Sun Releases Strong X1.3 Solar Flare | NASA SDO

Sun Releases Strong X1.3 Solar Flare | NASA SDO

The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 3:35 p.m. ET on August 8, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory watches the Sun constantly and it captured an image of the event as seen in the bright flash on the right. This image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. It is colorized in teal. This flare is classified as an X1.3 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

The Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields. Where these fields are closed, often above sunspot groups, the confined solar atmosphere can suddenly and violently release bubbles of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path. CMEs are sometimes associated with flares but can occur independently.

To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center https://spaceweather.gov, the U.S. government’s official source for space weather forecasts, watches, warnings, and alerts. 

NASA works as a research arm of the nation’s space weather effort. NASA observes the Sun and our space environment constantly with a fleet of spacecraft that study everything from the Sun’s activity to the solar atmosphere, and to the particles and magnetic fields in the space surrounding Earth.

Image Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Release Date: Aug. 8, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #SpaceWeather #Sun #Star #Solar #SolarFlare #XFlare #Ultraviolet #Science #Plasma #MagneticField #Astrophysics #Heliophysics #Physics #Spacecraft #Satellite #SDO #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

China's Shenzhou-18 Astronauts Celebrate Paris Olympics with Microgravity Games

China's Shenzhou-18 Astronauts Celebrate Paris Olympics with Microgravity Games

The three Shenzhou-18 crew members aboard China's orbiting Tiangong space station—Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu—celebrated the Paris Summer Olympics and China's 16th National Fitness Day in microgravity via a video released by China Manned Space Agency on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. It showed the astronauts participating in exercises reminiscent of the sports played during the Games.

The activity started with the passing of a torch from Ye Guangfu to Li Cong to Li Guangsu, then finally back to Ye, the commander.

Following this, the orbital games began. Li Guangsu demonstrated impressive skills in the men's singles table tennis match. While watching a thrilling group stage match of China's women's volleyball team, Ye Guangfu and Li Cong began playing volleyball in zero gravity.

A men's medley in the 16-meter-long Tianhe core module was also included in the light-hearted video, with Ye eventually winning the competition with a slight advantage.

Ye also did some weightlifting, lifting a bar that Li Guangsu and Li Cong were clutching off the "ground."

In addition, the crew gave their best wishes to the Olympic athletes.

"May the medals of Chinese Olympic athletes line up from one end of a street to the other. Enjoy the journey and create remarkable moments!" said Ye.

"Going all out to progress towards your dreams. At the space station, we will witness the endless potential in you," said Li Cong.

"Wishing you all to surpass your limits, achieve greater success, and create new brilliance!" said Li Guangsu.

China launched the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship to send the three astronauts to its orbiting Tiangong space station for a six-month mission on April 25, 2024. This is the 32nd flight mission of the country's crewed space program.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander)

Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist)

Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)

Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency

Duration: 2 minutes 

Release Date: Aug. 9, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #Paris2024 #FranceOlympique #NationalFitnessDay #ScientificExperiments #Taikonauts #Astronauts #YeGuangfu #LiCong #LiGuangsu #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CMSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: "Delivery" | Week of Aug. 9, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground: "Delivery" | Week of Aug. 9, 2024

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. The Northrop Grumman Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station on Aug. 6, 2024. It carried 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory for Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA.

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: 3 minutes, 13 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 9, 2024

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

Orbital Sunrise over Pacific Ocean | International Space Station

Orbital Sunrise over Pacific Ocean | International Space Station

An orbital sunrise colorfully illuminates the Earth's atmosphere and highlights the boundary between night and day, also known as the terminator, in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 267 miles above the Pacific Ocean north of Auckland, New Zealand.

