NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Preparing for Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 Preparing for Launch | International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 members astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 members cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia and NASA astronaut Nick Hague

SpaceX Crew-9 pilot & commander Nick Hague

SpaceX Crew-9 mission specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew members Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia smile for a photo ahead of their launch

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew members Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are pictured completing their training before their mission to the International Space Station

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew members Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov focus on final preparations for launch aboard Dragon during training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California

NASA astronaut Nick Hague (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia pose inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew members Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia are preparing for launch to the International Space Station where they will join Expedition 72. This trip will mark Hague's second visit to the orbiting laboratory and Gorbunov's first. NASA and SpaceX teams have adjusted the next launch opportunity for the Crew-9 Mission to no earlier than 1:17pm ET, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral. This is due to tropical storm conditions in the area.

Gorbunov was born in Zheleznogorsk, Kursk region, Russia. He studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operation and repair of aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. Before being selected as a cosmonaut in 2018, he worked as an engineer for Rocket Space Corporation Energia and supported cargo spacecraft launches from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

For more on Crew-9, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-spacex-crew-9/

Note: Two original SpaceX Crew-9 Mission members, specialist Stephanie Wilson and commander Zena Cardman will have their flights rescheduled due to the need for Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to remain aborad the space station much longer than planned.

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

This is the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It works with the American aerospace industry to meet the goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

More information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Expedition 72 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 72 Crew

Station Commander: Suni Williams

Roscosmos (Russia): Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner 

NASA: Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett/SpaceX

Image Dates: Jan. 14, 2024 - Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #SpaceXCrew9 #SpaceX #CrewDragonSpacecraft #Falcon9Rocket #Astronaut #NickHague #JSC #Cosmonaut #AleksandrGorbunov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #CCP #Expedition72 #California #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Chile

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Chile

Astrophotographer Yuri Beletsky: "I captured this image this morning at 09:22 UTC from Carnegie Las Campanas observatory in the Atacama desert in Chile. The view was absolutely spectacular! The clouds were constantly moving just above the horizon, but we got really lucky when the comet suddenly appeared just above the layer of clouds. I used a Nikon D810a camera + 135mm lens. This is a stack of 15 x 5 sec exposures."

C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) is a comet from the solar system's Oort cloud discovered by the Purple Mountain Observatory east of Nanjing, China, on January 9, 2023, and independently found by the automated Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in South Africa on February 22, 2023. ATLAS is funded by NASA's planetary defense office, and developed and operated by the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. C/2023 A3 will pass perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) at a distance of 0.39 AU (58 million km; 36 million miles) on September 27, 2024. This is when it can be best viewed with the naked eye from the ground on Earth.

The Oort cloud is theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 AU (0.03 to 3.2 light-years). The concept of such a cloud was proposed in 1950 by the Dutch astronomer Jan Oort, in whose honor the idea was named. Oort proposed that the bodies in this cloud replenish and keep constant the number of long-period comets entering the inner Solar System—where they are eventually consumed and destroyed during close approaches to the Sun.

Las Campanas Observatory

https://www.lco.cl

Image Credit: Yuri Beletsky

Yuri's website: 

https://www.instagram.com/yuribeletsky/

Location: Las Campanas Observatory, Chile

Image Date: Sept. 24, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planet #Earth #Comets #CometTsuchinshanATLAS #C2023A3 #OortCloud #SolarSystem #Astrophotography #Astrophotographer #YuriBeletsky #LasCampanasObservatory #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #China #中国 #SouthAfrica

#STEM #Education

China's Smart Dragon-3 Rocket Successfully Launches 8 Satellites by Sea

China's Smart Dragon-3 Rocket Successfully Launches 8 Satellites by Sea

 China successfully launched a Smart Dragon-3 (Jielong-3) 4-stage solid-fueled carrier rocket from the waters near the city of Haiyang in east China's Shandong Province at 10:31am Beijing time on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, placing eight satellites into their designated orbits. The commercial rocket carried satellites, including Tianyi-41, Xing Shi Dai-15/21/22, YuXing-2-05, Fudan-1, Tianyan-15, and Jitianxing A-01.

