Searching for Gems | European Southern Observatory

Searching for Gems | European Southern Observatory

This striking star trail image was captured above the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory, in Chile’s Atacama desert. Star trails are caused by Earth’s rotation; in this long exposure image, stars appear to circle around the south celestial pole. Almost unrecognizable are the Carina Nebula (bright magenta smudge, center-left) and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (blue smudges in the center-top and center-right, respectively).  

Gazing up into the starry vortex are two of the three BlackGEM telescopes, built and operated by Radboud University, the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA), and KU Leuven. The third telescope on the right was still under construction at the time this photograph was taken, having only a platform and no dome. BlackGEM eventually aims to expand to 15 telescopes, capable of performing extensive surveys of the night sky.

BlackGEM will join detectors such as LIGO and Virgo in the search for the most dramatic events in space, such as merging black holes and neutron stars. Following the detection of gravitational waves from these collisions by LIGO and Virgo, BlackGEM will scan large areas of the sky looking for the visible light emitted in these events. Other facilities like ESO’s Very Large Telescope will then follow up on BlackGEM’s measurements, enabling astronomers to better understand some of our universe’s most elusive phenomena. 

Credit: Zdeněk Bardon (bardon.cz)/European Southern Observatory (ESO)

Release Date: March 28, 2022

#ESO #Astronomy #Space #StarTrails #Stars #Earth #Nebula #Carina #Magellanic #Clouds #LaSilla #Observatory #BlackGEM #Telescopes #Cosmos #Universe #Earth #LaSilla #Observatory #Atacama #Desert #Chile #Netherlands #Europe #Astrophotography #STEM #Education

More Than Meets the Eye | Hubble Space Telescope

More Than Meets the Eye | Hubble Space Telescope

Tendrils of dark dust can be seen threading across the heart of the spiral galaxy NGC 7172 in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy lies approximately 110 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. The lane of dust threading its way across NGC 7172—which is viewed side-on in this image—is obscuring the luminous heart of the galaxy, making NGC 7172 appear to be nothing more than a normal edge-on spiral galaxy. 

When astronomers inspected NGC 7172 across the electromagnetic spectrum they quickly discovered that there was more to it than meets the eye: NGC 7172 is a Seyfert galaxy—a type of galaxy with an intensely luminous active galactic nucleus powered by matter accreting onto a supermassive black hole. 

This image combines data from two sets of Hubble observations, both of which were proposed to study nearby active galactic nuclei. The image also combines data from two instruments—Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFCS).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. J. Rosario, A. Barth

Acknowledgement: L. Shatz

Release Date: March 28, 2022

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC7172 #Seyfert #Spiral #Stars #PiscisAustrinus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Abell 1689: A Galaxy Cluster Makes Its Mark | NASA Chandra

 Abell 1689: A Galaxy Cluster Makes Its Mark | NASA Chandra

Abell 1689, shown in this composite image, is a massive cluster of galaxies located about 2.3 billion light years away that shows signs of merging activity. Hundred-million-degree gas detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is shown as purple in this image, while galaxies from optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope are colored yellow. The X-ray emission has a smooth appearance, unlike other merging systems such as the Bullet Cluster or MACS J0025.4-1222. The temperature pattern across Abell 1689 is more complicated, however, possibly requiring multiple structures with different temperatures.

The long arcs in the optical image are caused by gravitational lensing of background galaxies by matter in the galaxy cluster, the largest system of such arcs ever found. Further studies of this cluster are needed to explain the lack of agreement between mass estimates based on the X-ray data and on the gravitational lensing. Previous work suggests that filament-like structures of galaxies are located near Abell 1689 along our line-of-sight to this cluster, which may bias mass estimates using gravitational lensing.

