NASA Crew-9 Comes Home to Houston | Johnson Space Center

NASA Crew-9 Comes Home to Houston | Johnson Space Center

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is welcomed home at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is welcomed home

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is welcomed home

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is greeted by Steve Koerner, acting center director, and Norm Knight, acting deputy center director of NASA's Johnson Space Center

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore is welcomed home by fellow NASA astronauts, including Reid Wiseman and Warren "Woody" Hoburg.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia steps off the plane at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas

Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia arrives at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas

Members of the NASA astronaut corps cheer on Crew-9 as they returned to Johnson Space Center's Ellington Field in Houston

Home sweet home! 🏠 Welcome home, Butch, Suni, Nick, & Aleksandr! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 touched down at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas at 11:19 pm CDT, March 18, 2025, after their International Space Station mission and successful splashdown earlier this afternoon.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft landed off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia aboard. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore are returning from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station.

Hague and Gorbunov have been at the International Space Station since Sept. 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore arrived on June 6. This completes a stay in space of 171 days for Hague and Gorbunov and 286 days for Williams and Wilmore.  

On the main deck of the recovery ship, the crew exited their Dragon spacecraft. They underwent medical checks before a short helicopter ride to board a plane for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. These are photos of the plane's arrival at Ellington Field.

Next up will be the arrival of the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to the International Space Station due to launch on April 8, 2025, carrying NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Russia. Kim and Zubritsky will be beginning their first space mission while Ryzhikov will be serving on his third expedition to the orbiting lab.

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/JSC
Capture Date: March 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Crew9 #DragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #NickHague #ButchWilmore #Cosmonaut #AleksandrGorbunov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #EllingtonField #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

Simulation Reveals Spiraling Supermassive Black Holes | NASA Goddard

Simulation Reveals Spiraling Supermassive Black Holes | NASA Goddard

A recent model is bringing scientists a step closer to understanding the kinds of light signals produced when two supermassive black holes, millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, spiral toward a collision. A recent computer simulation fully incorporates the physical effects of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, showing that gas in such systems will glow predominantly in ultraviolet (UV) and X-ray light.

Just about every galaxy the size of our own Milky Way or larger contains a monster black hole at its center. Observations show galaxy mergers occur frequently in the universe, but so far no one has seen a merger of these giant black holes.

This simulation shows three orbits of a pair of supermassive black holes only 40 orbits from merging. The models reveal the light emitted at this stage of the process may be dominated by UV light with some high-energy X-rays, similar to what is seen in any galaxy with a well-fed supermassive black hole.

Gas glows brightly in this computer simulation of supermassive black holes only 40 orbits from merging. Models like this may eventually help scientists pinpoint real examples of these powerful binary systems.

Three regions of light-emitting gas glow as the black holes merge, all connected by streams of hot gas: a large ring encircling the entire system, called the circumbinary disk, and two smaller ones around each black hole, called mini disks. All these objects emit predominantly UV light. When gas flows into a mini disk at a high rate, the disk’s UV light interacts with each black hole’s corona, a region of high-energy subatomic particles above and below the disk. This interaction produces X-rays. When the accretion rate is lower, UV light dims relative to the X-rays.

Based on the simulation, running on the National Center for Supercomputing Applications’ Blue Waters supercomputer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the researchers expect X-rays emitted by a near-merger will be brighter and more variable than X-rays seen from single supermassive black holes. The pace of the changes links to both the orbital speed of gas located at the inner edge of the circumbinary disk as well as that of the merging black holes.

However, supermassive binaries nearing collision may have one thing stellar-mass binaries lack—a gas-rich environment. Scientists suspect the supernova explosion that creates a stellar black hole also blows away most of the surrounding gas. The black hole consumes what little remains so quickly there is not much left to glow when the merger happens.

Supermassive mergers will be much more difficult to find than their stellar-mass cousins. One reason ground-based observatories cannot detect gravitational waves from these events is because Earth itself is too noisy, shaking from seismic vibrations and gravitational changes from atmospheric disturbances. The detectors must be in space, like the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and planned for launch in the 2030s.

