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Testing Technology for Mars Exploration: LOFTID | NASA
On November 10, 2022, NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, successfully demonstrated a cross-cutting aeroshell—a type of heat shield—for atmospheric re-entry. Video of the mission highlights and analysis of performance of NASA’s cutting-edge entry, descent and landing technology: Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID).
How NASA Sees the Shift from La Niña to El Niño | NASA Goddard
El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), is an ocean-atmosphere coupled phenomenon that affects global weather such as rainfall and drought patterns. We use several NASA and NOAA data products (listed below) to visualize the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere during the transition from La Niña 2021 to El Niño 2023.
The visualization is a comprehensive explainer showing changes in the upper 300 meters of the Pacific Ocean (such as thermocline relaxation and eastward movement of warm temperature anomalies) and the changes in the lower atmosphere (e.g., the Walker Circulation).
It is among the first efforts in visualizing the Walker Circulation and its convective branch moving across the Pacific without schematic plots but rather with verified model outputs.
Northern Lights over Shallow Lake, Ontario, Canada
On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.
Earth auroras have different names depending on the pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.
The Colors of the Aurora (U.S. National Park Service)
Wildfire Smoke from Canada in Earth's Atmosphere | International Space Station
A wildfire in Canada and its smoke circulating in the Earth's atmosphere, pictured from the Intenational Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above North Dakota in the United States.
Visit National Wildland Fire Situation Report (Canada) for updates:
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:
The Hyades Star Cluster in Taurus | Digitized Sky Survey 2
Wide-field view of the Hyades star cluster in the Milky Way galaxy created from images forming part of the Digitized Sky Survey 2.
Distance: ~150 light years
The Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) is a ground-based imaging survey of the entire sky in several colors of light produced by the Space Telescope Science Institute through its Guide Star Survey group.
Barred, Spiral Galaxy MCG+07-07-072 in Perseus | Hubble
The subject of this picture is located in the Perseus Cluster, also known as Abell 426, 320 million light-years from Earth. It is a barred spiral galaxy known as MCG+07-07-072, seen here among a number of photobombing stars that are much closer to Earth than it is. A barred spiral galaxy has a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.
MCG+07-07-072 has quite an unusual shape, for a spiral galaxy, with thin arms emerging from the ends of its barred core to draw a near-circle around its disc. It is classified, using a common extension of the basic Hubble scheme, as an SBc(r) galaxy: the c denotes that its two spiral arms are loosely wound, each only performing a half-turn around the galaxy, and the (r) is for the ring-like structure they create. Rings in galaxies come in quite a few forms, from merely uncommon, to rare and astrophysically important.
Lenticular galaxies are a type that sit between elliptical and spiral galaxies. They feature a large disc, unlike an elliptical galaxy, but lack any spiral arms. Lenticular means lens-shaped, and these galaxies often feature ring-like shapes in their discs.
Meanwhile, the classification of “ring galaxy” is reserved for peculiar galaxies with a round ring of gas and star formation, much like spiral arms look, but completely disconnected from the galactic nucleus—or even without any visible nucleus! They are thought to be formed in galactic collisions.
Finally, there are the famous gravitational lenses, where the ring is in fact a distorted image of a distant, background galaxy, formed by the ‘lens’ galaxy bending light around it. Ring-shaped images, called Einstein rings, only form when the lensing and imaged galaxies are perfectly aligned.
Image Description: A galaxy. It is almost circular. It has a glowing bar stretching across its core; from the ends of the bar, thin spiral arms wrap around the galaxy to form a closed disc. The arms are fuzzy from the dust and stars they contain. The galaxy is on a black, mostly-empty background. A few foreground stars with cross-shaped diffraction spikes can be seen, as well as distant galaxies in the background.
Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy Captured between a Unit Telescope | ESO
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) captured between the enclosure of one of the four Unit Telescopes that forms part of the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) at Paranal Observatory in Chile—the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy.
The Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy above ESO Telescope in Chile
This image, taken by European Southern Observatory (ESO) Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek, captures the moment that Yepun (UT4), one of the four 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes comprising ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shoots a laser beam up into the dark night sky over the Paranal Observatory in Chile.
The laser shown in this image acts as an artificial star, known as a Laser Guide Star. It is used to help astronomers adjust for the blurring and distorting effects of the Earth’s atmosphere. When observing a patch of sky, astronomers set up a laser guide star nearby and measure the tiny fluctuations in its image. The VLT’s adaptive optics system can then use this reference to correct for the changes and distortions in the intervening atmosphere and produce the sharpest images possible in the main observations.
Looming over Yepun is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a barred spiral galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. A faint white glow marks the location of older stellar populations within the LMC, while the iridescent hues of magenta and blue mark young stellar nurseries.
