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Expedition 68 Flight Engineer and NASA spacewalker Josh Cassada prepares a roll-out solar array for its deployment on the International Space Station's (ISS) Port-4 truss segment as the orbiting lab flew 262 miles above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia.
Astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada conducted a spacewalk on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, for seven hours and eight minutes to install the new roll-out solar arrays to upgrade the station’s power system. The new ISS Roll-Out Solar Arrays (iROSAs) will increase power generation capability by up to 30%, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts.
Image credit: NASA/Frank Rubio
#nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #space #nasamarshall #ISS #InternationalSpaceStation
The sun's rays burst above Earth's horizon as the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above Western Australia on the coast of Shark Bay.
Image credit: NASA
#nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #space #nasamarshall #ISS #InternationalSpaceStation #Earth #Sun
This is the last complete image of the asteroid Dimorphos, as seen by our Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) two seconds before impact. The Didymos Reconnaissance and Asteroid Camera for Optical navigation (DRACO) imager aboard captured a 100-foot-wide patch of the asteroid.
The DART spacecraft streamed these images from its DRACO camera back to Earth in real time as it approached the asteroid. DART successfully impacted its target on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, in the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #DART #DoubleAsteroidRedirectionTest #asteroid #DARTMission #PlanetaryDefenders #PlanetaryDefense
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, peaking at 9:55 a.m. EDT. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
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 X-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.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO
#NASA #space #NASAMarshall #msfc #sun
The spacecraft flew closer to Jupiter's largest moon than any other in more than two decades, offering dramatic glimpses of the icy orb.
The first two images from NASA Juno's June 7, 2021, flyby of Jupiter's giant moon Ganymede have been received on Earth. The photos - one from the Jupiter orbiter's JunoCam imager and the other from its Stellar Reference Unit star camera - show the surface in remarkable detail, including craters, clearly distinct dark and bright terrain, and long structural features possibly linked to tectonic faults.
This image of the dark side of Ganymede was obtained by Juno's Stellar Reference Unit navigation camera during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the moon
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #nasamarshall #MSFC #solarsystem #juno #jupiter #space #astronomy #nasajuno #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #GreatRedSpot #junocam #Ganymede
Can stars, like caterpillars, transform themselves into butterflies? No, but in the case of the Butterfly Nebula -- it sure looks like it. Though its wingspan covers over 3 light-years and its estimated surface temperature exceeds 200,000 degrees, C, the dying central star of NGC 6302, the featured planetary nebula, has become exceptionally hot, shining brightly in visible and ultraviolet light but hidden from direct view by a dense torus of dust. This sharp close-up was recorded by the Hubble Space Telescope and is reprocessed here to show off the remarkable details of the complex planetary nebula, highlighting in particular light emitted by iron, shown in red. NGC 6302 lies about 4,000 light-years away in the arachnologically correct constellation of the Scorpion (Scorpius). Planetary nebulas evolve from outer atmospheres of stars like our Sun, but usually fade in about 20,000 years.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #nebula
Today in 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin became the first humans to drive a car on the lunar surface, the Lunar Roving Vehicle. The lightweight, electric car greatly increased the range of mobility and productivity on the scientific traverses for astronauts. The LRV weighed 462 pounds (77 pounds on the Moon) and could carry two suited astronauts, their gear and cameras, and several hundred pounds of bagged lunar samples. The LRV was designed and developed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and built by Boeing. Here, David Scott waits in the LRV for the return trip to the Lunar Module, Falcon, with rocks and soil collected near the Hadley-Apennine landing site. Today, Marshall is playing a vital role in the Artemis program by developing the Space Launch System, the backbone of NASA's exploration plans and the only rocket capable of sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA's remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA's activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA's history, visit the Marshall History Program's webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #apollo #apollo17 #moon #LRV #LunarRovingVehicle #astronaut #moonwalk
This 2014 mosaic of Caloris basin is an enhanced-color composite overlain on a monochrome mosaic featured in a previous post. The color mosaic is made up of WAC images obtained when both the spacecraft and the Sun were overhead, conditions best for discerning variations in albedo, or brightness. The monochrome mosaic is made up of WAC and NAC images obtained at off-vertical Sun angles (i.e., high incidence angles) and with visible shadows so as to reveal clearly the topographic form of geologic features. The combination of the two datasets allows the correlation of geologic features with their color properties. In portions of the scene, color differences from image to image are apparent. Ongoing calibration efforts by the MESSENGER team strive to minimize these differences. Caloris basin has been flooded by lavas that appear orange in this mosaic. Post-flooding craters have excavated material from beneath the surface. The larger of these craters have exposed low-reflectance material (blue in this mosaic) from beneath the surface lavas, likely giving a glimpse of the original basin floor material. Analysis of these craters yields an estimate of the thickness of the volcanic layer: 2.5-3.5 km (1.6-2.2 mi.). The MESSENGER spacecraft was the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft's seven scientific instruments and radio science investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System's innermost planet. In the mission's more than three years of orbital operations, MESSENGER acquired over 250,000 images and extensive other data sets. MESSENGER was deorbited and and impacted the planet’s surface April 30, 2015.
Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #MESSENGER #Mercury
It’s time again for one of the biggest meteor showers of the year! The Perseids are already showing up in our night skies—and when they peak in mid-August, it’s likely to be one of our most impressive skywatching opportunities for a while.
Our meteor-tracking cameras spotted their first Perseid on July 26, but your best chance to see them will start the night of Aug. 11. With the crescent moon setting early, the skies will be dark for the peak viewing hours of midnight (local time) to dawn on Aug. 12.
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and far away from light pollution, you might spot more than 40 Perseids an hour! (If you’re in a city, you may only see a few every hour; skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere will also see fewer Perseids, with none visible below about 30 degrees south latitude.) The night of Aug. 12-13 will be another great opportunity to see the Perseids: with a full Moon (and lower meteor activity) during the Perseids’ peak in 2022 and a waning crescent high in the sky for 2023, this might be your best chance to do some summer skywatching for a few years.
Find somewhere comfortable, avoiding bright lights as much as possible (yes, including your phone), and give your eyes some time to adjust to the dark—up to half an hour if you can. The Perseids will appear as quick, small streaks of light: they get their name because they look like they’re coming from the direction of the constellation Perseus (near Aries and Taurus in the night sky), but Perseids in that area can be hard to spot from the perspective of Earth. So just look up and enjoy the show!
In this 30 second exposure taken with a circular fish-eye lens, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower on Friday, Aug. 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.
Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #Jupiter #Saturn #GreatConjunction #meteorshower #Perseids #astronomy
This week in 2008, the space shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-123, safely landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center following a successful 15-day mission to the International Space Station. The mission delivered NASA astronaut Garret Reisman to the station and returned European Space Agency astronaut Léopold Eyharts to Earth. Endeavour also carried the Canadian-built Dextre robotic system and the logistics module for the Japanese Kibo laboratory, both visible here in the orbiter’s cargo bay. Today, the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center serves as “science central” for the International Space Station, working 24/7, 365 days a year in support of the orbiting laboratory’s science experiments. After 20 years of continuous human presence, the space station remains the sole space-based proving ground and stepping stone toward achieving the goals of the Artemis program. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #STS123 #SpaceShuttleEndeavour #Endeavour #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter
This new image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope looks at two spiral galaxies, collectively known as Arp 303. The pair, individually called IC 563 (bottom right) and IC 564 (top left), are 275 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Sextans.
The image holds data from two separate Hubble observations of Arp 303. The first used Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to study the pair’s clumpy star-forming regions in infrared light. Galaxies like IC 563 and IC 564 are very bright at infrared wavelengths and host many bright star-forming regions.
The second used Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to take quick looks at bright, interesting galaxies across the sky. The observations filled gaps in Hubble’s archive and looked for promising candidates that Hubble, the James Webb Space Telescope, and other telescopes could study further.
