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NASA SpaceX Crew-8 Splashdown off Florida Coast | International Space Station
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia, left, NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, second from left, Matthew Dominick, second from right, and Jeanette Epps, right are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN
NASA astronaut Michael Barratt helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN
Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN
Support teams work around the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia aboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Friday, Oct. 25,2024.
After 235 days in space, SpaceX Dragon Endeavour and Crew-8 NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia returned to Earth and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:29 a.m. ET on Friday, October 25. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Dragon and Crew-8 to the orbiting laboratory on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at 10:53 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Roscosmos (Russia): Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
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:
NASA's Space to Ground: The Return of Crew-8 | Week of Oct. 25, 2024
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what is happening aboard the International Space Station. After 235 days in space, SpaceX Dragon Endeavour and Crew-8 NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia returned to Earth and splashed down off the coast of Florida at 3:29 a.m. ET on Friday, October 25. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Dragon and Crew-8 to the orbiting laboratory on Sunday, March 3, 2024, at 10:53 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Roscosmos (Russia): Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA: Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
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:
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) over Observatories in Arizona & Chile
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) graced the skies over U.S. National Science Foundation astronomical observatories in Chile and Arizona during September 2024 [no audio].
C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the solar system's Oort cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory east of Nanjing, China, on January 9, 2023, and independently found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa on February 22, 2023. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. C/2023 A3 passed perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million miles) on September 27, 2024.
The Oort cloud is theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years). The concept of such a cloud was proposed in 1950 by the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, in whose honor the idea was named. Oort proposed that the bodies in this cloud replenish and keep constant the number of long-period comets entering the inner Solar System—where they are eventually consumed and destroyed during close approaches to the Sun.
Credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA/ A. Quintana / C. Corco / H. Stockebrand / N. Bartmann (NSF NOIRLab) Duration: 50 seconds Release Date: Oct. 24, 2024
NASA's Robonaut 2 on Display | National Air & Space Museum
Robonaut 2 is seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steve F. Udvar-Hazy Center Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Chantilly, Va. Robonaut 2, the first humanoid robot to fly to space, is displayed publicly for the first time near the space shuttle Discovery. In 2011, NASA sent Robonaut 2 to the International Space Station.
A Robonaut is a dexterous humanoid robot built and designed at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC), in collaboration with General Motors and Oceaneering, designed a state-of-the-art, highly dexterous, humanoid robot: Robonaut 2 (R2). R2 is made up of multiple component technologies and systems, including vision systems, image recognition systems, sensor integrations, tendon hands, control algorithms. R2’s nearly 50 patented and patent-pending technologies can be applied to many industries, such as logistics and distribution, medical and industrial robotics.
NASA Espacio a Tierra | Visitante celestial : 18 de octubre de 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.
Shenzhou-18 Crew Records Video Showcasing Work/Life | China Space Station
The Shenzhou-18 crew members aboard China's orbiting space station recently recorded a video introduction to their life and work in space—from zero-gravity exercise to carrying out experiments that could impact future lunar missions.
The crew members, Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu, were sent into space for a six-month mission in April this year and are expected to return to Earth later this month.
Ye, the crew commander, along with the other two astronauts, provided a detailed introduction to the space station, including areas for work, dining, sleeping, and conducting experiments.
According to Ye and Li Cong, the core model is the most frequently used area of the Tiangong space station where they work, eat, and sleep.
The three astronauts come from distinct regions of China, so the food they eat on the space station is customized to suit their individual tastes, said Li Cong.
The video also provided a glimpse of the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules.
In the 17.9-meter-long Wentian module that primarily focuses on life science and biotechnology research, the astronauts have grown a variety of plants and even raised zebrafish. The fish were placed in an experimental closed ecosystem.
There are an even greater number of scientific experiments being carried out in the cabinets of the 17.88-meter-long Mengtian module.
Astronaut Li Cong provided a special introduction to the cargo airlock. It serves as the main passage for extravehicular loads and equipment entering and exiting the module.
In Mengtian, there are facilities for astronauts to perform physical exercise aimed at enhancing muscle strength and combating muscle atrophy and bone density loss caused by microgravity, according to Li Guangsu.
Recently, the crew has been carrying out their tasks in an orderly manner, preparing for the handover with the Shenzhou-19 members at the space station and their return to Earth, said Ye.