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)

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

Image Date: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Sun #Planet #Earth #OrbitalSunrise #Terminator #Atmosphere #PacificOcean #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education

The Most Distant Known Galaxy: JADES-GS-z14-0 | James Webb Space Telescope

The Most Distant Known Galaxy: JADES-GS-z14-0 | James Webb Space Telescope

A field of thousands of small galaxies of various shapes and colors on the black background of space. A bright, foreground star with diffraction spikes is at lower left. Near image center, a tiny white box outlines a region and two diagonal lines lead to a box in upper right. Within the box is a banana-shaped blob that is blueish-red in one half and distinctly red in the other half. An arrow points to the redder portion and is labeled "JADES GS z 14 0."

Scientists used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) to obtain a spectrum of the distant galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 in order to accurately measure its redshift and therefore determine its age. The redshift can be determined from the location of a critical wavelength known as the Lyman-alpha break. This galaxy dates back to less than 300 million years after the big bang.

Over the last two years, scientists have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to explore what astronomers refer to as Cosmic Dawn—the period in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang where the first galaxies were born. These galaxies provide vital insight into the ways in which the gas, stars, and black holes were changing when the universe was very young. In October 2023 and January 2024, an international team of astronomers used Webb to observe galaxies as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program. Using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec), they obtained a spectrum of a record-breaking galaxy observed only two hundred and ninety million years after the Big Bang. This corresponds to a redshift of about 14, a measure of how much a galaxy’s light is stretched by the expansion of the universe. 

The NIRCam data was used to determine which galaxies to study further with spectroscopic observations. One such galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0 (shown in the pullout), was determined to be at a redshift of 14.32 (+0.08/-0.20), making it the current record-holder for the most distant known galaxy. This corresponds to a time less than 300 million years after the Big Bang.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, B. Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), B. Johnson (CfA), S. Tacchella (Cambridge), P. Cargile (CfA), J. Olmsted (STScI). Science: S. Carniani (Scuola Normale Superiore), JADES Collaboration

Release Date: May 30, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #GOODSSouth #JADES #JADESGSz140 #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #Infographic #STEM #Education

GOODS-South Visualization: 9,500+ Galaxies | James Webb Space Telescope

GOODS-South Visualization: 9,500+ Galaxies | James Webb Space Telescope

Thousands of small galaxies are scattered on a black background. There are noticeable spirals, either face-on or edge-on, while others are blobby ellipticals. Many are too small to discern any structure. A few spirals are bluish, but most of the galaxies appear yellow or red. A handful of stars display eight-point diffraction spikes.

The final view is of distant galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0. It is the current record-holder for the most distant known galaxy. This corresponds to a time less than 300 million years after the Big Bang.

These infrared images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) were taken for the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES, program. It shows a portion of an area of the sky known as GOODS-South, which has been well studied by the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. More than 45,000 galaxies are visible here.

Using these and other data, the JADES team has discovered hundreds of galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 600 million years old. The sheer number of these galaxies was far beyond predictions from observations made before Webb’s launch.

The team also has identified galaxies that existed during a time known as the Epoch of Reionization, when the universe underwent a transformation from opaque to transparent. Many of these galaxies shown unusually strong emission line signatures due to the creation of multitudes of hot, massive stars.

Credits:

Image: NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona), Daniel Eisenstein (CfA)

Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Duration: 45 seconds

Release Date: June 5, 2023

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #JWST #Galaxies #GOODSSouth #JADES #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #CSA #Canada #Europe #STEM #Education #Visualization #HD #Video

Zooming to Irregular Dwarf Galaxy Sextans A | Mayall Telescope

Zooming to Irregular Dwarf Galaxy Sextans A | Mayall Telescope

This video zooms to the glittering image captured by the 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. It shows the irregular dwarf galaxy Sextans A that lies around 4.4 million light-years from Earth. This galaxy, only a fraction of the size of the Milky Way, has been contorted by successive waves of supernova explosions into the roughly square shape we see from Earth—a cosmic jewelry box filled with bright young stars.

