Students Launch Experiments on Sounding Rocket at NASA Wallops in Virginia

Students Launch Experiments on Sounding Rocket at NASA Wallops in Virginia

In this image, students watch a sounding rocket launch at sunrise. A Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket carrying students experiments for the RockOn! mission successfully launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Aug. 17, 2023, at 6 a.m. EDT. The launch carried experiments for Cubes in Space, RockOn!, and RockSat-C student programs. The sounding rocket reached an altitude of 73 miles (116.7 kilometers) before descending back down into the Atlantic Ocean via parachute. Teams will review the payload to return the experiments back to the students. NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States,

NASA's RockOn and RockSat hands-on programs. These programs connect higher education students from across the United States with opportunities to fly their experiments into space on NASA Wallops Flight Facility sounding rockets. RockOn and RockSat started in 2008 and have provided thousands of students and faculty with real-world flight experiences and experimentation.

Learn more about each program:

https://www.nasa.gov/sounding-rockets/rocksat-programs

NASA's Terrier Improved Orion Rocket

The Terrier-Orion rocket system is a two stage spin stabilized rocket system which utilizes a Terrier MK 12 Mod 1 or Mk70 for the first stage and an Improved Orion motor for the second stage. The Terrier motor is 18 inches in diameter and is configured with 2.5 ft2 or 4.8 ft2 fin panels arranged in a cruciform configuration. The Orion motor is 14 inches in diameter and 110 inches long. The vehicle is typically configured with spin motors and the total weight of this configuration, excluding the payload, is approximately 2,900 pounds.

The Terrier-Orion rocket system:

https://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code810/vehicles/Terrier_Imrprove%20Orion.pdf

Image Credit: NASA/Danielle Johnson

Story Credit: Jamie Adkins

Image Date: Aug. 17, 2023

Release Date: Aug. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #Science #SoundingRocket #TerrierOrionSoundingRocket #RocketLaunch #Students #Experiments #RockOnProgram #WallopsIsland #WFF #NASAWallops #Virginia #UnitedStates #AtlanticOcean #STEM #Education

All Objects in Motion | International Space Station

All Objects in Motion | International Space Station

An apple and an orange are pictured floating "weightlessly" in the International Space Station's cupola. Outside the cupola is the Soyuz MS-23 crew ship docked to the Prichal docking module, which is attached to the Nauka science module on the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) of the International Space Station.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (August 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

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)

Release Date: Aug. 15, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ISS #Cupola #Physics #Motion #Orange #Apple #Microgravity #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #STEM #Education

Esto es lo que necesitas saber sobre Marte | NASA en Español

Esto es lo que necesitas saber sobre Marte | NASA en Español

La búsqueda de la vida antigua. La evolución de los planetas. Preparación para la futura exploración humana. Existen tantas razones para estudiar el planeta rojo. ¿Te apetece más? Esto es lo que necesitas saber sobre Marte:

Credit: NASA en Español

Duration: 1 minutes, 52 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 18, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #nasaenespañol #estoesloquenecesitassaber #Planet #Mars #Astrobiology #Life #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Extreme Ocean Temperatures are Affecting Florida’s Coral Reefs | NOAA

Extreme Ocean Temperatures are Affecting Florida’s Coral Reefs | NOAA

Since April 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been monitoring a steady rise in ocean temperatures, which is resulting in unprecedented heat stress conditions in the Caribbean basin, including waters surrounding Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. On Thursday, August 17, 2023, NOAA scientists provided a briefing on how these record-breaking warm ocean temperatures have stressed, bleached, and in some cases, killed corals within the 3,800 square miles of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

https://floridakeys.noaa.gov

Florida is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico; Alabama to the northwest; Georgia to the north; the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean to the east; and the Straits of Florida and Cuba to the south. It is the only state that borders both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

Coral reefs are often referred to as the "rainforests of the sea," due to their incredible biodiversity and ecological importance. They provide vital benefits as part of marine ecosystems by sustaining habitats for marine life, buffering the harmful impacts of storms on coastal communities, and supporting local economies through tourism and fishing. 

