020 - sol 832 - PipploIMP

Mars2020 - sol 832

MSL - sol 3866

MSL - sol 3866

MSL - sol 3866

Mars2020 - sol 831

MSL - sol 3869

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 10 Years+ on Mars (2012-2023)

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

Celebrating 2+ Years on Mars (2021-2023)

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.

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity)

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

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

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University/Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS)

Processing of Image 1: PipploIMP

Processing of Images 2-7: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: June 22-26, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #IngenuityHelicopter #JezeroCrater #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Caltech #ASU #MSSS #UnitedStates #MoonToMars #CitizenScience #PipploIMP #KevinGill #STEM #Education