Sextans A is displayed in style in this gorgeous image, which showcases the irregular shape of this dwarf galaxy. Irregular galaxies such as Sextans A do not have the regular appearance of spiral or elliptical galaxies, but instead display a range of weird and wonderful shapes. These galaxies are relatively small, and they are often susceptible to distortions resulting from close encounters or collisions with larger galaxies—sometimes leading to their irregular shapes. Sextans A is particularly small, measuring only about 5,000 light-years across.

Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Data Obtained & Processed by: P. Massey (Lowell Obs.), G. Jacoby, K. Olsen, & C. Smith (AURA/NSF)

Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)

Duration: 50 seconds

Release Date: June 30, 2021

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #DwarfGalaxy #SextansA #IrregularGalaxy #Sextans #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Cat’s Eye Nebula | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

The Cat’s Eye Nebula | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning image of the Cat's Eye Nebula, one of the most complex planetary nebulae known, with its intricate structure of concentric rings and high-density knots. In this video, Dr. Ken Carpenter delves into the beauty of this cosmic jewel and discusses the critical role Hubble plays in unraveling the secrets of stellar evolution and the lifecycle of stars.

The Cat's Eye Nebula (also known as NGC 6543 and Caldwell 6) is a planetary nebula in the northern constellation of Draco, discovered by William Herschel on February 15, 1786. It was the first planetary nebula whose spectrum was investigated by the English amateur astronomer William Huggins, demonstrating that planetary nebulae were gaseous and not stellar in nature. Structurally, the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed knots, jets, bubbles and complex arcs, being illuminated by the central hot planetary nebula nucleus (PNN).

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Producer, Director & Editor: James Leigh

Director of Photography: James Ball

Executive Producers: James Leigh & Matthew Duncan

Production & Post: Origin Films 

Video Credits:

Hubble Space Telescope Animation:

ESA/Hubble - M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen

Duration: 2 minutes, 53 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 8, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space#Science #Hubble #CatsEyeNebula #Nebula #PlanetaryNebula #NGC6543 #Caldwell6 #Draco #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Zooming in on Calcium-rich Supernova SN 2019ehk in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Zooming in on Calcium-rich Supernova SN 2019ehk in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Zooming in on the calcium-rich supernova SN 2019ehk in the constellation of Coma Berenices.

Astronomers have for the first time used X-ray imaging to examine a calcium-rich supernova located 50 million light-years away. Their findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal, show that a calcium-rich supernova is a compact star that sheds an outer layer of gas during the final stages of its life; when the star explodes, its matter collides with the loose material in that outer shell, emitting bright X-rays; the overall explosion causes intensely hot temperatures and high pressure, driving a chemical reaction that produces calcium. A supernova is the largest explosion that humans have ever seen.

Half of all the calcium in the Universe—including the calcium in our teeth and bones—was created in stellar explosions called calcium-rich supernovae. These events are so rare that astrophysicists have struggled to find and subsequently study them.

“Calcium-rich supernovae are so few in number that we have never known what produced them,” said Dr. Wynn Jacobson-Galan, a researcher at Northwestern University.

“By observing what this star did in its final month before it reached its critical, tumultuous end, we peered into a place previously unexplored, opening new avenues of study within transient science.”

Dr. Jacobson-Galan and colleagues studied a calcium-rich supernova dubbed SN 2019ehk in Messier 100, a star-forming spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices.

This stellar explosion was first spotted on April 29, 2019 by amateur astronomer Joel Shepherd.

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Lick Observatory and the W. M. Keck Observatory immediately examined SN 2019ehk in optical wavelengths.

Swift also observed the event in X-rays and ultraviolet. The X-ray emission only lingered for five days before completely disappearing.

“Before this event, we had indirect information about what calcium-rich supernovae might or might not be. Now, we can confidently rule out several possibilities,” said Dr. Raffaella Margutti, also from Northwestern University.

Typical stars create small amounts of calcium slowly through burning helium throughout their lives. Calcium-rich supernovae produce massive amounts of calcium within seconds.

