Saturday, April 05, 2025

¿Qué pasa en el cielo este mes? | NASA/JPL

¿Qué pasa en el cielo este mes? | NASA/JPL

¡Atención, exploradores del cielo! Con brillantes planetas y estrellas fugaces, abril viene cargado de razones para mirar hacia arriba. Durante la noche del 21 y en la madrugada del 22, prepárate para una modesta lluvia de meteoros, las líridas. Se observan mejor desde el hemisferio norte, pero también puedes verlas desde el sur del ecuador.


Créditos: Laboratorio de Propulsión a Chorro (JPL) de la NASA / Preston Dyches
Adaptación al idioma español por el equipo de NASA en español.
Duration: 2 minutes, 47 seconds
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #Meteors #LyridMeteorShower #Moon #Planets #SolarSystem #GlobularClusterM3 #Stars #Constellations #MilkyWayGalaxy #JPL #California #Skywatching #UnitedStates #Canada #Mexico #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 73 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

Expedition 73 Soyuz Rocket Rollout in Kazakhstan | International Space Station

The Soyuz rocket is seen as the service structure is closed around it at the launch pad at Site 31, Saturday, April 5, 2025, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Workers are seen in a gantry around the Soyuz rocket as the service structure is closed around it at the launch pad at Site 31.
The Soyuz rocket is seen at the launch pad at Site 31 after being rolled out by train.
The Soyuz rocket is seen as it is raised into the vertical position at the launch pad.

Expedition 73 crew members: NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritskiy of Russia, are scheduled to launch aboard their Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft on April 8, 2025. They will orbit Earth twice before docking to the Pirs docking compartment just over three hours later. The trio will stay in space for an eight-month research mission.

Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner. Ovchinin and Vagner are Roscosmos cosmonauts. The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, 
Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

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.


Image Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Release Date: April 5, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SoyuzRocket #SoyuzMS27Spacecraft #Союз #BaikonurCosmodrome #Kazakhstan #Cosmonauts #SergeyRyzhikov #AlexeyZubritskiy #Astronaut #JonnyKim #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Russia #Россия #Expedition73 #SpaceLaboratory #STEM #Education

Friday, April 04, 2025

The Framonauts Return Home | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

The Framonauts Return Home | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions for the first time, the Fram2 crew and their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft successfully returned to Earth on Friday, April 4, 2025, splashing down off the coast of California after 9am this morning Pacific Time. This was the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast. The crew members are seen here inside the Dragon spacecraft shortly after landing.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Watch a replay of the landing webcast:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=fram2

The Fram2 Mission crew members were the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.


The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission was named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit.

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: SpaceX/Fram2 Mission
Duration: 10 seconds
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #Antarctica #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #PacificOcean #California #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dragon Spacecraft Landing | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Dragon Spacecraft Landing | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX









SpaceX Updates: "Dragon and the Framonauts splashed down off the coast of California earlier today, completing the first human spaceflight mission to explore the Earth’s polar regions! The Framonauts flew aboard Dragon’s 17th human spaceflight mission—with 66 crewmembers now having flown aboard the spacecraft—and became the first Dragon crew to splash down in the Pacific Ocean."

After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions for the first time, Dragon and the Fram2 crew successfully returned to Earth on Friday, April 4, 2025, splashing down off the coast of California after 9am this morning Pacific Time. This was the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Watch a replay of the landing webcast:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=fram2

The Fram2 Mission's crew were the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

After safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit.

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Image Credit: SpaceX/Fram2 Mission
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #Antarctica #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #PacificOcean #California #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education

Hickson 44 Galaxy Group in Leo

Hickson 44 Galaxy Group in Leo

Scanning the skies for galaxies, Canadian astronomer Paul Hickson and colleagues identified some 100 compact groups of galaxies, now appropriately called Hickson Compact Groups. The four prominent galaxies seen in this intriguing telescopic skyscape are one such group, Hickson 44. The galaxy group is about 100 million light-years distant, far beyond the spiky foreground Milky Way stars, toward the constellation Leo. 

