Where are the Apollo Moon Rocks? We Asked a NASA Expert

Where are the Apollo Moon Rocks? We Asked a NASA Expert

Where are the Moon rocks from the Apollo missions kept? When they are not being studied by institutions or enjoyed by museumgoers, NASA has a specialized Lunar Sample Curation Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) to store and keep these otherworldly samples safe. Studying these samples helps us learn more about the origin of not only our moon, but our planet. Deputy Apollo Sample Curator (Sept. 2019–Dec. 2022) Dr. Juliane Gross explains more about lunar sample curation.

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde

Editor: David Shelton

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Aug. 23, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ApolloProgram #ApolloMissions #Moon #Rocks #Geology #DeepSpace #MoonToMars #SpaceRobotics #SpaceEngineering #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NOAA Satellites Monitor Increased Storm Activity in Atlantic & Pacific Oceans

NOAA Satellites Monitor Increased Storm Activity in Atlantic & Pacific Oceans

August 20, 2023, marked the beginning of what is typically the most active portion of the Atlantic hurricane season, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites are closely monitoring the action. Historically, more than 85 percent of all major (Category 3, 4, and 5) Atlantic hurricanes form after this date. In fact, hurricane experts at Colorado State University even ring a bell every year to mark the occasion.

In the eastern Pacific, there also tends to be a peak in activity during late August, but it is less pronounced than in the Atlantic. Here, relatively high levels of activity tend to be spread out over a longer portion of the season than in the Atlantic, with most tropical cyclones occurring between late June and early October. 

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

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 24, 2023

#NASA #NOAA #NWS #Space #Science #Satellite #GOESEast #GOES16 #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthAmerica #Mexico #AtlanticOcean #PacificOcean #Hurricanes #Storms #ElNiño #Weather #Meteorology #RemoteSensing #EarthObservation #LockheedMartin #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Planet Neptune: Mysterious Dark Spot Detected from Earth | ESO

Planet Neptune: Mysterious Dark Spot Detected from Earth | ESO

ESOcast 265 Light: Using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune’s atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This short video summarizes their discovery.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Directed by: Angelos Tsaousis and Martin Wallner

Editing: Angelos Tsaousis

Web and technical support: Gurvan Bazin and Raquel Yumi Shida

Written by: Tom Howarth and Claudia Sciarma

Footage and photos: ESO / M. Kornmesser, Angelos Tsaousis, Irwin et al., F. Kamphues, Gianluca Lombardi, NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/OPO) and G. Bacon (STScI).

Scientific consultant: Paola Amico, Mariya Lyubenova

Duration: 1 minute, 27 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 24, 2023

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Planet #Neptune #Atmosphere #SolarSystem #VLT #Telescope #ParanalObservatory #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander's Descent to The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander's Descent to The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander captured its descent onto the Moon's surface using its Landing Imager Camera. Chandrayaan-3 performed a soft landing in the South Pole region of the Moon, on August 23, 2023, at 12:34 UTC (18:04 IST). Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s third lunar exploration mission, consists of a propulsion module, a lander and a rover.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is 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.

India has become the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to successfully soft-land on the Moon. 

Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 24, 2023

#NASA #ISRO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #SouthPole #India #Chandrayaan3Mission #Chandrayaan3Spacecraft #Chandrayaan3Orbiter #Chandrayaan3Lander #Chandrayaan3Rover #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #BhāratGaṇarājya #HD #Video

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Seguimiento de una tendencia: 18 de agosto de 2023

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Seguimiento de una tendencia: 18 de agosto de 2023

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/

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 has ended it six-month stay at the orbital lab. It will be replaced on Thursday Aug. 24, 2023, 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 are scheduled to 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: 3 minutes, 15 seconds

Original Broadcast Date: Aug. 18, 2023

Release Date: Aug. 24, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #NASAenespañol #español #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

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Talk Before Station Departure | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 Talk Before Station Departure | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev gave remarks about their mission during a news conference August 23, 2023. The Crew-6 astronauts have been aboard the space station since March. The quartet will enter the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft one week after Crew-7 arrives, undock from Harmony’s forward port, and splashdown off the coast of Florida to complete their six-month space mission. 

