Thursday, May 02, 2024

Mars Images: April-May 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars Images: April-May 2024 | NASA Mars Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Mars 2020 - sol 1135

Mars 2020 - sol 1130
MSL - 4168
Mars 2020 - sol 1130
MSL - sol 4164
MSL - sol 4171
MSL - sol 4168

MSL - sol 4164

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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 3+ 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: April 24-May 2, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Europe's New Astronauts Graduate: A Year in Training | European Space Agency

Europe's New Astronauts Graduate: A Year in Training | European Space Agency

The European Space Agency's newly graduated astronauts reach the end of one year of rigorous basic astronaut training. Discover the journey of Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Raphaël Liégeois, Marco Sieber, and Australian Space Agency astronaut candidate Katherine Bennell-Pegg. Selected in November 2022, the group began their training in April 2023.

Basic astronaut training provides the candidates with an overall familiarization and training in various areas, such as spacecraft systems, spacewalks, flight engineering, robotics and life support systems as well as survival and medical training. They received astronaut certification at the European Space Agency’s European Astronaut Centre on April 22, 2024.

Following certification, the new astronauts will move on to the next phases of pre-assignment and mission-specific training—paving the way for future missions to the International Space Station and beyond.

Australian Space Agency astronaut Katherine Bennell-Pegg Biography

https://www.space.gov.au/Katherine-Bennell-Pegg

ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan (UK) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Rosemary_Coogan

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot (France) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Sophie_Adenot

ESA astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández (Spain) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Pablo_Alvarez_Fernandez

ESA astronaut Marco Sieber (Switzerland) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Marco_Alain_Sieber

ESA astronaut Raphaël Liégeois (Belgium) Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Raphael_Liegeois


Credits:

Video: European Space Agency (ESA)

ISS and EVA footage: ESA/NASA

Duration: 5 minutes

Release Date: May 2, 2024  


#NASA #ESA #Space #Earth #Europe #Astronauts #AstronautCandidates #AstronautTraining #ISS #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceExploration #France #UK #Spain #Switzerland #Suisse #España #Belgium #Belgique #België #EAC #Cologne #Germany #Deutschland #Australia #AustralianSpaceAgency #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Atlas V Rocket Mission Profile: Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test | ULA

Atlas V Rocket Mission Profile: Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test | ULA

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket will launch Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft with two NASA astronauts, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station. 

Launch Date and Time: May 6, 2024 at 10:34 p.m. EDT 

Launch updates: 

https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/atlas-v-starliner-cft

For more info on Starliner, visit: 

boeing.com/starliner

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew


Video Credit: United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Duration: 2 minutes, 36 seconds

Release Date: May 2, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Boeing #Starliner #CST100 #AtlasVRocket #CommercialCrewProgram #CFT #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #BarryWilmore #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Engineering #LaunchAmerica #NASAKennedy #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Atlas V Rocket Team: Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test | United Launch Alliance

Atlas V Rocket Team: Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test | United Launch Alliance

"As we return human spaceflight to the Atlas rocket, we pass the torch of knowledge to future generations, building on all we have learned."

Go Atlas! Go Centaur! Go Starliner!

"Continuing Atlas' legacy of launching humans to space, ULA is using an Atlas V rocket to launch the Crew Flight Test (CFT) Mission to the International Space Station for NASA with Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. See how the Atlas V rocket was stacked ahead of launch."

Launch Date and Time: May 6, 2024 at 10:34 p.m. EDT 

Launch updates: 

https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/next-launch/atlas-v-starliner-cft


For more info on Starliner, visit: 

boeing.com/starliner

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew


Video Credit: United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Duration: 5 minutes, 24 seconds

Release Date: May 1, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Boeing #Starliner #CST100 #AtlasVRocket #CommercialCrewProgram #CFT #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #BarryWilmore #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Engineering #LaunchAmerica #NASAKennedy #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dark Energy: How NASA is Unlocking One of the Biggest Mysteries of the Universe

Dark Energy: How NASA is Unlocking One of the Biggest Mysteries of the Universe

Only 5% of the known universe is visible to us. The other 95% is called dark matter and dark energy, and it is making scientists rethink what we know about the cosmos. Jet Propulsion Lab’s Fundamental Physics Portfolio Manager John Callas explains what dark energy is, why it is so hard to study, and what NASA is doing to unlock this big mystery.


Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds

Release Date: April 29, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #DarkEnergy #DarkMatter #EinsteinElevator #JWST #HST #Stars #Supernovae #BlackHoles #Galaxies #GalaxyClusters #Universe #Astrophysics #SpaceTelescopes #JPL #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Hannover #Germany #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Wednesday, May 01, 2024

The Waning Gibbous Moon | International Space Station

The Waning Gibbous Moon | International Space Station

The waning gibbous Moon begins setting below Earth's horizon in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above China.

Follow Expedition 70 Updates: 

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominik, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

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: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: April 27, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Moon #WaningGibbousMoon #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #China #中国 #UnitedStates #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Expedition70 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

What's Up for May 2024 | Skywatching Tips from NASA (Northern Hemisphere)

What's Up for May 2024 Skywatching Tips from NASA (Northern Hemisphere)

Here are examples of skywatching highlights for May 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere:

Mars and Saturn tussle with the Moon, Mercury makes a brief a.m. appearance, East Coasters can see red giant star Antares emerge from behind the Moon, and the eta Aquariid meteors peak on May 6th.

0:00 Intro 

0:15 Moon & planet highlights

1:06 Moon occults Antares

1:53 eta Aquariid meteor shower

3:54 May Moon phases

NASA's Night Sky Network:

https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching/night-sky-network/

Skywatching resources from NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/skywatching


Video Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: May 1, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Earth #MeteorShowers #AquariidMeteorShower #Moon #Planets #Mercury #Mars #Saturn #SolarSystem #Stars #Antares #MilkyWayGalaxy #JPL #Caltech #Skywatching #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tonight's Sky: May 2024 (Northern Hemisphere)

Tonight's Sky: May 2024 (Northern Hemisphere)

In May 2024, we are looking away from the crowded, dusty plane of our own galaxy toward a region where the sky is brimming with distant galaxies. Locate Virgo to find a concentration of roughly 2,000 galaxies and search for Coma Berenices to identify many more. Keep watching for space-based views of galaxies like the Sombrero Galaxy, M87, and M64.

About this Series

“Tonight’s Sky” is a monthly video of constellations you can observe in the night sky. The series is produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute, home of science operations for the Hubble Space Telescope, in partnership with NASA’s Universe of Learning.

This product is based on work supported by NASA under award numbers NNX16AC65A to the Space Telescope Science Institute, working in partnership with Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University.


Video Credit: Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Duration: 5 minutes, 26 seconds

Release Date: April 22, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Planets #SolarSystem #Stars #Nebulae #Galaxies #SombreroGalaxy #M87 #M64 #Virgo #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #Skywatching #STScI #JPL #Caltech #SSU #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Wide-field View: Star Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope

Wide-field View: Star Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope


This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features NGC 6440, a globular cluster that resides roughly 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The object was first discovered by William Herschel in May 1786.

Globular clusters like NGC 6440 are roughly spherical, tightly packed, collections of old stars bound together by gravity. They can be found throughout galaxies, but often live on the outskirts. They hold hundreds of thousands to millions of stars that are on average about one light-year apart, but they can be as close together as the size of our Solar System. NGC 6440 is known to be a high-mass and metal-rich cluster that formed and is orbiting within the Galactic bulge. It is a dense, near-spherical region of old stars in the inner part of the Milky Way.

This image was obtained with 2023 data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) as part of an observation program to explore the stars in the cluster and to investigate details of the cluster’s pulsars. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles. To us, that beam appears as a short burst or pulse as the star rotates. Pulsars spin extremely fast. Astronomers have clocked the fastest pulsars at more than 716 rotations per second, but a pulsar could theoretically rotate as fast as 1500 rotations per second before slowly losing energy or breaking apart.

The new data obtained by the science team indicate the first evidence from Webb observations of abundance variations of helium and oxygen in stars in a globular cluster. These results open the window for future, in-depth investigations of other clusters in the Galactic bulge, which were previously infeasible with other telescope facilities given the significant crowding of stars in the cluster and the strong reddening caused by interstellar dust between the cluster and Earth.

Image Description: A spherical collection of stars fills the entire view. The cluster is dominated by a concentrated group of bright white stars at the center, with several large yellow stars scattered throughout the image. Many of the stars have visible diffraction spikes. The background is black.


Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Freire

Acknowledgement: M. Cadelano and C. Pallanca

Release Date: May 1, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6440 #Sagittarius #GalacticBulge #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #Infrared #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #CSA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Pan over Star Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope

Pan over Star Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope

This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features NGC 6440, a globular cluster that resides roughly 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The object was first discovered by William Herschel in May 1786.