The colors red, orange, and green represent infrared wavelengths taken with WFC3, and the color blue represents ACS visible light data.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, K. Larson (STScI), and J. Dalcanton (University of Washington); Image Processing: G. Kober (NASA Goddard/Catholic University of America)
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astrophysics #gsfc #galaxy #galaxycluster
This image, taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, depicts a special class of star-forming nursery known as Free-floating Evaporating Gaseous Globules, or frEGGs for short. This object is formally known as J025157.5+600606.
When a massive new star starts to shine while still within the cool molecular gas cloud from which it formed, its energetic radiation can ionize the cloud’s hydrogen and create a large, hot bubble of ionized gas. Amazingly, located within this bubble of hot gas around a nearby massive star are the frEGGs: dark compact globules of dust and gas, some of which are giving birth to low-mass stars. The boundary between the cool, dusty frEGG and the hot gas bubble is seen as the glowing purple/blue edges in this fascinating image.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sahai
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #nebula
The brightest stars embedded in nebulae throughout our galaxy pour out a torrent of radiation that eats into vast clouds of hydrogen gas – the raw material for building new stars. This etching process sculpts a fantasy landscape where human imagination can see all kinds of shapes and figures. This nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia has flowing veils of gas and dust that have earned it the nickname "Ghost Nebula."
Officially known as IC 63, this nebula is located 550 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and STScI/Acknowledgment: H. Arab (University of Strasbourg)
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxy
A dramatic triplet of galaxies takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which captures a three-way gravitational tug-of-war between interacting galaxies. This system – known as Arp 195 – is featured in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, a list which showcases some of the weirder and more wonderful galaxies in the universe. Observing time with Hubble is extremely valuable, so astronomers don't want to waste a second. The schedule for Hubble observations is calculated using a computer algorithm which allows the spacecraft to occasionally gather bonus snapshots of data between longer observations. This image of the clashing triplet of galaxies in Arp 195 is one such snapshot. Extra observations such as these do more than provide spectacular images – they also help to identify promising targets to follow up with using telescopes such as the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Dalcanton
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxy
This June 2020 image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxy cluster MACS J0416. This is one of six galaxy clusters being studied by the Hubble Frontier Fields program, which produced the deepest images of gravitational lensing ever made. Scientists used intracluster light (visible in blue) to study the distribution of dark matter within the cluster.
Image credit: NASA, ESA and M. Montes (University of New South Wales)
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxycluster #galaxy
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen at sunrise atop the mobile launcher as it arrives at Launch Pad 39B, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Artemis I flight test is the first integrated test of the agency’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems. Launch of the uncrewed flight test is targeted for no earlier than Aug. 29.
Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
#MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #nasasls #artemis #NASA #NASAMarshall #MSFC #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #SpaceLaunchSystem #ArtemisI
The International Space Stations's JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) provides launch capability for CubeSats. These small satellites support scientific investigations and technology demonstrations and have humanitarian, environmental, and commercial applications. During the week, crew members installed J-SSOD-22 hardware and deployed three small satellites carrying investigations sponsored by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA):
This image shows the station’s JEM Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) prior to launching three CubeSat investigations sponsored by JAXA.
Image Credit: NASA
#nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #space #nasamarshall #ISS #InternationalSpaceStation #cubesat
A paddlewheeler makes its way up the Mississippi River as the Moon rises over New Orleans on Sunday evening, Aug. 22, 2021. The August Sturgeon Moon, which was also a rare Blue Moon, was full at 7:02 a.m. local time Sunday but the nearly full Moon still put on a show when it rose over New Orleans later that evening. New Orleans is home to the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility, where the core stage of the Space Launch System that will return people to the Moon was built.
Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
#MoontoMars #NASAMarshall #nasasls #artemis #NASA #NASAMarshall #MSFC #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #SpaceLaunchSystem #MichoudAssemblyFacility #NASAMichoud #NewOrleans
The last rays of an orbital sunset burst through Earth's horizon as the International Space Station flew 258 miles above Brazil in this image from June 2022. In 24 hours, the space station makes 16 orbits of Earth, traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets. Want more station facts? Visit International Space Station Facts and Figures.