The four crew members have been living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars. 

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 Dates: Aug. 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonaut #AndreyFedyaev #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Earthbound Meteor & The Andromeda Galaxy

Earthbound Meteor and The Andromeda Galaxy

"It came from outer space." It—in this case a sand-sized bit of a comet nucleus—was likely ejected many years ago from Sun-orbiting Comet Swift-Tuttle, but then continued to orbit the Sun alone. When the Earth crossed through this orbit, the piece of comet debris impacted the atmosphere of our fair planet and was seen as a meteor. This meteor deteriorated, causing gases to be emitted that glowed in colors emitted by its component elements. 

This image was taken from Castilla La Mancha, Spain, during the peak night of this year's Perseids meteor shower. The picturesque meteor streak happened to appear in the only one of 50 frames that also included the Andromeda galaxy. Stars dot the frame, each much further away than the meteor. Compared to the stars, the Andromeda galaxy (M31) is, again, much further away.

The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way, where the Solar System resides. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. 

The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which itself is named after the princess who was the wife of Perseus in Greek mythology.

Distance: 2.5 million light years

Image Credit & Copyright: Jose Pedrero

Jose's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josepedrero.jpart/

Release Date: Aug. 23, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Meteors #ThePerseids #Perseids #Meteor #Perseus #Constellations #Galaxies #AndromedaGalaxy #M31 #NGC224 #Andromeda #Astrophotography #JosePedrero #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #CastillaLaMancha #Spain #España #SolarSystem #Europe #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #APoD

New Expedition 69 Crew Photos | International Space Station

New Expedition 69 Crew Photos | International Space Station

The seven-member Expedition 69 crew give a thumbs up in this portrait from inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. In the front row from left are, Flight Engineers Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos (Russia); Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, both from NASA; and Sultan Alneyadi from the United Arab Emirates. In the back from left are, Flight Engineer Dmitri Petelin (Russia) and Commander Sergey Prokopyev (Russia), both from Roscosmos; and Flight Engineer Frank Rubio from NASA.

NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio works in the Microgravity Science Glovebox

Astronaut Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates works on orbital plumbing tasks

Astronaut Woody Hoburg swaps samples in the Microgravity Science Glovebox

Astronaut Stephen Bowen works with the BioFabrication Facility 

The seven-member Expedition 69 crew can be seen in a series of portraits and candid photos here. Cosmonaut and flight engineer Andrey Fedyaev of Russia will be returning to Earth soon with NASA astronauts Woody Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, plus Sultan Alneyadi of the United Arab Emirates—all members of NASA's SpaceX Crew-6. The quartet will enter the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft one week after Crew-7 arrives, undock from Harmony’s forward port, and splashdown off the coast of Florida to complete a six-month space 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)

Image Dates: Aug. 20, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #ISS #Astronauts #StephenBowen #FrankRubio #WoodyHoburg #SultanAlneyadi #UAE #Cosmonauts #SergeyProkopyev #AndreyFedyaev #DmitriPetelin #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #STEM #Education

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander: First Images of The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lunar Lander: First Images of The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander transmitted the first image captured by the Landing Imager Camera today. The Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission performed a soft landing in the South Pole region of the Moon, on August 23, 2023, at 12:34 UTC (18:04 IST). Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s third lunar exploration mission, consists of a propulsion module, a lander and a rover.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is 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.

India has become the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to successfully soft-land on the Moon. 

Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 1 minute, 46 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 23, 2023

#NASA #ISRO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #SouthPole #India #Chandrayaan3Mission #Chandrayaan3Spacecraft #Chandrayaan3Orbiter #Chandrayaan3Lander #Chandrayaan3Rover #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #BhāratGaṇarājya #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Falcon 9 Rocket & Dragon Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Falcon 9 Rocket & Dragon Preflight | Kennedy Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft on top is seen after sunset on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A as preparations continue for the Crew-7 mission, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A during a brief static fire test ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

A heron is seen in the Turning Basin after sunrise before the static fire test of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Dragon spacecraft onboard at Launch Complex 39A ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

An international crew is preparing to launch to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli (commander), European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (pilot) of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos (Russia) will perform research technology demonstrations, science experiments, and maintenance activities aboard the microgravity laboratory.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission is the seventh crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Moghbeli, Mogensen, Furukawa, and Borisov are scheduled to launch no earlier than 3:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 25, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

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. This will be the first long-duration mission for Mogensen. He previously served as a flight engineer on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station in 2015. Crew-7 will be his second trip to space.

Learn more about the Crew-7 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-7/

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Image Capture Date: Aug. 22, 2023

#NASA #Space #ISS #SpaceX #SpaceXCrew7 #Falcon9Rocket #CrewDragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #JasminMoghbeli #ESA #AndreasMogensen #Denmark #Europe #Cosmonaut #KonstantinBorisov #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #SatoshiFurukawa #Japan #日本 #JAXA #HumanSpaceflight #CCP #NASAKennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Russian Progress MS-24 Soyuz Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

Russian Progress MS-24 Soyuz Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket launched a MS-24 cargo spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS Progress 85 mission) on August 23, 2023, at 01:08:10 UTC (06:08 local time; August 22, at 21:08 EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The uncrewed Progress 85 mission will deliver about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 69 crew aboard the International Space Station.

The resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned on its way to meet up with the orbiting laboratory and its Expedition 69 crew members.

Progress is scheduled to dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module about 11:50 p.m. EDT Thursday, Aug. 24.

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.

Credit: Roscosmos/NASA TV

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 6 minutes, 45 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 22, 2023

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Progress85Spacecraft #SoyuzMS24 #CargoSpacecraft #SoyuzRocket #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Роскосмос #Kazakhstan #UAE #MicrogravityResearch #SpaceResearch #SpaceLaboratory #UNOOSA #InternationalCooperation #Expedition69 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lands Successfully on The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

India's Chandrayaan-3 Lands Successfully on The Moon's South Pole | ISRO

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission performed a successful soft landing in the South Pole region of the Moon, on August 23, 2023, at 12:34 UTC (18:04 IST). Chandrayaan-3, ISRO’s third lunar exploration mission, consists of a propulsion module, a lander and a rover. 

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is 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.

India has become the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to successfully soft-land on the Moon. 

Credit: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 4 minutes, 25 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 23, 2023  

#NASA #ISRO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #SouthPole #India #Chandrayaan3Mission #Chandrayaan3Spacecraft #Chandrayaan3Orbiter #Chandrayaan3Lander #Chandrayaan3Rover #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #BhāratGaṇarājya #HD #Video

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Watches Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's 54th Flight

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover Watches Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's 54th Flight

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's 54th flight on Aug. 3, 2023. After performing a preflight "wiggle check" with its rotors, the helicopter takes off, hovers at an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters), and rotates to the left, before touching back down. The mission conducted the short pop-up flight to check Ingenuity's navigation system.

The video was captured by the rover's Mastcam-Z imager from a distance of about 180 feet (55 meters).

Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.

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, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).

Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with European Space Agency, would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.

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 about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/

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

Duration: 46 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 16, 2023

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

NASA Psyche Mission Flight Systems Engineer Christina Hernandez | JPL

NASA Psyche Mission Flight Systems Engineer Christina Hernandez | JPL

Behind the Spacecraft: Meet Christina Hernandez, a flight systems engineer on NASA’s Psyche mission, which will be the first to explore a metal-rich asteroid, also named Psyche. In this video Hernandez, from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, talks about getting Psyche ready for launch through the spacecraft’s verification-and-validation phase and her passion for heavy metal music.

