Friday, February 09, 2024

China's Shenzhou-17 Crew: Happy New Year Greetings! | China Space Station

China's Shenzhou-17 Crew: Happy New Year Greetings! | China Space Station

China's Shenzhou-17 mission crew extended their best wishes to Chinese people around the world from the China Space Station.

While celebrating the Lunar New Year, Chinese astronauts are at work conducting experiments on China's Tiangong Space Station (CSS). The national celebrations last up to 16 days in China, but only the first 7 days are considered a public holiday (February 10th–February 16th, 2024). The Shenzhou-17 crew aboard China's Tiangong Space Station has been conducting a series of scientific experiments and technology verification objectives, as well as additional extravehicular activities and payload missions.

The taikonauts have been stationed at the space station for half of their six-month space mission since the end of October 2023. They completed the crew rotation with the Shenzhou-16 astronauts and have conducted tasks, including space station maintenance, life and health support, spacesuit inspection and testing, a Tianzhou-6 cargo ship equipment inspection and preparation for upcoming spacewalks, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Shenzhou-17 is the sixth crew of three astronauts on a mission to the China Space Station. Shenzhou-17 is also the twelfth crewed and seventeenth flight overall of China's Shenzhou spaceflight program. Shenzhou-17 also features the youngest crew of any Chinese space mission to date.

Shenzhou-17 (神舟十七) Crew:

Hongbo Tang (汤洪波) - Commander 

Shengjie Tang (唐胜杰) - Mission Specialist

Xinlin Jiang  (江新林) - Mission Specialist


Video Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 45 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 9, 2024


#NASA #Space #China #中国 #ChineseNewYear #SpringFestival #春节 #ChinaSpaceStation #CSS #TiangongSpaceStation #中国空间站  #Shenzhou17 #神舟十七号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #HongboTang #ShengjieTang #XinlinJiang #SpaceLaboratory #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 70 & Ax-3 Crews Plus Cygnus Capture | International Space Station

Expedition 70 & Ax-3 Crews Plus Cygnus Capture | International Space Station

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, both NASA astronauts, are pictured inside the cupola with Northrop Grumman's Cygnus resupply ship outside in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Members of the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) and Expedition 70 crews join each other for movie night inside the International Space Station's Harmony module. From left are, Ax-3 Pilot Walter Villadei; Ax-3 Commander Michael López-Alegría; Expedition 70 Flight Engineers Loral O'Hara and Jasmin Moghbeli, both from NASA; and Ax-3 Mission Specialists Marcus Wandt and Alper Gezeravcı.
From left are, Ax-3 Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı; Ax-3 Pilot Walter Villadei; Ax-3 Commander Michael López-Alegría; Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara from NASA; Ax-3 Mission Specialist Marcus Wandt; and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency); partially obscured at top right is, Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen from ESA (European Space Agency).
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen shows off a pair of cube-shaped Astrobee robotic free flyers inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module. The autonomous robots are powered by fans and vision-based navigation and are demonstrating their ability to assist astronauts with routine chores and provide remote monitoring abilities for mission controllers on the ground.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara wears personal protective equipment during scieintific maintenance duties aboard the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory module.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa processes cell samples inside a Kubik incubator for the Immune Cell Activation biotechnology experiment. The study is investigating ways to develop novel therapeutic tools to target central nervous system diseases and cutaneous cancers such as melanoma.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flght Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli works inside the Life Science Glovebox for the Microgravity Associated Bone Loss-A investigation. She was processing bone cell samples obtained from human donors on Earth and exploring space-caused bone loss. Results may help doctors learn how to protect and treat astronauts on long-term missions and inform treatments for bone conditions on Earth.
Northrop Grumman's Cygnus resupply ship is pictured attached to the International Space Station shortly after the Canadarm2 robotic arm grappled and installed it to the Unity module's Earth-facing port.


The International Space Station has returned to its standard configuration of seven Expedition 70 crew members conducting advanced microgravity research and orbital lab maintenance. The four Axiom Mission 3 guests ended their stay at the orbital outpost on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, and returned to Earth on Friday, Feb. 9th.