Supermassive binaries, on the other hand, result from galaxy mergers. Each supersized black hole brings along an entourage of gas and dust clouds, stars and planets. Scientists think a galaxy collision propels much of this material toward the central black holes, consuming it on a time scale similar to that needed for the binary to merge. As the black holes near, magnetic and gravitational forces heat the remaining gas, producing light astronomers should be able to see.

Scientists have detected merging stellar-mass black holes, ranging from around three to several dozen solar masses, using the National Science Foundation's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Gravitational waves are space-time ripples traveling at the speed of light. They are created when massive orbiting objects like black holes and neutron stars spiral together and merge.

Learn more about National Science Foundation's LIGO: https://www.nsf.gov/impacts/space-time

Learn more about the European Space Agency's Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA):
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/LISA/Capturing_the_ripples_of_spacetime_LISA_gets_go-ahead

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Noble; simulation data, d'Ascoli et al. 2018
Duration: 2 minutes, 13 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 2, 2018

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Galaxies #BlackHoles #BinaryBlackHoles #BlackHole #BlackHoleMergers #GravitationalWaves #Simulation #Supercomputers #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #GSFC #NSF #LIGO #UnitedStates #LISA #ESA #STEM #Education #Art #Animation #Visualization #HD #Video

Shenzhou-19 Crew Completes Third Spacewalk | China Space Station

Shenzhou-19 Crew Completes Third Spacewalk | China Space Station

Astronauts Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong, and Wang Haoze worked for more than seven hours to complete multiple tasks, including the installation of space-debris protection and auxiliary devices, and the checks of extravehicular components. They were assisted by the space station's robotic arm and a ground team in Beijing.

Cai and Song, the two crew members assigned to spacewalk (EVA) duties, have returned safely to the Wentian lab module. Wang assisted the pair throughout the mission from the space station.

The spacewalk mission was a complete success, said the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Cai, having completed his fifth extravehicular activity, now ranks first among Chinese astronauts in the number of spacewalks performed.

During their first extravehicular mission in December, the Shenzhou-19 crew spent over nine hours outside the Tiangong space station, the longest spacewalk by Chinese astronauts. They primarily installed protective devices for the external pipelines and cables of the Tianhe core module.

Their second spacewalk in January this year lasted about 8.5 hours and put a focus on strengthening the Wentian lab module.

The three astronauts of China's Shenzhou-19 spaceflight mission entered the Tiangong Space Station on October 30, 2024 for a six-month stay. They will return to Earth after another month.

Shenzhou-19 Crew:

Commander Cai Xuzhe (蔡旭哲)

Mission Specialist Wang Haoze (王浩泽)

Mission Specialist Song Lingdong (宋令东)

Video Credit: CCTV
Duration: 41 seconds
Release Date: March 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #Earth #China #中国 #Shenzhou19 #神舟十九号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #Spacewalk #EVA #ChinaSpaceStation #中国空间站 #TiangongSpaceStation #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityExperiments #MicrogravityResearch #CMSA #中国载人航天工程办公室 #LongDurationMissions #HumanSpaceflight #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Crew-9 & Crew-10 Dragon Spacecraft: Departure/Arrival | International Space Station

Crew-9 & Crew-10 Dragon Spacecraft: Departure/Arrival | International Space Station

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft, with its nose cone open, is pictured shortly after undocking from the International Space Station's space-facing port on the Harmony module. Inside Dragon, were SpaceX Crew-9 Commander Nick Hague with Misssion Specialists Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, all three from NASA, and Mission Specialist Aleksander Gorbunov from Roscosmos (Russia).

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew spacecraft approaches the International Space Station carrying Commander Anne McClain and Pilot Nichole Ayers, both from NASA, and Mission Specialists Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos (Russia), all four representing NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 mission.

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew spacecraft approaches the International Space Station.

The SpaceX Dragon Endurance crew spacecraft approaches the International Space Station.

