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Flight Testing Lidar Hazard Detection Instrument for Artemis Lunar Missions | NASA
With support from NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, Astrobotic tested an engineering model of its hazard detection light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor over the company's simulated lunar terrain. During this Nov. 14, 2024, flight campaign, the technology successfully captured high-precision data to enhance hazard detection, benefiting future lunar lander missions, including Astrobotic’s upcoming NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Mission.
Sun Releases 3 Strong X-class Solar Flares in Succession | NOAA GOES Satellite
The Sun emitted three strong solar flares on Dec. 29, 2024, peaking at 2:18 a.m. ET, 11:14 p.m. ET, and 11:31 p.m. ET. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) watches the Sun constantly and captured images of the events.
The Sun, shown in blue, against a black background. In several areas on the Sun, small flashes appear sporadically. On the right, multiple bright flashes burst from one area.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Solar Ultraviolet Imager captured these images of the solar flares—seen as the bright flashes on the right side of the Sun–on Dec. 29, 2024. The images show a subset of extreme ultraviolet light that highlights the extremely hot material in flares. This is colorized in blue.
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 first flare is classified as an X1.1 flare. The second flare is classified as an X1.5 flare, and the third is classified as an X1.1 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.
What's Up for January 2025: Skywatching Tips from NASA | JPL
Here are examples of skywatching highlights for the northern hemisphere in January 2025?
This month, four bright planets greet you in the early evening. Venus and Saturn cozy up on the 17th and 18th, while Mars is at its brightest in the past two years. The Moon occults Mars for those in the U.S. and Eastern Canada on Jan. 13. Plus, the Quadrantid meteors peak on the morning of Jan. 3 before dawn.
0:00 Intro 0:14 Four planets at once 1:02 Venus & Saturn Get Close 1:39 Mars at Opposition 2:31 Quadrantid Meteors Peak 3:07 January Moon phases
Pale Blue (Supernova) Dot: Ghostly Galaxy LEDA 22057 in Gemini | Hubble
This NASA/European Space Agency Hubble Space Telescope picture features the galaxy LEDA 22057. It is located about 650 million light-years away in the constellation Gemini. LEDA 22057 is the site of a supernova explosion, named SN 2024PI, that was discovered by an automated survey in January 2024. The survey covers the entire northern half of the night sky every two days and has cataloged over 10,000 supernovae.
The supernova is visible in this image: located just down and to the right of the galactic nucleus, the pale blue dot of SN 2024PI stands out against the galaxy’s ghostly spiral arms. This image was taken about a month and a half after the supernova was discovered, so the supernova is seen here many times fainter than its maximum brilliance.
SN 2024PI is classified as a Type Ia supernova. This type of supernova requires a remarkable object called a white dwarf, the crystallized core of a star with a mass less than about eight times the mass of the Sun. When a star of this size uses up the supply of hydrogen in its core, it balloons into a red giant, becoming cool, puffy and luminous. Over time, pulsations and stellar winds cause the star to shed its outer layers, leaving behind a white dwarf and a colorful planetary nebula. White dwarfs can have surface temperatures higher than 100,000 degrees and are extremely dense, packing roughly the mass of the Sun into a sphere the size of Earth.
While nearly all of the stars in the Milky Way will one day evolve into white dwarfs—this is the fate that awaits the Sun some five billion years in the future—not all of them will explode as Type Ia supernovae. For that to happen, the white dwarf must be a member of a binary star system. When a white dwarf syphons material from a stellar partner, the white dwarf can become too massive to support itself. The resulting burst of runaway nuclear fusion destroys the white dwarf in a supernova explosion that can be seen many galaxies away.
