A New Robotic Moon Lander Mission with NASA Science | This Week @NASA

A New Robotic Moon Lander Mission with NASA Science | This Week @NASA 

Week of Feb. 16, 2024: A commercial mission heads to the Moon with NASA science, our Artemis II crew conducts some preflight training, and a major milestone for a planetary science mission … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed the Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon lander to a lunar transfer orbit after launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST). The Nova-C lunar lander is expected to soft-land near the South Pole of the Moon on February 23, 2024.

If all goes well, the  Intuitive Machines lander will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Video Producer & Editor: Andre Valentine

Narrator: Emanuel Cooper

Duration: 2 minutes, 28 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 17, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #IntuitiveMachines #IM1Mission #IM1Spacecraft #NovaCLander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Tail of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

The Tail of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

Heading for its next perihelion (closest to the sun) passage on April 21, 2024, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is growing brighter.

12P/Pons–Brooks is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 71 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with an orbital period between 20 and 200 years. It is also one of the brightest known periodic comets, reaching an absolute visual magnitude ~5 in its approach to perihelion.

Comet Pons-Brooks was discovered at Marseilles Observatory in July 1812 by Jean-Louis Pons, and then later recovered in 1883 by William Robert Brooks.

The greenish coma of this comet has become relatively easy to observe in small telescopes. However, the bluish ion tail now streaming from the active comet's coma and buffeted by the solar wind, is faint and difficult to follow. Still, in this image stacked exposures made on the night of February 11, 2024, reveal the fainter tail's detailed structures. The frame spans over two degrees across a background of faint stars and background galaxies toward the northern constellation Lacerta. Of course, Comet 12P's April 21, 2024, perihelion passage will be only two weeks after the April 8 total solar eclipse, putting the comet in planet Earth's sky along with a totally eclipsed Sun.

Image Credit & Copyright: Dan Bartlett

Dan's Website: https://www.astrobin.com/users/h2ologg/

Release Date:  Feb. 16, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Earth #Comets #Comet #Comet12PPonsBrooks #Perihelion #Lacerta #Constellation #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #DanBartlett #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

Face-on Spiral Galaxy ESO 420-G013 in Sculptor | Hubble

Face-on Spiral Galaxy ESO 420-G013 in Sculptor | Hubble

Looking like a baseball lobbed into the depths of the universe, ESO 420-G013 is a face-on spiral galaxy and a Seyfert galaxy. Dark lanes of dust are visible against the background glow of the galaxy’s many stars.

Distance: 50 million light-years

About 10 percent of all the galaxies in the universe are thought to be Seyfert galaxies. They are typically spiral galaxies and have very bright nuclei, the result of supermassive black holes at their centers accreting material that releases vast amounts of radiation. The cores of these “active galaxies” are brightest when observing light outside the visible spectrum. Often galaxies with these kinds of active galactic nuclei are so bright that the host galaxy itself cannot be seen, washed out by the glow of its nuclei, but Seyfert galaxies are distinctive because the galaxy itself is also visible. In the case of ESO 420-G013, we can enjoy the galaxy’s almost perfectly round disk, brighter core, and whirled filaments of dark dust.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed ESO 420-G013 as part of a study of Luminous Infrared Galaxies, or LIRGs, that are known to be extremely bright in the infrared part of the spectrum. Galactic interactions trigger new regions of star formation in LIRGs, causing them to be highly luminous in infrared light.

Image Credit: NASA/European Space Agency (ESA)/A. Evans (University of Virginia)

Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Release Date: Feb. 16, 2024

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Galaxies #Galaxy #ESO420G013 #SpiralGalaxy #SeyfertGalaxy #LIRG #Sculptor #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #Optical #Infrared #ESA #Europe #GSFC #MSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Propellant Tanks for NASA's Artemis III Moon Mission on the Move at Michoud

Propellant Tanks for NASA's Artemis III Moon Mission on the Move at Michoud

Technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are simultaneously producing the core stages for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for NASA’s Artemis missions II, III, IV, and V. Most recently, both of the giant propellant tanks that will help fuel the Artemis III mission have been on the move inside the factory’s Vertical Assembly Building. The 130-foot-tall liquid hydrogen tank underwent internal cleaning prior to primer application while the liquid oxygen tank in a nearby manufacturing cell was fully welded to form one structure. 

NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

For more information about SLS, visit https://www.nasa.gov/sls

NASA's Artemis Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis

Read the Artemis Plan (74-page PDF Free Download): 

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/artemis_plan-20200921.pdf

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS)

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html

NASA's Orion Spacecraft

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/orion-spacecraft/

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)

Duration: 1 minute, 40 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 16, 2024

#NASA #Space #Artemis #ArtemisIII #NASASLS #RocketScience #DeepSpace #PropellantTanks #Boeing #AerojetRocketdyne #ULA #Moon #Mars #MoonToMars #JourneyToMars #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #NASAMichoud #NewOrleans #Lousiana #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Why Did NASA Choose Asteroid Bennu? | NASA Goddard

Why Did NASA Choose Asteroid Bennu? | NASA Goddard

OSIRIS-REx was the first U.S. mission to retrieve a sample from an asteroid and deliver it to Earth. So, of the more than one million known asteroids in our solar system, why did NASA choose the near-Earth asteroid Bennu for its target? Three factors made Bennu ideal: proximity to Earth, the right size and spin rate, and a carbon-rich composition. Now, scientists studying the Bennu samples are learning more about the history of our solar system and the origins of life—thanks to this one-in-a-million asteroid.

Learn more about OSIRIS-REx and asteroid Bennu: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex

Follow sample-delivery updates on NASA's OSIRIS-REx blog: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/

OSIRIS-REx NASA page: 

https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

University of Arizona's OSIRIS-REx Mission Page: 

http://www.asteroidmission.org

University of Arizona's OSIRIS-APEX Mission Page:

https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/missions/osiris-apex

Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Chris Burns: Producer/Editor

Dan Gallagher: Writer/Director

Lauren Ward: Narrator

Kel Elkins: Data Visualizer

Chris Meaney: Animator

Michael Lentz: Animator

Lisa Poje: Animator

Walt Feimer: Animator

Josh Masters: Animator

Jason Dworkin: Scientist

Amy A. Simon: Scientist

Michael Starobin: Support

Sami Aziz: Support

Erin Moton: Support

Alana Johnson: Support

Rani Gran: Public Affairs

Rachel Barry: Public Affairs

Duration: 2 minutes, 18 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OSIRISRExMission #OSIRISAPEXMission #OSIRISRExSpacecraft #Asteroids #AstreroidBennu #ToBennuAndBack #SampleReturn #SpaceTechnology #CSA #Canada #CNES #France #JSC #GSFC #UArizona #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Sun: First High Resolution Images (6-panel) | Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

The Sun: First High Resolution Images (6-panel) | Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope 

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has produced the highest resolution observations of the Sun’s surface ever taken. In this movie, taken at a wavelength of 705nm over a period of 10 minutes, we can see features as small as 30km (18 miles) in size for the first time ever. The movie shows the turbulent, “boiling” gas that covers the entire sun. 

Learn about the world's most powerful solar telescope in Maui, Hawai’i:

https://nso.edu/telescopes/dki-solar-telescope/  

Credit: National Solar Observatory (NSO)/National Science Foundation (NSF)/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Duration: 15 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 16, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Science #Space #Star #Sun #Corona #Atmosphere #Plasma #Physics #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #DanielKInouyeSolarTelescope #Maui #Hawaii #NSO #NSF #AURA  #NOIRLab #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: The Bell Lap | Week of Feb.16, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground: The Bell Lap | Week of Feb.16, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. A Russian Progress 87 cargo spacecraft loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies is currently in orbit heading to the International Space Station, targeting early Saturday, for docking. Progress 87 successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, Feb. 14. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the cargo craft will automatically dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:12 a.m., with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on duty to monitor the spacecraft’s arrival.