At 1:05 a.m. EDT Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Crew-9, consisting of NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia, undocked from the space-facing port of International Space Station’s Harmony module aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission with NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov of Russia autonomously docked to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 12:04 a.m. EDT on March 16 , 2025 in their Dragon spacecraft.

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's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Dates: March 16 & 18, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Planet #Earth #Crew9 #Undocking #Crew10 #Docking #DragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #JAXA #Japan #日本 #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #STEM #Education

NASA Espacio A Tierra | Preludio a un lanzamiento: 14 de marzo 2025

NASA Espacio A Tierra | Preludio a un lanzamiento: 14 de marzo 2025

Espacio a Tierra, la versión en español de las cápsulas Space to Ground de la NASA, te informa semanalmente de lo que está sucediendo en la Estación Espacial Internacional.

Aprende más sobre la ciencia a bordo de la estación espacial:
https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/space-station-research-and-technology/ciencia-en-la-estacion/

Ciencia de la NASA: https://ciencia.nasa.gov

Para obtener más información sobre la ciencia de la NASA, suscríbete al boletín semanal: https://www.nasa.gov/suscribete

Video Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 46 seconds
Release Date: March 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #NASAenespañol #español #SpaceXCrew10 #Astronauts #Cosmonauts #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #InternationalCooperation #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #UnitedStates #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA’s Study of The Moon with Blue Ghost Mission 1 Concludes

NASA’s Study of The Moon with Blue Ghost Mission 1 Concludes

After about 14 days, or the equivalent of one lunar day, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 has concluded!

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center managed the development for seven of the 10 CLPS payloads aboard Blue Ghost lunar lander. Here is a breakdown of the science and technology they performed during the mission:

 🌡️ LISTER drilled up to 3 feet, providing a first-of-its kind demonstration of robotic thermal measurements at varying depths.

 🖥️ RadPC successfully operated in transit through Earth’s Van Allen belts, as well as on the lunar surface into the lunar night, verifying solutions to mitigate radiation effects on computers that could make future missions safer for equipment and more cost effective.

 🧲 LMS successfully deployed five sensors to study the Moon’s interior by measuring electric and magnetic fields. The instrument allows scientists to characterize the interior of the Moon to depths up to 700 miles, or more than half the distance to the Moon's center.

 ⛅ LEXI captured a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding Earth affect the planet.

 📏 NGLR successfully reflected and returned laser light from two Lunar Laser Ranging Observatories, returning measurements allowing scientists to precisely measure the Moon’s shape and distance from Earth, expanding our understanding of the Moon’s inner structure.

 💨 Lunar PlanetVac was deployed on the lander’s surface access arm and successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil using pressurized nitrogen gas, demonstrating a low-cost, low-mass solution for future robotic sample collection.

 🧑‍🚀 RAC instrument examined how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment. This can help test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive lunar dust or regolith.

Learn More: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-science-continues-after-fireflys-first-moon-mission-concludes/

The Blue Ghost lander arrived on the Moon March 2, 2025. The Blue Ghost Mission 1 ended on March 16. The lander operated, near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, for approximately 14 Earth days, or roughly one lunar day. Mare Crisium is a lunar mare located in the Moon's Crisium basin, just northeast of Mare Tranquillitatis. It was formed by the flooding of basaltic lava that filled an ancient asteroid impact.

Blue Ghost lander's work was part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence. Blue Ghost Mission 1 performed science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, and X-ray imaging of Earth’s magnetic field to advance research for future human missions on the Moon, as well as to provide insights into space weather effects.