Image Description: A spiral galaxy with two thin, slowly-curving arms, one fainter than the other, coming off the tips of a bright, oval-shaped core region. The disc of the galaxy is also oval-shaped and filled with fuzzy dust under the arms. It has bright spots where stars are concentrated, especially along the arms. The core has a white glow in the center and thick bands of gas around it. A supernova is visible as a pale blue dot near the core.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz) Release Date: Dec. 30, 2024
This nebula forms the “wings” of an area of sky known as the Seagull Nebula—named for its resemblance to a gull in flight. This celestial bird contains a fascinating mix of intriguing astronomical objects. Glowing clouds weave amid dark dust lanes and bright stars. The Seagull Nebula—made up of dust, hydrogen, helium, and traces of heavier elements—is the hot and energetic birthplace of new stars. It is located in the constellation of the Big Dog (Canis Major) at an estimated ~3,700 light-year distance. This cloud of gas, also known as Sh 2-292, RCW 2, and Gum 1, seems to form the head of the seagull and glows brightly due to the energetic radiation from a very hot young star lurking at its heart.
Astrophotographer Ian Inverarity: "IC 2177—the Seagull Nebula! A 2 panel mosaic taken over 4 nights after Christmas, over 22 hours! Takahashi FSQ106N telescope, QHY268M camera, Astronomik R, G and B filters, Warp Astron WD-20 EQ mount controlled by PHD2 and NINA. Processing with Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop."
Image Credit: Ian Inverarity
Capture Location: Australia Release Date: Dec. 29, 2024
Lake Inari is the largest lake in Sápmi and the third-largest lake in Finland. It is located in the northern part of Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle. The lake is 117–119 meters (384–390 ft) above sea level. The freezing period normally extends from November to early June.
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, occurs in an upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere, but they typically originate with activity on the Sun. Occasionally, during explosions called coronal mass ejections, the Sun releases charged particles that speed across the solar system.
Auroras are produced when the Earth's magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emits light of varying color and complexity. [Wikipedia]
Solid Colored Aurora
Green is common at the upper latitudes, while red is rare. On the other hand, aurora viewed from lower latitudes tend to be red.
Element Emission Colors
Oxygen: The big player in the aurora is oxygen. Oxygen is responsible for the vivid green (wavelength of 557.7 nm) and also for a deep brownish-red (wavelength of 630.0 nm). Pure green and greenish-yellow aurorae result from the excitation of oxygen.
Nitrogen: Nitrogen emits blue (multiple wavelengths) and red light.
Other Gases: Other gases in the atmosphere become excited and emit light, although the wavelengths may be outside of the range of human vision or else too faint to see. Hydrogen and helium, for example, emit blue and purple. Although our eyes cannot see all of these colors, photographic film and digital cameras often record a broader range of hues.
Afterburner Ignition: NASA's X-59 Supersonic Research Aircraft | Lockheed Martin
The X-59's afterburner ignites, lighting the future of quiet supersonic aviation.🔥 NASA completed the first maximum afterburner engine run test on its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft on December 12, 2024. The ground test, conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, marks a significant milestone as the X-59 team progresses toward flight.
An afterburner is a component of jet engines that generates additional thrust. Running the engine, an F414-GE-100, with afterburner will allow the X-59 to meet its supersonic speed requirements. The test demonstrated the engine’s ability to operate within temperature limits and with adequate airflow for flight. It also showed the engine’s ability to operate in sync with the aircraft’s other subsystems.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. The X-59’s first flight is expected to occur in 2025.
The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It will gather data on how people perceive these thumps, providing regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land.
The engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
Afterburner Ignition: NASA's X-59 Supersonic Research Aircraft | Lockheed Martin
The X-59's afterburner ignites, lighting the future of quiet supersonic aviation.🔥 NASA completed the first maximum afterburner engine run test on its X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft on December 12, 2024. The ground test, conducted at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, marks a significant milestone as the X-59 team progresses toward flight.
An afterburner is a component of jet engines that generates additional thrust. Running the engine, an F414-GE-100, with afterburner will allow the X-59 to meet its supersonic speed requirements. The test demonstrated the engine’s ability to operate within temperature limits and with adequate airflow for flight. It also showed the engine’s ability to operate in sync with the aircraft’s other subsystems.
