Friday, July 19, 2024

Learning to Explore The Moon in a Meteorite Crater | Canadian Space Agency

Learning to Explore The Moon in a Meteorite Crater | Canadian Space Agency

Over 50 years ago, NASA's Apollo astronauts brought back samples of the Moon that are still being studied to this day. Yet, we still have much to learn about the Moon. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons explains how Artemis astronauts are preparing for future missions on the lunar surface by learning about the geological processes that have happened on the Moon and our own planet.

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons Official Biography: https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/canadian/active/bio-jenni-gibbons.asp

Learn about NASA's Artemis Missions:

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/artemis/


Video Credit: Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

Duration: 1 minute, 45 seconds

Duration: July 19, 2024


#NASA #CSA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #ApolloProgram #ArtemisProgram #LunarGeology #MeteoriteCraters #ArtemisAstronaut #JenniGibbons #Training #Astronauts #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #LakeCrater #Labrador #Canada #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Images | Week of July 19, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground: Images | Week of July 19, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. 

Expedition 71 Updates: 

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

Expedition 71 Crew
Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)
NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)


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

Duration: 4 minutes

Release Date: July 19, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Engineering #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Polaris Dawn Mission Crew Update: SpaceX Spacesuit Acceptance Tests

Polaris Dawn Mission Crew Update: SpaceX Spacesuit Acceptance Tests

Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist
Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer
Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer
Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist
Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot
Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander
Mission Specialists Anna Menon & Sarah Gillis

Mission Commander Jared Isaacman & Mission Pilot Scott Poteet 

The Polaris Program is a planned human spaceflight program organized by businessman and commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman. Isaacman, who commanded the first all-civilian spaceflight— Inspiration4—in September 2021, purchased flights from SpaceX in order to create the Polaris Program.

Ahead of "this summer’s first commercial spacewalk" from a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, the Polaris Dawn crew recently completed a series of spacesuit acceptance tests. They are preparing for the mission’s extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, marking the final significant developmental and test milestone for SpaceX’s newly-developed EVA spacesuit.

Completing the first commercial extravehicular activity in low-Earth orbit is an important first step towards a future where millions of humans are visiting, working, and living on the Moon, Mars, and other destinations in our solar system.

These tests marked the first time the Polaris Dawn crew wore the spacesuit in a vacuum environment, This allows for:

1. Familiarization with how the spacesuit performs in a vacuum;

2. Collection of spacesuit and biometric data to assess the overall system’s performance in a flight-like environment;

3. Understanding of general impacts of pressure changes on their body during pressurized operations;

4. Insight into thermal states expected throughout the spacewalk

5. An elevated metabolic period for the crew to simulate the expected workload during the spacewalk, as well as a reduced-activity period to understand the trend of body temperatures throughout the operation

Polaris Dawn’s spacewalk will mark the first-ever commercial spacewalk and the first time that four astronauts will be concurrently exposed to the vacuum of space. During the approximately two-hour-long operation, Mission Commander Jared Isaacman and Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis will separately exit the Dragon spacecraft through its forward hatch. Mission Pilot Kidd Poteet and Mission Specialist & Medical Officer Anna Menon will remain seated, managing spacesuit umbilicals and monitoring telemetry on Dragon’s interior displays.

This final spacesuit testing milestone took place at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, June 24-28, 2024, utilizing a historic chamber facility previously used to support testing of America’s earliest spacesuits and spacecraft during the Gemini and Apollo programs. Built in the mid-1960s, the facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and remains in use today to support various space industry tests.

“It was a profound feeling for our crew to conduct operations in the same vacuum chambers that supported the Gemini and Apollo programs in the 1960s,” said Jared Isaacman.

“These facilities were declared national historic landmarks because of the history they made then, and still today they make history and advance humankind’s capabilities in space. We are very grateful to the teams at NASA and SpaceX who contributed to the development and safe testing of these spacesuits.”

Polaris Dawn Crew

Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander

Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot

Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist

Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer

Learn more about the Polaris Program:

https://polarisprogram.com


Credit: Polaris Program/SpaceX

Image Date: June 24, 2024

Release Date: July 17, 2024


#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #PolarisDawn #CrewDragonSpacecraft #FalconRocket #EVA #Spacewalk #Spacesuits #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #JaredIsaacman #ScottPoteet #SarahGillis #AnnaMenon #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #JSC #Houston #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Pure Sulfur in a Martian Rock | JPL

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers Pure Sulfur in a Martian Rock | JPL

These yellow crystals were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity happened to drive over a rock and crack it open on May 30. Using an instrument on the rover’s arm, scientists later determined these crystals are elemental sulfur. It is the first time this kind of sulfur has been found on the Red Planet. 