Credits:

A. M. Geller/Northwestern University/CTIO/SOAR/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA; ESO/IDA/Danish 1.5 m/R. Gendler, J.-E. Ovaldsen, C. C. Thöne and C. Féron; A. Fujii and Z. Levay (STScI); C. Kilpatrick/University of California Santa Cruz/NASA-ESA Hubble Space Telescope 

Duration: 19 seconds

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #Messier100 #SpiralGalaxy #Stars #Supernova #SN2019ehk #Calcium #Supernovae #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #Art #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Calcium-Rich Supernova SN 2019ehk Detected in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Calcium-Rich Supernova SN 2019ehk Detected in Spiral Galaxy Messier 100

Hubble Space Telescope image of SN 2019ehk in its spiral host galaxy, Messier 100. The image is a composite made of pre- and post-explosion images. 

Artist’s interpretation of the calcium-rich supernova 2019ehk (annotated)

Astronomers have for the first time used X-ray imaging to examine a calcium-rich supernova located 50 million light-years away. Their findings, published in the Astrophysical Journal, show that a calcium-rich supernova is a compact star that sheds an outer layer of gas during the final stages of its life; when the star explodes, its matter collides with the loose material in that outer shell, emitting bright X-rays; the overall explosion causes intensely hot temperatures and high pressure, driving a chemical reaction that produces calcium. A supernova is the largest explosion that humans have ever seen.

Half of all the calcium in the Universe—including the calcium in our teeth and bones—was created in stellar explosions called calcium-rich supernovae. These events are so rare that astrophysicists have struggled to find and subsequently study them.

“Calcium-rich supernovae are so few in number that we have never known what produced them,” said Dr. Wynn Jacobson-Galan, a researcher at Northwestern University.

“By observing what this star did in its final month before it reached its critical, tumultuous end, we peered into a place previously unexplored, opening new avenues of study within transient science.”

Dr. Jacobson-Galan and colleagues studied a calcium-rich supernova dubbed SN 2019ehk in Messier 100, a star-forming spiral galaxy in the constellation of Coma Berenices.

This stellar explosion was first spotted on April 29, 2019 by amateur astronomer Joel Shepherd.

NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Lick Observatory and the W. M. Keck Observatory immediately examined SN 2019ehk in optical wavelengths.

Swift also observed the event in X-rays and ultraviolet. The X-ray emission only lingered for five days before completely disappearing.

“Before this event, we had indirect information about what calcium-rich supernovae might or might not be. Now, we can confidently rule out several possibilities,” said Dr. Raffaella Margutti, also from Northwestern University.

Typical stars create small amounts of calcium slowly through burning helium throughout their lives. Calcium-rich supernovae produce massive amounts of calcium within seconds.

“The explosion is trying to cool down. It wants to give away its energy, and calcium emission is an efficient way to do that,” Dr. Margutti said.

Using the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) at the W. M. Keck Observatory, the astronomers discovered SN 2019ehk emitted the most calcium ever observed in a singular astrophysical event.

“The beautiful Keck spectrum revealed it wasn’t just calcium-rich. It was the richest of the rich,” Dr. Margutti said.

The researchers believe the progenitor star of SN 2019ehk—a white dwarf or very low-mass massive star—shed an outer layer of gas in its final days.

When it exploded, its material collided with this outer layer to produce a bright, energetic burst of X-rays.

“Its luminosity tells us how much material the star shed and how close that material was to the star,” Dr. Jacobson-Galan said.

“In this case, the star lost a very small amount of material right before it exploded. That material was still nearby.”

Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán et al. 2020. SN 2019ehk: A Double-peaked Ca-rich Transient with Luminous X-Ray Emission and Shock-ionized Spectral Features. ApJ 898, 166; doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab9e66

This article is based on a press-release provided by the Northwestern University.