The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. The X-59’s first flight is expected to occur in 2025.
The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound. The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission. It will gather data on how people perceive these thumps, providing regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land.
The engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust. This will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet. It sits in a nontraditional spot–atop the aircraft—to aid in making the X-59 quieter.
The X-59's goal is to help change existing national and international aviation rules that ban commercial supersonic flight over land.
World's Largest Transparent Spherical Neutrino Detector: Water Filling Stage
JUNO, the world's largest transparent spherical neutrino detector, started filling with ultrapure water on Dec. 18, 2024, signifying that its construction has reached its last critical stage.
Since neutrinos—tiny, almost weightless particles—rarely interact with ordinary matter, they can easily zip through our bodies, buildings or the entire Earth without being felt, hence earning the nickname "ghost particles." Due to their elusive nature, neutrinos are the least understood fundamental particles.
Yet, scientists seek to better understand these particles, because they could shed light on important cosmic phenomenon like dark matter.
Detecting neutrinos typically involves huge detectors buried deep underground or in large amounts of water, because greater amounts of matter increase the chance of a particle interaction. Water's transparency allows researchers to see the special type of light produced by such an interaction called called Cherenkov light.
The ultrapure water used in JUNO, or the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory, has been filtered through multiple stages of the water purification system. The water is injected at a flow rate of 100 tonnes per hour into the detector pool, according to the Institute of High Energy Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the project's leading institution.
At the detector's core a liquid scintillator detector immersed in a 44-meter-deep cylindrical pool in the underground hall buried deep in a granite layer of a hill in Kaiping, Jiangmen City, in south China's Guangdong Province. The detector is supported by a stainless steel mesh shell with a diameter of 41.1 meters. It holds an acrylic sphere with a diameter of 35.4 meters to be filled with 20,000 tonnes of liquid scintillator.
JUNO is equipped with 20,000 photomultiplier tubes of 20 inches and 25,000 photomultiplier tubes of three inches, as well as cables, magnetic shielding coils, light baffles and other components.
The pool housing the detector serves as a water Cherenkov detector and a shield, with a 1,000-square-meter cosmic ray tracker at its top. This detector and the cosmic ray tracker work together to detect cosmic rays, thereby eliminating the impact of cosmic rays on neutrino detection.
The water in the pool also shields the interference of natural radioactivity from the surrounding rock and a large number of secondary particles produced by cosmic rays in nearby rocks.
"The (ultrapure) water outside the acrylic sphere is used to shield against the radioactivity within the rock, while also serving to identify and remove the muons from cosmic rays. The ultrapure water inside the acrylic sphere is primarily used to displace the air inside, as well as to clean the acrylic sphere itself," said Wang Yifang, chief scientist of JUNO and the director of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The liquid-filling process is divided into two steps. The pool and the space inside the acrylic sphere will be filled with ultrapure water in the first two months. After that, the water inside the acrylic sphere will be replaced with a liquid scintillator in six months.
The entire filling process is expected to be completed in August 2025, followed by the formal operation and data collection.
Neutrinos, the smallest and lightest among the 12 elementary particles that make up the material world, are electrically neutral and travel at a speed close to light. Since the Big Bang, they have permeated the entire universe and generated various phenomena, such as nuclear reactions inside stars, supernova explosions, the operation of nuclear reactors, and the radioactive decay of substances in rocks.
JUNO aims to measure the neutrino mass hierarchy as its primary scientific goal and will conduct several other cutting-edge research projects. The JUNO team comprises more than 700 members from 17 countries and regions.
The detector is expected to become an important facility for international neutrino research, along with the Hyper-Kamiokande neutrino experiment in Japan and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the United States that are currently under construction.
