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NASA's X-59 Rollout: First Look at The Future of Supersonic Flight
Get excited for the first flight of X-59 in 2024!
Lockheed Martin rolled out the X-59 with NASA, revealing a first look at the future of commercial supersonic flight over land.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter.
NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft is the product of decades of aeronautics and supersonic flight research. The X-59 is designed to be able to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, without producing a loud sonic boom. This occurs when aircraft fly at such speeds. Instead, the X-59 is designed to reduce that boom to a quieter sonic “thump.”
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
Spiral Galaxy NGC 1058 in Perseus | Gemini North Telescope
Approximately as bright in the night sky as Proxima Centauri, this quiescent spiral galaxy, known as NGC 1058, betrays its unassuming appearance with a record of supernovae and starburst activity. Captured by the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) at Gemini North, operated by the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, the galaxy lies about 30 million light-years away in the constellation of Perseus as part of the NGC 1023 Group. A Seyfert Type 2 galaxy, NGC 1058 hosts a luminous center with a mix of blues and pinks along its arms that indicate active regions of star formation.
Three supernovae have been observed in the galaxy: SN 1961V, SN 1969L, and SN 2007gr. SN 1961V has been enveloped in mystery as its explosion is yet to be understood. Although a faint shell of expanding gas can just be resolved by astronomers, some are skeptical because there is a remaining bright star near the position of its wake. As the ‘supernova’ gradually fades into the night, the incriminating star continues to shine with an unusually long decay time.
The 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared North Gemini Telescope is located on Hawaii‘s Maunakea as part of the international community of observatories built to take advantage of the superb atmospheric conditions on this long-dormant volcano that rises about 4,214 meters (13,825 feet) into the dry, stable air of the Pacific. The Gemini Observatory's international headquarters is located in Hilo, Hawai‘i at the University of Hawaii Hilo's University Park.
Since 2002 Gemini North has also been known as the Frederick C. Gillett Gemini North telescope. Dr. Gillett, who died in April 2001, was one of the primary visionaries of the Gemini telescopes. He was instrumental in assuring that the design of Gemini's twin 8-meter telescopes would make major scientific contributions to astronomy.
Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Rodriguez (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab)
Sonification of Interacting Galaxies: Arp 140 | NASA Goddard
This data sonification of Arp 140 shows a pair of interacting galaxies. The leftmost galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy known as NGC 275, and the right-side galaxy is a lenticular galaxy called NGC 274. In barred spiral galaxies, a bar of stars runs through the central bulge of the galaxy (seen here as a bright-white, vertical haze in NGC 275). Lenticular galaxies, on the other hand, are classified somewhere between elliptical and spiral galaxies, getting their name from the edge-on appearance that resembles a disk. They typically do not have much gas and dust and are made up primarily of old stars.
Scientists sonified the data in this image, assigning pitch to color for the image as a whole (bluer light is higher, redder is lower). Pitch is mapped to brightness for the resolved stars and background galaxies, based on their apparent size – objects that appear bigger are lower, and smaller are higher in pitch. Brighter light is louder throughout the image.
Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Foley (University of California - Santa Cruz)
Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America); Sonification: SYSTEM Sounds (M. Russo, A. Santaguida)
Expedition 70 Astronaut Loral O’Hara Answers Boston Student Questions | NASA
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O’Hara discussed living and working in space during an in-flight event Jan. 23, 2024, with students attending Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
O’Hara is in the midst of a science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies. 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.
Ax-3 Mission Update #1 | Axiom Space | International Space Station
Join us for an Ax-3 mission update. Hear from Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and Michael López-Alegría (Spain-USA) as they talk about settling on the International Space Station and what they brought with them from home on their mission.
An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.
NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | En camino: 19 de enero de 2024
Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.
NASA Artemis V Moon Rocket Engine Test#5: Preparing for Crewed Missions
An Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 rocket engine (RS-25 developmental engine E0525) completed a hot fire test on the Fred Haise Test Stand (formerly A-1 Test Stand) at the John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, on January 23, 2024, at 14:01 CST. This was the fifth hot fire test out of the twelve planned in the final round of certification testing ahead of production of an updated set of engines for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) that will be used beginning with Artemis V.
Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Pan of N79: A Massive New Star Cluster in Nearby Galaxy | Webb Telescope
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. This nebula, known as N79, is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized, captured here by Webb’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).
N79 is a massive star-forming complex spanning roughly 1,630 light-years in the generally unexplored southwest region of the LMC. N79 is typically regarded as a younger version of 30 Doradus (also known as the Tarantula Nebula), another of Webb’s recent targets. Research suggests that N79 has a star formation efficiency exceeding that of 30 Doradus by a factor of two over the past 500,000 years.
Image Description: A bright young star within a colorful nebula. The star is identifiable as the brightest spot in the image, surrounded by six large spokes of light that cross the image. A number of other bright spots can also be seen in the clouds. These are shown in great detail as layers of colorful wisps.
This particular image centers on one of the three giant molecular cloud complexes, dubbed N79 South (S1 for short). The distinct ‘starburst’ pattern surrounding this bright object is a series of diffraction spikes. All telescopes which use a mirror to collect light, as Webb does, have this form of artifact which arises from the design of the telescope. In Webb's case, the six largest starburst spikes appear because of the hexagonal symmetry of Webb's 18 primary mirror segments. Patterns like these are only noticeable around very bright, compact objects, where all the light comes from the same place. Most galaxies, even though they appear very small to our eyes, are darker and more spread out than a single star, and therefore do not show this pattern.
At the longer wavelengths of light captured by MIRI, Webb’s view of N79 showcases the region’s glowing gas and dust. This is because mid-infrared light is able to reveal what is happening deeper inside the clouds (while shorter wavelengths of light would be absorbed or scattered by dust grains in the nebula). Some still-embedded protostars also appear in this field.
Star-forming regions such as this are of interest to astronomers because their chemical composition is similar to that of the gigantic star-forming regions observed when the Universe was only a few billion years old and star formation was at its peak. Star-forming regions in our Milky Way galaxy are not producing stars at the same furious rate as N79, and have a different chemical composition. Webb is now providing astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in N79 with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies in the early Universe.
These observations of N79 are part of a Webb program that is studying the evolution of the circumstellar discs and envelopes of forming stars over a wide range in mass and at different evolutionary stages. Webb’s sensitivity will enable scientists to detect for the first time the planet-forming dust discs around stars of similar mass to that of our Sun at the distance of the LMC.
This image includes 7.7-micron light shown in blue, 10 microns in cyan, 15 microns in yellow, and 21 microns in red (770W, 1000W, 1500W, and 2100W filters, respectively).
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, O. Nayak, M. Meixner, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
N79: A Massive Star Cluster Emerges in Nearby Galaxy | Webb Telescope
This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. This nebula, known as N79, is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized, captured here by Webb’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).
N79 is a massive star-forming complex spanning roughly 1,630 light-years in the generally unexplored southwest region of the LMC. N79 is typically regarded as a younger version of 30 Doradus (also known as the Tarantula Nebula), another of Webb’s recent targets. Research suggests that N79 has a star formation efficiency exceeding that of 30 Doradus by a factor of two over the past 500,000 years.
Image Description: A bright young star within a colorful nebula. The star is identifiable as the brightest spot in the image, surrounded by six large spokes of light that cross the image. A number of other bright spots can also be seen in the clouds. These are shown in great detail as layers of colorful wisps.
This particular image centers on one of the three giant molecular cloud complexes, dubbed N79 South (S1 for short). The distinct ‘starburst’ pattern surrounding this bright object is a series of diffraction spikes. All telescopes which use a mirror to collect light, as Webb does, have this form of artifact which arises from the design of the telescope. In Webb's case, the six largest starburst spikes appear because of the hexagonal symmetry of Webb's 18 primary mirror segments. Patterns like these are only noticeable around very bright, compact objects, where all the light comes from the same place. Most galaxies, even though they appear very small to our eyes, are darker and more spread out than a single star, and therefore do not show this pattern.