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this close-up image of a rock nicknamed “Snow Lake”. These yellow crystals were revealed after NASA’s Curiosity happened to drive over a rock and crack it open. Among several recent findings, the rover has found rocks made of pure sulfur—a first on the Red Planet.

Scientists were stunned on May 30, 2024, when a rock that NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove over cracked open to reveal something never seen before on the Red Planet—yellow sulfur crystals.

Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a region of Mars rich with sulfates, a kind of salt that contains sulfur and forms as water evaporates. However, where past detections have been of sulfur-based minerals—in other words, a mix of sulfur and other materials—the rock Curiosity recently cracked open is made of elemental, or pure, sulfur. It is not clear what relationship, if any, the elemental sulfur has to other sulfur-based minerals in the area.

While people associate sulfur with the odor from rotten eggs (the result of hydrogen sulfide gas), elemental sulfur is odorless. It forms in only a narrow range of conditions that scientists have not associated with the history of this location. And Curiosity found a lot of it—an entire field of bright rocks that look similar to the one the rover crushed.

“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” said Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting.”

It is one of several discoveries Curiosity has made while off-roading within Gediz Vallis channel, a groove that winds down part of the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014. Each layer of the mountain represents a different period of Martian history. Curiosity’s mission is to study where and when the planet’s ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars.Curiosity 

Floods and Avalanches

Spotted from space years before Curiosity’s launch, Gediz Vallis channel is one of the primary reasons the science team wanted to visit this part of Mars. Scientists think that the channel was carved by flows of liquid water and debris that left a ridge of boulders and sediment extending 2 miles down the mountainside below the channel. The goal has been to develop a better understanding of how this landscape changed billions of years ago, and while recent clues have helped, there is still much to learn from the dramatic landscape.

Since Curiosity’s arrival at the channel earlier this year, scientists have studied whether ancient floodwaters or landslides built up the large mounds of debris that rise up from the channel’s floor here. The latest clues from Curiosity suggest both played a role: piles were likely left by violent flows of water and debris, while others appear to be the result of more local landslides.

Those conclusions are based on rocks found in the debris mounds: Whereas stones carried by water flows become rounded like river rocks, some of the debris mounds are riddled with more angular rocks that may have been deposited by dry avalanches.

Finally, water soaked into all the material that settled here. Chemical reactions caused by the water bleached white “halo” shapes into some of the rocks. Erosion from wind and sand has revealed these halo shapes over time.

We’ve Got Some Space for You

“This was not a quiet period on Mars,” said Becky Williams, a scientist with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, and the deputy principal investigator of Curiosity’s Mast Camera, or Mastcam. “There was an exciting amount of activity here. We’re looking at multiple flows down the channel, including energetic floods and boulder-rich flows.”

A Hole in 41

All this evidence of water continues to tell a more complex story than the team’s early expectations, and they’ve been eager to take a rock sample from the channel in order to learn more. On June 18, they got their chance.

While the sulfur rocks were too small and brittle to be sampled with the drill, a large rock nicknamed “Mammoth Lakes” was spotted nearby. Rover engineers had to search for a part of the rock that would allow safe drilling and find a parking spot on the loose, sloping surface.

After Curiosity bored its 41st hole using the powerful drill at the end of the rover’s 7-foot (2-meter) robotic arm, the six-wheeled scientist trickled the powderized rock into instruments inside its belly for further analysis so that scientists can determine what materials the rock is made of.

Curiosity has since driven away from Mammoth Lakes and is now off to see what other surprises are waiting to be discovered within the channel.

More About the Mission

Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission on behalf of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more about Curiosity, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/msl-curiosity


Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Release Date: July 18, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #PureSulfur #SnowValley #GedizVallis #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Explores Gediz Vallis Channel: 360 Degree View | JPL

NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Explores Gediz Vallis Channel: 360 Degree View | JPL

Support FriendsofNASA.org: Drag your mouse or move your phone to explore this 360-degree panorama provided by NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. This view was captured within Gediz Vallis channel. It was likely formed by ancient floodwaters and landslides. After Curiosity drove over a bright stone and cracked it open, scientists discovered it was filled with pure sulfur. It has never been seen on Mars before. (The rover has discovered lots of sulfur-based minerals in the past, but not pure sulfur). In the video, a separate image of the sulfur crystals appears embedded roughly where the rock was found; the camera’s view of the rock was blocked by the rover at the time this panorama was taken.