This launch marks the 4th flight mission for the Smart Dragon-3 carrier rocket series. The Smart Dragon-3 rocket was developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT).

The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, headquartered inland in north China's Shanxi province, carried out this offshore launch.

Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 19 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 24, 2024

#NASA #Space #Satellites #Earth #China #中国 #SmartDragon3Rocket #Jielong3Rocket #捷龙三号运载火箭 #SD3Rocket #SolidFueledRocket #SeaLaunch #RocketLaunch #CALT #CASC #Spaceflight #SpaceTechnology #CommercialSpace #TSLC #Haiyang #Shandong #STEM #Education #HD #Video

The Veil Nebula | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

The Veil Nebula | Hubble’s Inside the Image | NASA Goddard

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured a breathtaking image of the Veil Nebula, a remnant of a supernova explosion that showcases delicate, wispy filaments of ionized gas.

In this video, Dr. Ken Carpenter delves into the stunning details of the Veil Nebula and explains how Hubble's observations shed light on the complex processes involved in the aftermath of a star's explosive death. 

The Veil Nebula lies around 2,100 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus (The Swan), making it a relatively close neighbor in astronomical terms.

The Veil Nebula is the visible portion of the nearby Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant formed roughly 10,000 years ago by the death of a massive star. The Veil Nebula’s progenitor star—20 times the mass of the Sun—lived fast and died young, ending its life in a cataclysmic release of energy. Despite this stellar violence, the shockwaves and debris from the supernova sculpted the Veil Nebula’s delicate tracery of ionized gas—creating a scene of surprising astronomical beauty.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center 

Producer, Director & Editor: James Leigh

Director of Photography: James Ball

Executive Producers: James Leigh & Matthew Duncan

Production & Post: Origin Films 

Duration: 3 minutes, 26 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 24, 2024

#NASA #ESA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Hubble #Nebula #VeilNebula #SupernovaRemnant #Cygnus #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #WFC3 #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Ten Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission | NASA Goddard

Ten Years at Mars with NASA’s MAVEN Mission | NASA Goddard

On September 21, 2014, NASA’s Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft entered orbit around Mars, beginning its ongoing exploration of the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has produced a wealth of data about how Mars’     atmosphere responds to the Sun and solar wind, and how these interactions can explain the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Now, as MAVEN continues its mission, we can look back on the remarkable discoveries of its first ten years at Mars.

In celebration of this mission milestone, we recap examples of the most significant scientific results of this unique and long-lasting Mars aeronomy mission:

Extreme atmospheric erosion

One of MAVEN’s first big results was discovering that the erosion of Mars’ atmosphere increases significantly during solar storms. The team studied how the solar wind—a stream of charged particles continually streaming from the Sun—and solar storms continually strip away Mars’ atmosphere, and how this process played a key role in altering the Martian climate from a potentially habitable planet to today’s cold, arid planet.

Sputtering to space 

To better understand how Mars lost much of its atmosphere, MAVEN measured isotopes of argon gas in the upper Martian atmosphere. Argon is a noble gas, meaning it rarely reacts with other constituents in the Martian atmosphere. The only way it can be removed is by atmospheric sputtering—a process where ions crash into the Martian atmosphere at high enough speeds that they knock gas molecules out of the atmosphere. When the MAVEN team analyzed argon isotopes in the upper atmosphere, they were able to estimate that roughly 65% of the argon originally present had been lost through sputtering over the planet’s history.

A new type of aurora

MAVEN has discovered several types of auroras that flare up when energetic particles plunge into the atmosphere, bombarding gases and making them glow. The MAVEN team showed that protons, rather than electrons, create auroras at Mars. On Earth, proton auroras only occur in very small regions near the poles, whereas at Mars they can happen everywhere.

Martian dust storm

In 2018, a runaway series of dust storms created a dust cloud so large that it enveloped the planet. The MAVEN team studied how this “global” dust storm affected Mars’ upper atmosphere to understand how these events affect how the escape of water to space. It confirmed that heating from dust storms can loft water molecules far higher into the atmosphere than usual, leading to a sudden surge in water lost to space.