Image Credit X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/E.-H Peng et al; Optical: NASA/STScI

Color Code: X-ray (Purple); Optical (Yellow)

Observation Dates: 04/15/2004 - 03/09/2006 with five pointings

Image Release Date: September 11, 2008

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Space #Science #Abell1689 #Cluster #Galaxies #Stars #Chandra #Xray #Observatory #Marshall #MSFC #Virgo #Constellation #GravitationalLensing #Cosmos #Universe #STScI #ESA #Europe #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Pluto at Night | NASA New Horizons Mission

Pluto at Night | NASA New Horizons Mission

The night side of Pluto spans this shadowy scene. In this perspective, the Sun is 4.9 billion kilometers (almost 4.5 light-hours) behind the dim and distant world. It was captured by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 when it was at a range of some 21,000 kilometers from Pluto, about 19 minutes after its closest approach. A denizen of the Kuiper Belt in dramatic silhouette, the image also reveals Pluto's tenuous, surprisingly complex layers of hazy atmosphere. Near the top of the frame the crescent twilight landscape includes southern areas of nitrogen ice plains now formally known as Sputnik Planitia and rugged mountains of water-ice in the Norgay Montes.

The New Horizons spacecraft is continuing its exploration of our solar system's Kuiper Belt and outer heliosphere. It is about 4.9 billion miles (7.8 billion kilometers) from home—more than 52 times farther from the Sun than Earth—in a region where a radio signal from New Horizons, even traveling at the speed of light, needs more than seven hours to reach Earth.

New Horizons was practically designed to make history. Dispatched at 36,400 miles per hour (58,500 kilometers per hour) on Jan. 19, 2006, New Horizons still holds the record for fastest launch speed from Earth. Its gravity-assist flyby of Jupiter in February 2007 not only shaved about three years from its voyage to Pluto but also allowed it to achieve the best views ever of Jupiter’s faint ring and capture the first movie of a volcano erupting anywhere in the solar system except Earth.

New Horizons successfully pulled off the first exploration of the Pluto system in July 2015, followed by the farthest flyby in history—and first close-up look at a Kuiper Belt object (KBO)—with its flight past Arrokoth on New Year’s Day 2019. From its unique perch in the Kuiper Belt, New Horizons is making observations that can’t be made from anywhere else; even the stars look different from the spacecraft’s point of view.

As New Horizons team members use giant telescopes like the Japanese Subaru observatory to scan the skies for another potential (and long-shot) KBO flyby target, New Horizons itself remains healthy, collecting data on the solar wind and space environment in the Kuiper Belt, other KBOs, and distant planets like Uranus and Neptune.

Follow New Horizons on its historic voyage at http://pluto.jhuapl.edu. 

Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins University/APL, Southwest Research Institute

Capture Date: July 2015

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #NewHorizons #Pluto #Sun #KuiperBelt #KBO #Arrokoth #Spacecraft #JPL #SolarSystem #MSFC #JohnsHopkins #JHUAPL #APL #SwRI #SouthwestResearchInstitute #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #Technology #Engineering #Robotics #STEM #Education

 

Mars Crater: Cool as Ice | NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter

Mars Crater: Cool as Ice | NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter

Every winter, a layer of carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) forms on the surface of Mars. At its greatest extent in mid-winter, this frost reaches from the poles down to the middle latitudes, until it is too warm and sunny to persist. In most places this is around 50 degrees latitude, similar to the latitude of southern Canada on Earth.

However, small patches of dry ice are found closer to the equator on pole-facing slopes, which are colder because they receive less sunlight. This image was taken in the middle of winter in Mars’ Southern Hemisphere, and shows a crater near 37 degrees south latitude. The south-facing slope has patchy bright frost, blue in enhanced color. This frost occurs in and around the many gullies on the slope, and in other images, has caused flows in the gullies. 

Notes: Black and white images are 5 km across; enhanced color images are 1 km

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.