Orion seems to come up sideways, climbing over a distant mountain range in this deep skyscape. The wintry scene was captured from southern Poland on the northern hemisphere's long solstice night. Otherwise unseen nebulae hang in the sky, revealed by the camera modified to record red hydrogen-alpha light. The nebulae lie near the edge of the Orion molecular cloud and join the Hunter's familiar belt stars and bright giants Betelgeuse and Rigel. Eye of Taurus the Bull, yellowish Aldebaran anchors the V-shaped Hyades star cluster near top center. Still, near opposition in planet Earth's sky, the Solar System's ruling gas giant Jupiter is the brightest celestial beacon above this horizon's snowy peaks.
Unity: Holiday Socks for The Expedition 72 Crew | International Space Station
NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit: "We got Expedition 72 socks for Christmas! Small things take on new meaning when you are away in the wilderness for the holiday season. Big thanks to those on Earth that thought of us."
The seven astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station are spending the Christmas holidays orbiting Earth by taking time to relax, open gifts, share meals, and by talking with family. The orbital septet will go into 2025 continuing more advanced space research benefiting humans on and off the Earth.
Expedition 72 Crew Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: 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.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Don Pettit Release Date: Dec. 28, 2024
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Completes Hotfire Test: Prepares for First Flight
New Glenn successfully completed an integrated launch vehicle hotfire test on Friday, December 27, 2024. This was the final major milestone on Blue Origin's road to first flight. NG-1 will carry a Blue Ring Pathfinder as its first payload at Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The seven-engine hotfire lasted 24 seconds and marked the first time the entire flight vehicle operated as an integrated system. The integrated launch vehicle included the first and second stages of the NG-1 flight vehicle, and a payload test article comprised of manufacturing test demonstrator fairings, a high-capacity fixed adapter flight unit, and a 45,000 lb. payload mass simulator.
One of the primary goals of the test campaign was to demonstrate day-of-launch operations in our NG-1 test configuration. Additionally, the team conducted several tests to validate vehicle and ground systems in the fully integrated, on-pad configuration. This data will be utilized to finalize day-of-launch timelines, confirm expected performance, and correlate models to test data.
“This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch,” said Jarrett Jones, SVP, New Glenn. “Today’s success proves that our rigorous approach to testing–combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering–is working as intended.”
The tanking test included a full run-through of the terminal count sequence, testing the hand-off authority to and from the flight computer, and collecting fluid validation data. The first stage (GS1) tanks were filled and pressed with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX), and the second stage (GS2) with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen–both to representative NG-1 set points.
The formal NG-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal demonstrated the final launch procedures leading into the hotfire engine run. All seven engines performed nominally, firing for 24 seconds, including at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. The test also demonstrated New Glenn’s autogenous pressurization system, which self-generates gases to pressurize GS1’s propellant tanks.
This test campaign captured a number of firsts for the New Glenn launch system, including the first seven-engine operations, the first integrated GS1-GS2 tanking demonstration, the first LNG/LOX fill for GS1, as well as first chilled helium operations for GS2.
The campaign met all objectives and marks the final major test prior to launch.
Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production and a full customer manifest. Customers include NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, several telecommunications providers, and a mix of U.S. government customers.
About New Glenn
New Glenn stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) high and features a seven-meter payload fairing, enabling twice the volume of standard five-meter class commercial launch systems. Its reusable first stage aims for a minimum of 25 missions and will land on Jacklyn, a sea-based platform located several hundred miles downrange. Reusability is integral to radically reducing cost-per-launch.
The vehicle is powered by seven of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines, the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engine ever flown. LNG is cleaner-burning and higher-performing than kerosene-based fuels, and the seven BE-4s generate over 3.8 million lbf of thrust. The vehicle’s second stage is powered by two BE-3Us, liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) engines designed to together yield over 320,000 lbf of vacuum thrust.
In addition to the BE-4 and BE-3U, Blue Origin manufactures BE-7 engines for our Blue Moon lunar landers and New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine.
