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Testing a prototype lander! The first free flight of a Morpheus prototype lander was conducted Tuesday at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. The 54-second test began with the Morpheus lander launching from the ground over a flame trench and ascending approximately 50 feet, then hovering for about 15 seconds. The lander then flew forward and landed on its pad approximately 23 feet from the launch point. Project Morpheus integrates NASA's automated landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) with an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or "green" propellants, into a fully-operational lander that could deliver cargo to asteroids and other planetary surfaces. CREDIT: NASA #nasa #space #future #morpheus #lander #green #technology #fuel #asteroid #planets; -
There’s a storm a-brewing. This is the latest NASA GOES imagery of the winter storm moving up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. GOES provides nearly continuous imaging and sounding, which allows forecasters to better measure changes in atmospheric temperature and moisture distributions, hence increasing the accuracy of their forecasts. GOES environmental information is used for a host of applications, including weather monitoring and prediction models. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA #nasa #space #weather #storm #goes #snow #winterstorm #winter; -
A Stellar Nursery - Illuminated by the light of nearby stars, the nebula M-78 exhibits a ghostly appearance in this 10-minute exposure taken with a 6" refractor at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia. Located in the constellation of Orion -- some1,600 light years from Earth -- this reflection nebula is known to contain more than 40 very young stars still in the process of formation. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/MEO/Bill Cooke #nasa #space #stars #earth #nebula #observatory #astronomy #stellar; -
This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yellowknife Bay looking toward west-northwest. Curiosity's science team has estimated that the "Cumberland" rock that the rover drilled for a sample of the Sheepbed mudstone deposit (at lower left in this scene) has been exposed at the surface for only about 80 million years. The estimate is based on amounts of certain gases that accumulate in a rock when it is close enough to the surface to be bombarded by cosmic rays. An explanation for that unexpectedly young exposure age comes from improved understanding of how the layers are eroding to expose underlying layers. The explanation proposes that the mudstone is being exposed by abrasion by windblown sand, indicated by arrows. The role for wind is strongly suggested by the undercutting of the Sheepbed layer below the Gillespie Lake sandstone. The pattern here suggests that the Yellowknife Bay outcrop is being exposed by wind-driven scarp retreat -- the sideways erosion of a vertical face. The image has been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS #nasa #space #mars #agu #agu13 #marscuriosity #mastcam #solarsystem #planets; -
The region located between the surface of the sun and its atmosphere has been revealed as a more violent place than previously understood, according to images and data from NASA's newest solar observatory, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS. The fine detail in images of prominences in the sun's atmosphere from IRIS – such as the red swirls shown in this image – are challenging the way scientists understand such events. Solar observatories look at the sun in layers. By capturing light emitted by atoms of different temperatures, they can focus in on different heights above the sun's surface extending well out into the solar atmosphere, the corona. On June 27, 2013, IRIS, was launched, to study what's known as the interface region – a layer between the sun's surface and corona that previously was not well observed. Over its first six months, IRIS has thrilled scientists with detailed images of the interface region, finding even more turbulence and complexity than expected. IRIS scientists presented the mission's early observations at a press conference at the Fall American Geophysical Union meeting on Dec. 9, 2013. Image Credit: NASA/LMSAL/IRIS #nasa #space #sun #iris #agu13 #agu #solarsystem #atoms #solar #imaging #observatory;
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Rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars - This scene shows the "Murray Ridge" portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars. The ridge is the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's work area for the rover's sixth Martian winter. The ridge rises about 130 feet (40 meters) above the surrounding plain, between "Solander Point" at the north end of the ridge and "Cape Tribulation," beyond Murray Ridge to the south. This view does not show the entire ridge. The visible ridge line is about 10 meters (33 feet) above the rover's location when the component images were taken. The rover team chose to call this feature Murray Ridge in tribute to Bruce Murray (1931-2013), an influential advocate for planetary exploration who was a member of the science teams for NASA's earliest missions to Mars and later served as director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena. This view is presented in approximately true color, merging exposures taken through three of the Pancam's color filters, centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU #nasa #space #planets #science #solarsystem #martian #curiosityrover #mars; -
