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June 19 marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of NASA's QuikScat, a satellite sent for a three-year mission in 1999 that continues collecting data. Built in less than 12 months, QuikScat has watched ocean wind patterns for 15 years and improved weather forecasting worldwide. Despite a partial instrument failure in 2009, it provides calibration data to international partners. This false-color image is based entirely on SeaWinds measurements from QuikScat obtained over oceans, land, and polar regions. Over the ocean, colors indicate wind speed with orange as the fastest wind speeds and blue as the slowest. White streamlines indicate the wind direction. The ocean winds in this image were measured by SeaWinds on September 20, 1999. The large storm in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida is Hurricane Gert. Tropical storm Harvey is evident as a high wind region in the Gulf of Mexico, while farther west in the Pacific is tropical storm Hilary. An extensive storm is also present in the South Atlantic Ocean near Antarctica. The land image was made from four days of SeaWinds data with the aid of a resolution enhancement algorithm developed by Dr. David Long at Brigham Young University. The lightest green areas correspond to the highest radar backscatter. Note the bright Amazon and Congo rainforests compared to the dark Sahara desert. The Amazon River is visible as a dark line running horizontally though the bright South American rain forest. Cities appear as bright spots on the images, especially in the U.S. and Europe. The image of Greenland and the north polar ice cap was generated from data acquired by SeaWinds on a single day. In the polar region portion of the image, white corresponds to the largest radar return, while purple is the lowest. The variations in color in Greenland and the polar ice cap reveal information about the ice and snow conditions present. Image Credit: NASA/JPL #nasa #space #quikscat #seawinds #earth #earthscience #ocean #oceandata; -
Wind Tunnel Testing: An aerodynamics team tested a model of the 70-metric-ton Space Launch System (SLS) - our heavy-lift launch vehicle that will carry crew, cargo and science missions into deep space. The model was tested at NASA’s Langley Research Center's Transonic Dynamics Tunnel (TDT) where engineers measured static aerodynamic forces and moments exerted on the SLS vehicle. Wind tunnel testing will help engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama fine tune the performance of the vehicle to better understand how it will fly on the Exploration Mission – 1, which will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system. Image Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman #nasa #sls #orion #larc #msfc #test; -
Sunlight glistens off our home planet: A blue and white part of Earth was photographed by Expedition 40 crew member Reid Wiseman on June 19 aboard the International Space Station. Reid tweeted this image and wrote, "I will never tire of this view." Image Credit: NASA #iss #nasa #exp40 #spacestation #space #earth; -
Dwarf Galaxy Shaped by a Grand Design: The term "dwarf galaxy" may sound diminutive, but don't let that fool you - NGC 5474 contains several billion stars! However, when compared to the Milky Way with its hundreds of billions of stars, NGC 5474 does indeed seem relatively small. The galaxy is located 21 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). NGC 5474 itself is part of the Messier 101 Group. The brightest galaxy within this group is the well-known spiral Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101). This galaxy's prominent, well-defined arms classify it as a "grand design galaxy," along with other spirals Messier 81 and Messier 74. Also within this group are Messier 101's galactic neighbors. It is possible that gravitational interactions with these companion galaxies have had some influence on providing Messier 101 with its striking shape. Similar interactions with Messier 101 may have caused the distortions visible in NGC 5474. Credit: ESA/NASA #hst #hubble #nasa #space #galaxy #astronomy #science; -
Bloom Off the Coast of Iceland: A spring bloom of phytoplankton lingered in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Iceland in early June 2014. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard our Aqua satellite captured this true-color image on June 5. At that time, swirling jewel tones of a vast bloom were visible between banks of white clouds. Phytoplankton blooms around Iceland usually occur in early spring and fall. The spring bloom is driven by longer daylight and the warming of surface layers. Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC #iceland #nasa #atlantic #satellite #clouds #earthrightnow #science;
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Storm Cell Over the Southern Appalachian Mountains: This storm cell photo was taken from our high-altitude ER-2 aircraft on May 23, 2014, during a study aimed at gaining a better understanding of precipitation over mountainous terrain. The Integrated Precipitation and Hydrology Experiment, or IPHEx, field campaign is part of the ground validation effort for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission, an international satellite mission led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. For the six-week IPHEx field campaign over the southern Appalachian mountains, the NASA team and their partners at Duke University and NOAA's Hydrometeorological Test Bed set up ground stations with rain gauges and ground radar throughout western North Carolina. In addition to the ground sites, they also collected data sets from satellites and two aircraft. Image Credit: NASA / Stu Broce #earth #earthrightnow #nasa #mountains #gpm #rain #noaa #duke #jaxa #science; -