You will also see Curiosity’s robotic arm. It is raised after drilling its 41st hole at a location nicknamed “Mammoth Lakes.” The sample collected by Curiosity was dropped into instruments in its belly, and will help scientists understand how this area formed. 

The rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to take this panorama on June 19, 2024, the 4,220th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. It is made up of 336 individual images that were stitched together. The color has been adjusted to match lighting conditions as the human eye would see them on Earth. 

Note on best viewing: Not all browsers support 360-degree videos. YouTube supports playback on computers using Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Opera browsers. For the best experience on a mobile device, play this video in the YouTube app. To improve the resolution, open the video settings (using the gear icon) and select the highest quality available.

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

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Duration: 1 minute, 30 seconds

Release Date: July 18, 2024


#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #GedizVallis #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Panorama #360Video #HD #Video

Coma Galaxy Cluster Details | Hubble Space Telescope

Coma Galaxy Cluster Details | Hubble Space Telescope

Lenticular galaxy in the Coma Cluster with numerous background galaxies.
On the right, a spiral galaxy in the Coma Cluster.

Varied galaxy types in the Coma Cluster.

Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys has viewed a large portion of the Coma Cluster, stretching across several million light-years across. The entire spherical cluster is more than 20 million light-years in diameter and contains thousands of galaxies.

Distance: 300 million light years

Most of the galaxies that inhabit the central portion of the Coma Cluster are elliptical galaxies. These featureless "fuzz-balls" are a pale golden brown in color and contain populations of old stars. Dwarf and giant ellipticals are found in abundance in the Coma Cluster.


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

Acknowledgment: D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University) and the Coma HST ACS Treasury Team.

Release Date: June 10, 2008


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #LenticularGalaxies #SpiralGalaxies #GalaxyCluster #ComaCluster #Abell1656 #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

The Coma Galaxy Cluster: Abell 1656 | Hubble

The Coma Galaxy Cluster: Abell 1656 | Hubble


Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys has viewed a large portion of the Coma Cluster, stretching across several million light-years across. The entire spherical cluster is more than 20 million light-years in diameter and contains thousands of galaxies.

Distance: 300 million light years

Most of the galaxies that inhabit the central portion of the Coma Cluster are elliptical galaxies. These featureless "fuzz-balls" are a pale golden brown in color and contain populations of old stars. Dwarf and giant ellipticals are found in abundance in the Coma Cluster.


Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

Acknowledgment: D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University) and the Coma HST ACS Treasury Team.

Release Date: June 10, 2008


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #GalaxyCluster #ComaCluster #Abell1656 #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

Expedition 71 NASA Astronaut Matt Dominick Talks with KGTV-TV San Diego

Expedition 71 NASA Astronaut Matt Dominick Talks with KGTV-TV San Diego

Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matt Dominick of NASA discussed life and work aboard the orbital outpost during an in-flight interview July 12, 2024, with KGTV-TV, San Diego. 

Dominick is in the midst of a long-duration mission aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration flights as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.  

NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick Official Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/people/matthew-dominick

Expedition 71 Updates:

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

Expedition 71 Crew
Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin (Russia)
NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM)


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

Duration: 11 minutes

Release Date: July 12, 2024


#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #Astronaut #MatthewDominick #KGTVTV #SanDiego #California #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-18 Astronauts: More Second Spacewalk Photos | China Space Station

Shenzhou-18 Astronauts: More Second Spacewalk Photos | China Space Station





The Shenzhou-18 astronauts aboard China's orbiting space station completed their second spacewalk on Wednesday, July 4, 2024, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu worked for about 6.5 hours to accomplish multiple tasks with Li Guangsu remaining inside the space station.

With the assistance of the space station's robotic arm and researchers on Earth, they installed space debris protection devices for the pipelines, as well as cables and key equipment outside the Tiangong space station, and conducted an extravehicular inspection.

"The main purpose of the spacewalk this time is to install protection devices for extravehicular equipment, mainly cables and pipelines, so as to improve the space station's ability to operate safely and steadily over the long term," said Liu Ming, an engineer with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

After installing protection devices, Li Cong mounted the robotic arm and conducted an extravehicular inspection of the space station's facilities through his helmet camera.

After completing the predetermined tasks, Ye Guangfu and Li Cong returned safely to the Wentian lab module.

"The Chinese space station is very beautiful. Whenever the robotic arm moves to the highest point, I can't help taking more glances at the space station despite the glaring sunlight. I really feel the greatness of the project from my heart, and I applaud all the space professionals and our motherland. We will make continuous efforts to successfully and efficiently complete the follow-up tasks to the end. Let's meet again inside the cabin," Li Cong said outside the space station.