The Dazzling Supernova 1987a in Nearby Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy
This image, released on Feb. 24, 2017, shows Supernova 1987a (center) surrounded by dramatic red clouds of gas and dust within the Large Magellanic Cloud. This supernova, first discovered on Feb. 23, 1987, blazed with the power of 100 million Suns. Since that first sighting, SN 1987A has continued to fascinate astronomers with its spectacular light show. Located in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, it was the nearest supernova explosion observed in hundreds of years and the best opportunity yet for astronomers to study the phases before, during, and after the death of a star.
Distance: 168,000 light-years
Clouds of gas and dust in shades of red cover the top of the image and a little bit of the bottom. Right in the middle is Supernova 1987a, the remnant of an exploded star. The site of the supernova is surrounded by an illuminated pinkish ring. Two faint outer rings are also visible. Stars and galaxies shine throughout, giving off red and blue light.
A supernova is the biggest explosion that humans have ever seen. Each blast is the extremely bright, super-powerful explosion of a star.
SN 1987A represents a second type of supernova that can happen in systems where two stars orbit one another and at least one of those stars is an Earth-sized white dwarf. A white dwarf is what is left after a star the size of our sun has run out of fuel. If one white dwarf collides with another or pulls too much matter from its nearby star, the white dwarf can explode.
Image Credit: NASA, European Space Agency, R. Kirshner (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation), and M. Mutchler and R. Avila of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
Sun Releases Strong X3.3 Solar Flare | NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 11:57 p.m. ET on Oct. 23, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) watches the Sun constantly and captured images of the event.
A portion of the Sun fills the center, most of the top, and right side of the image. The left of the image is black. The Sun is dark orange with bright yellow areas. From a very bright yellow area, solar material bursts off the Sun, into the area of black space.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured these images of a solar flare—seen as the bright flash on the left—on Oct. 23, 2024. The image shows a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares that is colorized in orange.
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.
This flare is classified as an X3.3 class flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength.
To see how such space weather may affect Earth, please visit NOAA’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.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Undocking Highlights | International Space Station
Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia prepared to depart the space station following the closing of the hatch to the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour on October 23, 2024, ahead of their undocking from the space station a short time later. Crew-8 was completing a 7-month science mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program.
Roscosmos (Russia): Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA: Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
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:
Pan of Spiral Galaxy Messier 90: Best View Yet | Hubble Space Telescope
This striking spiral galaxy is Messier 90 (M90, also NGC 4569), located in the constellation Virgo. In 2019, an image of M90 was released using data from the older Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2—data taken in 1994 soon after the camera’s installation. That image has a distinctive stair-step pattern due to the layout of WFPC2’s sensors. WFPC2 was replaced in 2010 by the Wide Field Camera 3, and Hubble used WFC3 when it turned its aperture to Messier 90 again in 2019 and 2023. The resulting data was processed to create this stunning new image, providing a much fuller view of the galaxy’s dusty disc, its gaseous halo and its bright core.
The inner regions of M90’s disc are sites of star formation. This is highlighted here by red H-alpha light from nebulae, but this is absent in the rest of the galaxy. M90 sits among the galaxies of the relatively nearby Virgo Cluster, and the course of its orbit took it on a path near the cluster’s centre about three hundred million years ago. The density of gas in the inner cluster weighed on M90 like a strong headwind, stripping enormous quantities of gas from the galaxy and creating the diffuse halo that can be seen around it here. This gas is no longer available for M90 to form new stars with, and it will eventually fade as a spiral galaxy as a result.
M90 is located 55 million light-years from Earth, but it is one of the very few galaxies getting closer to us. Its orbit through the Virgo cluster has accelerated it so much that it is in the process of escaping the cluster entirely, and by happenstance it is moving in our direction—other galaxies in the Virgo cluster have been measured at similar speeds, but in the opposite direction. Over the coming billions of years, we will be treated to a yet better view of M90 while it evolves into a lenticular galaxy.
Image Description: A spiral galaxy. It has a bright core with light spilling out, and its disc is filled with thick clumps of dark reddish dust that swirls around the galaxy following its rotation. Parts of the disc are speckled with blue, showing brighter and hotter stars. A halo of faintly-lit gas wraps around the galaxy, extending beyond the edges of the image.
Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)
Hubble & Webb Views of Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus
This video features two views of the young star cluster NGC 602. It resides near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy roughly 200,000 light-years from Earth.
The first image shows the cluster as seen by the NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope that was published in 2017.
The image on the right shows a new image of NGC 602 as seen by the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
Journey to Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus | James Webb Space Telescope
This video takes the viewer to the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy roughly 200,000 light-years from Earth, featuring the young star cluster NGC 602. This new image is from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. The image includes data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).