The LMC, as well as its smaller namesake, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), have been studied many times by ESO telescopes over the years. Its many cosmic delights, including nebulae and star clusters, can be seen in detail due to their proximity, and provide amateur and professional astronomers alike with breathtaking targets for observation.
Shenzhou-18 Crew: Maintenance & Handling Emergencies | China Space Station
China's Shenzhou-18 manned space mission crew have completed various tasks including the station's environmental and equipment maintenance and inspection, in-orbit emergency evacuation, and health monitoring and check more than halfway through their six-month mission aboard the Tiangong space station, lately released footage showed.
China's Shenzhou-18 manned space mission crew have completed various tasks including the station's environmental and equipment maintenance and inspection, in-orbit emergency evacuation, and health monitoring and check More than halfway through their six-month mission aboard the Tiangong space station, lately released footage showed.
The Shenzhou-18 crew, comprising astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, have spent more than 100 days in space since they were aboard in late April.
Last week, the trio installed a lid and replenished water for the urine processing system to facilitate water recycling and reuse inside the space station, according to a footage released by the China Manned Space Agency.
The crew also collected the station's environmental data through microbial sampling and testing on the total organic carbon, the total volatile organic compounds, and the in-cabin thermal environment. Based on these data, ground researchers can make assessment and appraisal of the station's internal environment to ensure the health and safety of astronauts.
In addition, the crew carried out a regular fire alarm drill last week to practice emergency evacuation under various working conditions while quickly putting on the space suit.
They also classified various living materials and materials for scientific experiments, and conducted garbage transfer and stocking, and the assorting and counting of medical supplies to make the space station clean and tidy.
To guarantee that their physical conditions enable them to perform various tasks, they received multiple medical checks, including the noninvasive cardiac function test which is safe, accurate, reliable and quite easy to perform.
China's Shenzhou-18 manned space mission crew have completed various tasks including the station's environmental and equipment maintenance and inspection, in-orbit emergency evacuation, and health monitoring and check More than halfway through their six-month mission aboard the Tiangong space station, lately released footage showed.
The Shenzhou-18 crew, comprising astronauts Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu, have spent more than 100 days in space since they were aboard in late April.
Last week, the trio installed a lid and replenished water for the urine processing system to facilitate water recycling and reuse inside the space station, according to a footage released by the China Manned Space Agency.
The crew also collected the station's environmental data through microbial sampling and testing on the total organic carbon, the total volatile organic compounds, and the in-cabin thermal environment. Based on these data, ground researchers can make assessment and appraisal of the station's internal environment to ensure the health and safety of astronauts.
In addition, the crew carried out a regular fire alarm drill last week to practice emergency evacuation under various working conditions while quickly putting on the space suit.
They also classified various living materials and materials for scientific experiments, and conducted garbage transfer and stocking, and the assorting and counting of medical supplies to make the space station clean and tidy.
To guarantee that their physical conditions enable them to perform various tasks, they received multiple medical checks, including the noninvasive cardiac function test which is safe, accurate, reliable and quite easy to perform.
Black Hole Discovered in Next Door Galaxy's Star Cluster NGC 1850 | ESO
Astronomers discovered a small black hole outside the Milky Way by looking at how it influences the motion of a star in its close vicinity. This video summarizes the discovery.
Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: Herbert Zodet and Martin Wallner
Editing: Herbert Zodet
Written by: Juliet Hannay and Giulio Mazzolo
Footage and photos: ESO, L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser, N. Risinger, DSS, NASA/ESA/M. Romaniello
Acknowledgement: Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mateos. Gianluca Lombardi
Scientific Consultants: Paola Amico and Mariya Lyubenova
Sit back, relax and enjoy this journey to NGC 1850, a cluster of thousands of stars roughly 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a Milky Way neighbor.
Among many stars, this cluster is home to a black hole eleven times as massive as the Sun and to the five-solar-mass star orbiting it. By looking at the star’s orbit, a team of astronomers were able to infer the presence of the black hole, making it the first small black hole outside of our galaxy to be found this way. For this discovery, the team used the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile.
Video Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO), N. Risinger, Digital Sky Survey (DSS), NASA/ESA/M. Romaniello
Star Cluster NGC 1850 in Dorado | ESO's Very Large Telescope & Hubble
This image shows NGC 1850, a cluster of thousands of stars roughly 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a Milky Way neighbor. The reddish filaments surrounding the cluster, made of vast clouds of hydrogen, are believed to be the remnants of supernova explosions.
The image is an overlay of observations conducted in visible light with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) and NASA/European Space Agency’s Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The VLT captured the wide field of the image and the filaments, while the central cluster was imaged by the HST.
Among many stars, this cluster is home to a black hole eleven times as massive as the Sun and to a five-solar-mass star orbiting it. By looking at the star’s orbit, a team of astronomers were able to infer the presence of the black hole, making it the first small black hole outside of our galaxy to be found this way. For this discovery, the team used the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument at the VLT.