Learn more about the mission: 

https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-1/

Learn more about CLPS: https://www.nasa.gov/clps

Video Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Duration: 34 seconds
Release Date: March 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #ArtemisProgram #Moon #LunarLanders #FireflyAerospace #BlueGhostLunarLander #BlueGhostMission1 #BGM1 #UnitedStates #Robotics #Engineering #SpaceTechnology #SolarSystem #SpaceExploration #MSFC #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Homebound: NASA Crew-9's Plane Lands in Houston | Johnson Space Center

Homebound: NASA Crew-9's Plane Lands in Houston | Johnson Space Center

Home sweet home! 🏠 Welcome home, Butch, Suni, Nick, & Aleksandr! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 touched down at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas at 11:19 pm CDT, March 18, 2025, after their International Space Station mission and successful splashdown. They were welcomed by Acting Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Steve Koerner, along with fellow astronauts, NASA staff, friends and family members.

A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft landed off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia aboard. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore have returned from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station. 

Hague and Gorbunov have been at the International Space Station since Sept. 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore arrived on June 6. This completes a stay in space of 171 days for Hague and Gorbunov and 286 days for Williams and Wilmore.  

On the main deck of the recovery ship, the crew exited their Dragon spacecraft. They underwent medical checks before a short helicopter ride to board a plane for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. These are views of the plane's arrival at Ellington Field.

Next up will be the arrival of the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft to the International Space Station due to launch on April 8, 2025, carrying NASA astronaut Jonny Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky of Russia. Kim and Zubritsky will be beginning their first space mission while Ryzhikov will be serving on his third expedition to the orbiting lab.

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.

Video Credit: NASA/JSC

Duration: 2 minutes, 43 seconds
Capture Date: March 18, 2025
Release Date: March 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #Science #ISS #Earth #Crew9 #DragonSpacecraft #Astronauts #SuniWilliams #NickHague #ButchWilmore #Cosmonaut #AleksandrGorbunov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #SpaceLaboratory #HumanSpaceflight #EllingtonField #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: Shift Change | Week of March 21, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground: Shift Change | Week of March 21, 2025

NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 72 crew with its four newest members is returning to science operations following a busy period of crew swap activities.

Expedition 72 Updates:

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

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: 4 minutes
Release Date: March 21, 2025

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Astronauts #AnneMcClain #NicholeAyers #TakuyaOnishi #Japan #日本 #Cosmonaut #KirillPeskov #Russia #Россия #Roscosmos #Роскосмос #HumanSpaceflight #SpaceLaboratory #MicrogravityResearch #InternationalCooperation #Expedition72 #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Lunar Eclipse Night Auroras in Alaska

Lunar Eclipse Night Auroras in Alaska

"That was the best lunar eclipse I’ve ever seen, and I felt extremely fortunate to experience Alaskan auroras in Denali National Park at the same exact time! Photo 1 titled “TOTALITY” was on March 13, 2025 just after 11:30 pm AKDT, right at the end of totality (little dot on the right is the blood moon which changed the whole mood and color scheme for one brief & sublime hour of time). [The other photo] . . . was taken earlier around 10 pm AKDT when the auroras first came out during the partial eclipse phase while the moon was still emitting a lot of bright white light."

Learn more about the Denali National Park & Reserve:
https://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm

Image Credit: Todd Salat 
Todd's website: https://www.aurorahunter.com
Location: Denali National Park, Alaska, United States
Capture Date: March 13, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Sun #Moon #LunarEclipse #Planet #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #Magnetosphere #SolarWind #Star #Photography #ToddSalat #Photographer #DenaliNPS #Alaska #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Stars Alshain, Altair & Tarazed in Aquila

Stars Alshain, Altair & Tarazed in Aquila

Shown above are the 3 brightest stars in the constellation of Aquila. Altair at center is flanked by Alshain (lower left) and yellowish Tarazed (upper right). Note that Altair forms the southeastern most star in the Summer Triangle and is the 2nd brightest star in the summer sky with a magnitude of 0.77. It is so bright because it lies relatively close to us—just 17-light years distant. Alshain and Tarazed are approximately 45 light years away and 460 light years away, respectively. 

This two-frame mosaic image is another Greg Parker/George Roberts collaboration. It was photographed at the New Forest Observatory in the U.K., in October 2024.