Globular clusters like NGC 6440 are roughly spherical, tightly packed, collections of old stars bound together by gravity. They can be found throughout galaxies, but often live on the outskirts. They hold hundreds of thousands to millions of stars that are on average about one light-year apart, but they can be as close together as the size of our Solar System. NGC 6440 is known to be a high-mass and metal-rich cluster that formed and is orbiting within the Galactic bulge. It is a dense, near-spherical region of old stars in the inner part of the Milky Way.

This image was obtained with 2023 data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) as part of an observation program to explore the stars in the cluster and to investigate details of the cluster’s pulsars. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles. To us, that beam appears as a short burst or pulse as the star rotates. Pulsars spin extremely fast. Astronomers have clocked the fastest pulsars at more than 716 rotations per second, but a pulsar could theoretically rotate as fast as 1500 rotations per second before slowly losing energy or breaking apart.


Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Freire, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)  

Acknowledgement: M. Cadelano and C. Pallanca  

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: May 1, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6440 #Sagittarius #GalacticBulge #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #Infrared #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #CSA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Star-studded Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope

Star-studded Cluster NGC 6440 | James Webb Space Telescope


This image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope features NGC 6440, a globular cluster that resides roughly 28,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius. The object was first discovered by William Herschel in May 1786.

Globular clusters like NGC 6440 are roughly spherical, tightly packed, collections of old stars bound together by gravity. They can be found throughout galaxies, but often live on the outskirts. They hold hundreds of thousands to millions of stars that are on average about one light-year apart, but they can be as close together as the size of our Solar System. NGC 6440 is known to be a high-mass and metal-rich cluster that formed and is orbiting within the Galactic bulge. It is a dense, near-spherical region of old stars in the inner part of the Milky Way.

This image was obtained with 2023 data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) as part of an observation program to explore the stars in the cluster and to investigate details of the cluster’s pulsars. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation from their magnetic poles. To us, that beam appears as a short burst or pulse as the star rotates. Pulsars spin extremely fast. Astronomers have clocked the fastest pulsars at more than 716 rotations per second, but a pulsar could theoretically rotate as fast as 1500 rotations per second before slowly losing energy or breaking apart.

The new data obtained by the science team indicate the first evidence from Webb observations of abundance variations of helium and oxygen in stars in a globular cluster. These results open the window for future, in-depth investigations of other clusters in the Galactic bulge, which were previously infeasible with other telescope facilities given the significant crowding of stars in the cluster and the strong reddening caused by interstellar dust between the cluster and Earth.

Image Description: A spherical collection of stars fills the entire view. The cluster is dominated by a concentrated group of bright white stars at the center, with several large yellow stars scattered throughout the image. Many of the stars have visible diffraction spikes. The background is black.


Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Freire

Acknowledgement: M. Cadelano and C. Pallanca

Release Date: May 1, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #StarClusters #NGC6440 #Sagittarius #GalacticBulge #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #JWST #Infrared #SpaceTelescopes #ESA #CSA #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test: The Atlas V Rocket | United Launch Alliance

Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test: The Atlas V Rocket | United Launch Alliance

Continuing Atlas' legacy of launching humans to space, ULA is using an Atlas V rocket to launch the Crew Flight Test (CFT) Mission to the International Space Station for NASA with Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. See how the Atlas V rocket was stacked ahead of launch. Go Atlas.  Go Centaur.

For more info on Starliner, visit: boeing.com/starliner

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew


Video Credit: United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: April 30, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Boeing #Starliner #CST100 #AtlasVRocket #CommercialCrewProgram #CFT #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #BarryWilmore #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Engineering #LaunchAmerica #NASAKennedy #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

China Completes Ignition Tests for Powerful Reusable Liquid-fueled Rocket Engine

China Completes Ignition Tests for Powerful Reusable Liquid-fueled Rocket Engine

China successfully completed an ignition test on Sunday, April 28, 2024, for its liquid-propellant engine with the highest thrust, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

According to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), four YF-100K rocket engines have been successfully tested in parallel at the Tongchuan Test Center, Shaanxi Province, China. YF-100K is a “130-ton reusable liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine” that may be used by the Long March-10 launch vehicle. This marks a new breakthrough in the country's liquid propulsion development. It is also the first-ever parallel ignition test of four large-thrust liquid oxygen (LOX) kerosene engines. The 130-tonne class LOX kerosene engine, developed by the CASC, has a total thrust of over 500 tonnes. 

Compared to the currently operational 120-tonne class LOX kerosene engines, it boasts not only a larger thrust and better performance, but also a more compact structure, effectively enhancing the rocket's carrying capacity.