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.

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

Duration: 3 minutes, 31 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 16, 2024 

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

New Expedition 70 Crew Photos: February 2024 | International Space Station

New Expedition 70 Crew Photos: February 2024 | International Space Station

The seven-member Expedition 70 crew gathers for a dinner time portrait inside the International Space Station's Unity module. In the front row from left are, Flight Engineers Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos, Jasmin Moghbeli of NASA, and Satoshi Furukawa from Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). In the back row are, Commander Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara, and Roscosmos Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia.

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, both from NASA, pose together for a portrait inside the International Space Station's Unity module.

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 70 Commander Andreas Mogensen of Denmark smiles for a portrait as he maneuvers in the vestibule in between the Unity and Tranquility modules aboard the International Space Station.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli is pictured inside the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory module opening a science freezer that hosts research samples for preservation and analysis.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Loral O'Hara works on a bone cell study inside the Life Science Glovebox located inside the International Space Station's Kibo laboratory module.

A Russian Progress 87 cargo spacecraft loaded with nearly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies is currently in orbit heading to the International Space Station, targeting early Saturday, for docking. Progress 87 successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14. On Saturday, Feb. 17, the cargo craft will automatically dock to the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 1:12 a.m., with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub on duty to monitor the spacecraft’s arrival.

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: Feb. 7-12, 2024

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

NASA OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Processing | Johnson Space Center

NASA OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Processing | Johnson Space Center

The first U.S. asteroid sample, delivered by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023 is now being analyzed at its permanent home at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, where it is being cared for, stored, and distributed to scientists worldwide. 

In this video, curation team members from the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) division at Johnson Space Center perform a pour maneuver to distribute the remaining asteroid sample material from the OSIRIS-REx Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head into sample containers. 

The team includes:

Nicole Lunning, OSIRIS-REx curator

Jannatul Ferdous, astromaterials processor

Julia Plummer, astromaterials processor

Rachel Funk, astromaterials processor 

Follow sample-delivery updates on NASA's OSIRIS-REx blog: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/osiris-rex/

OSIRIS-REx NASA page: https://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex

University of Arizona's OSIRIS-REx Mission Page: http://www.asteroidmission.org

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

Duration: 6 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #OSIRISRExMission #OSIRISRExSpacecraft #Asteroids #AstreroidBennu #ToBennuAndBack #SampleReturn #SpaceTechnology #CSA #Canada #CNES #France #JSC #GSFC #UArizona #JSC #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Deployment of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander | SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch

Deployment of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander | SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed the Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon lander to a lunar transfer orbit after launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST). The Nova-C lunar lander is expected to soft-land near the South Pole of the Moon on February 23, 2024.

If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Video Credit: SpaceX/Intuitive Machines

Duration: 2 minutes, 36 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #IntuitiveMachines #IM1Mission #IM1Spacecraft #NovaCLander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Russian Progress MS-26 Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

Russian Progress MS-26 Cargo Spacecraft Launch | International Space Station

A Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket launched the Progress MS-26 spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station (ISS Progress 87 mission) on February 15, 2024, at 10:25 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14 (8:25 a.m. Baikonur time Thursday, Feb. 15) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Progress MS-26 will deliver about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 70 crew aboard the International Space Station. It is scheduled for a two-day journey to the station with docking to the aft port of the Zvezda service module two days later at 1:12 a.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 17.

Video Credit: NASA/Roscosmos

Acknowledgement: SciNews

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: Feb. 14, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #CargoSpacecraft #SoyuzRocketLaunch #Союз #Progress87Mission #ProgressMS26Spacecraft #Cosmonauts #Astronauts #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Europe #Japan #Expedition70 #SpaceLaboratory #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Launch of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9

Launch of Intuitive Machines Nova-C Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Moon mission with the Odysseus (Odie) Nova-C lunar lander to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST).