Image Details: Taken with the 200mm lenses and the ASI 2600MC Pro OSC CMOS cameras on the MiniWASP array at the New Forest Observatory. Each frame was 4-hours, using 10-minute subs.

Image Credit: Greg Parker
Caption Credit: Greg Parker; George Roberts
Capture Location: New Forest Observatory, Hampshire, U. K. Coordinates: 50.819444, -1.59
Release Date: March 12, 2025

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Alshain #Altair #Tarazed #Aquila #Constellation #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #Astrophotography #GregParker #Astrophotographer #CitizenScience #NewForestObservatory #Hampshire #England #UK #USRA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #EPoD

Four Lasers, Four Layers of the Cosmos | ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile

Four Lasers, Four Layers of The Cosmos | ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile

The four lasers of the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) pierce the heart of the Milky Way in this picture. The starry night is interrupted by the vertical glow of the zodiacal light, caused by dust grains in the Solar System, so faint that it is only visible in the darkest skies, such as those of Chile’s Atacama Desert. The pristine night sky in this region has always been intertwined with the culture and traditions of its indigenous people.

The Chakana is a recurrent symbol within Andean cultures. Shaped like a square stepped cross, it represents four stairs or bridges to the upper levels of the Andean cosmovision. 

For the Mapuche people in south-central Chile, the sky is the Wenu mapu, a land of goodness and order inhabited by deities, ancestors and benign spirits. The Wenu mapu is ordered into four layers where holy beings like the four gods of the stars (Meli wanlén) and the four gods of the Moon (Meli Kiyén) oppose the forces of evil below. These opposite forces then clash on Earth, a natural world divided into four cardinal directions, each linked to different levels of goodness and evil. 

The names and details of this vision of the Cosmos may change across Andean traditions, but one thing remains constant: a belief that four is more than just a number. Four represents a measure of perfection, as only two opposite things can bring balance. The four lasers of ESO’s VLT are currently sharpening our view of the Cosmos, but, in a sense, they also continue this ancient pattern, giving us a small connection to the beliefs of the Mapuche community.

Credit: F. Millour/ESO
Release Date: March 17, 2025

#NASA #FoN #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #Earth #ZodiacalLight #LaserGuideStar #SolarSystem #MilkyWayGalaxy #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #ParanalObservatory #AtacamaDesert #Chile #SouthAmerica #Europe #STEM #Education

Planet Mars Images: March 17-19, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

Planet Mars Images: March 17-19, 2025 | NASA's Curiosity & Perseverance Rovers

MSL - sol 188

MSL - sol 4480/4482

MSL - sol 4484

MSL - sol 4484

Mars 2020 - sol 1450

MSL - sol 4484

Mars 2020 - sol 1449

Mars 2020 - sol 1448

Support FriendsofNASA.org

Celebrating 12+ Years on Mars (2012-2024)

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

Main Job: To determine if Mars was ever habitable to microbial life. 

Launch: Nov. 6, 2011

Landing Date: Aug. 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

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 information on NASA's Mars missions, visit: mars.nasa.gov

Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Processing: Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: March 17-19, 2025

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #CuriosityRover #MSL #MountSharp #GaleCrater #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #JezeroCrater #Robotics #SpaceTechnology #SpaceEngineering #MSSS #JPL #Caltech #UnitedStates #CitizenScience #KevinGill #STEM #Education

Journey to The Most Distant Galaxy to Date JADES-GS-z14-0: Oxygen Detected | ESO

Journey to The Most Distant Galaxy to Date JADES-GS-z14-0: Oxygen Detected | ESO

This video zooms into the galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0, the most distant galaxy confirmed to date. Thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory and its international partners, astronomers have now uncovered the presence of a surprising element after examining its light spectrum: oxygen. The presence of heavy elements like oxygen suggests that the formation of these early galaxies happened much faster than we thought. It must have had multiple generations of stars being born and dying. 

The various images shown here, blended together to create this zoom, come from telescopes at distinct time intervals, ending with close-up of the galaxy as seen by ALMA, together with the spectrum recovered by two independent research teams. 