Credit: ESO, NASA/ESA/R. Gilmozzi/S. Casertano, J. Schmidt
Star Cluster NGC 1850 in Dorado | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
NGC 1850 is a bright, double star cluster that lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud—a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way. It contains a black hole with a mass of about eleven Suns, and a companion star. No clear detection of X-rays with Chandra implies that the black hole is not quickly pulling material away from its companion. This composite image displays x-rays from Chandra (magenta); optical light from the Hubble Space Telescope (red, yellow, green, cyan, blue); infrared light from the Spitzer Space Telescope (red).
This image features a double star cluster, a blue-tinted cloud, and several neon purple dots. The bright, golden stars in the larger cluster fill the upper center of the image. The other cluster is much smaller and coincides with one of the neon purple circles located slightly above and to the right of the image’s center. This and the other purple circles are X-ray sources detected with Chandra. To our left of the combined cluster is a vertical streak of blue-tinted cloud.
Barred Spiral Galaxy NGC 1672 in Dorado | Victor Blanco Telescope
The arms of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1672 sweep across this image captured by the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a Program of the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab. NGC 1672 is a celestial mystery, as it is difficult to define its galactic activity. A barred spiral galaxy has a central bar-shaped structure composed of stars.
Distance:50 million light years
The nucleus is surrounded by a ring of hot gas filled with individual point sources of X-ray light, in other words bright, newly formed stars. However, the luminous nucleus of NGC 1672 itself shines brightly in types of light ranging from X-ray to infrared. Known as a Seyfert Type 2 nucleus, it is an example of a specific type of active galactic nucleus (AGN) and likely a supermassive black hole. Fragile young stars and a destructive AGN should not necessarily be so close together, and their proximity in this galaxy creates a conundrum. Galaxies like NGC 1672 can open up new pathways to understanding the activities and behaviors of galaxies, including their long-term evolution.
Data for this image were collected using the Dark Energy Camera on the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope for the Dark Energy Survey. It has mapped millions of galaxies to determine the nature of dark energy. The analysis of data from the Dark Energy Survey is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, and the Dark Energy Camera science archive is curated by the Community Science and Data Center at NOIRLab.
The 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope was commissioned in 1974. It is a near twin of the Mayall 4-meter telescope on Kitt Peak. In 1995 it was dedicated and named in honor of Puerto Rican astronomer Víctor Manuel Blanco. It is also part of the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a visible and near-infrared survey that aims to probe the dynamics of the expansion of the Universe.
Image Credit: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
China Develops Reusable Commercial Rockets to Improve Launch Capabilities
China has been working to improve its rocket launch capabilities by sending low-cost rockets into space with a focus on developing reusable rockets.
The Lijian-2 carrier rocket, the first liquid-propellant rocket developed by a high-tech enterprise in Beijing, is scheduled to be launched next year for the first time with the first stage and the booster of the rocket recycled by 2028.
"It's highly reliable and developed rapidly, with a payload capacity of around eight tonnes. It's mainly used to launch satellite groups for the construction of the low-orbit Internet constellation, and low-cost cargo ships," said Shi Xiaoning, vice president of Beijing CAS Space Technology Co., Ltd.
He said the construction of large-scale satellite constellation puts forward higher requirements on the costs and production capacity of rockets, and they have conducted a number of recycling tests.
"To recycle rockets is the major way to reduce the demand for rocket production capacity as it's impossible for us to build production lines without limits. So we recycle the big stuff, which is the best way to improve the launch capacity," Shi said.
Another commercial rocket company LandSpace in Beijing is also working on the research on reusable rockets.
The vertical return technology of Zhuque-3, a reusable rocket developed by the company, has successfully completed its first flight test at the beginning of this year.
The flight test verified the vertical recovery of a rocket at low altitude and low speed, matching between the control system and engine thrust adjustment performance, and the rocket vertical recovery's guidance and control algorithm, according to LandSpace.
"We have made a rough assessment before. It is preliminarily estimated that if the first stage of the rocket can be reused for 20 times, the entire cost can be reduced by more than half. Taking into account the expense on test, maintenance and fuel after recycling, we can save more than 60 percent of the costs," said Dai Zheng, commander in chief of China's reusable rocket Zhuque-3.
Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency
The Clear Blue Waters of The Bahamas | International Space Station
The clear blue waters surrounding The Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean are pictured from the International Space Station as it soared 258 miles above.
The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an island country of the Lucayan Archipelago consisting of more than 700 islands, cays, and islets in the Atlantic Ocean; north of Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic); northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands; southeast of the U.S. state of Florida and east of the Florida Keys. Its capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence. [Source: Wikipedia]
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:
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