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Completes Hotfire Test: Prepares for First Flight
New Glenn successfully completed an integrated launch vehicle hotfire test on Friday, December 27, 2024. This was the final major milestone on Blue Origin's road to first flight. NG-1 will carry a Blue Ring Pathfinder as its first payload at Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The seven-engine hotfire lasted 24 seconds and marked the first time the entire flight vehicle operated as an integrated system. The integrated launch vehicle included the first and second stages of the NG-1 flight vehicle, and a payload test article comprised of manufacturing test demonstrator fairings, a high-capacity fixed adapter flight unit, and a 45,000 lb. payload mass simulator.
One of the primary goals of the test campaign was to demonstrate day-of-launch operations in our NG-1 test configuration. Additionally, the team conducted several tests to validate vehicle and ground systems in the fully integrated, on-pad configuration. This data will be utilized to finalize day-of-launch timelines, confirm expected performance, and correlate models to test data.
“This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch,” said Jarrett Jones, SVP, New Glenn. “Today’s success proves that our rigorous approach to testing–combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering–is working as intended.”
The tanking test included a full run-through of the terminal count sequence, testing the hand-off authority to and from the flight computer, and collecting fluid validation data. The first stage (GS1) tanks were filled and pressed with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX), and the second stage (GS2) with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen–both to representative NG-1 set points.
The formal NG-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal demonstrated the final launch procedures leading into the hotfire engine run. All seven engines performed nominally, firing for 24 seconds, including at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. The test also demonstrated New Glenn’s autogenous pressurization system, which self-generates gases to pressurize GS1’s propellant tanks.
This test campaign captured a number of firsts for the New Glenn launch system, including the first seven-engine operations, the first integrated GS1-GS2 tanking demonstration, the first LNG/LOX fill for GS1, as well as first chilled helium operations for GS2.
The campaign met all objectives and marks the final major test prior to launch.
Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production and a full customer manifest. Customers include NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, several telecommunications providers, and a mix of U.S. government customers.
About New Glenn
New Glenn stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) high and features a seven-meter payload fairing, enabling twice the volume of standard five-meter class commercial launch systems. Its reusable first stage aims for a minimum of 25 missions and will land on Jacklyn, a sea-based platform located several hundred miles downrange. Reusability is integral to radically reducing cost-per-launch.
The vehicle is powered by seven of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engines, the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engine ever flown. LNG is cleaner-burning and higher-performing than kerosene-based fuels, and the seven BE-4s generate over 3.8 million lbf of thrust. The vehicle’s second stage is powered by two BE-3Us, liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquid hydrogen (LH2) engines designed to together yield over 320,000 lbf of vacuum thrust.
In addition to the BE-4 and BE-3U, Blue Origin manufactures BE-7 engines for our Blue Moon lunar landers and New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine.
Christmas Holidays | International Space Station & Mission Control Center
NASA flight engineer Nick Hague: "Our crew is extremely thankful to the mission control teams for supporting us 365 days a year and spending their holidays with us!"
NASA astronaut Nick Hague: "When I think of the holidays, I think of dinners at Christmas, with family and friends gathered for a delicious meal and dessert! For me, it’s cookies. Sugar, mint chocolate, peanut butter; my Dad bakes some of the best on the planet. I wish I had some while I’m off the planet!"
The seven astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station are spending the Christmas holidays orbiting Earth by taking time to relax, open gifts, share meals, and by talking with family. The orbital septet will go into 2025 continuing more advanced space research benefitting humans on and off the Earth.
Expedition 72 Crew Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: 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.
Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/Nick Hague Release Date: Dec. 23-24, 2024
The Year 2024 on the International Space Station was filled with excitement, challenges, and milestones as we marked 25 unbroken years of humans living, working, and flying in one of humanity's homes in low-earth orbit.
Expedition 72 Crew Station Commander: Suni Williams Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner, Aleksandr Gorbunov NASA Flight Engineers: 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.
Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) Release Date: Dec. 2024
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