Just like cars use radiators to keep cool, spacecraft must also be protected from fluctuating temperatures, especially when orbiting the moon. We're testing the next generation of thermal control technologies on the International Space Station. Our phase change material heat exchanger, currently planned for use on the Orion spacecraft, was installed on the station and will begin technology demonstration this week. Upon successful completion of the demonstration, Orion will be ready to implement this technology allowing us to get one step closer to leaving Low Earth Orbit.
Video credit: NASA
#nasatech #technology #spacestation @ISS #nasa #space
LIFTOFF! Our OSIRIS-REx spacecraft begins its journey to asteroid Bennu and back! Our first asteroid sampling mission launched into space at 7:05 p.m. EDT Thursday from Florida, beginning a mission that could revolutionize our understanding of the early solar system. In 2018, OSIRIS-REx will approach Bennu – which is the size of a small mountain – and begin an intricate dance with the asteroid, mapping and studying Bennu in preparation for sample collection. In July 2020, the spacecraft will perform a daring maneuver in which its 11-foot arm will reach out and perform a five-second “high-five” to stir up surface material, collecting at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of small rocks and dust in a sample return container. OSIRIS-REx will return the sample to Earth in September 2023 for examination.
It's written in the stars... or in this case a star forming region. For #StarTrek50, we present to you the 'Enterprise' Nebulae. On the right of the image, you may see hints of the saucer and hull of the original USS Enterprise, captained by James T. Kirk, as if it were emerging from a dark nebula. To the left, its "Next Generation" successor, Jean-Luc Picard's Enterprise-D, flies off in the opposite direction.
Astronomically speaking, the region pictured in the image falls within the disk of our Milky Way galaxy and displays two regions of star formation hidden behind a haze of dust when viewed in visible light. Spitzer's ability to peer deeper into dust clouds has revealed a myriad of stellar birthplaces like these, which are officially known only by their catalog numbers, IRAS 19340+2016 and IRAS19343+2026.
Trekkies, however, may prefer using the more familiar designations NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-D. Fifty years after its inception, Star Trek still inspires fans and astronomers alike to boldly explore where no one has gone before.
What's up in the sky this month? Part 1 and 2 of our video highlights an eclipse in Africa, two minor meteor showers, and planet and moon pair-ups. Plus: Get information now to help plan for the August 2017 total solar eclipse, which will span the United States from Oregon to South Carolina.
Part 1: What's up in the sky this month? Part 1 and 2 of our videos highlight an eclipse in Africa, two minor meteor showers, and planet and moon pair-ups. Plus: Get information now to help plan for the August 2017 total solar eclipse, which will span the United States from Oregon to South Carolina.
Cameras on the International Space Station (@ISS) captured views of three hurricanes today. This time-lapse video shows Hurricane Lester and Madeline in the Pacific Ocean, then Gaston in the Atlantic Ocean. Take a look:
Our Orion spacecraft, which will carry humans on deep space missions, including a journey to Mars, underwent a water drop test today at the Hydro Impact Basin at our Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Orion has been undergoing a series of water impact tests to help engineers understand how to best protect the crew and spacecraft when they return to Earth from deep space missions. The test capsule, coupled with the heat shield from Orion's first spaceflight, will swung like a pendulum into Langley's 20-foot-deep basin. Inside the capsule were two test dummies - one representing a 105-pound woman and the other, a 220-pound man -- outfitted in spacesuits equipped with sensors. These sensors will provide critical data that will help us understand the forces crew members could experience when they splash down in the ocean. Water impact testing is helping us evaluate how Orion may behave when landing under its parachutes in different wind conditions and wave heights.
Credit: NASA
Fire and smoke! This 7.5-minute hot-fire test of an RS-25 is part of a series of tests designed to put the upgraded former space shuttle engines through the rigorous temperature and pressure conditions they will experience during a launch. Four of these engines will provide our Space Launch System core stage rocket and carry the Orion spacecraft to deep space destinations.
The tests also support the development of a new controller, or “brain” for the engine, which monitors status and communicates between the rocket and the engine. This is all part of our ambitious journey to send humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s.
@nasastennis
Credit: NASA
#NASAMarsDay #NASA #Space #Rocket #JourneyToMars
How cute is this little jetsetter Angela? She's on her way from Rome to Ibiza ✈️ This is one of our favourite #ryanairstories yet! 💙💛⛅️✈️💙💛 🇮🇹Ma quanto carino è questo piccolo Jetsetter Angela? Questa è una delle nostre #ryanairstories preferite! #ryanairstories #Ryanair #travel #loveeurope #travelling #avgeeks #aviation #travelgram
"Aurora waves goodbye and lets the stars take center stage. Good night from @ISS," wrote Jeff Williams aboard the International Space Station. Aurora yields to the stars in this time-lapse video.