Video Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Narrator: Tre Gibbs | Website: www.tregibbs.com

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: March 17, 2022

#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Ice #CarbonDioxide #Crater #Gullies #SouthernHemisphere #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #RedPlanet #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Camera #JPL #Caltech #University #Arizona #UA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Mars Crater: Cool as Ice | NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter

Mars Crater: Cool as Ice | NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter

Every winter, a layer of carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) forms on the surface of Mars. At its greatest extent in mid-winter, this frost reaches from the poles down to the middle latitudes, until it is too warm and sunny to persist. In most places this is around 50 degrees latitude, similar to the latitude of southern Canada on Earth.

However, small patches of dry ice are found closer to the equator on pole-facing slopes, which are colder because they receive less sunlight. This image was taken in the middle of winter in Mars’ Southern Hemisphere, and shows a crater near 37 degrees south latitude. The south-facing slope has patchy bright frost, blue in enhanced color. This frost occurs in and around the many gullies on the slope, and in other images, has caused flows in the gullies. (Image is less than 1 km across and was captured from 254 km above the surface.)

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado.

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Release Date: March 17, 2022

#NASA #Mars #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Ice #CarbonDioxide #Crater #Gullies #SouthernHemisphere #Geology #Landscape #Terrain #Geoscience #RedPlanet #MRO #Reconnaissance #Orbiter #Spacecraft #HiRISE #Camera #JPL #Caltech #University #Arizona #UA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Mark Vande Hei: Breaking Records for Science | International Space Station

Mark Vande Hei: Breaking Records for Science | International Space Station

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei is returning to Earth after living in space for 355 days, the record for the longest single spaceflight by a NASA astronaut. This extended mission aboard the International Space Station provides researchers an opportunity to observe effects of long-duration spaceflight on the human body as the agency makes plans to return to the Moon under the Artemis program and prepare for human exploration at Mars. During his record-setting mission, Vande Hei spent many hours on scientific activities aboard the space station, conducting everything from plant research to physical sciences studies.

Mark Vande Hei Official NASA Biography:

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/mark-t-vande-hei/biography

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Education

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.

Expedition 66 Crew:

Commander: Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev, and Denis Matveev

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer (DLR/German Aerospace Center)

NASA (U.S.) Flight Engineers: Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center

Duration: 2 minutes, 29 seconds

Release Date: March 25, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronaut #MarkVandeHei #FlightEngineer #Human #Spaceflight #LongDuration #Health #Science #Technology #Engineering #Research #Laboratory #Kibo #きぼう #Japan #日本 #UnitedStates #SolarSystem #Exploration #JourneyToMars #Mars #Artemis #Expedition66 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

"Earthlight" by Astronaut Dr. Sian Proctor

"Earthlight" by Astronaut Dr. Sian Proctor

Dr. Sian Proctor shares her poem "Earthlight" based on her experience as a SpaceX Astronaut for the orbital Inspiration 4 Mission during September 16-18, 2021. Dr. Proctor was the first black female astronaut to pilot a spacecraft.

Note: Sian's father, Edward Langley Proctor Jr., an engineer, worked at a NASA tracking station on the island of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean supporting the Apollo moon missions.

Sian Hayley "Leo" Proctor (born March 28, 1970) is an American geology professor, science communicator, and commercial astronaut. She was launched into Earth orbit, on September 15, 2021, as the pilot of the Crew Dragon space capsule. This mission was the Inspiration4 private orbital spaceflight. As the pilot on the Inspiration4 mission, Proctor became the first African American woman to pilot a spacecraft. She is a geology professor at South Mountain Community College in Arizona. She is also a major in the Civil Air Patrol where she serves as the aerospace education officer for its Arizona Wing. [Source Wikipedia]

"The overview effect is a cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space. It is the experience of seeing first-hand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, 'hanging in the void', shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. The effect may also invoke a sense of transcendence and connection with humanity as a whole, from which national borders appear petty. The term and concept were coined in 1987 by American author, Frank White."