Image Credit: NASA
#nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #space #nasamarshall #ISS #InternationalSpaceStation #Earth
No matter where you are on this planet, we're all #ConnectedByEarth
When NASA Marshall isn't studying the universe and bringing humanity to other worlds, we're taking time to explore and understand the beauty of our home planet. As we celebrate #EarthDay, take a look at a few of our favorite photos taken by Marshall team members-and follow @NASAEarth to learn more about our environment and the connections that hold it together.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #nasamarshall #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #earth #earthday2021 #earthpix #earthoutdoors #nasamarshall #nasa #msfc #marshallspaceflightcenter #explore
Resting on the tail of the Great Bear in the constellation of Ursa Major lies NGC 5585, a spiral galaxy that is more than it appears.
The many stars and clouds of dust and gas that make up NGC 5585, shown here in this Hubble image, contribute only a small fraction of the total mass of the galaxy. As in many galaxies, this discrepancy can be explained by the abundant yet seemingly invisible presence of dark matter, a mysterious material that astronomers can’t directly observe.
The stellar disk of the galaxy extends over 35,000 light-years across. When compared with galaxies of a similar shape and size, NGC 5585 stands out by having a notably different composition. Contributing to the total mass of the galaxy, it contains a far higher proportion of dark matter.
Hot spots of star formation can be seen along the galaxy’s faint spiral arms. These regions shine a brilliant blue, contrasting strikingly against the ever-black background of space.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully; acknowledgment: Gagandeep Anand
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxy #darkmatter
This week in 1985, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-51C, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the first dedicated Department of Defense mission. Discovery landed at Kennedy on Jan. 27 following a successful three-day mission. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #STS51C #SpaceShuttleDiscovery #Discovery #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx completed its last flyover of Bennu around 6 a.m. EDT (4 a.m. MDT) April 7 and is now slowly drifting away from the asteroid; however, the mission team will have to wait a few more days to find out how the spacecraft changed the surface of Bennu when it grabbed a sample of the asteroid.
This image shows a top-down view of asteroid Bennu, with a portion of the asteroid’s equatorial ridge and northern hemisphere illuminated. It was taken by the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on March 4, 2021, from a distance of about 186 miles (300 km). The spacecraft’s cameras are pointed directly at Bennu’s north pole. Two large equatorial craters are visible on the asteroid’s edge (center and center left). The image was obtained during the mission’s Post-TAG Operations phase, as the spacecraft slowly approached Bennu in preparation for a final observational flyby on April 7.
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #NASAMarshall #Marshall #MSFC #GSFC #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #OSIRISRex #OriginsSpectralInterpretationResourceIdentificationSecurityRegolithExplorer #asteroid #newfrontiers #bennu
NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland, or OMG, airborne mission found that most of Greenland's glaciers that empty into the ocean are at greater risk of rapid ice loss than previously understood. OMG's six-year field campaign studied the ocean's role in glacial ice loss by gathering precise measurements of ocean depth, temperature, and salinity in front of more than 220 glaciers. The mission's goal was to clarify our understanding of sea level rise over the next 50 years. This photo of Apusiaajik Glacier was taken near Kulusuk, Greenland, on Aug. 26, 2018, during OMG's field operations.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
#NASA #NASAMarshall #MSFC #AmesResearchCenter #Earth #Greenland #glacier
Some of the most stunning views of our sky occur at sunset, when sunlight pierces the clouds, creating a mixture of bright and dark rays formed by the clouds' shadows and the beams of light scattered by the atmosphere.