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1060) previously supported 17 missions: Transporter-2, GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat-5A, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6 and 12 Starlink missions.

If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Image Credit: SpaceX

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #IntuitiveMachines #IM1Mission #NovaCLander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

Launch of IM-1 Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9 & Rocket First Stage Landing

Launch of IM-1 Moon Lander on SpaceX Falcon 9 & Rocket First Stage Landing

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Moon mission with the Odysseus (Odie) Nova-C lunar lander to a lunar transfer orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, 2024, at 06:05 UTC (01:05am EST).

Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Falcon 9’s first stage (B1060) previously supported 17 missions: Transporter-2, GPS-III Space Vehicle 03, Turksat-5A, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6 and 12 Starlink missions.

If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Video Credit: Intuitive Machines/NASA/SpaceX

Duration: 3 minutes, 16 seconds

Release Date: Feb. 15, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #IntuitiveMachines #IM1Mission #NovaCLander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Launch Ready: Intuitive Machines IM-1 Moon Lander | SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

Launch Ready: Intuitive Machines IM-1 Moon Lander | SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being launched in the background while the IM-1 robotic Moon lander awaits launch on another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in the foreground at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Intuitive Machines IM-1 robotic Moon lander is targeted for launch no earlier than 1:05 a.m. ET, Thursday, February 15, 2024, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket via Launch Pad 39A at Cape Canaveral, Florida. If all goes well, IM-1 will become the first American spacecraft to set down softly on the Moon’s surface since the NASA Apollo 17 moon landing in 1972.

China's Chang'e 3 Mission, the first Chinese landing on the Moon in 2013, was the first spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976.

In 2023, after the Chandrayaan-3 Lander successfully soft-landed on the Moon, India became the fourth country, after the United States, Russia and China, to accomplish this.

NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows NASA to send science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface. Under Artemis, NASA will study more of the Moon than ever before, and CLPS will demonstrate how NASA is working with commercial companies to achieve robotic lunar exploration.

Learn more about CLPS:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services

Image Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)

Capture Date: 14, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #SpaceX #Falcon9Rocket #IntuitiveMachines #IM1Lander #CommercialSpace #CLPS #SpaceTechnology #MSFC #GSFC #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

A Hubble Valentine's Day Gift: Globular Star Cluster NGC 2298

 A Hubble Valentine's Day Gift: Globular Star Cluster NGC 2298

This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope view shows the globular cluster NGC 2298, a sparkling collection of thousands of stars held together by their mutual gravitational attraction. Globular clusters are typically home to older populations of stars, and they mostly reside in the dusty outskirts of galaxies. Scientists utilized Hubble’s unique ability to observe the cosmos across multiple wavelengths of light to study NGC 2298 in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light. This valuable information helps astronomers better understand how globular clusters behave, including their internal movements, orbits, and the evolution of their stars.

Image Credits: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), G. Piotto (Universita degli Studi di Padova), and A. Sarajedini (Florida Atlantic University)

Image Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)

Release Date: Feb. 14, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #NASAValentines #Stars #GlobularCluster #NGC2298 #Puppis #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #SpaceTelescope #STScI #GSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Happy Valentine's Day | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Happy Valentine's Day | NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Happy Valentine's Day from NASA's Spaceport: Kennedy Space Center in Florida!

🎶

L is for the way you launch (into the night sky),

O is for the only one I see (in the clouds),

V is very, very, (out of this world) extraordinary,

E is even more . . . rockets in 2024!

🎶

Learn more about the Kennedy Space Center:

https://www.nasa.gov/kennedy/

Learn about Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/biographies/petro.html

Image Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

Release Date: Feb. 14, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #NASAValentines #NASAKennedy #KSC #Spaceport #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceTechnology #Engineering  #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education