Credit: Dr. Sian Proctor

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

Release Date: March 23, 2022

#Space #Aerospace #Earth #Earthlight #SpaceX #Inspiration4 #Dragon #Spacecraft #CrewDragon #SianProctor #Pilot #Astronaut #Scientist #Educator #Artist #Poet #AfricanAmerican #Black #Science #Technology #Geology #Arizona #UnitedStates #Private #Human #Spaceflight #Poetry #OverviewEffect #STEAM #Education #HD #Video

International Space Station Upgrade Work Continues | This Week @NASA

International Space Station Upgrade Work Continues | This Week @NASA

Week of March 25, 2022: Upgrade work continues outside the International Space Station, an updated strategy for landing Artemis astronauts on the Moon, and unsealing pieces of the past . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Expedition 66 Crew:

Commander: Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev, and Denis Matveev

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer (DLR/German Aerospace Center)

NASA (U.S.) Flight Engineers: Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)    

Producer: Andre Valentine

Editor: Lacey Young

Music: Universal Production Music

Duration: 3 minutes, 41 seconds

Release Date: March 25, 2022

#NASA #Space #Artemis #Moon #Landers #HLS #ISS #Astronauts #RajaChari #MatthiasMauer #ESA #Europe #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #FlightEngineers #EVA #Spacewalk #Science #Technology #Engineering #Research #Laboratory #Human #Spaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition66 #Exoplanets #STEM #Education #TWAN #HD #Video

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 | International Space Station

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts: European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Crew-4 mission specialist Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy; NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 mission specialist Jessica Watkins; NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 pilot Robert “Bob” Hines; NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 commander Kjell Lindgren. 

Current Crew-4 Spring 2022 launch date: April 19, 2022

Samantha is the third European astronaut to launch on SpaceX, after Thomas Pesquet in early 2021 and current ESA astronaut-in-space Matthias Maurer in late 2021.

Samantha Cristoforetti Official ESA Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Samantha_Cristoforetti

Jessica Watkins Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography

Robert “Bob” Hines Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/bob-hines/biography

Kjell Lindgren Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/kjell-n-lindgren/biography

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.

Expedition 67 Crew

Commanders: 

Oleg Artemyev (Roscosmos)/Thomas Marshburn (NASA)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian Space Agency)

NASA (U.S.) Flight Engineers: Jessica Watkins, Kjell Lindgren, Robert “Bob” Hines

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Release Date: March 25, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #ESA #SpaceX #CrewDragon #Crew4 #Earth #Science #Astronauts #SamanthaCristoforetti #MissionMinerva #Italy #Italia #JessicaWatkins #RobertHines #KjellLindgren #Human #Spaceflight #UnitedStates #Europe #Russia #Japan #Canada #JSC #Expedition67 #STEM #Education

Astronauts Matthias & Raja on Spacewalk | International Space Station

Astronauts Matthias & Raja on Spacewalk | International Space Station

On March 23, 2022, Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Raja Chari of NASA and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency (ESA) completed a 6 hour and 54 minute spacewalk in preparation for an upcoming solar array installation. It was the 248th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades and maintenance, and was the second in Chari’s career and the first for Maurer. 

Maurer and Chari completed their major objective to install hoses on a Radiator Beam Valve Module that routes ammonia through the station’s heat-rejecting radiators to keep systems at the proper temperature. The crew members also installed a power and data cable on the Columbus module’s Bartolomeo science platform, replaced an external camera on the station’s truss, and conducted other upgrades to station hardware. 

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.

Expedition 66 Crew:

Commander: Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev, and Denis Matveev

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer (DLR/German Aerospace Center)

NASA (U.S.) Flight Engineers: Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Capture Date: March 23, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronauts #Astronaut #RajaChari #MatthiasMauer #ESA #Europe #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #FlightEngineers #EVA #Spacewalk #Science #Technology #Engineering #Spacewalk #EVA #SolarArrays #Research #Laboratory #Kibo #きぼう#Japan #日本  #Russia #Россия #UnitedStates #Expedition66 #STEM #Education

NASA's Space to Ground: Preserving for Posterity

NASA's Space to Ground: Preserving for Posterity

Week of March 25, 2022: NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 66 crew is turning its attention to the departure of three crew members late next week following the completion of a pair of spacewalks. The International Space Station is also gearing up to welcome the first private astronaut mission aboard a SpaceX Dragon vehicle in early April. 