Auroras are a space weather phenomenon that occur when electrically-charged electrons and protons collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere. The dancing lights of the aurora provide a spectacular show for those on the ground, but also capture the imaginations of scientists who study the aurora and the complex processes that create them.
Singing in the rain? Not on the sun you wouldn't. Solar material cascades down to the solar surface in great loops, a flare-driven event called post-flare loops or coronal rain. This material is plasma, a gas in which positively and negatively charged particles have separated, forming a superhot mix that follows paths guided by complex magnetic forces in the sun's atmosphere. As the plasma falls down, it rapidly cools – from millions down to a few tens of thousands of kelvins. The corona is much hotter than the sun’s surface; the details of how this happens is a mystery that scientists continue to puzzle out. Bright pixels that appear at the end of the video aren’t caused by the solar flare, but occur when high-energy particles bombard IRIS’s charge-coupled device camera – an instrument used to detect photons.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; Joy Ng, producer/IRIS/Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory
"Travel across the Bosphorus strait, Istanbul Turkey. Continental boundary between Europe and Asia," wrote astronaut Jeff Williams about this video taken from aboard the International Space Station.
The station serves as the world's leading laboratory for conducting cutting-edge microgravity research, and is the primary platform for technology development and testing in space to enable human and robotic exploration of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including asteroids and Mars.
Wow, stunning aurora captured by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams (@astro_jeffw) aboard the International Space Station (@ISS). Auroras are a space weather phenomenon that occur when electrically-charged electrons and protons collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere. The dancing lights of the aurora provide a spectacular show for those on the ground, but also capture the imaginations of scientists who study the aurora and the complex processes that create them.
We made our very first #ryanairstories video last week, using the footage you sent us! This little clip was the winner of the gopro prize draw... And we have more to give away! For more info, click the link in our bio. Check out our full video at blog.ryanair.com too! 💙💛☁️🌤💛✈️ #travel #Ryanair #travelvideo #video #lakegarda #italy #italia #lombardia #loveeurope #travel #travelling #travelgram #competition #winagopro #gopro #holiday #lake #mondaymotivation
Solar material repeatedly bursts from the sun in this close-up captured on July 9-10, 2016, by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO. The sun is composed of plasma, a gas in which the negative electrons move freely around the positive ions, forming a powerful mix of charged particles. Each burst of plasma licks out from the surface only to withdraw back into the active region – a dance commanded by complex magnetic forces above the sun. SDO captured this video in wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, which are typically invisible to our eyes. The imagery is colorized here in red for easy viewing.
Credits: NASA/SDO/Goddard Space Flight Center/Joy Ng
[Artist Concept] Vulcan may not be real, but Spock's home system is. It takes a little imagination to wish some favorite fictional universes into existence. But, for legions of "Star Trek" fans, they don't have to wish: one star system really exists in our Milky Way galaxy. In Star Trek lore, Vulcan is the home of logic, learning and the deeply beloved first officer Mr. Spock. While Vulcan is fictional, the star system it belongs to-40 Eridani-is very real. It's located only 16.5 light-years away from Earth and its primary star can be spotted with the naked eye. So how much is science fiction and how much is science fact? "Could there be an Earth-like planet in this system? We have no way of knowing that now," said Karl Stapelfeldt, chief scientist of NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program. So while Vulcan (as far as we know) doesn't exist, a fascinating triple sunset would occur on any rocky planet in the system, because 40 Eridani has three stars that circle each other.
Our sun observing spacecraft took a spin! On July 6, engineers instructed the Solar Dynamics Observatory to roll 360 degrees on one axis. It dutifully performed the seven-hour maneuver, while producing some dizzying data: For this period of time, SDO images - taken every 12 seconds - appeared to show the sun spinning, as if stuck on a pinwheel.
Credits: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO/Joy Ng
Happy anniversary! One year ago today, our New Horizons mission made history by exploring Pluto and its moons - giving humankind our first close-up look at this fascinating world on the frontier of our solar system. Since those amazing days in July 2015, the New Horizons spacecraft has transmitted numerous images and many other kinds of data home for scientists and the public alike to study, analyze, and just plain love. Our view of this cold, previously unexplored world, 4.67 billion miles from Earth, has evolved since its discovery by Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930. These short clips and images are from Tombaugh, Hubble and New Horizons over the years, arranged to illustrate improvements in resolution.