Credits: CTIO/SOAR/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Northwestern University/C. Kilpatrick/University of California Santa Cruz/NASA-ESA Hubble Space Telescope

Release Date: Aug. 5, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #Messier100 #SpiralGalaxy #Stars #Supernova #SN2019ehk #Calcium #Supernovae #ComaBerenices #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #SpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #Art #STEM #Education

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Por el oro: 2 de agosto 2024

NASA's "Espacio a Tierra" | Por el oro: 2 de agosto 2024

Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.

Aprende más sobre la ciencia a bordo de la estación espacial: https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/ciencia-en-la-estacion/

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: 

https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov

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

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #SpaceXCrew9 #NorthropGrumman #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #Astronauts #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #SpaceTechnology #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft: Solar Panels Installed | Kennedy Space Center

NASA’s Europa Clipper Spacecraft: Solar Panels Installed | Kennedy Space Center

 

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays—spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court—will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life.

    

Technicians move NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to accommodate installation of its five-panel solar array at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. After moving the spacecraft, the team had to precisely align the spacecraft in preparation for the installation. The huge arrays—spanning more than 100 feet when fully deployed, or about the length of a basketball court—will collect sunlight to power the spacecraft as it flies multiple times around Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, conducting science investigations to determine its potential to support life. 

Slated to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket later this year from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy, Europa Clipper will help determine if conditions exist below the surface Jupiter’s fourth largest moon, Europa that could support life.

Europa Clipper is expected to reach the Jupiter system in April 2030, and it will accomplish a few milestones along the way, including a Mars flyby in February 2025 that will help propel the spacecraft toward Jupiter’s moon through a Mars-Earth gravity assist trajectory.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

The spacecraft was designed to withstand the pummeling of radiation from Jupiter and gather the measurements needed to investigate Europa’s surface, interior, and space environment.

Europa Clipper has nine dedicated science instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, a magnetometer, and an ice-penetrating radar. These instruments will study Europa’s icy shell, the ocean beneath, and the composition of the gases in the moon’s atmosphere and surface geology, and provide insights into the moon’s potential habitability. The spacecraft also will carry a thermal instrument to pinpoint locations of warmer ice and any possible eruptions of water vapor. Strong evidence shows the ocean beneath Europa’s crust is twice the volume of all the Earth’s oceans combined.

The Europa Clipper mission demonstrates NASA’s commitment to exploring our solar system and searching for habitability beyond Earth. The data will contribute to our understanding of the Jovian system and will help pave the way for potential future missions to study Europa and other potentially habitable worlds.

For more information on the mission, visit: https://europa.nasa.gov/

Image Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

Image Date: Aug. 1, 2024

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Jupiter #Europa #Moon #Ocean #Astrobiology #Biosignatures #Habitability #Radiation #EuropaClipper #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #APL #MSFC #GSFC #JPL #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station | NASA

Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station | NASA

Northrop Grumman's Cygnus cargo craft, carrying 8,200 pounds of science and supplies, approaches the International Space Station for a capture with the Canadarm2 robotic arm commanded by Expedition 71 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick of NASA. The maneuver marked the 50th free-flying capture for the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

The Northrop Grumman Cygnus commercial cargo spacecraft was successfully captured over the south Atlantic Ocean by NASA Astronaut Matthew Dominick on the International Space Station at 3:11am ET, Aug. 6, 2024. The Cygnus spacecraft was then installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port on the International Space Station at 5:33 a.m. EDT. The spacecraft carried 8,200 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory for Northrop Grumman’s 21st commercial resupply mission for NASA. 

The mission launched at 11:02 a.m. Aug. 4 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. Cygnus will remain at the space station until January 2025 when it departs the orbiting laboratory. It will then dispose of several thousand pounds of debris through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere where it will burn up "harmlessly".

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.