On March 23, 2022, Expedition 66 Flight Engineers Raja Chari of NASA and Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) completed a 6 hour and 54 minute spacewalk in preparation for an upcoming solar array installation. It was the 248th spacewalk in support of space station assembly, upgrades and maintenance, and was the second in Chari’s career and the first for Maurer. 

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov continued packing the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship while flight engineer Pyotr Dubrov helped the station’s three newest crew members get familiar with space station systems. Veteran cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev with first time space-flyers Sergey Korsakov and Denis Matveev are in the first week of six-and-a-half month mission that began on March 18 when they arrived aboard the Soyuz MS-21 crew ship.

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.

Expedition 66 Crew:

Commander: Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Pyotr Dubrov, Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev, and Denis Matveev

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer (DLR/German Aerospace Center)

NASA (U.S.) Flight Engineers: Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei

Learn more about the important research being operated on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/iss-science 

For more information about STEM on Station:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Release Date: March 25, 2022

Duration: 3 minutes, 27 seconds

#NASA #Space #ISS #Astronauts #Astronaut #RajaChari #MatthiasMauer #ESA #Europe #DLR #Germany #Deutschland #FlightEngineers #EVA #Spacewalk #Science #Technology #Engineering #Spacewalk #EVA #Archaeology #Research #Laboratory #Soyuz #Russia #Россия #UnitedStates #Expedition66 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

What Mercury's Unusual Orbit Reveals About the Sun | NASA Goddard

What Mercury's Unusual Orbit Reveals About the Sun | NASA Goddard

As the closest planet to the Sun—and with the most oblong orbit in the solar system—Mercury orbits through a region where the Sun’s influence is changing dramatically. 

Two NASA researchers looked to Mercury to study how the Sun's influence on planets changes throughout space. Here's what they learned.

Full paper: go.nasa.gov/3NfK0Xt

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Miles Hatfield (Telophase): Producer

Anna Blaustein (NASA Interns): Producer

Norberto Romanelli (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Maryland, College Park): Scientist

Gina DiBraccio (NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center): Scientist

Music credits: “Swirling Blizzard” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Sparkle Shimmer” by William Henries [PRS] and Michael Holborn [PRS] from Universal Production Music

Duration: 3 minutes, 13 seconds

Release Date: March 24, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Mercury #Planet #Magnetosphere #Sun #Heliophysics #SolarWind #SolarSystem #Exploration #Science #Technology #Messenger #Spacecraft #Goddard #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Mars Rovers: New Perseverance & Curiosity Images | JPL

NASA Mars Rovers: New Perseverance & Curiosity Images | JPL

MSL - Sol 2013 - MAHLI (1)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - Sol 2478 - MAHLI (2)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

MSL - Sol 2016 - MAHLI (3)

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 383 - Mastcam-Z (4)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 385 - MastCam-Z (5)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 388 - Mastcam-Z (6)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 384 - MastCam-Z (7)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

NASA’s rovers are putting their gears in drive on Mars, making discoveries along the way. NASA's Curiosity rover captured some interesting images on Mount Sharp while heading toward an area called Greenheugh Pediment. Over in Jezero Crater, NASA's Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter are both gearing up for a new destination. Perseverance is wrapping up its first science campaign on the floor of Jezero Crater and, with the help of sophisticated self-driving abilities, will head toward the remnants of a fan-shaped deposit of river sediments known as a delta to collect more samples. Ingenuity is planning updates to its software to improve operational safety.  

