NASA and SpaceX United

Returning flights of US astronauts from US soil

A view of one of the SpaceX suits that will be used for the Demo-2 launch at the SpaceX Headquarters, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019 in Hawthorne, California, USA.

The Crew Dragon will launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA is months away from setting a new course in Human Space Flight History. The Commercial Crew Program, a partnership between Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and Space X’s Crew Dragon are leading the way for the return to flight of US astronauts from US soil. NASA's Kennedy Space Center is leading the way in these efforts.

The agency has contracted six missions with up to four astronauts, per-mission, for each company. Commercial transportation to and from the space station will maintain a crew of seven astronauts, maximizing time dedicated to scientific research on the orbiting laboratory. This research is crucial for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight, which will allow humans to explore farther into space than ever before

Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Image Date: October 10, 2019


#NASA #Space #Science #SpaceX #ElonMusk #CrewDragon #CommercialCrew #LaunchAmerica #Astronauts #Human #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #Kennedy #KSC #Spaceport #CapeCanaveral #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Japan's Kounotori HTV-8 | International Space Station

Japan's Kounotori HTV-8 | International Space Station

The Kounotori H-II Transfer Vehicle 8 (HTV-8) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is pictured attached to the International Space Station's Harmony module (out of frame). The HTV-8 is loaded with more than four tons of supplies, spare parts and experiment hardware for the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Named Kounotori, meaning “white stork” in Japanese, the craft delivered six new lithium-ion batteries and corresponding adapter plates that will replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two power channels on the station’s far port truss segment. The batteries will be installed through a series of robotics and spacewalks the station’s crew members will conduct later this year.

Additional experiments on board HTV-8 include an upgrade to the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF-L), a small-sized satellite optical communication system (SOLISS), and a payload for testing the effects of gravity on powder and granular material (Hourglass).

Special thanks to Mitsuko Inoue for your support!

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: October 3, 2019

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #JAXA #Kounotori #Kounotori8 #HTV8 #Resupply #Cargo #Japan #日本 #宇宙航空研究開発機構 #UnitedStates #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

Japan's Kounotori HTV-8 | International Space Station

Japan's Kounotori HTV-8 | International Space Station

The Kounotori H-II Transfer Vehicle 8 (HTV-8) from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is pictured attached to the International Space Station's Harmony module (out of frame). The HTV-8 is loaded with more than four tons of supplies, spare parts and experiment hardware for the crew aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Named Kounotori, meaning “white stork” in Japanese, the craft delivered six new lithium-ion batteries and corresponding adapter plates that will replace aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two power channels on the station’s far port truss segment. The batteries will be installed through a series of robotics and spacewalks the station’s crew members will conduct later this year.

Additional experiments on board HTV-8 include an upgrade to the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF-L), a small-sized satellite optical communication system (SOLISS), and a payload for testing the effects of gravity on powder and granular material (Hourglass).

Special thanks to Mitsuko Inoue for your support!

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: October 3, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Earth #JAXA #Kounotori #Kounotori8 #HTV8 #Resupply #Cargo #Japan #日本 #UnitedStates #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Photography #STEM #Education #International #OrbitalPerspective #OverviewEffect

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch: Official Portrait

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch: Official Portrait

Christina Hammock Koch was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2013. She completed astronaut candidate training in July 2015. Koch graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Physics and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering. She is currently working onboard the International Space Station on her first spaceflight as part of Expedition 59, 60 and upcoming Expedition 61 scheduled for October. Koch is slated to set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with an expected total of 328 days in space.

Official Biography: NASA astronaut Christina Koch
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-h-kochhttps://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-hammock-koch/biographyhttps://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/hammock-cm.pdf

Credit: NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: 2018

NASA #Space #ISS #Science #EVA #Spacewalks #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #Women #Engineer #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Spot the Spacewalker: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch

Spot the Spacewalker: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch

NASA astronaut Christina Koch (top center) conducts a spacewalk at the Port-6 (P6) truss structure work site to upgrade International Space Station power systems. She and fellow NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan (out of frame) worked outside in the vacuum of space for seven hours and one minute to begin the latest round of upgrading the station's large nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries.

Official Biography: NASA astronaut Christina Koch
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/christina-h-koch
https://www.nasa.gov/…/bio…/christina-hammock-koch/biography
https://www.nasa.gov/…/def…/files/atoms/files/hammock-cm.pdf

Credit: NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: October 6, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #EVA #Spacewalks #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #AndrewMorgan #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Space Selfie Close-up: NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan

Space Selfie Close-up: NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan takes an out-of-this-world "space-selfie" during a spacewalk to upgrade International Space Station power systems on the Port-6 (P6) truss structure. He and fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch (out of frame) worked outside in the vacuum of space for seven hours and one minute to begin the latest round of upgrading the station's large nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries.