On this date in history, Dec. 7, 1972, the Apollo 17 crew snap this iconic "blue marble" photograph of the Earth. This is the original caption: View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica south polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the south polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the northeast. The mission was the final in a series of three J-type missions planned for the Apollo Program. These J-type missions can be distinguished from previous G- and H-series missions by extended hardware capability, larger scientific payload capacity and by the use of the battery-powered Lunar Roving Vehicle, or LRV. CREDIT: NASA #nasa #space #apollo #apollo17 #anniversary #otd #moon #photography; -
Astronaut Rick Mastracchio (@AstroRM) tweeted this image on Dec. 4 from the #ISS and wrote, “A wider view of New Caledonia with the sun glint you can see the water ways and other features.” Rick is taking photos from the orbiting outpost some 240 miles up circling the Earth every 90 minutes. The International Space Station (ISS) continues the NASA tradition of Earth observation from human-tended spacecraft. Operational since November 2000, the ISS is well suited for documenting Earth features and provides an excellent stage for observing most populated areas of the world. Images coming down from the International Space Station are processed on a daily basis and include over 1.2 million images through Nov. 1, 2013. Image credit: NASA #nasa #space #iss #astronauts #astropix #spacestation #earth #australia #terrain; -
Thinking Inside the Box, Launching into Space – This image is an artist concept of two tiny, cube-shaped research satellites that hitched a ride to Earth orbit to validate new hardware and software technologies for future NASA Earth-observing instruments. The cube satellites, or “CubeSats,” which typically have a volume of exactly 33.814 ounces (1 liter), were launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 11:14 p.m. PST, Dec. 5, from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base as part of the NROL-39 GEMSat mission. These two CubeSats will help enable near-real-time processing capabilities relevant to future climate science measurements. IPEX will demonstrate software that will enable future NASA missions to recognize science events such as flooding, volcanism and wildfires, and respond by sending alerts and autonomously acquiring follow-up imagery,” said Steve Chien of JPL, principal investigator for the IPEX mission. The other CubeSat launched is the Michigan Multipurpose Mini-satellite/CubeSat On-board processing Validation Experiment, or M-Cubed/COVE. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech #nasa #cubesat #space #earth #science #climate #ula #atlas #satellite #ipex #mcube; -
Beginning to build an engineering marvel - Assembly of the International Space Station began 15 years ago on Dec. 6, 1998, when the crew of space shuttle mission STS-88 attached the U.S.-built Unity node and the Russian-built Zarya module together in orbit. The crew carried a large-format IMAX camera, used to take this image of Unity lifted out of Endeavour's payload bay to position it upright for connection to Zarya. Zarya, launched on Nov. 20, 1998, was the first piece of the International Space Station. Also known as the Functional Cargo Block (FGB), it would provide a nucleus of orientation control, communications and electrical power while the station waited for its other elements. Two weeks later, on Dec. 4, 1998, NASA's space shuttle Endeavour launched Unity, the first U.S. piece of the complex, during the STS-88 mission. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #spacestation #anniversary #astronauts #spaceshuttle #unity #zarya;
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In honor of the anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, who passed away today at the age of 95, here is an image of Cape Town, South Africa, from space. This photo was taken on May 9, 2013, by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield while living and working aboard the International Space Station. Hadfield tweeted this image and wrote, “Cape Town, South Africa and the South Atlantic calling to forever.” CREDIT: Chris Hadfield #nasa #space #mandela #nelsonmandela #iss; -
