Massive Galaxy Cluster Abell 1351 | Hubble

Massive Galaxy Cluster Abell 1351 | Hubble

The massive galaxy cluster Abell 1351 is captured in this image by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys. This galaxy cluster lies in the constellation Ursa Major in the northern hemisphere.

This image is filled with streaks of light, which are actually the images of distant galaxies. The streaks are the result of gravitational lensing, an astrophysical phenomenon that occurs when a massive celestial body such as a galaxy cluster distorts spacetime sufficiently strongly to affect the path of light passing through it—almost as if the light were passing through a gigantic lens. Gravitational lensing comes in two varieties—strong and weak—and both can give astronomers an insight into the distribution of mass within a lensing galaxy cluster such as Abell 1351.

This observation is part of an astronomical album comprising snapshots of some of the most massive galaxy clusters. This menagerie of massive clusters demonstrates interesting astrophysical phenomena such as strong gravitational lensing, as well as showcasing spectacular examples of violent galaxy evolution. To obtain this astronomical album, astronomers proposed a Snapshot Program to be slotted into Hubble’s packed observing schedule. These Snapshot Programs are lists of separate, relatively short exposures which can fit into gaps between longer Hubble observations. Having a large pool of Snapshot candidates to dip into allows Hubble to use every second of observing time possible and to maximize the scientific output of the observatory.

Credit: European Space Agency/Hubble & NASA, H. Ebeling

Acknowledgement: L. Shatz

Release Date: June 20, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Galaxy #GalaxyCluster #Abell1351 #UrsaMajor #Constellation #GravitationalLensing #WFC3 #Science #Astrophysics #Physics #Cosmos #Universe #Telescope #GSFC #STScI #UnitedStates #ESA #Europe #STEM #Education

Nebula NGC 6188: "Dragons of Ara"

Nebula NGC 6188: "Dragons of Ara"

Do dragons fight on the altar of the sky? Although it might appear that way, these dragons are illusions made of thin gas and dust. The emission nebula NGC 6188, home to the glowing clouds, is found about 4,000 light years away near the edge of a large molecular cloud unseen at visible wavelengths, in the southern constellation Ara (the Altar). Massive, young stars of the embedded Ara OB1 association were formed in that region only a few million years ago, sculpting the dark shapes and powering the nebular glow with stellar winds and intense ultraviolet radiation. The recent star formation itself was likely triggered by winds and supernova explosions, from previous generations of massive stars, that swept up and compressed the molecular gas. 

Joining NGC 6188 on this cosmic canvas, visible toward the lower right, is rare emission nebula NGC 6164, also created by one of the region's massive O-type stars. Similar in appearance to many planetary nebulae, NGC 6164's striking, symmetric gaseous shroud and faint halo surround its bright central star near the bottom edge. This impressively wide field of view spans over 2 degrees (four full Moons), corresponding to over 150 light years at the estimated distance of NGC 6188.

Image Credit & Copyright: Shaun Robertson

Shaun's website: 

https://www.darkmoonastrophotography.com/about

Release Date: June 7, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Nebula #Nebulae #Emission #NGC6188 #NGC6164 #Ara #Constellation #Astrophotographer #ShaunRobertson #Astrophotography #Cosmos #Universe #Earth #STEM #Education #APoD

European Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Recreates Scene from Film "Gravity"

European Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Remakes Scene from Film "Gravity"

Samantha: "Hey, Dr. Stone! Quick question for you. How did you get your hair to stay put?"

This is European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy. She is on her second space mission, known as Minerva, on the International Space Station. 

The 2013 science fiction film Gravity starred Sandra Bullock as Dr. Ryan Stone, "a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission." The screen above Samantha shows one of the well-known scenes.

ESA Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Official Biography

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Samantha_Cristoforetti

Learn more about Mission Minerva: https://bit.ly/MissionMinerva

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/ESA/Samantha Cristoforetti

Release Date: June 19, 2022

#NASA #Space #ESA #MissionMinerva #SamanthaCristoforetti #ISS #Astronaut #Italy #Italia #FlightEngineer #Film #Gravity #ScienceFiction #SandraBullock #Science #Technology #Engineering #Research #Microgravity #Laboratory #Engineers #Minerva #Europe #UnitedStates #Expedition67 #STEM #Education

The Color of Space: A NASA Documentary Showcasing the Stories of Black Astronauts

The Color of Space: A NASA Documentary Showcasing the Stories of Black Astronauts

The Color of Space captures the personal stories of seven current and former Black astronauts, each selected to become part of NASA's astronaut corps and train for space missions. Current NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson, Victor Glover, Jeanette Epps, as well as retired astronauts Leland Melvin, Bernard Harris, Robert Curbeam, and Bobby Satcher, speak about their journeys and their motivations in a panel hosted by NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, the first Black woman to lead a NASA center.