At the longer wavelengths of light captured by MIRI, Webb’s view of N79 showcases the region’s glowing gas and dust. This is because mid-infrared light is able to reveal what is happening deeper inside the clouds (while shorter wavelengths of light would be absorbed or scattered by dust grains in the nebula). Some still-embedded protostars also appear in this field.
Star-forming regions such as this are of interest to astronomers because their chemical composition is similar to that of the gigantic star-forming regions observed when the Universe was only a few billion years old and star formation was at its peak. Star-forming regions in our Milky Way galaxy are not producing stars at the same furious rate as N79, and have a different chemical composition. Webb is now providing astronomers the opportunity to compare and contrast observations of star formation in N79 with the telescope’s deep observations of distant galaxies in the early Universe.
These observations of N79 are part of a Webb program that is studying the evolution of the circumstellar discs and envelopes of forming stars over a wide range in mass and at different evolutionary stages. Webb’s sensitivity will enable scientists to detect for the first time the planet-forming dust discs around stars of similar mass to that of our Sun at the distance of the LMC.
This image includes 7.7-micron light shown in blue, 10 microns in cyan, 15 microns in yellow, and 21 microns in red (770W, 1000W, 1500W, and 2100W filters, respectively).
Image Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, O. Nayak, M. Meixner
China to Launch Record Number of Spaceflights in 2024
China is expected to launch an unprecedented number of spacecraft in 2024 as the country continues to advance its space exploration programs. In January 2024, China launched the Kuaizhou-1A rocket and the world's largest solid rocket Gravity-1, performed the docking of Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft with its space station and completed the vertical return test of a reusable rocket.
In 2024, China plans to launch two cargo spacecraft and two manned spacecraft to its space station.
"According to the plan of this year, the Long March-2F (carrier rockets) will carry out two manned launch missions. The Long March-2F Y18 rocket is in good condition at the launch site and the Y19 rocket has completed its final assembly," said Liu Feng, chief designer of Long March-2F carrier rockets.
In addition, the Chang'e-6 lunar probe is undergoing tests at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Site, and it will land at the far side of the Moon in the first half of the year to carry out the world's first sample collection from the area.
China's commercial space industry is anticipated to experience rapid growth and development this year.
China’s first commercial space launch site in Wenchang, Hainan Province, will see its first flight, and the construction of multiple satellite constellations will be accelerated this year.
GalaxySpace, a Beijing-based commercial satellite maker, is stepping up the research and development of satellites by introducing a slew of assembly robots to cut the development cycle by 80 percent than the traditional manufacturing model.
"A wealth of advanced means such as smart equipment and digital manufacturing can realize a complete manufacturing loop for satellites with the weight ranging from 100kg to 1,000kg, and can meet the annual output of 100 to 150 medium-sized satellites in terms of research and development capacity," said Guo Dabao, technical director of a smart factory in Nantong City under the Galaxyspace.
NASA Conducts Full-Scale Inflatable Habitat Burst Pressure Test | NASA Marshall
NASA, Sierra Space, and ILC Dover subject matter experts recently conducted the first full-scale ultimate burst pressure test on Sierra Space’s LIFE habitat at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center.
The inflatable module is planned to be used for human habitation in orbit, including on Blue Origin’s commercial space station, Orbital Reef, as part of NASA’s Commercial Low Earth Orbit Development Program, managed by NASA's Johnson Space Center.
NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit will provide the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost and enable the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars, while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft with Ax-3 Crew Approaches International Space Station
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying the four-member Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew is pictured approaching the International Space Station 260 miles above southern India
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft above the Himalayas
SpaceX Dragon Freedom above China north of the Himalayas
SpaceX Dragon Freedom above a cloudy Indian Ocean east of the coast of Madagascar
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying the four-member Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew is pictured approaching the International Space Station.
The International Space Station is now home to eleven human beings representing eight countries.
Axiom Mission 3 crew members Michael López-Alegría (Spain-USA), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden) docked to the forward port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station Jan. 20, 2024, following a launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Jan. 18.