In their previous spacewalk on May 28, the Shenzhou-18 trio mainly installed protection devices for the extravehicular cables of the Mengtian lab module.

The Shenzhou-18 crew, sent to the space on April 25 this year, have completed one third of their space journey and are scheduled to carry out a large amount of in-orbit scientific experiments and technological tests, the agency said.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander)

Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist)

Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)


Image Credit: CMSA

Release Date: July 17, 2024


#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #EVA #Spacewalks #ScientificExperiments #Taikonauts #Astronauts #YeGuangfu #LiCong #LiGuangsu #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CASC #CMSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Pan of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3810 in Leo | Hubble

Pan of Spiral Galaxy NGC 3810 in Leo | Hubble

Measuring the distance to truly remote objects like galaxies, quasars and galaxy clusters is a crucial task in astrophysics, particularly when it comes to studying the early Universe. However, it is a difficult one. Only in the case of a few nearby objects like the Sun, planets and nearby stars can we measure their distances directly. Beyond that, indirect methods need to be used. One of the most important is by examining Type Ia supernovae. This is where the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope comes in.

Distance: 50 million light years

NGC 3810, the galaxy featured in this image, was the host of a Type Ia supernova in 2022. In early 2023 Hubble focused on this and a number of other galaxies to closely examine recent Type Ia supernovae. This kind of supernova results from a white dwarf exploding, and they all have a very consistent brightness. It allows them to be used to measure distances. We know how bright a Type Ia supernova should be, so we can tell how far away it must be from how dim it appears. One uncertainty in this method is that intergalactic dust in between Earth and a supernova blocks a portion of its light. 

How much of the reduction in light is caused by distance, and how much by dust? With the help of Hubble, there is a clever workaround. We can take images of the same Type Ia supernovae in ultraviolet light, almost completely blocked by dust, and in infrared light that passes through dust almost unaffected. By carefully noting how much light comes through at each wavelength, the relationship between supernova brightness and distance can be calibrated to account for dust. Hubble can observe these wavelengths of light in great detail with the same instrument. This makes it the perfect tool for this experiment, and indeed, the data is used to make this beautiful image of NGC 3810. You can see 2022 supernova as a point of light just below the galactic nucleus and in the annotated image.

There are many ways to measure cosmic distances; because Type Ia supernovae are so bright, they are one of the most useful and accurate tools, when they are identified. Many other methods must be used as well, either as an independent check against other distance measurements or to measure at much closer or farther distances. One such method that also works for galaxies is comparing their rotation speed to their brightness; based on that method, NGC 3810 is found to be 50 million light-years from Earth.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen almost face-on. Large spiral arms whirl out from its center, filling the scene. They glow faintly blue from the stars within. There are small bright patches of blue and pink marking areas of star formation. They are overlaid with thin filaments of dark reddish dust that block light. The galaxy’s center shines brightly white.


Video Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Sand, R. J. Foley, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: July 8, 2024


#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC3810 #SpiralGalaxy #Supernovae #Supernova #TypeIASupernova #WhiteDwarfStar #Leo #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophysics #HST #SpaceTelescopes #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Astrónomos descubren inusual exoplaneta gigante con una órbita extremadamente rara

Astrónomos descubren inusual exoplaneta gigante con una órbita extremadamente rara

Con la ayuda del telescopio WIYN de 3,5 metros ubicado en Kitt Peak, Arizona, los astrónomos lograron descubrir la órbita extrema de un exoplaneta que está camino a convertirse en un Júpiter caliente. Además de seguir una de las órbitas más alargadas de todos los exoplanetas, el cuerpo celeste órbita su estrella al revés, lo que da indicios sobre el misterio de la evolución de los Júpiter calientes.


Credit: Imágenes y Videos: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/KPNO/R. Proctor/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. Zamani/ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser/N. Bartmann

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds

Release Date: July 17, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #español #Stars #Planets #Exoplanets #HotJupiters #Orbit #Cosmos #Universe #WIYNTelescope #KPNO #NSF #AURA #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Cometary Globules of Interstellar Gas & Dust in Puppis & Vela

Cometary Globules of Interstellar Gas & Dust in Puppis & Vela

What are these unusual interstellar structures? Bright-rimmed, flowing shapes gather near the center of this rich starfield toward the borders of the nautical southern constellations Puppis and Vela. Composed of interstellar gas and dust. This grouping of light-year sized cometary globules is about 1,300 light-years distant. 

Energetic ultraviolet light from nearby hot stars has molded the globules and ionized their bright rims. The globules also stream away from the Vela supernova remnant. This may have influenced their swept-back shapes. Within them, cores of cold gas and dust are likely collapsing to form low mass stars. Their formation will ultimately cause the globules to disperse. In fact, cometary globule CG 30 (on the upper left) sports a small reddish glow near its head, a telltale sign of energetic jets from a star in the early stages of formation.