Credits: NOAA, NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA)

Footage of Corals of the Atlantic, Gulf, Keys, Caribbean courtesy of NOAA Fisheries.

Duration: 2 minutes, 17 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 18, 2023

#NASA #NOAA #Space #Satellites #Science #Planet #Earth #Oceans #AtlanticOcean #Biology #CoralReefs #HeatStress #Florida #FloridaKeys #FloridaKeysNationalMarineSanctuary #Caribbean #GulfOfMexico #Fisheries #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #GreenhouseGases #OceanTemperatures #Environment #UnitedStates #Mexico #STEM #Education #HD #Video

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander Mission: First Close-up Moon Images | ISRO

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander Mission: First Close-up Moon Images | ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Mission captured images of the Moon during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) and after the separation of the lunar lander from the propulsion module. Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s third lunar exploration mission, consists of a propulsion module, a lander, and a rover. Chandrayaan-3 is planned to land about 70.9 degrees south of the lunar equator. Chandrayaan-3 is India's effort to become the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to successfully soft-land on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft would also be the first to land at the lunar south pole, an area of special interest for space agencies and private space companies because of the presence of water ice that could support future surface activities.

Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 18, 2023

#NASA #ISRO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #SouthPole #India #Chandrayaan3 #Chandrayaan3Mission #Chandrayaan3Spacecraft #Chandrayaan3Orbiter #Chandrayaan3Lander #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #BhāratGaṇarājya #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Tracking a Trend | Week of Aug.18, 2023

NASA's Space to Ground: Tracking a Trend | Week of Aug.18, 2023

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS Progress 83 cargo craft is due to end it six-month stay at the orbital lab on Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023, when it undocks from the Zvezda service module’s aft port at 7:48 p.m. EDT. It will be replaced on Thursday Aug. 24, when the ISS Progress 85 cargo craft docks to the same port on Zvezda two days after its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Just four hours after the Progress 85 arrives, four crew members aboard the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft will launch from the Kennedy Space Center to the space station. The SpaceX Crew-7 mission will dock to the Harmony module’s space-facing port just one day after its liftoff and the four crew mates will enter the orbiting lab to begin a six-month space research mission.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (August 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

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)

Duration: 2 minutes, 46 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #EarthObservatory #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Storm Clouds above Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria | International Space Station

Storm Clouds above Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria | International Space Station

Storm clouds are pictured in this oblique view from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria. The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea.

Follow Expedition 69 updates here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 69 Crew (August 2023)

Station Commander: Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Flight Engineers Dmitri Petelin & Andrey Fedyaev

Flight Engineer Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

NASA: Flight Engineers Frank Rubio, Stephen Bowen, Warren Hoburg

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: Aug. 10, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Australia #GulfOfCarpentaria #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition69 #STEM #Education

The Boogeyman Nebula: LDN 1622 in Orion | Schulman Telescope

The Boogeyman Nebula: LDN 1622 in Orion | Schulman Telescope

To some, this dark shape looks like a mythical boogeyman—a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Scientifically, Lynds' Dark Nebula (LDN) 1622 appears against a faint background of glowing hydrogen gas only visible in long telescopic exposures of the region. LDN 1622 lies near the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy, close in the sky to Barnard's Loop, a large cloud surrounding the rich complex of emission nebulae found in the Belt and Sword of Orion.

 LDN 1622 is a dark nebula, so called because these dense interstellar clouds of gas and dust blot out light from background objects, appearing as ink-dark clouds against a backdrop of stars. This enigmatic cosmic cloud is 1,300 light-years from Earth in the nearby Orion complex, a star-forming region thronging with young stars and other dark nebulae.