The two spiral galaxies in the center of the image are edge-on NGC 3190 with its distinctive, warped dust lanes, and S-shaped NGC 3187. Along with the bright elliptical, NGC 3193 (above and left) they are also known as Arp 316. The spiral toward the lower right corner is NGC 3185, the 4th member of the Hickson group. Like other galaxies in Hickson groups, these show signs of distortion and enhanced star formation, evidence of a gravitational tug of war that will eventually result in galaxy mergers on a cosmic timescale. The merger process is now understood to be a normal part of the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. For scale, NGC 3190 is about 75,000 light-years across at the estimated distance of Hickson 44.


Image Credit & Copyright: Jiang Wu
Jiang's website: https://app.astrobin.com/u/175892800@qq.com#gallery
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #Hickson44 #NGC3190 #NGC3187 #NGC3193 #Arp316 #NGC3185 #GalaxyGroup #Leo #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotographers #JiangWu #Astrophotography #CitizenScience #GSFC #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #APoD

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Splashdown Recovery Test-12

NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Splashdown Recovery Test-12

Preparations for NASA’s next Artemis flight recently took to the seas as a joint NASA and U.S. Navy team, led by NASA's Ground Exploration Systems (EGS), spent a week off the coast of California practicing procedures for recovering the Artemis II spacecraft and crew.

NASA and European Space Agency astronauts took part in practicing Artemis recovery operations during Underway Recovery Test-12 onboard USS Somerset off the coast of California. During the test, NASA and Department of Defense teams practiced recovery procedure validation as NASA plans to send the Artemis II astronauts around the Moon and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. 

The Artemis II test flight will be sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a ten-day journey around the Moon and back.

Artemis II will launch no earlier than April 2026.

Check out more on this year's URT-12: https://go.nasa.gov/4i3fGxv

Check the NASA Artemis II Mission page for updates:

Learn more about NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket: nasa.gov/sls

Follow updates on the Artemis blog: 

Video Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Duration: 44 seconds
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #ESA #Space #Science #Moon #ArtemisProgram #ArtemisII #OrionSpacecraft #CrewedMission #Astronauts #NASASLS #SpaceLaunchSystem #DeepSpace #MoonToMars  #SpaceEngineering #SpaceTechnology #HumanSpaceflight #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #USNavy #DoD #California #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dragon Spacecraft Splashdown | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Dragon Spacecraft Splashdown | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX


After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions for the first time, Dragon and the Fram2 crew successfully returned to Earth on Friday, April 4, 2025, splashing down off the coast of California after 9am this morning Pacific Time. This was the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Watch the live landing webcast (and replay) here:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=fram2

The Fram2 Mission's crew were the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

After safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit.

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 1 minute
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #Antarctica #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #California #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Dragon Spacecraft Deorbit | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Dragon Spacecraft Deorbit | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Commander Chun Wang: "Deorbit, Draco style."

The SpaceX Draco is a hypergolic liquid rocket engine designed and built by SpaceX for use on their Dragon spacecraft.

After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions for the first time, Dragon and the Fram2 crew returned to Earth on Friday, April 4, 2025, splashing down off the coast of California after 9am this morning Pacific Time. This was the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Watch the live landing webcast (and replay) here:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=fram2


The Fram2 Mission's crew were the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

After safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit.

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 30 seconds
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #Antarctica #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Flight Day 4: Ready for Landing | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Flight Day 4: Ready for Landing | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

    

Commander Chun Wang: "I woke up early and watched the launch of Starlink Group 11-13 on YouTube. Shortly after, SpaceX contacted us and informed us that we would be flying over Mongolia during the second stage deorbit burn. We opened the cupola and tried to observe the event, but had no luck. Still, we all enjoyed the view as we flew from the Bay of Bengal all the way to the Arctic."

After nearly four days of flying in a polar orbit to explore the Earth’s polar regions for the first time, Dragon and the Fram2 crew will return to Earth on Friday, April 4, 2025, splashing down at approximately 9:19 a.m. PT off the coast of California. This will be the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast. Falcon 9 launched Fram2 on Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to splashdown. Watch here:

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=fram2

The Fram2 Mission's crew are the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

After safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit. 

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 15 minutes
Release Date: April 4, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #Antarctica #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Preboarding for Spaceflight | Week of April 4, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground: Preboarding for Spaceflight Week of April 4, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexander Zubritsky will lift off aboard the Soyuz MS-27 at 1:47 a.m. on April 8, 2025, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will orbit Earth twice before docking to the Pirs docking compartment just over three hours later. The trio will stay in space for an eight-month research mission.

