Polaris Dawn Crew Prepare for SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

Polaris Dawn Crew Prepare for SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch | NASA Kennedy

Falcon 9 rocket and specially-modified Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon spacecraft at Launch Complex 39A, Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Polaris Dawn Crew Dragon spacecraft

Good L-8 hour weather brief | From left to right: Anna Menon - Mission Specialist & Medical Officer, Scott Poteet - Mission Pilot, Jared Isaacman - Mission Commander, Sarah Gillis - Mission Specialist

Polaris Dawn Mission Profile

Polaris Dawn Mission Patch

SpaceX is targeting no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 at 3:38 a.m. ET for launch of the Polaris Dawn Mission on a Falcon 9 rocket and specially-modified Crew Dragon spacecraft at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) in Merritt Island, Florida.

Polaris Dawn will travel to an altitude of 1,400 km, attempt the first commercial spacewalk from Dragon, test Starlink-laser based communications, and conduct a wide range of research in microgravity before returning to Earth and splashing down off the coast of Florida.

The Polaris Dawn Mission will fly a specially-modified SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft higher than any mission to date since the Apollo program, endeavoring to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown at approximately 700 kilometers above the Earth. Orbiting through portions of the Van Allen radiation belt, Polaris Dawn will conduct research with the aim of better understanding the effects of spaceflight and space radiation on human health, while testing laser-based communications.

The Polaris Dawn crew is preparing for the mission’s "first commercial spacewalk". This extravehicular activity (EVA) will be the final test 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."

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

Image Credits: SpaceX / Polaris Program / John Kraus

Image Dates: Sept. 9-10, 2024

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Earth #PolarisDawn #CrewDragonSpacecraft #EVA #Spacewalk #Spacesuits #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #JaredIsaacman #ScottPoteet #SarahGillis #AnnaMenon #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #SpaceExploration #KSC #LC39A #MerrittIsland #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

'Storytime' Moon above Earth | International Space Station

'Storytime' Moon above Earth | International Space Station

The Moon begins setting above Earth's bright, colorful atmosphere in this long-duration photograph taken by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick with a camera programmed for high sensitivity 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, Suni Williams, 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)/M. Dominick

Image Date: Sept. 4, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ISS #Stars #Sun #Moon #Moonset #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #SolarSystem #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

Expedition 72 Crew Prepares for Kazakhstan Launch | International Space Station

Expedition 72 Crew Prepares for Kazakhstan Launch | International Space Station

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Soyuz MS-26 prime and backup crews have completed final pre-flight training for the scheduled launch Sept. 11, 2024, of NASA’s Don Pettit and Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia on the start of a planned six-month mission to the International Space Station. The training activities that took place August 26 to September 8, includes the rollout of the Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle to its launch pad in Baikonur Sept. 8.

NASA Astronaut Donald R. Pettit Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/donald-r-pettit/

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/donald-r-pettit/

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.

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

Duration: 22 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #SoyuzRocket #SoyuzMS26 #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronaut #DonPettit #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #AlexeiOvchinin #IvanVagner #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition72 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Galaxy Group Stephan's Quintet | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

Galaxy Group Stephan's Quintet | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured an extraordinary image of Stephan's Quintet, a visual grouping of five galaxies that offers a unique glimpse into the dynamics of galaxy interactions.

In this video, Dr. Jennifer Wiseman explores the intricate details of Stephan's Quintet and discusses how Hubble's observations continue to deepen our understanding of galactic behavior and the universe as a whole.

A clash among members of a famous galaxy quintet reveals an assortment of stars across a wide color range, from young, blue stars to aging, red stars.

Distance: 300 million light years

This portrait of Stephan's Quintet, also known as the Hickson Compact Group 92, was taken by the new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) aboard the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope. Stephan's Quintet, as the name implies, is a group of five galaxies. The name, however, is a bit of a misnomer. Studies have shown that group member NGC 7320, at upper left, is actually a foreground galaxy that is about seven times closer to Earth than the rest of the group.

Three of the galaxies have distorted shapes, elongated spiral arms, and long, gaseous tidal tails containing myriad star clusters, proof of their close encounters. These interactions have sparked a frenzy of star birth in the central pair of galaxies. This drama is being played out against a rich backdrop of faraway galaxies.