Credit: NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: October 6, 2019

#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #EVA #Spacewalk #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #AndrewMorgan #Selfie #Photography #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan on Spacewalk

NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan on Spacewalk

NASA astronaut and U.S. Army Colonel Andrew Morgan conducts a spacewalk at the Port-6 (P6) truss structure work site to upgrade International Space Station power systems. He was photographed by fellow NASA astronaut Christina Koch as they worked outside in the vacuum of space for seven hours and one minute to begin the latest round of upgrading the station's large nickel-hydrogen batteries with newer, more powerful lithium-ion batteries.

Official Biography: NASA Astronaut Andrew Morgan
https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/andrew-r-morganhttps://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/andrew-r-morgan/biographyhttps://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/morgan-ar.pdf

Credit: NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Image Date: October 6, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #EVA #Spacewalks #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #AndrewMorgan #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA Has All Eyes on Sea Ice | Earth Science

NASA Has All Eyes on Sea Ice | Earth Science

In April, instruments aboard NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign and the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 succeeded in measuring the same Arctic sea ice at the same time, a tricky feat given the shifting sea ice. Scientists have now analyzed airborne and spaceborne height measurements, and found that the two datasets match almost exactly, demonstrating how precisely ICESat-2 can measure the heights of the sea ice's bumpy, cracked surface.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Ryan Fitzgibbons
Music: "Coveted Jewels," Universal Production Music
Duration: 52 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019


#NASA #Earth #Science #Space #Satellite #Greenland #Grønland #Arctic #Sea #Ice #Polar #OperationIcebridge #Icebridge #ICESat #ICESat2 #Aircraft #Airborne #Reconnaissance #Observatory #Climate #Environment #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Laboratory #Research #Mapping #STEM #Education #Video

Once in a Blue Comet | ESO

Once in a Blue Comet | ESO

This image features a comet located in the outer reaches of the Solar System: comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS). As its name suggests, the comet was discovered in 2016 by the Pan-STARRS telescopes in Hawai’i. This new image seen here was captured by a project based at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile named the Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars—or SPECULOOS for short.
Comets are balls of dust, ice, gas and rock. When they pass close to the Sun, their ice warms up, turns to gas, and escapes in a process called “outgassing”. This process forms fuzzy envelopes around the comets’ nucleus, called comas, and distinctive tails. Observations from SPECULOOS show that the tail of C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) changes dramatically across a single night, making for a dynamic set of images. The image shown here comes from observations taken on January 18, 2018 during the test phase of SPECULOOS’s Callisto telescope, and were taken when the comet was 2.85 AU from the Sun (1 AU being the Earth-Sun distance) and travelling inwards.

This comet is particularly exciting because of the rare compounds and molecules that scientists have detected in its coma: carbon monoxide and nitrogen ions. These compounds give the comet distinctive blue emission lines—so much so that it is nicknamed “the blue comet”. This shy comet only orbits the Sun once every 20,000 years, its most recent approach being in May 2018. This image was taken over a period of time as the telescope tracked the comet’s motion; the bright streaks of light in the background are faraway stars, but the comet and its gaseous coma are all in focus, a testament to the tracking power of SPECULOOS.

Credit: European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Release Date: October 7, 2019

#ESO #NASA #Astronomy #Space #Comet #C2016R2 #PANSTARRS #Sun #SolarSystem #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #VLT #Paranal #Observatory #Chile #Europe #STEM #Education

A Spiral Galaxy in Profile: NGC 3717 | Hubble

A Spiral Galaxy in Profile: NGC 3717 | Hubble

The NASA/European Space Agency's Hubble Space Telescope sees galaxies of all shapes, sizes, brightnesses, and orientations in the cosmos. Sometimes, the telescope gazes at a galaxy oriented sideways—as shown here. The spiral galaxy featured in this Picture of the Week is called , and it is located about 60 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Serpent).

Seeing a spiral almost in profile, as Hubble has here, can provide a vivid sense of its three-dimensional shape. Through most of their expanse, spiral galaxies are shaped like a thin pancake. At their cores, though, they have bright, spherical, star-filled bulges that extend above and below this disc, giving these galaxies a shape somewhat like that of a flying saucer when they are seen edge on.

NGC 3717 is not captured perfectly edge-on in this image; the nearer part of the galaxy is tilted ever so slightly down, and the far side tilted up. This angle affords a view across the disc and the central bulge (of which only one side is visible).