Credit: ESO/L. Calçada/N. Risinger/Digitized Sky Survey 2/DESI/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Carniani et al./S. Schouws et al/JWST: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA). 
Duration: 50 seconds
Release Date: March 20, 2025

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #DistantGalaxies #Galaxy #JADESGSz140 #Oxygen #Fornax #Constellation #EarlyUniverse #Cosmos #Universe #ALMA #RadioTelescopes #RadioAstronomy #Chajnantor #Chile #Europe #ESA #CSA #STScI #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Oxygen Discovered in Most Distant Galaxy | European Southern Observatory

Oxygen Discovered in Most Distant Galaxy | European Southern Observatory

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have detected oxygen in JADES-GS-z14-0, the most distant galaxy known so far. This is the earliest detection of oxygen yet, and it is very intriguing. How did galaxies evolve fast enough to get enriched with heavy elements like oxygen so early on?

In this Chasing Starlight episode, we will show you everything behind this incredible achievement, and explain how it is changing what we knew about the conditions of the early Universe. 

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Directed by: L. Calçada, M. Kornmesser
Hosted by: S. Randall
Written by: S. Randall
Editing: M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada
Videography: A. Tsaousis
Animations & footage: ESO, ALMA, M. Kornmesser, L. Calçada, C. Malin, B. Tafreshi, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab, DSS, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Brant Robertson (UC Santa Cruz), Ben Johnson (CfA), Sandro Tacchella (Cambridge), Phill Cargile (CfA)
Scientific consultant: Gergö Popping
Duration: 6 minutes
Release Date: March 20, 2025

#NASA #ESO #Space #Astronomy #Science #DistantGalaxies #Galaxy #JADESGSz140 #Oxygen #Fornax #Constellation #EarlyUniverse #Cosmos #Universe #ALMA #RadioTelescopes #RadioAstronomy #Chajnantor #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Watching Indian Ocean | International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Suni Williams Watching Indian Ocean | International Space Station

NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Suni Williams peers at the Earth below from inside the International Space Station's cupola. The orbital outpost was soaring 260 miles above the Indian Ocean at the time of this photograph.

Welcome home, Suni! 

Crew-9's SpaceX Dragon spacecraft landed off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, with NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia aboard. Hague, Gorbunov, Williams, and Wilmore returned from a long-duration science expedition aboard the International Space Station. 

Hague and Gorbunov have been at the International Space Station since Sept. 29, 2024, while Williams and Wilmore arrived on June 6. This completes a stay in space of 171 days for Hague and Gorbunov and 286 days for Williams and Wilmore.  

A plane carrying NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 later touched down at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field in Houston, Texas at 11:19 pm CDT, March 18, 2025.

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.

NASA Astronaut Sunita Williams Official Biography:
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/williams-s.pdf

Image Credit: NASA/JSC
Capture Date: March 9, 2025
Release Date: March 19, 2025

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A Deep Field Collection of Galaxies | Euclid Space Telescope | ESA

A Deep Field Collection of Galaxies | Euclid Space Telescope | ESA

This image shows examples of galaxies in a variety of shapes, all captured by the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope during its first observations of the Deep Field areas. 

Deep field refers to a composite image of far distant objects in space, compiled from multiple exposures.

As part of the data release, a detailed catalog of more than 380,000 galaxies was published. They have been classified according to features, such as spiral arms, central bars, and tidal tails that infer merging galaxies. 

Image Description: A collage of nine by five squares containing galaxies of numerous shapes and viewed in a range of orientations. For example, the first column shows five edge-on galaxies that appear thin like a pencil. The galaxies in the second column have a more fuzzy, diffuse appearance. The middle columns showcase face-on spiral galaxies with many shapes and densities of stars. The last two columns include interacting galaxies or galaxies with an unusual spiral arm or tidal tail.

Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA Image Processing: M. Walmsley, M. Huertas-Company, J.-C. Cuillandre
Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence
Release Date: March 19, 2025

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