Map of Martian winds

MAVEN researchers created the first map of wind circulation in the upper atmosphere of Mars. The new map is helping scientists better understand the Martian climate, including how terrain on the planet’s surface is disturbing high-altitude wind currents. The results provide insight into how the dynamics of the upper Martian atmosphere have influenced the Red Planet’s climate evolution in the past and present.

Twisted tail

Mars has an invisible magnetic “tail” that is twisted by its interaction with the solar wind. Although models predicted that magnetic reconnection causes Mars’ magnetotail to twist, it wasn’t until MAVEN arrived that scientists could confirm that the predictions were correct. The process that creates the twisted tail could also allow some of Mars’ already thin atmosphere to escape to space.

Mapping electric currents

Researchers used MAVEN data to create a map of electric current systems in the Martian atmosphere. These form when solar wind ions and electrons smash into the planet’s induced magnetic field, causing the particles to flow apart. The resulting electric currents, which drape around the planet, play a fundamental role in the atmospheric loss that transformed Mars from a world that could have supported life to an inhospitable desert.

Disappearing solar wind

MAVEN recently observed the unexpected “disappearance” of the solar wind. This was caused by a type of solar event so powerful that it created a void in its wake as it traveled across the solar system. MAVEN’s measurements showed that when it reached Mars, the solar wind density dropped significantly. This disappearance of the solar wind allowed the Martian atmosphere and magnetosphere to balloon out by thousands of kilometers.

Ultraviolet views of the Red Planet

MAVEN captured stunning views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points along the Red Planet’s orbit around the Sun. By viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths, scientists gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways.

MAVEN’s principal investigator is based at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder. LASP is also responsible for managing science operations and public outreach and communications. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN mission. Lockheed Martin Space built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California provides navigation and Deep Space Network support.

Learn more about MAVEN:

https://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/maven/

Video Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Duration: 6 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Star #Sun #SolarMax #Planet #Mars #Atmosphere #Ultraviolet #UV #Radiation #MAVENMission #MAVENSpacecraft #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #GSFC #LASP #CUBoulder #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

BBC Star Diary: Catch Sight of Saturn’s Moon Titan | September 23-29, 2024

BBC Star Diary: Catch Sight of Saturn’s Moon Titan | September 23-29, 2024

The ringed planet’s moon will be visible just above the northern pole, and a telescope should be able to pick out six other moons. Find out how you can see them for yourself, as well as all the latest stargazing highlights, in this week’s Star Diary podcast, from the makers of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. 

Observe Saturn’s moons: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-observe-saturn-moons

Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Duration: 12 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 22, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #Supermoon #Moon #Planets #Saturn #Titan #SolarSystem #Stars #Constellations #StarClusters #MilkyWayGalaxy #Universe #Skywatching #BBC #UK #Britain #Europe #UnitedStates #Canada #NorthernHemisphere #STEM #Education #Podcast #HD #Video

Pan of Spiral Galaxy IC 1954 in Horologium | Hubble Space Telescope

Pan of Spiral Galaxy IC 1954 in Horologium | Hubble Space Telescope

The spiral galaxy IC 1954, located 45 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Horologium, is the star of this new picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. It sports a glowing bar in its core, two main majestically winding spiral arms and clouds of dark dust across it. An image of this galaxy was previously released in 2021. This image now includes H-alpha data. The improved coverage of star-forming nebulae, prominent emitters of the red H-alpha light, can be seen in the numerous glowing, pink spots across the disc of the galaxy. Interestingly, astronomers posit that the galaxy’s ‘bar’ is actually an energetic star-forming region that just happens to lie over the galactic center.

The new data featured in this image come from a program to extend the cooperation between observatories: Hubble, the infrared James Webb Space Telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a ground-based radio telescope. By surveying IC 1954 and over fifty other nearby galaxies in radio, infrared, optical, and ultraviolet light, astronomers aim to fully trace and reconstruct the path matter takes through stars and the interstellar gas and dust in each galaxy. Hubble’s observing capabilities form an important part of this survey: it can capture younger stars and star clusters when they are brightest at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths, and its H-alpha filter effectively tracks emission from nebulae. The resulting dataset will a valuable resource for research on the evolution of stars in galaxies. 

Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen tilted diagonally. It has two large, curling arms that extend from the center and wrap around. The arms are followed by thick strands of dark reddish dust. The arms and rest of the galaxy’s disc are speckled with glowing patches; a number are blue in color, others are pink, showing gas illuminated by new stars. A faint glow surrounds the galaxy. It lies on a dark, nearly empty background.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Hubble)

Duration: 30 seconds

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #IC1954 #Horologium #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Expedition 71 Soyuz MS-25 Crew Landing in Kazakhstan

Expedition 71 Soyuz MS-25 Crew Landing in Kazakhstan

The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft is seen as it lands in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan with Expedition 71 NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko of Russia, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.

Russian Search and Rescue teams arrive at the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft shortly after it landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. 

At 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time), Sept. 23, 2024, the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 184 days in space, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, 2024, and arrived at the International Space Station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Russia, and cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, returned after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her third spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and returned with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record of 1,111 days in orbit, along with Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Capture Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Kazakhstan #SoyuzSpacecraft #SoyuzMS25 #Astronaut #TracyDyson #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

Post-Soyuz Landing: NASA Astronaut Dyson, Cosmonauts Kononenko & Chub

Post-Soyuz Landing: NASA Astronaut Dyson, Cosmonauts Kononenko & Chub

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is seen smiling and holding a gifted matryoshka doll outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft after she landed with Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. 

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is helped out of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft just minutes after landing.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is seen outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft talking with friends and family via satellite phone after landing.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is seen outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft after landing.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Nikolai Chub of Russia is seen smiling and holding a gifted matryoshka doll is seen outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft after landing.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Nikolai Chub of Russia is seen outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft after landing.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is seen outside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft after landing.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko is helped out of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft just minutes after landing.

At 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time), Sept. 23, 2024, the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 184 days in space, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, 2024, and arrived at the International Space Station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Russia, and cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, returned after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her third spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and returned with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record of 1,111 days in orbit, along with Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Capture Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Kazakhstan #SoyuzSpacecraft #SoyuzMS25 #Astronaut #TracyDyson #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

Spiral Galaxy IC 1954 in Horologium: New View | Hubble Space Telescope

Spiral Galaxy IC 1954 in Horologium: New View | Hubble Space Telescope

The spiral galaxy IC 1954, located 45 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Horologium, is the star of this new picture from the Hubble Space Telescope. It sports a glowing bar in its core, two main majestically winding spiral arms and clouds of dark dust across it. An image of this galaxy was previously released in 2021. This image now includes H-alpha data. The improved coverage of star-forming nebulae, prominent emitters of the red H-alpha light, can be seen in the numerous glowing, pink spots across the disc of the galaxy. Interestingly, astronomers posit that the galaxy’s ‘bar’ is actually an energetic star-forming region that just happens to lie over the galactic center.

The new data featured in this image come from a program to extend the cooperation between observatories: Hubble, the infrared James Webb Space Telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, a ground-based radio telescope. By surveying IC 1954 and over fifty other nearby galaxies in radio, infrared, optical, and ultraviolet light, astronomers aim to fully trace and reconstruct the path matter takes through stars and the interstellar gas and dust in each galaxy. Hubble’s observing capabilities form an important part of this survey: it can capture younger stars and star clusters when they are brightest at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths, and its H-alpha filter effectively tracks emission from nebulae. The resulting dataset will a valuable resource for research on the evolution of stars in galaxies. 

Image Description: A spiral galaxy seen tilted diagonally. It has two large, curling arms that extend from the center and wrap around. The arms are followed by thick strands of dark reddish dust. The arms and rest of the galaxy’s disc are speckled with glowing patches; a number are blue in color, others are pink, showing gas illuminated by new stars. A faint glow surrounds the galaxy. It lies on a dark, nearly empty background.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker, J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxies #IC1954 #Horologium #Constellation #Cosmos #Universe #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #Europe #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

US Astronaut & Russian Crewmates Return from International Space Station

US Astronaut & Russian Crewmates Return from International Space Station

Landing Highlights: NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on Sept. 23, 2024, completing long-duration missions on the International Space Station. Following hatch closure, the spacecraft undocked from the station’s Prichal module, returning to Earth a few hours later for a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. During her mission, Dyson spent 184 days in space living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions as part of NASA’s Moon and Mars exploration approach, including lunar missions through NASA’s Artemis program. Kononenko and Chub landed after spending a record-breaking 374 days in space.