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

Stephan's Quintet Visualization:

NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon, J. DePasquale, F. Summers, and Z. Levay (STScI)

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #NGC7319 #NGC7320 #NGC7320C #NGC7318A #NGC7318B #NGC7317 #StephansQuintet #HicksonCompactGroup92 #Pegasus #Constellation #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Hydra I Galaxy Cluster & Jellyfish Galaxy NGC 3312: Wider-field View | ESO

Hydra I Galaxy Cluster & Jellyfish Galaxy NGC 3312: Wider-field View | ESO

The image shows a colorful backdrop of stars and galaxies against the black cosmos. There is a particularly large and bright star slightly left of the center, and below this, a clear spiral galaxy. The spiral galaxy appears slightly smudged.

This image shows a portion of the Hydra I galaxy cluster. Underneath the bright star taking the spotlight in the center-left of the image, notice the spiral galaxy that looks almost smudged across the screen, spilling its contents into the cosmos around it. This is NGC 3312, a galaxy that is losing gas through a process known as ram pressure stripping.

This happens when a galaxy moves through a dense fluid, like the hot gas suspended between galaxies in a cluster. This hot gas drags against the colder gas on the outer shell of the galaxy, ‘pulling’ it off of the galaxy and causing it to leak into the cosmos. This cold gas is the raw material that forms stars, meaning galaxies losing gas this way risk a dwindling stellar population. Affected galaxies—usually those falling into the center of clusters—tend to eventually form long tendrils of gas trailing behind them, leading to their nickname: jellyfish galaxies.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO) / INAF / M. Spavone, E. Iodice

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC3312 #SpiralGalaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #GalaxyClusters #HydraICluster #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

A Tour of The Hydra I Galaxy Cluster | ESO

A Tour of The Hydra I Galaxy Cluster | ESO

    

This video takes us on a tour of the Hydra I galaxy cluster. One of the galaxies in the cluster, NGC 3312, is losing cold gas as it moves through the hot gas within the cluster.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO) / INAF / M. Spavone, E. Iodice

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC3312 #SpiralGalaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #GalaxyClusters #HydraICluster #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Hydra I Galaxy Cluster: Jellyfish Galaxy NGC 3312 | ESO

The Hydra I Galaxy Cluster: Jellyfish Galaxy NGC 3312 | ESO

This image shows a colorful backdrop of stars and galaxies against the black cosmos. There is a large spiral galaxy at the center of the image. The spiral galaxy appears slightly smudged.

This picture shows a snippet of the Hydra I cluster. It contains hundreds of galaxies. Each has its own quirks and history—but today, we focus on the story behind the leaky galaxy NGC 3312. This is the largest spiral galaxy known in the cluster.

The spiral galaxy, right at the center of this image, looks almost smudged across the screen, spilling its contents into the cosmos around it. This is NGC 3312 experiencing ram pressure stripping.

This happens when a galaxy moves through a dense fluid, like the hot gas suspended between galaxies in a cluster. This hot gas drags against the colder gas on the outer shell of the galaxy, ‘pulling’ it off of the galaxy and causing it to leak into the cosmos. This cold gas is the raw material that forms stars, meaning galaxies losing gas this way risk a dwindling stellar population. Affected galaxies—usually those falling into the center of clusters—tend to eventually form long tendrils of gas trailing behind them, leading to their nickname: jellyfish galaxies.

This is just one of the many astronomical processes that make pictures of the Universe so varied and captivating. What other stories are waiting to be told about the hundreds of objects in this image?

Image Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)/INAF/M. Spavone, E. Iodice

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESO #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC3312 #SpiralGalaxy #JellyfishGalaxy #GalaxyClusters #HydraICluster #Hydra #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #VLTSurveyTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

NASA’s Hubble & Chandra Find Supermassive Black Hole Duo | NASA Goddard

NASA’s Hubble & Chandra Find Supermassive Black Hole Duo | NASA Goddard

Like two Sumo wrestlers squaring off, the closest confirmed pair of supermassive black holes have been observed in tight proximity. These are located approximately 300 light-years apart and were detected using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. These black holes, buried deep within a pair of colliding galaxies, are fueled by infalling gas and dust, causing them to shine brightly as active galactic nuclei (AGN).

This AGN pair is the closest one detected in the local universe using multiwavelength (visible and X-ray light) observations. While several dozen "dual" black holes have been found before, their separations are typically much greater than what was discovered in the gas-rich galaxy MCG-03-34-64. Astronomers using radio telescopes have observed one pair of binary black holes in even closer proximity than in MCG-03-34-64, but without confirmation in other wavelengths.

AGN binaries like this were likely more common in the early universe when galaxy mergers were more frequent. This discovery provides a unique close-up look at a nearby example, located about 800 million light-years away.