Astronomers studying nearby galaxy IC 5063 are tantalized by a similar effect in images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. In this case, a collection of narrow bright rays and dark shadows is seen beaming out of the blazingly bright center of the active galaxy.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and W.P. Maksym (CfA)
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #astronomy #space #astrophysics #solarsystemandbeyond #gsfc #Goddard #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency #galaxy
This week in 2007, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-120, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on a 15-day mission to the International Space Station. This was the 23rd shuttle mission to the orbiting lab. Discovery carried the Italian-built multiport module, named Harmony, which connected the U.S. segment of the station to the European and Japanese laboratory modules. Today, the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center serves as “science central” for the space station, working 24/7, 365 days a year in support of the orbiting laboratory’s science experiments. After 20 years of continuous human presence, the space station remains the sole space-based proving ground and stepping stone toward achieving the goals of the Artemis program. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #Discovery #spaceshuttle #SpaceShuttleDiscovery #STS120
This stunning 2005 picture of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a composite of images taken by three of NASA's Great Observatories. Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope are colored red; optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope are yellow; and X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are green and blue.
Cas A is the 300-year-old remnant created by the supernova explosion of a massive star. Each Great Observatory image highlights different characteristics of the remnant. Spitzer reveals warm dust in the outer shell with temperatures of about 10 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit), and Hubble sees the delicate filamentary structures of warmer gases about 10,000 degrees Celsius. Chandra shows hot gases at about 10 million degrees Celsius. This hot gas was created when ejected material from the supernova smashed into surrounding gas and dust at speeds of about ten million miles per hour.
A comparison of the infrared and X-ray images of Cas A should enable astronomers to better understand how relatively cool dust grains can coexist in the superhot gas that produces the X-rays. It should also help to determine whether most of the dust in the supernova remnant came from the massive star before it exploded, or from the rapidly expanding supernova ejecta.
The turquoise dot at the center of the shell may be a neutron star created during the supernova. Blue Chandra data were acquired using broadband X-rays (low through high energies); green Chandra data correspond only to intermediate energy X-rays; yellow Hubble data were taken using a 900 nanometer-wavelength filter, and red Spitzer data are from the telescope's 24-micron detector.
Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Steward/O.Krause et al.
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #ChandraXrayObservatory #cxo #supernova #supernovaremnant
Captured on Oct. 20, 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA spacecraft approaches and touches down on asteroid Bennu’s surface, over 200 million miles (321 million km) away from Earth. The sampling event brought the spacecraft all the way down to sample site Nightingale, touching down within three feet (one meter) of the targeted location. The team on Earth received confirmation at 6:08 p.m. EDT that successful touchdown occurred. Preliminary data show the one-foot-wide (0.3-meter-wide) sampling head touched Bennu’s surface for approximately 6 seconds, after which the spacecraft performed a back-away burn.
Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #NASAMarshall #Marshall #MSFC #GSFC #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #OSIRISRex #OriginsSpectralInterpretationResourceIdentificationSecurityRegolithExplorer #asteroid #newfrontiers #bennu #ToBennuAndBack
This week in 1997, the Fastrac engine was duration tested in Test Stand 116 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The overall purpose of this test was to gauge the length of time between contact of triethylaluminum and liquid oxygen as an ignitor for the engine. Initially developed for use with the first powered flight of NASA’s X-34 technology demonstrator, the Fastrac engine was capable of producing 60,000 pounds of thrust. Today, Marshall is playing a vital role in the Artemis program by developing the Space Launch System, the backbone of NASA’s exploration plans and the only rocket capable of sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #rocketengine #fastrac
This week in 1997, space shuttle Discovery, mission STS-82, landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center following a successful nine-day mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. Here, astronaut Gregory J. Harbaugh floats while Hubble is docked in the orbiter’s cargo bay. This was the second Hubble servicing mission. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#tbt #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #KSC #KennedySpaceCenter #STS82 #SpaceShuttleDiscovery #Discovery #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter
This week in 1978, the space shuttle Enterprise arrived at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for mated vertical ground vibration testing, which marked the first time the entire shuttle compliment – orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket boosters – were mated vertically. Here, Enterprise is offloaded at Redstone Arsenal Airfield before being moved to Marshall’s Dynamic Test Stand. Today, Marshall is playing a vital role in the Artemis program by developing the Space Launch System, the backbone of NASA’s exploration plans and the only rocket capable of sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the Marshall History Program’s webpage.