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Rosario
Release Date: October 7, 2019

#NASA #Hubble #Astronomy #Space #Science #Galaxy #NGC3717 #Spiral #Hydra #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #ESA #Goddard #GSFC #STScI #STEM #Education

NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine: September 2019

NASA's Kennedy Spaceport Magazine: September 2019

Read KSC's September 2019 Spaceport Magazine (Free 18-Page PDF)
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/spaceport-magazine.html
Direct Download:
https://www.nasa.gov/…/…/files/spaceportmagazinesept2019.pdf
In the September 2019 issue:
· Engineer earning crawler-transporter certification for Artemis I

· Kennedy leaders share experiences during panel discussion

· Northrop Grumman first partner to use Vehicle Assembly Building

· ICON mission to launch on Pegasus XL rocket

· Pad 39B water flow tests comes through loud and clear

· VAB Utility Annex gets upgrades for Artemis I

· Innovators’ Launchpad: Kevin Grossman

· Award-winning filmmaker addresses concerns with bias

· RPSF Facility ready for Artemis I

· SpaceX, NASA complete crucial astronaut recovery exercise

Spaceport Magazine is a monthly NASA publication that serves Kennedy Space Center employees and the American public. The magazine’s wide topic variety mirrors Kennedy's diverse spaceport operations. From launch processing to center development and employee stories, Spaceport Magazine covers it all.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
Release Date: October 1, 2019

#NASA #KSC #Space #Science #Astronomy #Earth #SLS #Rocket #Orion #Artemis #MobileLauncher #Crawler #ISS #CommercialCrew #Mars #Moon #Astronauts #Women #Kennedy #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #Magazine #PDF #STEM #Education

Inside NASA's Kennedy Space Center! | Week of Oct. 4, 2019

Inside NASA's Kennedy Space Center! | Week of Oct. 4, 2019

A full-scale mock-up of the Space Launch System rocket’s core stage arrived at Kennedy Space Center. It will be used to practice stacking maneuvers and other procedures before the actual hardware arrives to be processed for the Artemis I mission. Also, the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) is at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. ICON, which is sealed inside a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, will be air-launched by the company’s L-1011 aircraft, Stargazer, as it flies off Florida’s east coast on Oct. 9.

Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Duration: 1 minute, 33 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019

#NASA #Space #Science #Astronomy #SLS #Rocket #Orion #Artemis #Moon #Mars #JourneyToMars #SolarSystem #Exploration #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #Kennedy #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

Expedition 60 Crew Returns Safely from Space Station | This Week @NASA

Expedition 60 Crew Returns Safely from Space Station

This Week @NASA

Oct. 4, 2019: A safe conclusion to the latest long-duration spaceflight, calling on industry to help us accelerate our return to the Moon, and practice makes perfect—before the real thing . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Duration: 3 minutes, 27 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Soyuz #Research #Microgravity #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #NickHague #AndrewMorgan #ESA #LucaParmitano #Italia #Italy #Cosmonauts #AlexeyOvchinin #AlexanderSkvortsov #OlegSkripochka #Russia #Россия #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #UnitedStates #Moon #STEM #Education #Video

NASA's Space to Ground: A Slew of Spacewalks

NASA's Space to Ground: A Slew of Spacewalks

Week of October 4, 2019 | NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.

This week three crew members said goodbye to station. The remaining crew prepares for the first in a series of five complex spacewalks to upgrade the station's external batteries.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Duration: 3 minutes, 11 seconds
Release Date: October 4, 2019


#NASA #Space #ISS #Science #Soyuz #Research #Microgravity #EVA #Spacewalks #Astronauts #ChristinaKoch #NickHague #AndrewMorgan #ESA #LucaParmitano #Italia #Italy #Cosmonauts #AlexeyOvchinin #AlexanderSkvortsov #OlegSkripochka #Russia #Россия #Expedition61 #Human #Spaceflight #Spacecraft #JSC #Houston #Texas #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video

U.S. Ranger Under the Milky Way

U.S. Ranger Under the Milky Way

A ranger adjusts a telescope during an international dark sky park celebration at Arches National Park in Utah.

Arches National Park is a national park in eastern Utah, United States. The park is adjacent to the Colorado River, 4 miles (6 km) north of Moab, Utah. More than 2,000 natural sandstone arches are located in the park, including the well-known Delicate Arch, as well as a variety of unique geological resources and formations. The park contains the highest density of natural arches in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

Credit: U.S. National Park Service/William Pedro

Location: State of Utah, United States
Image Date: September 20, 2019

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Earth #Galaxy #MilkyWay #Stars #Astrophotography #Photography #Panorama #Art #Arches #NationalPark #NPS #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

Skywatching: What's Up for October 2019 | NASA/JPL

Skywatching: What's Up for October 2019 | NASA/JPL

What can you see in the October sky? Join the global celebration of International Observe the Moon Night on Oct. 5th, then try to catch the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune, which are well placed for viewing in the late-night sky.

Credit: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Duration: 2 minutes, 56 seconds
Release Date: October 2, 2019

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Skywatching #Moon #Planets #Uranus #Neptune #Sun #SolarSystem #Stars #Constellations #MilkyWay #Galaxy #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #Video