Technical Details

Optics: Schulman 32-inch RCOS Telescope

Camera: SBIG STX16803

Image Credit & Copyright: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Image Date: Dec. 1, 2011

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #LDN1622 #DarkNebula #Stars #StellarNursery #Orion #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #AdamBlock #Astrophotographer #UA #MountLemmonObservatory #SchulmanTelescope #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Gravitational Waves: Ripples in Space-Time | Hubble Science | NASA Goddard

Gravitational Waves: Ripples in Space-Time | Hubble Science | NASA Goddard

Gravitational waves are invisible ripples in the fabric of space-time. They are caused by some of the most violent and energetic events in the universe. These include colliding black holes, collapsing stellar cores, merging neutron stars or white dwarf stars, the wobble of neutron stars that are not perfect spheres and possibly even the remnants of gravitational radiation created by the birth of the universe.

In this video, Dr. Padi Boyd explains gravitational waves and how important the Hubble Space Telescope is to exploring the mysteries of the universe.

For more information, visit https://nasa.gov/hubble

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Producer & Director: James Leigh

Editor: Lucy Lund

Director of Photography: James Ball

Additional Editing & Photography: Matthew Duncan

Executive Producers: James Leigh & Matthew Duncan

Production & Post: Origin Films 

Video Credit:

Hubble Space Telescope Animation

Credit: M. Kornmesser (ESA/Hubble)

Hubble Space Telescope Animation

Credit: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen), A. Fujii, Robert Gendler, Digitized Sky Survey 2, Panther Observatory, Steve Cannistra, Michael Pierce, Robert Berrington (Indiana University), Nigel Sharp, Mark Hanna (NOAO)/WIYN/NSF.

LIGO Interferometer Illustration

Credit: LIGO/T. Pyle

Gravitational Wave Animation

Credit: NASA GSFC Conceptual Image Lab

Kilonova Animation

Credit: NASA GSFC Conceptual Image Lab

Ripples In Space Time Animation

Credit: LIGO/T. Pyle

LIGO Hanford Aerial & Interior

Credit: Caltech/MIT/LIGO Lab

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #BlackHoles #NeutronStars #WhiteDwarfStars #Collisions #Kilonovae #GravitationalWaves #ComputerSimulations #Heliophysics #Astrophysics #Universe #LIGO #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualizations #Animation #HD #Video

Recientemente: Astronautas de Artemis II conocen su transporte a la Luna | NASA

Recientemente: Astronautas de Artemis II conocen su transporte a la Luna | NASA

Recientemente en la NASA, la versión en español de las cápsulas This Week at NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la NASA. 

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov/

The Artemis II astronauts check out their ride to the Moon, practicing post-splashdown recovery operations for Artemis II, and the Webb Space Telescope checks out a record-breaking star . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

The Artemis II crew—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—visited the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Aug. 8, 2023. The crew module is undergoing acoustic testing ahead of integration with the European Service Module. Artemis II is the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term lunar presence for science and exploration under Artemis. 

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.

Artemis II will launch no earlier than December 2024.

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

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Original Broadcast Date: Aug. 11, 2023

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #NASAenespañol #español #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #DeepSpace #Astronauts #VictorGlover #ChristinaKoch #JeremyHansen #ReidWiseman #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

HD 45166: The Most Magnetic Massive Star Found | Artist’s Animation | ESO

HD 45166: The Most Magnetic Massive Star Found | Artist’s Animation | ESO

This video shows an artist’s animation of HD 45166, a massive star recently discovered to have a powerful magnetic field of 43,000 gauss, the strongest magnetic field ever found in a massive star. Intense winds of particles blowing away from the star are trapped by this magnetic field, enshrouding the star in a gaseous shell as illustrated here.

This finding provides clues to the origin of magnetars, compact dead stars laced with magnetic fields at least a billion times stronger than the one in HD 45166. Astronomers believe that this star will end its life as a magnetar. As it collapses under its own gravity, its magnetic field will strengthen, and the star will eventually become a very compact core with a magnetic field of around 100 trillion gauss—the most powerful type of magnet in the Universe.

HD 45166 is part of a binary system. In the background, we get a glimpse of HD 45166’s companion, a normal blue star that has been found to orbit at a far larger distance than previously reported.