The crew of the “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft for Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station included commander Michael López-Alegría (United States-Spain), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden).

The Ax-3 astronauts completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3


Follow Expedition 70 Updates:

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)

Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

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.


Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) 

Image Dates: Jan. 27 - Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #CRS20 #NorthropGrumman #Astronauts #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbeli #UnitedStates #AndreasMogensen #Denmark #Europe #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #Cosmonauts #Russia #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition70 #STEM #Education

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Recovery Operations and Astronauts Egress | Axiom Space

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Recovery Operations and Astronauts Egress | Axiom Space

Ax-3 SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft on recovery boat Shannon

Ax-3 Pilot Walter Villadei (Italy)
Ax-3 Mission Specialist European Space Agency (ESA) Project Astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden)
Ax-3 Mission Specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye)
Ax-3 Mission SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft
SpaceX recovery boat Shannon approaches the AX-3 Crew Dragon spacecraft after it safely splashed down off the coast of Florida
Splashdown of AX-3 Crew Dragon spacecraft: "Welcome Back to Earth!"

The crew of Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station, commander Michael López-Alegría (United States-Spain), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden), was successfully recovered from SpaceX’s “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft.

SpaceX’s “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida, on February 9, 2024, at 13:30 UTC (8:30am EST). 

The Ax-3 astronauts completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Crew Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3

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.


Image Credits: Axiom Space/SpaceX

Release Date: Feb. 9, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #Spain #Espana #UnitedStates #WalterVilladei #Italy #Italia #AlperGezeravcı #Türkiye #MarcusWandt #Sweden #Sverige #MuninnMission #Europe #STEM #Education

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Recovery Operations and Astronauts Egress | Axiom Space

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Recovery Operations and Astronauts Egress | Axiom Space

The crew of Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station, commander Michael López-Alegría (United States-Spain), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden), was successfully recovered from SpaceX’s “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft.

SpaceX’s “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida, on February 9, 2024, at 13:30 UTC (8:30am EST). 

The Ax-3 astronauts completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Crew Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3

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.


Video Credit: Axiom Space/SpaceX

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 9, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #Spain #Espana #UnitedStates #WalterVilladei #Italy #Italia #AlperGezeravcı #Türkiye #MarcusWandt #Sweden #Sverige #MuninnMission #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Homeward Bound | Week of Feb. 9, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground: Homeward Bound | Week of Feb. 9, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. The International Space Station has returned to its standard configuration of seven Expedition 70 crew members conducting advanced microgravity research and orbital lab maintenance. The four Axiom Mission 3 guests ended their stay at the orbital outpost on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, and returned to Earth on Friday, Feb. 9th.

Follow Expedition 70 Updates:

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency (Denmark)

Roscosmos (Russia): Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, Konstantin Borisov

JAXA: Flight Engineer Satoshi Furukawa (Japan)

NASA: Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara (USA)

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


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 9, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Astronauts #LoralOHara #JasminMoghbeli #UnitedStates #AndreasMogensen #Denmark #Europe #SatoshiFurukawa #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition70 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Splashdown | Axiom Space

Ax-3 Crew Dragon Splashdown | Axiom Space

SpaceX’s “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down successfully off the coast of Florida, on February 9, 2024, at 13:30 UTC (8:30am EST). 

The crew of the “Freedom” Crew Dragon spacecraft for Axiom Space’s Ax-3 mission to the International Space Station included commander Michael López-Alegría (United States-Spain), pilot Walter Villadei (Italy), mission specialist Alper Gezeravcı (Türkiye) and European Space Agency (ESA) project astronaut Marcus Wandt (Sweden).

The Ax-3 astronauts completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon returned to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3

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.