The discovery was serendipitous. Hubble's high-resolution imaging revealed three optical diffraction spikes nested inside the host galaxy, indicating a large concentration of glowing oxygen gas within a very small area. "We were not expecting to see something like this," said Anna Trindade Falcão of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, lead author of the paper published today in The Astrophysical Journal. "This view is not a common occurrence in the nearby universe, and told us there's something else going on inside the galaxy."

Diffraction spikes are imaging artifacts caused when light from a very small region in space bends around the mirror inside telescopes.

Falcão's team then examined the same galaxy in X-rays light using the Chandra observatory to drill into what's going on. "When we looked at MCG-03-34-64 in the X-ray band, we saw two separated, powerful sources of high-energy emission coincident with the bright optical points of light seen with Hubble. We put these pieces together and concluded that we were likely looking at two closely spaced supermassive black holes," said Falcão.

To support their interpretation, the researchers used archival radio data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico. The energetic black hole duo also emits powerful radio waves. "When you see bright light in optical, X-rays, and radio wavelengths, a lot of things can be ruled out, leaving the conclusion these can only be explained as close black holes. When you put all the pieces together it gives you the picture of the AGN duo," said Falcão.

The third source of bright light seen by Hubble is of unknown origin, and more data is needed to understand it. That might be gas that is shocked by energy from a jet of ultra high-speed plasma fired from one of the black holes, like a stream of water from a garden hose blasting into a pile of sand.

"We wouldn't be able to see all of these intricacies without Hubble's amazing resolution," said Falcão.

The two supermassive black holes were once at the core of their respective host galaxies. A merger between the galaxies brought the black holes into close proximity. They will continue to spiral closer together until they eventually merge—in perhaps 100 million years—rattling the fabric of space and time as gravitational waves.

The National Science Foundation's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has detected gravitational waves from dozens of mergers between stellar-mass black holes. However, the longer wavelengths resulting from a supermassive black hole merger are beyond LIGO's capabilities. The next-generation gravitational wave detector, called the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Mission, will consist of three detectors in space, separated by millions of miles, to capture these longer wavelength gravitational waves from deep space. The European Space Agency is leading this mission, partnering with NASA and other participating institutions, with a planned launch in the mid-2030s.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Image Credits: NASA, ESA, Anna Trindade Falcão (CfA); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Paul Morris: Lead Producer

Duration: 2 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #MCG033464 #BlackHoles #AGN #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #NASAChandra #MSFC #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #Animation #HD #Video

Spiral Galaxy NGC 5668 in Virgo: A Star Performer | Hubble

Spiral Galaxy NGC 5668 in Virgo: A Star Performer | Hubble

The subject of this Hubble picture is a spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo named NGC 5668. It is relatively near to us at 90 million light-years from Earth and quite accessible for astronomers to study with both space- and ground-based telescopes. It does not initially appear to be a remarkable galaxy. It is around 90,000 light-years across, similar in size and mass to our own Milky Way galaxy, and its nearly face-on orientation shows open spiral arms made of cloudy, irregular patches.

A noticeable difference between the Milky Way galaxy and NGC 5668 is that this galaxy is forming new stars 60% more quickly. It has churning clouds and flows of gas that produce excellent conditions for star formation. Two main drivers of star formation have been identified by astronomers. First, this high-quality Hubble snapshot reveals a bar at the center; it might look more like a slight oval shape than a real bar, but it appears to have impacted the galaxy’s star formation rate, as central bars do in many spiral galaxies. Second, high-velocity clouds of hydrogen gas have been tracked moving vertically between the disc of the galaxy and the spherical, faint halo that surrounds it. These can be produced by strong stellar winds of hot, massive stars, and they contribute gas to new star-forming regions.

The enhanced star formation rate in NGC 5668 comes with a corresponding abundance of supernova explosions. Three have been spotted in this galaxy during 1952, 1954 and 2004. In this image, Hubble was used to examine the surroundings of the Type II SN 2004G, seeking to study the kinds of stars that end their lives as this kind of supernova.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy, seen up close and face-on. It is colored yellow and glowing brightly at the oval-shaped center, showing older and cooler stars. It becomes bluer out to the edge of the disc where the stars are younger and hotter. It has a number of somewhat patchy spiral arms curling around, with sparkling areas where stars form. The black background can just be seen at the corners.