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

Image Date: Aug. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Science #NorthropGrumman #SSDickScobee #CygnusCargoSpacecraft #Astronaut #MatthewDominick #UnitedStates #CSA #Canadarm2 #Canada #SpaceTechnology #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA X-33 Reusable Spaceplane & Linear Aerospike Engine Project (1996-2001)

NASA X-33 Reusable Spaceplane & Linear Aerospike Engine Project (1994-2001)

Developed for NASA's X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator, the Boeing Rocketdyne XRS-2200 engine used a linear aerospike arrangement instead of the classic bell nozzle using liquid hydrogen (LH2) fuel and a liquid oxygen (LOX) oxidizer. The design was based on the J-2S, the upgraded version of the Apollo era J-2 engine developed in the 1960s. This shows a test of twin Linear Aerospike XRS-2200 engines, originally built for the X-33 program. It was performed on August 6, 2001 at NASA's Sternis Space Center in Mississippi. The engines were fired for the planned 90 seconds and reached a planned maximum power of 85 percent.

NASA's Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, also known as the Space Launch Initiative (SLI), made advances in propulsion technology with this third and final successful engine hot fire, designed to test electro-mechanical actuators that control the flow of propellants in rocket engines.

A NASA SR-71 successfully completed its first flight October 31, 1997 as part of the NASA/Rocketdyne/Lockheed Martin Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE) at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California (now known as the Armstrong Flight Research Center). The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. The goal of the first flight was to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics and the handling of the SR-71/linear aerospike experiment configuration. The engine was not fired during the flight.

To provide data before flying on the X-33 vehicle and the RLV, a spacecraft rocket engine was flight-tested atop the NASA SR-71 aircraft as the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE). A 20 percent-scale, semispan model of the X-33 vehicle, the aerospike engine, and all the required fuel and oxidizer tanks and propellant feed systems was mounted atop the SR-71 airplane.

This photograph shows a ground cold flow test of the linear aerospike rocket engine mounted on the rear fuselage of an SR-71.

This is an artist's concept of an X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator, a subscale protoptye launch vehicle being developed by NASA Lockheed Martin Skunk Works. (Vehicle configuration in October 1997) The X-33 is a subscale prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Lockheed Martin has labeled "Venture Star TM." The X-33 program was cancelled in 2001.

Pictured here is an artist's concept of the experimental X-33 in-flight. The X-33 program was designed to pave the way to a full-scale commercially developed, reusable launch vehicle (RLV). 

The wedge-shaped X-33 was a sub-scale technology demonstration prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). 

This is an artist's concept of the completely operational International Space Station being approached by an X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).

NASA's X-33 program began in 1994 as part of NASA’s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program. It awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to build and fly an uncrewed technology demonstrator. Much of the vehicle was entirely new, including the linear aerospace rocket motor and the composite cryogenic propellant tanks. The leap exceeded what existing and developing technology could support. The prototype was to be unpiloted. The X-33, a half-scale vehicle, was expected to feature a lifting-body shape, a new “aerospike” rocket engine, and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. It was expected to demonstrate in flight the new technologies needed for a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). It was designed to take off vertically like a rocket, reaching an altitude of up to 60 miles and speeds between Mach 13 and 15, and to land horizontally like an airplane.

Through demonstration flights and ground research, NASA's X-33 program was to provide the information needed for commercial firms, such as Lockheed Martin (builder of the X-33 Venture Star), to decide by the year 2000 whether to proceed with the development of a full-scale, commercial RLV program. The program was intended to put the U.S. on a path toward safe, affordable, reliable access to space by providing the latest spaceflight technology. 

The X-33 was to be the flagship demonstrator for technologies designed to dramatically lower the cost of access to space. This program would in turn create new opportunities for space access and significantly improve U.S. economic competitiveness in the worldwide launch marketplace. NASA would be a customer, not the operator in the commercial RLV. The X-33 program was cancelled in 2001. It is reported that failures of its 21-meter wingspan and multi-lobed, composite-material fuel tank during pressure testing ultimately led to the withdrawal of federal support for the program in early 2001.