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Video Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 

Duration: 20 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Kazakhstan #SoyuzSpacecraft #SoyuzMS25 #Astronaut #TracyDyson #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronaut Dyson, Cosmonauts Kononenko & Chub Return to Earth

NASA Astronaut Dyson, Cosmonauts Kononenko & Chub Return to Earth

At 7:59 a.m. EDT (4:59 p.m. Kazakhstan time), Sept. 23, 2024, the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft made a parachute-assisted landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan, southeast of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Spanning 184 days in space, NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson’s mission includes covering 2,944 orbits of the Earth and a journey of 78 million miles. The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft launched March 23, 2024, and arrived at the International Space Station March 25, with Dyson, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of Russia, and cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus. Novitskiy and Vasilevskaya were aboard the station for 12 days before returning home with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara on April 6.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, who launched with O’Hara to the station on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft last September, returned after 374 days in space and a trip of 158.6 million miles, spanning 5,984 orbits.

Dyson spent her third spaceflight aboard the station as an Expedition 70 and 71 flight engineer, and returned with Kononenko, completing his fifth flight into space and accruing an all-time record 1,111 days in orbit, and Chub, who completed his first spaceflight.

The three crew members will fly on a helicopter from the landing site to the recovery staging city of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Dyson will board a NASA plane and return to Houston, while Kononenko and Chub will depart for a training base in Star City, Russia.

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Duration: 37 seconds

Capture Date: Sept. 23, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #SoyuzSpacecraft #SoyuzMS25 #Astronaut #TracyDyson #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Soyuz MS-25 Crew Prepares for Departure | International Space Station

Soyuz MS-25 Crew Prepares for Departure | International Space Station

Soyuz MS-25 crewmembers (from left to right): NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson and Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick: "Took this picture shortly after the new Soyuz arrived last week just to show the effect of six months of space environment on the exterior the Soyuz."

Image details: 28mm, ISO 500, f16, 1/400s

Two Roscosmos (Russian) crew ships, the Soyuz MS-26 docked to the Rassvet module (foreground) and the Soyuz MS-25 (background) docked to the Prichal docking module, are pictured parked at the International Space Station as it orbited 257 miles above the Atlantic Ocean near Brazil's Amazon Delta.

Two Roscosmos (Russian) crew ships, the Soyuz MS-26 docked to the Rassvet module (foreground) and the Soyuz MS-25 (background) docked to the Prichal docking module, are pictured parked at the International Space Station as it orbited 258 miles above Sudan near the Nile River on the African continent.

NASA astronaut Tracy C. Dyson is now completing a six-month mission, while Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub of Russia are wrapping up just over a year in low-Earth orbit at the International Space Station.  The Earth-bound trio is scheduled to depart the orbital lab inside the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft at 4:47 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. At that time, Expedition 71 will end and Expedition 72 will officially be under way. The crew inside the Soyuz will parachute to a landing just over three hours later in Kazakhstan. 

Expedition 71/72 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner 

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit

For more info: www.nasa.gov/station

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

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)/M. Dominick

Image Dates: Sept. 15-16, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #SoyuzSpacecraft #SoyuzMS25 #Astronaut #TracyDyson #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #Expedition72 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education

China's Chang'e-6 Lunar Sample Return Mission: The Documentary

China's Chang'e-6 Lunar Sample Return Mission: The Documentary

"Back to the Far Side" presents humanity's quest to unlock the mysteries of the Moon. This documentary, presented by CGTN and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), chronicles the groundbreaking Chang'e-6 mission—the first to return samples from the Moon's far side. "Weaving together myth, science and international collaboration, it captures the dreams, struggles and triumphs of the teams united by a common goal. It is a testament to human ingenuity and a call for unity in deep-space exploration."

The Chang'e-6 probe was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. It touched down on the far side of the Moon on June 2. During its two-day stay, Chang'e-6 used a scoop and drill, collecting nearly 2 kilograms of lunar material. On June 25, its returner brought back the samples and made a landing in north China.