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)/Hubble & NASA, C. Kilpatrick

Release Date: Sept. 9, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #NGC5668 #SpiralGalaxy #Stars #StarFormation #Supernovae #Virgo #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education

BBC Star Diary: Spotting Faces in The Moon | Week of September 9-15, 2024

BBC Star Diary: Spotting Faces in The Moon | Week of September 9-15, 2024

The shadows of mountains and craters will create an array of lunar faces this week. Find out when you can see them for yourself, as well as all the latest stargazing highlights, in this week’s Star Diary podcast, from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. 

Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Duration: 18 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 8, 2024 

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Moon #Planets #SolarSystem #Stars #Constellations #StarClusters #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #Skywatching #BBC #UK #Britain #Europe #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-18 Crew Perform Medical Experiments | China Space Station

Shenzhou-18 Crew Perform Medical Experiments | China Space Station

More than halfway through their six-month space mission, the Shenzhou-18 crew members in China's orbiting space station have implemented microbial control and space medicine experiments, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Videos released by the China Manned Space Agency on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, showed that the three Shenzhou-18 astronauts used the Space Basic Experiment Cabinet in the space lab module Mengtian to complete the work, including handling of the fourth-batch experiment samples on microbial control materials and installation of the third-batch experiment samples.

Chinese astronauts have made breakthroughs in technologies on co-culture of commonly used spacecraft materials with microbes in their station's microgravity. This includes helping to find the characteristics of microbial corrosion on spacecraft materials within their microgravity environment. This is expected to improve the health and safety of the China space station's microbial control system.

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts are also using physical-activity intensity recording devices and heart rate recording equipment to implement a space medicine experiment focused on sleep-wake rhythms, heart rate rhythms and other aspects of astronauts during long duration spaceflights. This will provide basic data and theoretical support for re-adaptation of human circadian rhythm systems and the selection of intervention measures.

On April 25, 2024, China launched the Shenzhou-18 crewed spaceship that sent the three astronauts to the orbiting Tiangong space station for a six-month mission.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander)

Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist)

Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)

Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 1 minute, 36 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 8, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #MedicalExperiments #MicrobialControl #Microgravity #LifeSciences #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

Close-up View of Black Hole-powered Spiral Galaxy IC 4709 | Hubble

Close-up View of Black Hole-powered Spiral Galaxy IC 4709 | Hubble

 

The Hubble Space Telescope's view here is studded with stars. Many appear particularly large and bright thanks to their nearby locations in our own galaxy. They feature the characteristic diffraction patterns caused by Hubble’s optics. Much further away—around 240 million light-years distant, in fact, in the southern constellation Telescopium—is the spiral galaxy IC 4709. Its swirling disc, filled with stars and dust bands, is beautifully captured, as is the faint halo surrounding it. The compact region at its core might be the most remarkable sight, however, this is an active galactic nucleus (AGN).

If IC 4709’s core were just filled with stars, it would not be nearly so bright. Instead it hosts a gargantuan black hole, 65 million times the mass of our Sun. A disc of gas spirals around and eventually into this black hole, with the gas crashing together and heating up as it spins. It reaches such high temperatures that it emits vast quantities of electromagnetic radiation, from infrared to visible to ultraviolet light and beyond—in this case including X-rays. The AGN in IC 4709 is obscured by a lane of dark dust, just visible at the center of the galaxy in this image. This blocks any optical emission from the nucleus itself. Hubble’s spectacular resolution, however, gives astronomers a detailed view of the interaction between the quite small AGN and its host galaxy. This is essential to understanding supermassive black holes in galaxies much more distant than IC 4709, where resolving such fine details is not possible.

This image incorporates data from two Hubble surveys of nearby AGNs that were identified by the Swift X-ray/UV telescope, as does the image from last week. Swift will collect new data on these galaxies—with an X-ray telescope, it is possible to directly see the X-rays from IC 4709’s AGN breaking through the obscuring dust. The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope—currently surveying the dark Universe in optical and infrared light—will also image IC 4709 and other local AGNs. The complementary use of space telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum is key to fully researching black holes and their impact on their host galaxies.

Image Description: A spiral galaxy is situated right of center. It has a white, brightly-shining core, a glowing disc that is thick with swirling patterns of dark dust, and a faint halo around the disc. It is on a black background with small, distant galaxies and foreground stars around it. Six stars along the left side appear particularly large and bright, with two opposing sets of spikes surrounding each one.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Koss, A, Barth, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 2, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Galaxies #Galaxy #IC4709 #Spiral #AGN #BlackHole #Telescopium #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HST #HubbleSpaceTelescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

China Targets 2028 for Tianwen-3 Mars Sample-return Mission

China Targets 2028 for Tianwen-3 Mars Sample-return Mission

China is gearing up for the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return (MSR) mission, aiming for a launch around 2028. CGTN's Wu Lei spoke with Liu Jizhong, the mission's chief designer. He shared key details about China's ambitious plan to retrieve Martian samples. China was the first country to successfully send an orbiter, lander and rover to Mars on its first attempt (Tianwen-1). China is only the second country after the United States to successfully land and operate spacecraft on Mars. 