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Duration: 19 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 8, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #NeutronStars #Magnetars #Star #HD45166 #Magnetic #HeliumStar #Supernova #Monoceros #Constellation #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Universe #Telescopes #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

New Type of Massive Magnetic Helium Stars Gives Clues to Magnetars’ Origins | ESO

New Type of Massive Magnetic Helium Stars Gives Clues to Magnetars’ Origins | ESO

ESOcast 264 Light: Using multiple telescopes around the world, including European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, researchers have uncovered a living star that is likely to become a magnetar, an ultra-magnetic dead star that is a variant of neutron stars. This video summarizes the discovery. Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the Universe. These super-dense dead stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields can be found all over our galaxy but astronomers do not know exactly how they form. This finding marks the discovery of a new type of astronomical object—massive magnetic helium stars—and sheds light on the origin of magnetars.

Despite having been observed for over 100 years, the enigmatic nature of the star HD 45166 could not be easily explained by conventional models, and little was known about it beyond the fact that it is one of a pair of stars, is rich in helium and is a few times more massive than our Sun. HD 45166 is located about 3,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn). This star was discovered to have an incredibly strong magnetic field, of 43,000 gauss, making HD 45166 the most magnetic massive helium star found to date.

In a few million years, HD 45166 will explode as a very bright, but not particularly energetic, supernova. During this explosion, its core will contract, trapping and concentrating the star’s already daunting magnetic field lines. The result will be a neutron star with a magnetic field of around 100 trillion gauss—the most powerful type of magnet in the Universe.

Neutron stars, the compact remains of a massive star following a supernova explosion, are the densest matter in the Universe. Some neutron stars, known as magnetars, also claim the record for the strongest magnetic fields of any object. How magnetars, which are a mere 15 kilometers across, form and produce such colossal magnetic fields remains a mystery.

Video & Caption Credits: ESO/NOIRLab

Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner

Editing: Angelos Tsaousis

Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida

Written by: Claudia Sciarma and Tom Howarth

Footage and photos:  ESO / L. Calçada, Angelos Tsaousis, B. Tafreshi, P. Horálek, Zdeněk Bardon, José Francisco Salgado

Scientific consultant: Paola Amico, Mariya Lyubenova

Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #ESO #NOIRLab #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #NeutronStars #Magnetars #Star #HD45166 #Magnetic #HeliumStar #Supernova #Monoceros #Constellation #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Universe #Telescopes #Chile #Europe #NSF #AURA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Russia's Luna-25 South Pole Lander: First Close-up Moon Image

Russia's Luna-25 South Pole Lander: First Close-up Moon Image

[No Audio] Russia's Luna-25 lunar lander mission captured an image of the Zeeman crater located on the Moon's far side, near its south pole, on August 17, 2023. Zeeman crater is not directly visible from the Earth. Russia launched an uncrewed spacecraft, called Luna-25, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, designed to land on the south pole of the Moon—the country's first robotic lunar mission since 1976. Russia seeks to become the first nation to make a soft landing on the Moon’s icy south pole. 

Luna-25 will attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface, north of the Boguslawsky crater, on Aug. 21, 2023, according to Roscosmos. Boguslawsky is a lunar impact crater that is located near the Moon's southern lunar limb.

This timetable puts Russia in a race with India, which launched a similar mission—the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander—last month and is aiming to soft-land on the Moon's south pole by Aug. 23. “We hope to be first,” Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov reportedly said at Luna-25's launch.

Borisov, director general of Roscosmos, hailed the Aug. 21 launch as a “new page” for Russian space exploration. “All the results of the research will be transferred to Earth,” he said on state television. “We are interested in the presence of water, as well as many other experiments related to the study of the soil, the site.” He noted that the mission is bound to face some “obstacles” along the way.

Video Credit: ИКИ РАН/Роскосмос

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 1 minute, 30 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Роскосмос #Roscosmos #Russia #Россия #Earth #Moon #SoyuzRocket #Luna25 #Луна25 #MoonLander #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Neptune’s Disappearing Clouds Linked to the Solar Cycle | Hubble

Planet Neptune’s Disappearing Clouds Linked to the Solar Cycle | Hubble

Recent observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show that Neptune's clouds are almost completely disappearing! Astronomers report that their continual monitoring of Neptune’s weather uncovered a link between its shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, where the Sun’s activity waxes and wanes under the driving force of its entangled magnetic field. 