The mission carried scientific payloads from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan, including the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana).

Chang'e-6 successfully deployed Pakistan's ICUBE-Q satellite, releasing it into lunar orbit on May 8, 2024. The 15.4-pound (7 kilogram) small satellite captured images of the Moon and Sun and collected magnetic field data.

Video Credit: CGTN

Duration: 51 minutes

Release Date: Sept. 22, 2024

#NASA #CNSA #ESA #Space #Astronomy #Science #China #中国 #Moon #Change6 #嫦娥六号 #LunarSampleReturn #Geology #FarSide #SouthPole #SpaceTechnology #SpaceExploration #CLEP #InternationalCooperation #France #CNES #Italy #ASI #Sweden #STEM #Education #History #HD #Video

Change of Command Ceremony | International Space Station

Change of Command Ceremony | International Space Station

Aboard the International Space Station, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko of Russia handed over command of the space station to NASA astronaut Suni Williams during a change of command ceremony September 22, 2024. Kononenko is completing a year-long mission on the station while Williams is in the midst of a long-duration mission living and working aboard the microgravity laboratory to advance scientific knowledge and demonstrate new technologies for future human and robotic exploration missions. Kononenko has broken the record for the longest continuous mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), having spent more than a year in orbit, along with his crewmate cosmonaut Nikolai Chub.

Expedition 71/72 Updates:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/

Expedition 71 Crew

Station Commander: Oleg Kononenko (Russia)

Roscosmos (Russia): Nikolai Chub, Alexander Grebenkin, Alexey Ovchinin, Ivan Vagner 

NASA: Tracy Dyson, Matthew Dominick, Mike Barrett, Jeanette Epps, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, Don Pettit

For more info: www.nasa.gov/station

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

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. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

Video Credit: NASA

Duration: 4 minutes, 27 seconds

Capture Date: Sept. 22, 2024

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #Astronauts #SunitaWilliams #UnitedStates #Cosmonauts #OlegKononenko #NikolaiChub #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #Expedition71 #Expedition71 #HumanSpaceflight #InternationalCooperation #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Shenzhou-18 Crew: Maintenance, Training & Photography | China Space Station

Shenzhou-18 Crew: Maintenance, Training & Photography | China Space Station

The Shenzhou-18 crew members on board China's orbiting Tiangong space station has been diligently carrying out a range of tasks, including routine maintenance, training exercises, and capturing panoramic images of the station's interior, as shown in videos released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.

Approximately 400 kilometers above the Earth, the crew conducted routine inspections, maintenance, and storage configuration of the Feitian extravehicular spacesuits within the space station last week. These spacesuits are crucial for astronauts during spacewalks, serving as individual life support systems and miniature spacecraft, providing life support and operational capabilities.

The Chinese Space Station currently houses three extravehicular spacesuits. These have successfully supported the crew in completing two spacewalks during this mission.

In addition to equipment maintenance, the crew participated in in-cabin spacesuit donning and doffing training. This is essential for maintaining operational skills and further enhancing the crew's emergency response speed and dexterity in a zero-gravity environment. Data collected from these drills will contribute to the development of emergency evacuation plans.

The astronauts also conducted panoramic imaging and 3D scanning of the space station's interior, providing ground-based researchers with vital data to understand the cabin environment and create 3D models.

In the images, astronaut Li Guangsu, following ground instructions, opened the inner cabin door and worked closely with astronaut Ye Guangfu to capture images and scan the cargo airlock with specialized equipment.

Launched on April 25, 2024, the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft carries three astronauts—Ye Guangfu, Li Cong, and Li Guangsu—on a mission designed to last six months, continuing China's advancements in human space exploration.

Shenzhou-18 Crew:

Ye Guangfu (叶光富, commander)

Li Cong (李聪, mission specialist)

Li Guangsu (李广苏, mission specialist)

Video Credit: CCTV

Duration: 1 minute

Release Date: Sept. 22, 2024

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou18 #神舟十八 #MicrogravityExperiments #MicrogravityResearch #AstronautTraining #Taikonauts #Astronauts #Spacesuits #YeGuangfu #LiCong #LiGuangsu #CSS #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #CMSA #国家航天局 #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video