Image credit: NASA
#FBF #TBT #nasa #marshallspaceflightcenter #msfc #marshall #space #history #marshallhistory #STS109 #SpaceShuttleEnterprise #Enterprise #nasamarshall #nasahistory #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter
After revealing a trove of details about the moons Ganymede and Europa, the mission to Jupiter is setting its sights on sister moon Io.
NASA’s Juno mission is scheduled to obtain images of the Jovian moon Io on Dec. 15 as part of its continuing exploration of Jupiter’s inner moons. Now in the second year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft performed a close flyby of Ganymede in 2021 and of Europa earlier this year.
In this image, the volcano-laced surface of Jupiter’s moon Io was captured in infrared by the Juno spacecraft’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) imager as it flew by at a distance of was about 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometers) on July 5, 2022. Brighter spots indicate higher temperatures in this image.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #nasamarshall #juno #nasajuno #Io
NASA's CubeSat designed to test a unique lunar orbit is safely in space and on the first leg of its journey to the Moon. The spacecraft is heading toward an orbit intended in the future for Gateway, a lunar space station built by the agency and its commercial and international partners that will support NASA's Artemis program, including astronaut missions.
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, or CAPSTONE, mission launched at 5:55 a.m. EDT (09:55 UTC) on Rocket Lab's Electron rocket from the Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand Tuesday.
Image credit: Rocket Lab
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The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 7:14 p.m. ET on July 2, 2023. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
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 X1.0 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 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.
Image Credit: NASA/SDO
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Snow-covered mountains along the Kazakhstan-China border, including Sayram Lake at top, are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above the Asian nations.
Image Credit: NASA
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This 2017 enhanced-color image from the fifth Juno flyby of Jupiter shows a mysterious dark spot which seems to reveal a Jovian “galaxy” of swirling storms.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Roman Tkachenko
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The second supermoon of 2019 happens Feb. 19. But what’s a supermoon? We asked NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams what’s really going on here. Here’s her answer!
Like the orbits of all bodies in the solar system, the Moon’s orbit around Earth is not circular, it has an oval or elliptical shape, with Earth slightly offset from the center. As a result, there are two distance extremes of each orbit: closest approach, known as perigee, and the farthest, or apogee. When the Moon is at closest approach and within a day or so of being full, it is called a supermoon because the Moon will be at its brightest and largest.
This is an image of a total lunar eclipse that accompanied the first in a trilogy of supermoons in 2019.
Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Joe Matus
This composite image made from seven frames shows the International Space Station, with a crew of seven onboard, in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second, Friday, June 25, 2021, from near Nellysford, Va. Onboard are Expedition 65 NASA astronauts Megan McArthur, Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy. At the time of the transit, Kimbrough and Pesquet were working outside on the station’s port 6 truss to install the second Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) on the 4B power channel.
Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image (which has been cropped) of the Earth on Oct 15, 2022, as a part of an instrument calibration sequence at a distance of 380,000 miles (620,000 km). The upper left of the image includes a view of Hadar, Ethiopia, home to the 3.2 million-year-old human ancestor fossil for which the spacecraft was named.
Lucy is the first mission to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, an ancient population of asteroid “fossils” that orbit around the Sun at the same distance as Jupiter. To reach these distant asteroids, the Lucy spacecraft’s trajectory includes three Earth gravity assists to boost it on its journey to these enigmatic asteroids.
The image was taken with Lucy’s Terminal Tracking Camera (T2CAM) system, a pair of identical cameras that are responsible for tracking the asteroids during Lucy’s high-speed encounters. The T2CAM system was designed, built and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin Integrated the T2CAMs onto the Lucy spacecraft and operates them.