The James Webb Space Telescope 's MIRI Shield Dropping in on Dropping Temperatures - Goddard Technicians Tony Kiem (left) and George Mooney (right) guide the craned structure holding the Webb telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI Shield Environmental Test Unit, into place in a cryogenic (cooling) test chamber. This shield will be used to simulate the MIRI instrument during prelaunch testing to verify that the MIRI cooling system will function properly in space. Goddard Safety Engineer Richard Bowlan watches from above. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST) is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope. The project is working to a 2018 launch date. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way Galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own Solar System. Webb's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range. Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn Caption: NASA/Rob Gutro #nasa #space #webbtelescope #infrared #jwst #universe #telescope #galaxy #planets; -
Orion Heat Shield Transported Aboard Super Guppy Plane: The heat shield for NASA's Orion spacecraft was loaded onto a Super Guppy plane in Manchester, N.H. on Dec. 4, for transport to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heat shield, the largest of its kind ever built, is being unloaded Thursday, Dec. 5, and is scheduled for installation on Orion in March 2014. The heat shield will be used in September 2014 during Exploration Flight Test-1, a two-orbit flight that will take an uncrewed Orion capsule to an altitude of 3,600 miles. The returning capsule is expected to encounter temperatures of almost 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it travels through Earth's atmosphere at up to 20,000 mph, faster than any spacecraft in the last 40 years. Data gathered during the flight will influence decisions about design improvements on the heat shield and other Orion systems, authenticate existing computer models, and innovative new approaches to space systems and development. It also will reduce overall mission risks and costs for future Orion missions, which include exploring an asteroid and Mars. Image credit: NASA #superguppy #bigplane #airplane #aircraft #nasa #space #heatshield #orion #spotorion; -
In Full View: Saturn's Streaming Hexagon - This colorful view from NASA's Cassini mission is the highest-resolution view of the unique six-sided jet stream at Saturn's north pole known as "the hexagon." This movie, made from images obtained by Cassini's imaging cameras, is the first to show the hexagon in color filters, and the first movie to show a complete view from the north pole down to about 70 degrees north latitude. This movie shows a view from directly over the north pole, keeping up with the rotation of the planet so that all the motion seen on the screen is the motion of the hexagonal jet stream or the storms inside of it, without any added motion from the spinning of the planet itself. The original images were re-projected to show this polar view. High-resolution views of the hexagon have only recently become possible because of the changing of the seasons at Saturn and changes in the Cassini spacecraft’s orbit. The north pole was dark when Cassini first arrived in July 2004. The sun really only began to illuminate the entire interior of the hexagon in August 2009, with the start of northern spring. In late 2012, Cassini began making swings over Saturn's poles, giving it better views of the hexagon. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton #nasa #space #solarsystem #saturn #cassini #filters #spacecract; -
Forty years ago, Pioneer 10 made its closest approach to Jupiter. On Dec. 4, 1973, NASA's Pioneer 10 spacecraft sent back images of Jupiter’s ever-increasing size. The most dramatic moment was after closest approach and after the spacecraft was hidden behind Jupiter. Here, images gradually build up into a very distorted crescent-shaped Jupiter. "Sunrise on Jupiter," a team member said. The giant planet crescent gradually decreased in size as the spacecraft sped away out of the Jovian system. Launched on Mar. 2, 1972, Pioneer 10 was the first spacecraft to travel through the asteroid belt, and the first spacecraft to make direct observations and obtain close-up images of Jupiter. Pioneer 10 passed within 81,000 miles of the cloudtops during its closest encounter with Jupiter. This historic event marked humans' first approach to Jupiter and opened the way for exploration of the outer solar system - for Voyager to tour the outer planets, for Ulysses to break out of the ecliptic, for Galileo to investigate Jupiter and its satellites, and for Cassini to go to Saturn and probe Titan. During its Jupiter encounter, Pioneer 10 imaged the planet and its moons, and took measurements of Jupiter's magnetosphere, radiation belts, magnetic field, atmosphere, and interior. These measurements of the intense radiation environment near Jupiter were crucial in designing the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA #nasa #space #jupiter #solarsystem #planets #pinneer10 #anniversary #galileo #voyager #saturn #cassuni #spacecraft;
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