Less than two weeks after the new crew’s arrival, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit will return to Earth with Expedition 72 Commander Alexey Ovchinin and Flight Engineer Ivan Vagner. Ovchinin and Vagner are Roscosmos cosmonauts. The veteran crewmates will board the Soyuz MS-26 crew ship, undock from the Rassvet module, and parachute to a landing in the steppe of Kazakhstan less than three-and-a-half hours later ending a seven-month mission.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi will take over command of the space station from Ovchinin the day before he leaves with Pettit and Vagner. Expedition 72 will end and Expedition 73 will officially begin the moment the Soyuz MS-26 undocks from Rassvet.

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, 
Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

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.

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


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 35 seconds
Release Date: April 4, 2025


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #JonnyKim #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Florida & Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad Views | Fram2 Mission | SpaceX

Florida & Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad Views | Fram2 Mission | SpaceX

The Fram2 Mission's crew are the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on March 31, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending Fram2's Crew Dragon spacecraft towards a polar orbit.

Mission Objectives

During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. The crew has already taken the first x-ray in space. They will also perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity. Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit. 

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 1 minute, 36 seconds
Release Date: April 3, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Florida #NASAKennedy #KSC #Arctic #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Thursday, April 03, 2025

Flight Day 3: Arctic Views | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

Flight Day 3: Arctic Views | Fram2 Mission to Earth's Polar Regions | SpaceX

The Fram2 Mission's crew are the first humans to view the Earth’s polar regions from space.

Mission Objectives

During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. The crew has already taken the first x-ray in space. They will also perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity. Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

The Crew
This is the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang 
(Malta), Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen (Norway), Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge (Germany), plus Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips (Australia).

The Fram2 Mission is named in honor of Fram "Forward", the first exploration ship to complete voyages to the Arctic and Antarctica between 1893 and 1912. Framonaut Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway carried a small piece of that ship to orbit. 

Learn more about the Fram2 Mission and its crew: 

Video Credit: Fram2 Mission
Duration: 3 minutes, 30 seconds
Release Date: April 3, 2025

#NASA #SpaceX #Space #Science #Planet #Earth #Fram2 #Arctic #PolarOrbit #CrewDragonSpacecraft #SpaceTechnology #Astronauts #ChunWang #JannickeMikkelsen #RabeaRogge #EricPhilips #HumanSpaceflight #CommercialSpace #UnitedStates #Germany #Deutschland #Norway #Norge #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Lightning over Amazon Rain Forest: Orbital view | International Space Station

Lightning over Amazon Rain Forest: Orbital view | International Space Station


Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "OK, this is kind of out there and caters to your inner Uber-Geek. Nadir view of Transient Luminous Events (TLE ) or upper atmospheric lightning. This clip real time is about 6 seconds over the Amazon basin and shows a number of TLE displays from Sprites to blue jets from a downward looking view."

The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, as well as the territory of French Guiana. Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia. With a 5.5 million km2 (2.1 million sq mi) area of dense tropical forest, it is the largest rainforest in the world.

NASA Astronaut Donald R. Pettit Biography:

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, 
Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

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.

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


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 33 seconds
Release Date: March 27, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Atmosphere #Weather #TransientLuminousEvents #Lightning #Sprites #Brazil #Brasil #Amazon #AmazonRainForest #Amazonia #Astronauts #DonPettit #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Enjoying Morning Coffee in a Zero-G Cup | International Space Station

Enjoying Morning Coffee in a Zero-G Cup | International Space Station

Expedition 72 flight engineer and NASA astronaut Don Pettit: "Having a sip O’joe in the morning; nothing beats the zero-g cup for morning coffee."

The Capillary Cup is a zero-gravity cup designed by NASA astronaut Donald Pettit on the International Space Station. The product is an open drinking cup for a microgravity environment, developed from Pettit’s desire to drink water without a bag and straw in space.


NASA Astronaut Donald R. Pettit Biography:

Expedition 72 Updates:

Expedition 72 Crew
Station Commander: Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (Russia)
Roscosmos (Russia) Flight Engineers: Ivan Vagner, Kirill Peskov
NASA Flight Engineers: Don Pettit, 
Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers 
JAXA Flight Engineer: Takuya Onishi

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.