Conceived of in the 1960's, aerospike engines had not yet beeen flown, and many questions remained regarding aerospike engine performance and efficiency in flight. To provide data before flying on the X-33 vehicle and the RLV, a spacecraft rocket engine was flight-tested atop the NASA SR-71 aircraft as the Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE). A 20 percent-scale, semispan model of the X-33 vehicle, the aerospike engine, and all the required fuel and oxidizer tanks and propellant feed systems was mounted atop the SR-71 airplane for this experiment. A major technical objective of the LASRE flight test was to obtain installed-engine performance flight data for comparison to wind-tunnel results and for the development of computational fluid dynamics-based design methodologies. Five flights of the LASRE and firing the rocket engine using inert liquid nitrogen and helium in place of liquid oxygen and hydrogen were successfully completed.

NASA announced March 1, 2001, that it would not add Space Launch Initiative funds to the X-33 program. As a result, the X-33 program came to completion when the cooperative agreement between NASA and Lockheed Martin expired March 31, 2001. NASA invested nearly $1 billion in the project, and Lockheed Martin put in nearly $400 million.

Learn more about the XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike Engine:

https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/research/propulsion/Info/rockets/liquids/xrs2200

Read the article: "X-33/VentureStar – What really happened" by Chris Bergin at NASASpaceflight

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2006/01/x-33venturestar-what-really-happened/

Image Credits: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (Alabama), Armstrong Flight Research Center (California), Stennis Space Center (Mississippi)

Image Dates: 1997-2004

#NASA #Space #CommercialSpace #X33 #X33Program #BoeingRocketdyne #XRS2200Engines #RLVProgram #SpaceTechnology #TechnologyDevelopment #ResearchProject #Aerospace #LASREFlightTests #SR71Aircraft #SR71 #Aviation #LockheedMartin #NASAStennis #MSFC #AFRC #UnitedStates #History #ArtistConcepts #STEM #Education

Shielding the Extremely Large Telescope from the Atacama Desert | ESO

Shielding the Extremely Large Telescope from Chile's Atacama Desert | ESO

The European Southern Observatory is building our Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) in the Atacama Desert. It is among the darkest skies on Earth, although it is a very harsh environment.

This is why we are currently covering the ELT steel dome with special cladding. It includes insulating layers and sheets of aluminum. This will protect the ELT and its delicate optics from the external environment.

Learn more about ESO’s ELT at: https://elt.eso.org/ 

Altitude: 3046 meters

Planned year of technical first light: 2027

Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Directing, Editing & Writing by: Angelos Tsaousis

Written by: Bárbara Ferreira

Footage and photos: ESO, Angelos Tsaousis, Martin Wallner

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #ExtremelyLargeTelescope #ELT #Nebulae #Stars #Exoplanets #Galaxies #Cosmos #Universe #BiggestEyeOnTheSky #Technology #Engineering #CerroArmazones #AtacamaDesert #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dark Nebula LDN 810 in Vulpecula | Mayall Telescope

Dark Nebula LDN 810 in Vulpecula | Mayall Telescope

This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. LDN 810 is a dark nebula that was first cataloged by B.T. Lynds in 1962. The dark region at the center contains gas and dust where new stars are forming. A bipolar outflow of gas from one of these stars has also been detected. A faint trail of dust and gas extends from the center of the image to the upper-left corner. The image was generated with observations in the Us (violet), B (blue), V (green) and I (red) filters. In this image, North is up, East is to the left.

The Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope is a four-meter (158 inches) reflector telescope in Arizona named after the American observational astronomer of the same name. The telescope saw first light on February 27, 1973, and was the second-largest in the world at that time.

Credit: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) and H. Schweiker (WIYN and NOIRLab/NSF/AURA)

Release Date: June 30, 2020

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Nebulae #Nebula #LDN810 #Vulpecula #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #MayallTelescope #KPNO #Arizona #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #UnitedStates #STEM #Education