At present, the cloud coverage seen on Neptune is extremely low, with the exception of some clouds hovering over the giant planet’s south pole. A team of astronomers discovered that the abundance of clouds normally seen at the icy giant’s mid-latitudes started to fade in 2019.

For more information, visit: https://nasa.gov/hubble

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Paul Morris: Lead Producer 

Image Credit: Image of Lick Observatory from UC Santa Cruz

Duration: 1 minute, 36 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Sun #SolarCycle #UltravioletRadiation #Planet #Neptune #Atmosphere #Photochemistry #Clouds #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #Voyager2Spacecraft #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Neptune's Cloud Cover over Three Decades: Linked to Solar Cycle | Hubble

Planet Neptune's Cloud Cover over Three Decades: Linked to Solar Cycle | Hubble

This sequence of Hubble Space Telescope images chronicles the waxing and waning of the amount of cloud cover on Neptune. This long set of observations shows that the number of clouds grows increasingly following a peak in the solar cycle—where the Sun's level of activity rhythmically rises and falls over an 11-year period. The chemical changes are caused by photochemistry, which happens high in Neptune's upper atmosphere and takes time to form clouds.

The images reveal an intriguing pattern between seasonal changes in Neptune’s cloud cover and the solar cycle—the period when the Sun's magnetic field flips every 11 years as it becomes more tangled like a ball of yarn. This is evident in the increasing number of sunspots and increasing solar flare activity. As the cycle progresses, the Sun’s tempestuous behavior builds to a maximum, until the magnetic field beaks down and reverses polarity. Then the Sun settles back down to a minimum, only to start another cycle.

When it is stormy weather on the Sun, more intense ultraviolet (UV) radiation floods the solar system. The team found that two years after the solar cycle's peak, an increasing number of clouds appear on Neptune. The team further found a positive correlation between the number of clouds and the ice giant's brightness from the sunlight reflecting off it.

The link between Neptune and solar activity is surprising to planetary scientists because Neptune is our solar system's farthest major planet and receives sunlight with about 0.1% of the intensity Earth receives. Yet Neptune's global cloudy weather seems to be driven by solar activity, and not the planet's four seasons, which each last approximately 40 years.

In 1989, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft provided the first close-up images of linear, bright clouds, reminiscent of cirrus clouds on Earth, seen high in Neptune's atmosphere. They form above most of the methane in Neptune's atmosphere and reflect all colors of sunlight, which makes them white. Hubble picks up where the brief Voyager flyby left off by continually keeping an eye on the planet yearly.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C.

Credits: NASA, European Space Agency, Erandi Chavez (UC Berkeley), Imke de Pater (UC Berkeley)

Release Date: Aug. 17, 2023

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Sun #SolarCycle #UltravioletRadiation #Planet #Neptune #Atmosphere #Photochemistry #Clouds #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #VoyagerSpacecraft #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Infographic #STEM #Education

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7: Preparing for Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7: Preparing for Launch | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli: Spacecraft Commander

Roscosmos Konstantin Borisov (Russia): Mission Specialist

European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark: Spacecraft Pilot

JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa (Japan): Mission Specialist

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 Mission Patch

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 are preparing to start their mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will join European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia and astronaut Satoshi Furukawa from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeted to launch Crew-7 no earlier than 3:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023, from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will be the spacecraft commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 —the agency’s seventh rotational mission to the International Space Station. This will be the first spaceflight for Moghbeli, who became a NASA astronaut in 2017.

Mogensen will be the spacecraft pilot of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission—the first non-US astronaut assigned in this capacity.

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: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Image Date: June 21, 2023

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #CrewDragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #JasminMoghbeli #Commander #ESA #AndreasMogensen #Pilot #Denmark #Danmark #Europe #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #SatoshiFurukawa #Japan #日本 #JAXA #HumanSpaceflight #NASAKennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education