"The successful test assessed the coordination of the multi-engine operation of our system, and the operating reliability of the engines in extreme thermal and force environment. [The result] indicates that the engines are fully qualified to participate in [rocket launching] tests," said Li Bin, deputy head of the Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology under CASC.  

The engine used in this test was designed with the "pump back swing" technology, referring to an engine with a swing device at the rear. Compared with the main liquid oxygen kerosene engines currently in service, this kind of engine has a greater thrust, better performance, and a more compact structure. 

With the pump back swing technology, more engines can be set within the same rocket diameter, which can effectively improve rocket carrying capacity.  

"An engine with the pump back swing technology has a compact structure. For instance, we can place four engines within a diameter of 3.8 meters, and seven engines within a diameter of 5 meters," Li said. 

The parallel ignition test refers to the integration of four mature engine systems, working in unison rather than simply being bundled together. This approach provides a larger thrust for the rocket while also reducing the overall complexity of the system.

The successful trial run validates the coordination of multiple engines and their reliability in high thermal environments, demonstrating that the engines are fully capable of flight applications. 

After the test run, the engines will be delivered for rocket launching missions upon an engine check.


Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)

Duration: 1 minute, 26 seconds

Release Date: April 29, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #China #中国 #TongchuanTestCenter #铜川试验中心 #XianCity #ShaanxiProvince #YF100K #LongMarch10Rocket #长征十 #RocketEngine #Reusability #LOX #EngineTesting #CASC #Moon #月亮 #嫦娥 #Spaceflight #CASC #Science #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Waning Gibbous Moon above Earth's Horizon | International Space Station

Waning Gibbous Moon above Earth's Horizon | International Space Station


The waning gibbous Moon is pictured above Earth's horizon from the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above the Pacific Ocean northeast of Japan.

Follow Expedition 70 Updates: 

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

Expedition 70 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominik, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps

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: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: April 26, 2024


#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Science #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Moon #WaningGibbousMoon #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #UnitedStates #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #Russia #Россия #Expedition70 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

China Readies Chang'e-6 Sample Return Mission to Moon's Far Side South Pole

China Readies Chang'e-6 Sample Return Mission to Moon's Far Side South Pole

The Chang'e-6 lunar probe is scheduled to be launched at an appropriate time in the beginning of May 2024, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). This is China's second lunar sample return mission. In 2020, Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.

The combination of the Chang'e-6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket was transferred vertically on Saturday, April 27, 2024, to the launch area at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, the CNSA said.

"Comparing Chang'e-6 with Chang'e-5, the most significant difference is that Chang 'e-5 conducted the sample-return mission on the near side of the moon, while the Chang 'e-6 will conduct the sample-return mission on the far side of the moon. The Chang'e-6 aims to achieve breakthroughs in the design and control technology of the Moon's retrograde orbit, intelligent sampling, take-off and ascent technologies, and automatic sample-return on the far side of the Moon. At present, the Long March-5 carrier rocket and the Chang'e-6 probe are in good condition. All preparations for the launch are progressing in an orderly manner, following normal working procedures," said Ge Ping, deputy director of the Center of Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering, China National Space Administration.

"At present, the launch site has ensured the normal testing of Chang'e-6 and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket. Our Hainan launch site features high temperatures, high humidity, and high salt mist. We have made corresponding preparations for the environmental conditions, and we have also prepared some typhoon prevention plans to adapt to the weather in Hainan," said Liao Guorui, an engineer at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.


Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 1 minute, 41 seconds

Release Date: April 27, 2024

嫦娥六号

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #Moon #Change6 #嫦娥六号 #LunarSampleReturn #FarSide #SouthPole #LongMarch5Y8Rocket #Queqiao2 #鹊桥二号中继星 #CNSA #CASC #Wenchang #Hainan #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #SolarSystem #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Launch Preparations | International Space Station

Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Launch Preparations | International Space Station









During a mission dress rehearsal, NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are photographed in their Boeing spacesuits at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, part of the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Friday, April 26, 2024. As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Wilmore and Williams are the first to launch to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Liftoff to the International Space Station atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at nearby Cape Canaveral is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. ET Monday, May 6, 2024.

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/people/sunita-l-williams/

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/williams-s.pdf

NASA Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/barry-e-wilmore/biography

For more info on Starliner, visit: 

boeing.com/starliner

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program works with the American aerospace industry to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: 


Image Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Image Date: April 26, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Boeing #Starliner #CST100 #Spacecraft #CommercialCrew #CCP #CFT #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #BarryWilmore #HumanSpaceflight #Science #Technology #Engineering #LaunchAmerica #NASAKennedy #KSC #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education