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's "Operation Moonwatch" spawned a culture of amateur skywatchers in the 1950s. we have a history of engaging "citizen scientists" to stimulate public participation in observing phenomena, conducting scientific research or collecting data. In that spirit, on June 18, 2013, we announced the Asteroid Grand Challenge to find all asteroid threats to human population and know what to do about them. We're seeking new ways to get the global public involved in protecting the planet from asteroid threats. NASA's Near Earth Object Observation Program estimates that less than 10 percent of objects smaller than 300 meters in diameter and less than 1 percent of objects smaller than 100 meters in diameter have been discovered, and it will take a global effort with innovative solutions to accelerate the completion of the survey of potentially hazardous asteroids. Credit: NASA #tbt #321TechOff #nasa #throwbackthursday #asteroid #nasaasteroid #path2mars; -
They may be little, but they pack a big star-forming punch. New observations from our Hubble Space Telescope show small galaxies, also known as dwarf galaxies, are responsible for forming a large proportion of the universe's stars. Hiding among these thousands of galaxies are faint dwarf galaxies residing in the early universe, between 2 and 6 billion years after the big bang, an important time period when most of the stars in the universe were formed. Some of these galaxies are undergoing starbursts. Starburst galaxies form stars at a furiously fast rate, far above what is considered by experts to be a normal rate of star formation. Image Credit: NASA and ESA #nasa #hst #hubble #space #astronomy #galaxies #stars #bigbang #science; -
NASA engineers recently went on an auricle ride as a 5-percent scale model of the Space Launch System (SLS), including solid rocket motors, was fired -- giving an "earful" of information about how low- and high-frequency sound waves will affect the rocket on the launch pad. The data collected from the tests will be used to help direct and verify the design of the rocket's sound suppression system. When completed, SLS will be capable of taking a crew and cargo on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and eventually Mars. Video credit: NASA/MSFC/David Olive #nasa #sls #path2mars #pathtomars #space #rocket #engines; -
Happy fifth anniversary in space, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter! LRO has continued to shape our view of our nearest celestial neighbor. Its data has shown us the tracks and equipment left behind from the Apollo astronauts, created the most precise map of the lunar surface, discovered the coldest known temperatures in the solar system, mapped the distribution of hydrogen and possibly water mixed in the lunar soil, identified craters and many other exciting science discoveries. From the Moon as Art Campaign, the public was asked to select a favorite orbiter image of the moon and selected this image of Tycho Central Peak. The stunningly beautiful Tycho Central Peak rests inside an impact crater and has a boulder over 100 meters wide (about 328 feet) at its summit. It showcases a breathtaking view of the lunar landscape. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University #nasa #lro #lunar #moon #space #anniversary #moonart #apollo #science #otd;
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Watching the game from 250 miles above the Earth: NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Steve Swanson and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst take a break to watch ten minutes of live World Cup matches between science experiments while living and working aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts have trained for years to work together as a unified crew, but the U.S. astronauts and their German crewmate are feeling a little friendly competition: their home countries will play against each other for a chance to advance out of Group G of the World Cup matches. USA and Germany face off on June 26 at Arena Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil. Image Credit: NASA #worldcup #usa #usmnt #worldcup2014 #space #spacestation #nasa #astronauts #iss #science #esa; -
Spurting Plasma: A stream of plasma burst out from the sun, but since it lacked enough force to break away, most of it fell back into the sun (May 27, 2014). The video, seen in a combination of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, covers a little over two hours. This eruption was minor and such events occur almost every day on the sun and suggest the kind of dynamic activity being driven by powerful magnetic forces near the sun's surface. Image credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory #nasa #sun #solar #sdo #science; -
Cracks in Pluto's Moon Could Indicate it Once Had an Underground Ocean: If the icy surface of Pluto's giant moon Charon is cracked, analysis of the fractures could reveal if its interior was warm, perhaps warm enough to have maintained a subterranean ocean of liquid water, according to a new NASA-funded study. This artist concept shows Pluto and some of its moons, as viewed from the surface of one of the moons. Pluto is the large disk at center. Charon is the smaller disk to the right. Image Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI) #nasa #space #pluto #charon #solarsystem #moon #ice #science; -
Our scientists have created a new recipe that captures key flavors of the brownish-orange atmosphere around Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The recipe is used for lab experiments designed to simulate Titan’s chemistry. With this approach, the team was able to classify a previously unidentified material discovered by our Cassini spacecraft in the moon’s smoggy haze. Now we can say that this material has a strong aromatic character, which helps us understand more about the complex mixture of molecules that makes up Titan’s haze,” said Melissa Trainer, a planetary scientist at @NASAGoddard. This Cassini image from 2012 shows Titan and its parent planet Saturn. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI #titan #saturn #cassini #nasa #planets #moon #solarsystem #space #science; -
In honor of World Cup 2014 in Brazil, we're presenting a graphic showing the relative size of the International Space Station compared to a soccer field, also known as a football field or football pitch. The station, including its large solar arrays, spans nearly the area of the entire field, and weighs 924,739 pounds. The complex now has more livable room than a conventional six-bedroom house, and has two bathrooms, a gymnasium and a 360-degree bay window. Image Credit: NASA #worldcup #worldcup2014 #soccer #stadium #brazuca #adidas #nasa #spacestation #iss;
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