Whether the asteroid Psyche is the partial core of a planetesimal (a building block of the rocky planets in our solar system) or primordial material that never melted, scientists expect the mission to help answer fundamental questions about Earth’s own metal core and the formation of our solar system. 

This is the first episode in a weekly, five-part video series called “Behind the Spacecraft.” Each Psyche team member will tell the story of how they came to the mission.

Psyche’s launch period opens Oct. 5, 2023. The spacecraft will begin orbiting the asteroid Psyche in 2029.

Learn all about our first-of-its-kind Mission to Psyche: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche

For more information, go to: www.nasa.gov/psyche and psyche.asu.edu

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Produced by: NASA 360 Productions

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 22, 2023  

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #MissionToPsyche #PsycheMission #PsycheAsteroid #16Psyche #Asteroids #PsycheSpacecraft #SolarElectricPropulsion #Planets #Mars #Jupiter #AsteroidBelt #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #ASU #MaxarTechnologies #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

A Giant Black Hole Destroys a Massive Star | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

A Giant Black Hole Destroys a Massive Star | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Astronomers have made an unprecedented forensic study of a star that was torn apart when it ventured too close to a giant black and then had its insides tossed out into space. NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton studied the amount of nitrogen and carbon near a black hole known to have torn apart a star. Astronomers think these elements were created inside the star before it was ripped apart as it neared the black hole.

Astronomers have found many examples of “tidal disruption events” in recent years, where the gravitational forces from a massive black hole destroy a star. This causes a flare, often seen in optical and ultraviolet light and X-rays, as the star’s debris is heated up. This one in the constellation Coma Berenices, called ASASSN-14li, stands out for several reasons.

At the time of discovery in November 2014 it was the closest tidal disruption to Earth—about 290 million light-years—in about a decade. Because of this proximity, ASASSN-14li has provided an extraordinary level of detail about the destroyed star. The research team applied new theoretical models to make improved estimates, compared to previous work, of the amount of nitrogen and carbon around the black hole.

The relative amount of nitrogen to carbon that was found points to material from the interior of a doomed star weighing about three times the mass of the Sun. This would make the star in ASASSN-14li one of the most massive—and perhaps the most massive—that astronomers have seen ripped apart by a black hole to date.

In addition to the unusual size of the destroyed star and the ability to conduct the detailed forensics on it, ASASSN-14li is also exciting because of what it means for future studies. Astronomers have seen moderately massive stars like ASASSN-14li’s in the star cluster containing the supermassive black hole in the center of our galaxy. Therefore, the ability to estimate stellar masses of tidally disrupted stars potentially gives astronomers a way to identify the presence of star clusters around supermassive black holes in more distant galaxies.

Until this study there was a strong possibility that the elements observed in X-rays might have come from gas released in previous eruptions from the supermassive black hole. The pattern of elements analyzed here, however, appears to have come from a single star.

Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 22, 2023

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Star #ASASSN14li #BlackHole #TidalDisruption #Flare #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #SpaceTelescope #Xray #ESA #XMMNewton #MSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Launch Dress Rehearsal | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 Launch Dress Rehearsal | Kennedy Space Center

Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Russia, left,  European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, second from left, NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, second from right, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, right, wearing SpaceX spacesuits

An international crew is preparing to launch to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission. NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli (commander), European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen (pilot) of Denmark, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos (Russia) will perform research technology demonstrations, science experiments, and maintenance activities aboard the microgravity laboratory.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 are seen as they prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A during a dress rehearsal prior to the Crew-7 mission launch, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 mission is the seventh crew rotation mission of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Moghbeli, Mogensen, Furukawa, and Borisov are scheduled to launch no earlier than 3:49 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 25, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.

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. This will be the first long-duration mission for Mogensen. He previously served as a flight engineer on a ten-day mission to the International Space Station in 2015. Crew-7 will be his second trip to space.

Learn more about the Crew-7 mission here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/crew-7/

Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Image Capture Date: August 22, 2023

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