Video Credit: Axiom Space/SpaceX

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 3 minutes, 44 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 9, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #Spain #Espana #UnitedStates #WalterVilladei #Italy #Italia #AlperGezeravcı #Türkiye #MarcusWandt #Sweden #Sverige #MuninnMission #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Thursday, February 08, 2024

The Color of Space: Victor Glover | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

The Color of Space: Victor Glover | NASA Artemis II Moon Mission

Victor Glover will be the first Black astronaut to travel around the Moon for NASA's Artemis II mission. Victor's journey as a Black NASA astronaut offers inspiration to a new generation, reflecting a legacy of resilience and tenacity—the power of representation and the strength of family. 

NASA Astronaut Victor Glover Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/people/victor-j-glover-jr/

www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/glover-vj.pdf

Learn more about the Artemis II Mission:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-ii


Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producer and Director: Jori Kates

Executive Producer: Rebecca Sirmons

Lead Editor: Sonnet Apple

Additional Editor: Ashlee Nichols Brookens 

Recording Engineer: Marcus Smith 

Graphic Designer: Mark Hailey

Video Librarian: Sheva Moore

Duration: 27 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #DeepSpace #Astronaut #Astronauts #VictorGlover #AfricanAmerican #BlackAmerican #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

NASA PACE Earth Science Mission Launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 | Cape Canaveral

NASA PACE Earth Science Mission Launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 | Cape Canaveral






A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral in Florida, on February 8, 2024, at 06:33 UTC (01:33 EST). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1081) previously supported Crew-7, CRS-29 and a SpaceX Starlink mission.

PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols.

Learn more about NASA's PACE Earth Mission: 

https://pace.gsfc.nasa.gov


Image Credit: NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Capture Date: Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #Satellite #Science #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Oceans #Phytoplankton #Land #PACEMission #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #Weather #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #CapeCanaveral #GSFC #KSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Telescopes Show the Milky Way's Black Hole is Ready for a Kick | NASA Chandra

Telescopes Show the Milky Way's Black Hole is Ready for a Kick | NASA Chandra

The supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way is spinning so quickly that it is warping the spacetime surrounding it into a shape that can look like a football. This result was made using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, an X-ray telescope in space, and the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA), an array of radio telescopes in New Mexico.

Astronomers call the giant black hole Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* for short. It is located about 26,000 light-years away from Earth in the center of our Galaxy.

Black holes have two fundamental properties. The first is their mass, or how much they weigh. The second is their spin, or how quickly they rotate. Determining either of these two values tells scientists a great deal about any black hole and how it behaves.

While astronomers are confident they know how much mass Sgr A* has (about four million times that of the Sun), they have had a harder time trying to nail down just how fast Sgr A* is spinning. This new study involves a method that uses X-ray and radio data to determine how quickly Sgr A* is spinning based on how material is flowing towards and away from the black hole.

The results show that Sgr A* is spinning very fast. In fact, scientists think that it is rotating so quickly that it is warping spacetime around it into a shape that looks like a football. Spacetime is the term for the combined concept of time and the three dimensions of space. Scientists have known for a long time that black holes can do this, but this is strong evidence that our own Milky Way’s black hole is having this effect.

How quickly a black hole is spinning also has other important implications. For example, a black hole’s spin can act as an important source of energy. Spinning supermassive black holes can produce narrow outflows in the form of jets when their spin energy is extracted. Sgr A* is currently rather quiet, but this new finding means that it could become more active in the future. Scientists will continue to use Chandra to study Sgr A* to better understand this black hole and its role in our Galaxy.


Credit: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Duration: 2 minutes, 52 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #BlackHole #SajAstar #SagittariusAstar #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #NASAChandra #ChandraObservatory #Xray #SpaceTelescope #MSFC #VLA #RadioTelescopes #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Ax-3 SpaceX Dragon Freedom Crew Spacecraft Docked to International Space Station

Ax-3 SpaceX Dragon Freedom Crew Spacecraft Docked to International Space Station


The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured from a window aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft. Both spacecraft are docked to ports on the International Space Station's Harmony module. Freedom is seen moments before undocking from Harmony's forward port with the Axiom Mission 3 crew aboard. 