Tianwen-1 was an interplanetary mission (2020-2022) of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). China sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, a lander, a remote camera, and the Zhurong rover. The spacecraft, with a total mass of nearly five tons, was one of the heaviest probes launched to Mars and carried 14 scientific instruments. It was the first in a series of planned missions undertaken by CNSA as part of China's Planetary Exploration program.

Tianwen-1 Mars Mission

Launch Date: July 23, 2020

Orbital Arrival: February 10, 2021 

Zhurong Rover Landing Date: May 14, 2021

Completion Date: June 29, 2022

Note: Tianwen-2 is an asteroid sample-return mission. Launch is set for 2025.

Video Credit: CGTN

Duration: 3 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 7, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Mars #RedPlanet #Tianwen3 #天问三号 #LiuJizhong #ChiefDesigner #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #Tianwen1 #TW1 #天问 #CNSA #China #中国 #Atmosphere #Geology #Astrobiology #Orbiter #Spacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #DeepSpace #STEM #Education #InternationalCooperation #HD #Video

Fading Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

Fading Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick: "Behind the space station, the last sliver of the orbital sunset shines through the service module solar arrays."

Image details: 15mm, T1.8, ISO 6400, 1.6s

Airglow occurs when atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, excited by sunlight, emit light to shed their excess energy. Or, it can happen when atoms and molecules that have been ionized by sunlight collide with and capture a free electron. In both cases, they eject a particle of light—called a photon—in order to relax again. The phenomenon is similar to auroras, but where auroras are driven by high-energy particles originating from the solar wind, airglow is energized by ordinary, day-to-day solar radiation. Airglow can be red, green, purple and yellow swaths of light emanating from the Earth's upper atmosphere. In this image, it appears red, green, and yellow.

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. 10-11, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Stars #Sun #Planet #Earth #Atmosphere #Airglow #Sunset #SolarSystem #Astronauts #AstronautPhotography #UnitedStates #SpaceLaboratory #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition71 #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

Expedition 72 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

Expedition 72 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

Expedition 72 backup crewmembers Jonny Kim of NASA, left, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Roscosmos (Russia), right, pose for a photograph as the Soyuz rocket is rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

The Russian Soyuz rocket is seen after being rolled out by train to the launch pad at Site 31, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Expedition 72 crewmembers: NASA astronaut Don Pettit, plus Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner of Russia, are scheduled to launch to the International Space Station aboard their Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft on September 11, 2024.

Expedition 72 backup crewmembers Jonny Kim of NASA, left, Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Roscosmos (Russia) were present at the launch site for the Soyuz rocket rollout.

NASA Astronaut Donald R. Pettit Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/people/donald-r-pettit/

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/donald-r-pettit/

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/Bill Ingalls

Image Date: Sept. 6, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #SoyuzRocket #SoyuzMS26 #SoyuzCrewSpacecraft #Astronaut #DonPettit #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #AlexeiOvchinin #IvanVagner #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition72 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

How NASA's Europa Clipper Spacecraft is Kept Super Clean | JPL

How NASA's Europa Clipper Spacecraft is Kept Super Clean | JPL

A team of specialists in a field known as planetary protection has been working to keep NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft as clean as possible as it is prepared for launch. This effort is crucial, as the spacecraft will make dozens of flybys of Jupiter’s moon Europa, where an ocean beneath the icy crust may possess the essential ingredients for life. Although the spacecraft will not come into contact with the moon’s surface, planetary protection protocols are in place to safeguard Europa’s environment, as well as the other planets and moons Europa Clipper will fly by.

The practice of planetary protection involves carefully controlling any exposure other solar system bodies have to Earth life. To minimize the possible introduction of microbes from Earth to Europa, numerous samples have been collected from the Europa Clipper throughout its construction. These samples are tested to ensure compliance with planetary protection protocols. 

In this episode, Akemi Hinzer from the Planetary Protection Laboratory at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory walks through the team’s meticulous process.

Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and to arrive in the Jupiter system in 2030. 

For more information on the mission go to: https://europa.nasa.gov/

Download Europa Clipper Ocean World poster:

https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/173/europa-clipper-journey-to-an-ocean-world-poster/

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 5, 2024

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