Image Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson & Martin Pugh, Observatorio El Sauce

Martin Pugh's website: 

https://www.martinpughastrophotography.space/about

Mark Hanson's website: 

https://www.hansonastronomy.com/bio

Release Date: July 16, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #CometaryGlobules #CG30 #Gas #Dust #Jets #VelaSupernovaRemnant #Vela #Puppis #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotographers #MartinPugh #MarkHanson #Astrophotography #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

NASA Artemis II Orion Spacecraft: 2nd Vacuum Chamber Test Round

NASA Artemis II Orion Spacecraft: 2nd Vacuum Chamber Test Round








The Artemis II Orion spacecraft is lifted from the Final Assembly and Testing (FAST) Cell and placed in the west altitude chamber inside the Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’S Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 28, 2024. Inside the altitude chamber, the spacecraft underwent a series of tests simulating deep space vacuum conditions.

Four astronauts will venture around the Moon in the Orion spacecraft on Artemis II. It will be the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration through the Artemis campaign.

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

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


Image Credit: NASA/Radislav Sinyak 

Image Date: June 28, 2024


#NASA #ESA #CSA #Space #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisIIMission #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #VacuumTesting #DeepSpace #Astronauts #MoonToMars #Science #SpaceExploration #HumanSpaceflight #KSC #NASAKennedy #Florida #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education

Kitt Peak National Observatory Discovers Extremely Strange Orbit of Rare Exoplanet

Kitt Peak National Observatory Discovers Extremely Strange Orbit of Rare Exoplanet

Using the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation's Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered the extreme orbit of an exoplanet that is on its way to becoming a "hot Jupiter". This exoplanet not only follows one of the most drastically stretched-out orbits of all known transiting exoplanets but is also orbiting its star backwards, lending insight into the mystery of how hot Jupiters evolve.

Planets that are more than twice the diameter of Earth have about ten Earth masses and enough gravity to hold onto hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe. Such large planets turn into gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter is more than ten times the diameter of Earth and more than 300 times the mass of Earth. Most of the 300 plus exoplanets that have been detected so far are gas giants. However, unlike Jupiter that is five times as far from the Sun as Earth, exoplanets, referred to as "hot Jupiters", are much closer to their stars than Earth is to the Sun.


Video Credit: NOIRLab

Images and Videos: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/KPNO/R. Proctor/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. Zamani/ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser/N. Bartmann

Duration: 1 minute, 31 seconds

Release Date: July 17, 2024


#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Planets #Exoplanets #HotJupiters #Orbit #Cosmos #Universe #WIYNTelescope #KPNO #NSF #AURA #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage Loaded onto Pegasus Barge

NASA Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage Loaded onto Pegasus Barge






The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility workforce and with other agency team members take a “family photo” with the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for Artemis II in the background. 

These images show team members at Michoud Assembly Facility loading the first core stage that will help launch the first crewed flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the agency’s Artemis II mission onto the Pegasus barge on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. The barge will ferry the core stage on a 900-mile journey from the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to its Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The core stage for the SLS mega rocket is the largest stage NASA has ever produced. At 212 feet tall, the stage consists of five major elements, including two huge propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super chilled liquid propellant to feed four RS-25 engines at its base. During launch and flight, the stage will operate for just over eight minutes, producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send a crew of four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft onward to the Moon. All the major structures for every SLS core stage are fully manufactured at NASA Michoud.

NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft and Gateway in orbit around the Moon and commercial human landing systems, next-generation space, next-generational spacesuits, and rovers on the lunar surface. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

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

For more information about SLS, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/sls


Image Credit: NASA/Steven Seipel

Image Date: July 16, 2024


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Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Stennis Space Center Celebrates 55th Anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 Moon Mission

Stennis Space Center Celebrates 55th Anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 Moon Mission

We’re celebrating a giant leap for all of humanity with the 55th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 mission today! Apollo 11 lifted off July 16, 1969, at 9:32 am EDT, setting off on its history-making journey to land humans on the Moon. The Saturn V S-IC-6 first stage that launched Apollo 11 was tested on NASA Stennis’ B-2 Test Stand on August 13, 1968. The S-II-6 second stage was tested on the A-2 Test Stand on October 3, 1968. 

Learn more about NASA's historic Apollo 11 Moon Mission: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/

Learn more about NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi: https://www.nasa.gov/stennis/


Video Credit: John C. Stennis Space Center

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: July 16, 2024

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