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


Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 26 seconds
Release Date: March 27, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Astronauts #Coffee #ZeroGCup #DonPettit #AnnMcClain #NicholeAyers #TakuyaOnishi #Japan #日本 #JAXA #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Martian Dust Devil "Eats" Another | NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover

Martian Dust Devil "Eats" Another NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover

A Martian dust devil can be seen consuming its smaller friend in this short video made of images taken at the rim of Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on Jan. 25, 2025. 

The six-wheeled explorer recently captured several Red Planet mini-twisters spinning on the rim of Jezero Crater.

A Martian dust devil can be seen consuming a smaller one in this short video made of images taken by a navigation camera aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. These swirling, sometimes towering columns of air and dust are common on Mars. The smaller dust devil’s demise was captured during an imaging experiment conducted by Perseverance’s science team to better understand the forces at play in the Martian atmosphere.

When the rover snapped these images from about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) away, the larger dust devil was approximately 210 feet (65 meters) wide, while the smaller, trailing dust devil was roughly 16 feet (5 meters) wide. Two other dust devils can also be seen in the background at left and center. Perseverance recorded the scene Jan. 25, 2025, as it explored the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater at a location called “Witch Hazel Hill.”

“Convective vortices—aka dust devils—can be rather fiendish,” said Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area. If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker.”

While exploring the rim of Jezero Crater on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover captured new images of multiple dust devils in January 2025. These captivating phenomena have been documented for decades by the agency’s Red Planet robotic explorers.

Science of Whirlwinds

Dust devils are formed by rising and rotating columns of warm air. Air near the planet’s surface becomes heated by contact with the warmer ground and rises through the denser, cooler air above. As other air moves along the surface to take the place of the rising warmer air, it begins to rotate. When the incoming air rises into the column, it picks up speed like a spinning ice skater bringing their arms closer to their body. The air rushing in also picks up dust, and a dust devil is born.

Grainy black and white close-up of a Martian surface showing a bright, dusty disturbance. The image captures a dust devil on the rocky terrain.

“Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns,” said Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “Dust devil study is important because these phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing wind directions and speed, and are responsible for about half the dust in the Martian atmosphere.”

Since landing in 2021, Perseverance has imaged whirlwinds on many occasions, including one on Sept. 27, 2021, where a swarm of dust devils danced across the floor of Jezero Crater and the rover used its SuperCam microphone to record the first sounds of a Martian dust devil.

NASA’s Viking orbiters, in the 1970s, were the first spacecraft to photograph Martian dust devils. Two decades later, the agency’s Pathfinder mission was the first to image one from the surface and even detected a dust devil passing over the lander. Twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity managed to capture their fair share of dusty whirlwinds. Curiosity, which is exploring a location called Mount Sharp in Gale Crater on the opposite side of the Red Planet as Perseverance, sees them as well.

Capturing a dust devil image or video with a spacecraft takes some luck. Scientists cannot predict when they will appear, so Perseverance routinely monitors in all directions for them. When scientists see them occur more frequently at a specific time of day or approach from a certain direction, they use that information to focus their monitoring to try to catch additional whirlwinds.

“If you feel bad for the little devil in our latest video, it may give you some solace to know the larger perpetrator most likely met its own end a few minutes later,” said Lemmon. “Dust devils on Mars only last about 10 minutes.”

More About Perseverance

A key objective of Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including caching samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet and as the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith.

NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with European Space Agency (ESA), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. This includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed for the agency by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.


Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / LANL / CNES / CNRS / INTA-CSIC / Space Science Institute / ISAE-Supaero / University of Arizona
Release Date: April 3, 2025

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NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Dust Devils Whirling Across Mars | JPL

NASA's Perseverance Rover Captures Dust Devils Whirling Across Mars | JPL

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured new images of multiple dust devils while exploring the rim of Jezero Crater on Mars. The largest dust devil was approximately 210 feet wide (65 meters). In this Mars Report, atmospheric scientist Priya Patel explains what dust devils can teach us about weather conditions on the Red Planet. 

NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in 2021 with a key objective to collect and cache samples that may contain signs of ancient microbial life. 

Celebrating 4+ Years on Mars
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 return to Earth.
Launch: July 30, 2020    
Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

For more about Perseverance, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/


Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/INTA-CSIC/Space Science Institute/ISAE-Supaero/University of Arizona
Duration: 1 minute, 24 seconds
Release Date: April 3, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Meteorology #Weather #DustDevil #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education #HD #Video