Mission Name: Mars 2020

Rover Name: Perseverance

Main Job: Seek signs of ancient life and collect samples of rock and regolith (broken rock and soil) for possible return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

Mars Helicopter (Ingenuity) is now in an operations demo phase.

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: November 6, 2011

Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: March 19-24, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Jezero #Crater #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Perseverance #Curiosity #Rovers #Ingenuity #Helicopter #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #STEM #Education

Exploring Cosmic Origins with NASA’s SPHEREx | JPL

Exploring Cosmic Origins with NASA’s SPHEREx | JPL

About the size of a subcompact car, NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope will map the entire sky to study the rapid expansion of the universe after the big bang, the composition of young planetary systems, and the evolutionary history of galaxies. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will provide the first all-sky spectral survey. Over a two-year planned mission, the SPHEREx Observatory will collect data on more than 300 million galaxies along with more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way in order to explore the origins of the universe. Launch is scheduled for June 2024.

SPHEREx will survey hundreds of millions of galaxies near and far, some so distant their light has taken 10 billion years to reach Earth. In the Milky Way, the mission will search for water and organic molecules—essentials for life, as we know it—in stellar nurseries, regions where stars are born from gas and dust, as well as disks around stars where new planets could be forming.

Every six months, SPHEREx will survey the entire sky using technologies adapted from Earth satellites and interplanetary spacecraft. The mission will create a map of the entire sky in 96 different color bands, far exceeding the color resolution of previous all-sky maps. It also will identify targets for more detailed study by future missions

SPHEREx Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Jamie Bock leads the investigation. The California Institute of Technology and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) will develop the SPHEREx payload. The spacecraft will be supplied by Ball Aerospace. The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute will contribute the non-flight cryogenic test chamber. The data will be made publicly available through the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. In addition to the Caltech/JPL and international scientists, the SPHEREx team includes scientists at institutions across the country, including UC Irvine, Ohio State University, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, Rochester Institute of Technology, Argonne National Laboratory, and Johns Hopkins University.

Credit: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Duration: 3 minutes, 56 seconds

Release Date: March 24, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Telescope #Observatory #SPHEREx #Orbiter #Galaxies #Stars #Planets #Exoplanets #Cosmos #Universe #Science #Engineering #BallAerospace #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #KASI #Korea #한국 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Spaceflight Astra-1 Mission Launch in Alaska | Astra

 Spaceflight Astra-1 Mission Launch-Alaska

On March 15, 2022, Astra delivered its first commercial customer payloads into a sun synchronous low Earth orbit (LEO) of 525 km for the Spaceflight Astra-1 mission. The launch location was the Pacific Spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in the United States operated by Alaska Spaceflight Inc. Customer payloads on this flight included NearSpace Launch and the Portland State Aerospace Society with OreSat0, the U.S. state of Oregon’s first satellite.

"Astra’s mission is to improve life on Earth from space by creating a healthier and more connected planet. Today, Astra offers one of the lowest cost-per-launch dedicated orbital launch service of any operational launch provider in the world. Astra delivered its first commercial payload into Earth orbit in 2021, making it the fastest company in history to reach this milestone, just five years after it was founded in 2016. Astra (NASDAQ: ASTR) was the first space launch company to be publicly traded on NASDAQ."

Astra: https://astra.com

Spaceflight Inc.: https://spaceflight.com

Portland State Aerospace Society https://www.pdxaerospace.org

Near Space Launch: https://www.nearspacelaunch.com

Pacific Spaceport: https://akaerospace.com/spaceports/

The Pacific Spaceport Complex—Alaska (PSCA) is a dual-use commercial and military launch facility for sub-orbital and orbital launch vehicles located on Kodiak Island, about 180 miles (290 km) southeast of King Salmon and 25.5 miles (41 km) south of Kodiak, Alaska. The facility is owned and operated by the Alaska Aerospace Corporation, a public corporation of the State of Alaska.

Credit: Astra

Image Credits: Brady Kenniston/Astra 

Release Date: March 16, 2022

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