The local environment of this cluster is a close analog of what existed in the early Universe with very low abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The existence of dark clouds of dense dust and the fact that the cluster is rich in ionized gas also suggest the presence of ongoing star formation processes. This cluster provides a valuable opportunity to examine star formation scenarios under dramatically different conditions from those in our solar neighborhood.
An international team of astronomers, including Peter Zeidler, Elena Sabbi, and Antonella Nota, used Webb to observe NGC 602 and detected candidates for the first young brown dwarfs outside our Milky Way.
Credit: European Space Agency/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
Pan of Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus | James Webb Space Telescope
Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy roughly 200,000 light-years from Earth, lies the young star cluster NGC 602. It is featured in this new image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. This image includes data from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument).
The local environment of this cluster is a close analog of what existed in the early Universe with very low abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The existence of dark clouds of dense dust and the fact that the cluster is rich in ionized gas also suggest the presence of ongoing star formation processes. This cluster provides a valuable opportunity to examine star formation scenarios under dramatically different conditions from those in our solar neighborhood.
An international team of astronomers, including Peter Zeidler, Elena Sabbi, and Antonella Nota, used Webb to observe NGC 602 and detected candidates for the first young brown dwarfs outside our Milky Way.
Image Description: A star cluster is shown inside a large nebula of many-colored gas and dust. The material forms dark ridges and peaks of gas and dust surrounding the cluster, lit on the inner side, while layers of diffuse, translucent clouds blanket over them. Around and within the gas, a huge number of distant galaxies can be seen, a number are quite large, as well as a few stars nearer to us that are very large and bright.
Credit: European Space Agency/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb), N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
Young Star Cluster NGC 602 in Hydrus | James Webb Space Telescope
Near the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), a satellite galaxy roughly 200,000 light-years from Earth, lies the young star cluster NGC 602. It is featured in this new image from the NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency James Webb Space Telescope. This image includes data from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) and MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument).
The local environment of this cluster is a close analog of what existed in the early Universe, with very low abundances of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. The existence of dark clouds of dense dust and the fact that the cluster is rich in ionized gas also suggest the presence of ongoing star formation processes. This cluster provides a valuable opportunity to examine star formation scenarios under dramatically different conditions from those in the solar neighborhood.
An international team of astronomers, including Peter Zeidler, Elena Sabbi, and Antonella Nota, used Webb to observe NGC 602 and detected candidates for the first young brown dwarfs outside our Milky Way.
Image Description: A star cluster is shown inside a large nebula of many-colored gas and dust. The material forms dark ridges and peaks of gas and dust surrounding the cluster, lit on the inner side, while layers of diffuse, translucent clouds blanket over them. Around and within the gas, a huge number of distant galaxies can be seen, a number are quite large, as well as a few stars nearer to us that are very large and bright.
Credit: European Space Agency/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler, E. Sabbi, A. Nota, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
Warning: Ketchup "Science Demonstration" | International Space Station
Before leaving for Earth, NASA astronaut Matthew Dominck had a 'moment of fun': "This one goes out to all the ketchup lovers out there. Everyone I’ve shared it with either thinks it is awesome or gross. Nothing in between. Also, some interesting science stuff happening . . ."
Note: "We advise you not try this at home!"
NASA and SpaceX mission managers continue monitoring weather conditions off the coast of Florida and are now targeting October 23, 2024, for the undocking of SpaceX Dragon Endeavour with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8: NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin of Russia.
Roscosmos (Russia): Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov
NASA: Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit, Nick Hague
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 Bright Blue Star Spica in Virgo | New Forest Observatory
Shown here is spectacular Spica, the lead star in the constellation Virgo and the brightest blue star in the entire night sky. This photo was taken from the New Forest Observatory, U.K., on May 5, 2024. Viewed through a pair of decent binoculars, Spica's intense blue color, when its high in the sky, becomes quite obvious. Its B-V index (an indication of the redness or blueness of a star) is -0.23. Only 3 stars in the sky are bluer, but none are as bright.
Spica has a magnitude of 0.98.
Distance: 250 light years
It is a spectroscopic binary star and rotating ellipsoidal variable—a system whose two stars are so close together they are egg-shaped rather than spherical, and can only be separated by their spectra. The primary is a blue giant and a variable star of the Beta Cephei type.
Image & Caption Credit: Greg Parker
Location: New Forest Observatory, U.K. Coordinates: 50.819681, -1.590349
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