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 9:20 a.m. EST on Feb. 7, 2024, over the Pacific Ocean, west of Ecuador, to complete the third all-private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3).
The Ax-3 SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is targeting a splashdown off the coast of Daytona, Florida, at approximately 8:30 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
Ax-3 astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravci completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3

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.


Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: Feb. 7, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #Spain #Espana #UnitedStates #WalterVilladei #Italy #Italia #AlperGezeravcı #Türkiye #MarcusWandt #Sweden #Sverige #MuninnMission #Europe #STEM #Education

Ax-3 Mission Update #4 | Axiom Space | International Space Station

Ax-3 Mission Update #4 | Axiom Space | International Space Station

To wrap up the Ax-3 mission aboard the International Space Station, several members of the Axiom Team had a chance to ask questions of Ax-3 Commander Michael López-Alegría. 

Make sure you stay tuned until the end for questions from the next-generation.

Michael López-Alegría's Biography: https://www.axiomspace.com/astronaut/michael-lopez-alegria

Learn more about Ax-3 at:

https://axiomspace.com/ax3

For more information about Axiom Space, visit: 

www.axiomspace.com

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: Axiom Space

Duration: 16 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 7, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #AxiomSpace #Ax3Mission #Ax3 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #CommercialSpace #Astronauts #MichaelLópezAlegría #Spain #Espana #UnitedStates #WalterVilladei #Italy #Italia #AlperGezeravcı #Türkiye #MarcusWandt #Sweden #Sverige #MuninnMission #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy AM 1054-325: After Galaxies Collide, 'String of Pearls' Star Clusters Form | Hubble

Galaxy AM 1054-325: After Galaxies Collide, 'String of Pearls' Star Clusters Form | Hubble

This is a picture of a galaxy with a peculiar S-shape. It has a bright milky-white core at the center. Twin arms of blue stars wrap around the core. One arm looks particularly stretched out due to the gravitational tidal pull of a neighboring galaxy. Bright, young, whitish star clusters are strung along the arm like a string of pearls. They formed as a result of the collision process.

When galaxies go bump in the night, they cook up new generations of stars that might otherwise have never been born. These close encounters between galaxies cause a gravitational tug-of-war, and gas and dust are drawn out into large streamers. The Hubble Space Telescope's vision is so sharp that it can see clusters of newborn stars strung along these tidal tails. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about a million newborn stars per cluster. These "string of pearls" features are probably more common in the early universe when galaxies collided more frequently.

This is a picture of a galaxy with a peculiar S-shape. It has a bright milky-white core at the center. Twin arms of blue stars wrap around the core. One arm looks particularly stretched out due to the gravitational tidal pull of a neighboring galaxy. Bright, young, whitish star clusters are strung along the arm like a string of pearls. They formed as a result of the collision process.

Contrary to what you might think, galaxy collisions do not destroy stars. In fact, the rough-and-tumble dynamics trigger new generations of stars, and presumably accompanying planets.

Now NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has homed in on 12 interacting galaxies that have long, tadpole-like tidal tails of gas, dust, and a plethora of stars. Hubble's exquisite sharpness and sensitivity to ultraviolet light have uncovered 425 clusters of newborn stars along these tails, looking like strings of holiday lights. Each cluster contains as many as 1 million blue, newborn stars.

Clusters in tidal tails have been known about for decades. When galaxies interact, gravitational tidal forces pull out long streamers of gas and dust. Two popular examples are the Antennae and Mice galaxies with their long, narrow, finger-like projections.

A team of astronomers used a combination of new observations and archival data to get ages and masses of tidal tail star clusters. They found that these clusters are very young—only 10 million years old. And they seem to be forming at the same rate along tails stretching for thousands of light-years.

"It's a surprise to see lots of the young objects in the tails. It tells us a lot about cluster formation efficiency," said lead author Michael Rodruck of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. "With tidal tails, you will build up new generations of stars that otherwise might not have existed."