Credits: NASA/Goddard/SwRI
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This week in 1975, the final Saturn IB rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project - an international partnership between the U.S. and Soviet space programs. A Soviet Soyuz rocket launch preceded the Saturn IB launch. Designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems and the possibility of an international space rescue, the nine-day mission brought together NASA astronauts Tom Stafford, Donald "Deke" Slayton, and Vance Brand in an Apollo command and service module and Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov in a Soyuz capsule. During nearly two days of joint activities, the cosmonauts and astronauts carried out five joint experiments. Today, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is playing a vital role in the Artemis program by developing the Space Launch System, the backbone of NASA's exploration plans and the only rocket capable of sending humans to the Moon and Mars. The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA's remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA's activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA's history, visit the Marshall History Program's webpage.
Image credit: NASA
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On February 24, 1987, observers in the southern hemisphere saw a new object in a nearby galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud. This was one of the brightest supernova explosions in centuries and soon became known as Supernova 1987A (SN 87A). The Chandra data (blue) show the location of the supernova's shock wave — similar to the sonic boom from a supersonic plane — interacting with the surrounding material about four light years from the original explosion point. Optical data from Hubble (orange and red) also shows evidence for this interaction in the ring.
Image credit: NASA/CXC; Optical: NASA/STScI
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Since the beginning of the space program, people have been captivated by big, powerful rockets—like NASA’s Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo to the lunar surface, or the Space Launch System that will produce millions of pounds of thrust as it sends Artemis astronauts back to the Moon.
But what if the most powerful propulsion system in NASA’s toolbox produces less than one pound of thrust while reaching speeds of up to 200,000 mph? What if it costs less, carries more, and uses less fuel?
This radical system is in-space electric propulsion. It can reduce the amount of fuel, or propellant, needed by up to 90% compared to chemical propulsion systems, saving millions in launch costs while providing greater mission flexibility.
In this image, a solar electric propulsion Hall Effect thruster is being tested under vacuum conditions at NASA.
Image credit: NASA
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This image taken by JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi from the space station cupola shows the islands of Japan.
Image Credit: NASA
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NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft is seen atop a mobile launcher on June 6, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Image Credit: NASA
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Sorry Charlie Brown, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is taking a peek at what might best be described as the "Greater Pumpkin," that looks like a Halloween decoration tucked away in a patch of sky cluttered with stars. What looks like two glowing eyes and a crooked carved smile is a snapshot of the early stages of a collision between two galaxies. The entire view is nearly 109,000 light-years across, approximately the diameter of our Milky Way.
The overall pumpkin-ish color corresponds to the glow of aging red stars in two galaxies, cataloged as NGC? 2292 and NGC? 2293, which only have a hint of spiral structure. Yet the smile is bluish due to newborn star clusters, spread out like pearls on a necklace, along a newly forming dusty arm. The glowing eyes are concentrations of stars around a pair of supermassive black holes. The scattering of blue foreground stars makes the "pumpkin" look like it got all glittery for a Halloween party.
Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Sahai
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The hot desert climate of Illizi, Algeria, and Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, is apparent in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above the African nation.
Image Credit: NASA
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This week in 1984, space shuttle Challenger completed STS-41B, a seven-day mission that concluded with the first shuttle landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The mission launched the Westar-VI and Palapa-B2 communications satellites and featured the first untethered spacewalks, performed by astronauts Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.
Image credit: NASA
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Much of Mars is covered by sand and dust but in some places stacks of sedimentary layers are visible. In this image, exquisite layering is revealed emerging from the sand in southern Holden Crater. Sequences like these offer a window into Mars' complicated geologic history.
Holden Crater was once a candidate landing area for the Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory, and is still an intriguing choice today.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
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Astronauts on the International Space Station recently enjoyed a fresh supply of leafy greens, thanks in large part to the efforts of Expedition 64 crew member Michael Hopkins. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission commander took the lead on conducting four Vegetable Production System (Veggie) experiments, with the last two wrapping up after an April 13 harvest. VEG-03K and VEG-03L tested a new space crop, ‘Amara’ mustard, and a previously grown crop, ‘Extra Dwarf’ pak choi. They were grown for 64 days, the longest leafy greens have grown on station.
Image Credit: NASA
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A after being rolled out overnight as preparations continue for the Crew-1 mission, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission is the first operational mission of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, and astronaut Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are scheduled to launch at 7:49 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 14, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
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