Following docking, the crew opened the hatch of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft and floated aboard the International Space Station where they were greeted by members of the Expedition 70 crew. The four private crew members will conduct a mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory on the third private astronaut mission as part of NASA’s effort to open to space to more people and science.
Axiom Space astronauts are expected to depart the space station Feb. 3, 2024, pending fair weather, for a return to Earth and splashdown at a landing site off the coast of Florida.
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.
Galaxy mergers, hidden spectacles in our vast universe, play a crucial role in shaping cosmic landscapes. Unlock the secrets of these celestial events and the pivotal role of Hubble in capturing their essence.
Join us on a journey to explore the unseen forces that sculpt galaxies, unveiling the intricate tapestry of our cosmic existence.
In this video, Dr. Jennifer Wiseman goes in-depth on galaxy mergers and how important Hubble is to exploring the mysteries of the universe.
The Aladaghlar Mountains of Northwest Iran | International Space Station
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of the rugged landscape of the Aladaghlar Mountains in northwestern Iran. Ridges cast shadows in the valleys and other low elevation areas, creating a three-dimensional appearance. Human alterations to the landscape are most evident in riverbeds, where the even topography is easier to build on and navigate.
Natural processes over millions of years have folded rock layers with a variety of compositions and colors into the curved patterns seen here. These folds are produced by tectonic forces operating along the convergent plate boundary of the Arabia and Eurasia plates. The convergence of these tectonic plates causes uplift, folding, and deformation of the colorful rock layers, and subsequent erosion exposes them.
On the left side of this photo, the Qezel Ozan River, a major river in northern Iran, cuts across the landscape. Agricultural fields are visible along the riverbanks tucked between the mountains. The Qezel Ozan also intersects the Zanjan-Tabriz freeway (Freeway 2), a major thoroughfare built on a dried riverbed connecting the cities of Tehran and Tabriz.
Astronaut photograph ISS069-E-89946 was acquired on September 19, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 400 millimeters. The image was provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 69 crew.
Image Credit: NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
Luminous in Lepus: Spiral Galaxy IC 438 | Hubble Space Telescope
This image shows the spiral galaxy IC 438, which lies about 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Lepus (the Hare). Lepus lies just south of the celestial equator (the ring around the middle of Earth that falls at right angles to its rotation axis). Appropriately, Lepus is flanked by the constellations Canis Major (the Greater Dog) and Orion (the Hunter), whilst Canis Minor (the Lesser Dog) lies very nearby, meaning that in artistic representations of the constellations, Lepus is often shown as being pursued by Orion and his two hunting dogs.
Lepus is one of the 88 constellations that are officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). It is worth clarifying that, whilst the actual constellations themselves only comprise a handful of stars, the area of sky covered by those stars is often referred to using the name of the constellation. For example, when we say that IC 438 is in Lepus, we do not mean that the galaxy is part of the constellation—perhaps obviously, as it is not a single star, but an entire galaxy! Rather, we mean that it falls in the region of sky covered by the Lepus constellation stars.
The IAU’s 88 official constellations are by no means the only constellations ever described by humanity. Humans have been studying and naming the stars for a very long time, and different cultures of course have their own constellations. The IAU constellations are Eurocentric, with many taken from Ptolemy’s list of constellations. Collectively, the 88 constellations divide the night sky into 88 regions which completely cover it, so that the approximate location of any celestial object can be described using one of the 88.
The impetus behind Hubble examining this galaxy was a type Iax supernova that took place in 2017, a kind of supernova that arises from a binary system of two stars. While this data was obtained over three years after the supernova occurred, and so it’s not visible in this image, there’s still a lot to learn from studying the aftermath of supernovae like this one.
Image Description: A large spiral galaxy seen close-up. The left side of the image shows the galaxy's core and its tightly-curled inner spiral arms. On the right side, one of the arms reaches down from above, curving across the dark background. There is a bright star inside the arc of the arm, and a couple more next to the galaxy.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)
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