The tails look like they are taking a galaxy's spiral arm and stretching it out into space. The exterior part of the arm gets pulled like taffy from the gravitational tug-of-war between a pair of interacting galaxies.

Before the mergers, the galaxies were rich in dusty clouds of molecular hydrogen that simply may have remained inert. But the clouds got jostled and bumped into each other during the encounters. This compressed the hydrogen to the point where it precipitated a firestorm of star birth.

The fate of these strung-out star clusters is uncertain. They may stay gravitationally intact and evolve into globular star clusters—like those that orbit outside the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Or they may disperse to form a halo of stars around their host galaxy, or get cast off to become wandering intergalactic stars.

This string-of-pearls star formation may have been more common in the early universe when galaxies collided with each other more frequently. These nearby galaxies observed by Hubble are a proxy for what happened long ago, and therefore are laboratories for looking into the distant past.

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


Image Credit: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), STScI, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba)

Release Date: Feb. 8, 2024 


#NASA #ESA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #StarClusters #Galaxies #Galaxy #GalaxyAM1054325 #GalacticCollisions #InteractingGalaxies #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Liftoff of NASA PACE Earth Science Mission on SpaceX Falcon 9 | Cape Canaveral

Liftoff of NASA PACE Earth Science Mission on SpaceX Falcon 9 | Cape Canaveral





A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral in Florida, on February 8, 2024, at 06:33 UTC (01:33 EST). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1081) previously supported Crew-7, CRS-29 and a SpaceX Starlink mission.

PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols.

Learn more about NASA's PACE Earth Mission: 

https://pace.gsfc.nasa.gov


Image Credit: NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Capture Date: Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #Satellite #Science #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Oceans #Phytoplankton #Land #PACEMission #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #Weather #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #CapeCanaveral #GSFC #KSC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA PACE Earth Science Mission Launch on SpaceX Falcon 9

NASA PACE Earth Science Mission Launch on SpaceX Falcon 9

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral in Florida, on February 8, 2024, at 06:33 UTC (01:33 EST). Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1081) previously supported Crew-7, CRS-29 and a SpaceX Starlink mission.

PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton as well new data on clouds and aerosols.

Learn more about NASA's PACE Earth Mission: 

https://pace.gsfc.nasa.gov


Video Credit: NASA; NASA Goddard (GSFC)/Denny Henry/Katie Mellos; SpaceX

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 5 minutes, 34 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 8, 2024


#NASA #Space #Satellite #Science #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #Earth #Planet #Atmosphere #Oceans #Phytoplankton #Land #PACEMission #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #Weather #Climate #ClimateChange #GlobalHeating #CapeCanaveral #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Wednesday, February 07, 2024

Expedition 70: Farewell to The Ax-3 Crew | International Space Station

Expedition 70: Farewell to The Ax-3 Crew | International Space Station


The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft undocked from the space-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 9:20 a.m. EST on Feb. 7, 2024, over the Pacific Ocean, west of Ecuador, to complete the third all-private astronaut mission to the orbiting laboratory, Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3).

The Ax-3 SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is targeting a splashdown off the coast of Daytona, Florida, at approximately 8:30 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.

Ax-3 astronauts Michael López-Alegría, Walter Villadei, Marcus Wandt, and Alper Gezeravci completed 18 days aboard the orbiting laboratory at the conclusion of their mission. The SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 550 pounds of science and supplies, including NASA experiments and hardware.

Learn more about the Ax-3 Mission here:

https://www.axiomspace.com

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.


Image Credit: NASA/J. Moghbeli

Release Date: Feb. 7, 2024


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Planet Mars Images: February 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: February 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - sol 1053
MSL - sol 4088
MSL - sol 4084
MSL - sol 4087
Mars 2020 - sol 1051
MSL - sol 4084
MSL - sol 4084
MSL - sol 4084

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Celebrating 11+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)
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
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 return to Earth.
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/ASU/MSSS
Processing: Kevin M. Gill
Image Release Dates: Feb. 4-6, 2024

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