They took the step to achieve the impossible, overcoming barriers and making space for others to follow. In this new documentary, be empowered by the remarkable stories of tenacity, courage, and motivation from the agency's most decorated heroes. Learn about their path to NASA, their sources of inspiration, experiences in space, the importance of representation, the meaning of Juneteenth, and much more.

Originally held at Space Center Houston on March 25, 2022, the panel discussion marks the first time the seven astronauts have been assembled for an official NASA event.

For more details, visit https://go.nasa.gov/3Oktwxa

Astronaut Stephanie Wilson Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/stephanie-d-wilson/biography

Astronaut Victor Glover Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/victor-j-glover

Astronaut Jeanette Epps Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jeanette-j-epps/biography

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producer: Jori Kates

Editors: Jori Kates and Sonnet Apple

Duration: 50 Minutes

Release Date: June 19, 2022

#NASA #Space #Documentary #TheColorOfSpace #Juneteenth #Astronauts #LelandMelvin #StephanieWilson #RobertCurbeam #BernardHarris #JeanetteEpps #VictorGlover #CharlieBolden #GuyBluford #JoanHigginbotham #AlvinDrew #EdDwight #HumanSpaceflight #VanessaWyche #AfricanAmerican #Pioneers #Heroes #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education #HD #Video

NASA Astronauts Attend "Color of Space" Documentary Screening

NASA Astronauts Attend "Color of Space" Documentary Screening 

NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson and former NASA astronauts Leland Melvin and Susan Kilrain attended this special free in-person screening at Howard University’s Cramton Auditorium in Washington, Saturday, June 18, 2022, of “The Color of Space”—an inspirational 50-minute documentary that tells the stories of NASA’s Black astronauts determined to reach the stars. This documentary officially premiered on Juneteenth, June 19, the new annual federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States on the anniversary of June 19, 1865. It commemorates the emancipation of 250,000 enslaved people in Texas who were freed after a Union army took over the previously Confederate-held state.

Watch the event footage on video: https://youtu.be/S6vYHdH0AeE

NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson, left, and former NASA astronauts Leland Melvin and Susan Kilrain pose for a photograph prior to the screening.

Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, left, and NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson, pose for photograph with 6-year-old Armani Bonds prior to the screening.

6-year-old Armani Bonds draws on a postcard that will be sent to space by Club for the Future on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.

6-year old Armani Bonds poses for a photograph as he exits a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule mockup prior to the screening.

Former NASA astronaut Leland Melvin poses with attendees prior to the documentary screening. 

9-year-old Amara Bowman smiles as her father photographs her inside a Blue Origin New Shepard capsule mockup prior to the screening.

    Former NASA astronaut Susan Kilrain poses for a photograph with attendees prior to the screening.

NASA Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche gives remarks. 

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Capture Date: June 18, 2022

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Moon #Artemis #Documentary #ColorOfSpace #Juneteenth #Children #Students #Families #Event #Astronauts #Astronaut #LelandMelvin #StephanieWilson #SusanKilrain #HumanSpaceflight #JSC #VanessaWyche #HowardUniversity #AfricanAmerican #Washington #DC #UnitedStates #History #STEM #Education

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

SARah-1 Mission | SpaceX

SARah-1 Mission | SpaceX

SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster 1071-3 lands after successfully launching the SARah-1 satellite for Germany's Bundeswehr—the German Armed Forces.

Germany’s SARah-1 military radar Earth observation satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday, June 18, 2022. The launch, which was the 25th flight of the Falcon 9 this year, occurred at 7:19 AM PDT (14:19 UTC)—less than 24 hours after Friday’s Starlink 4-19 launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

Saturday’s launch used flight-proven Falcon 9 booster 1071-3. This booster previously flew the NROL-87 and NROL-85 missions out of Vandenberg earlier in 2022, and the SARah-1 mission marks its third flight. SpaceX was awarded the contract to launch SARah for the German government in 2013.

Lifting off from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Falcon 9 headed southward targeting a sun-synchronous polar orbit—a type of orbit commonly used by Earth observation satellites.

Unlike optical reconnaissance satellites, radar imaging satellites like SARah-1 and its sister spacecraft can image Earth in any weather and lighting conditions, such as a cloudy, rainy night, or other conditions which would limit optical observation, using a technique called synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

After the rocket’s two stages separated, the second stage proceeded to orbit with SARah-1, while B1071 conducted a boostback burn to place itself on a trajectory back towards the launch site. It subsequently made entry and landing burns before landing on the concrete pad at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4), built on the site of the former SLC-4W launch pad adjacent to SLC-4E.

While B1071-3 flew back towards the launch site, Falcon 9’s second stage and its single Merlin Vacuum (MVac) engine placed the SARah-1 satellite into orbit. SARah-1 will operate in a circular orbit inclined at 98.4 degrees to the equator, with an altitude of about 750 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. 

Image Credit: SpaceX

Caption Credit: NASASpaceflight.com

Release Date: June 18, 2022

#NASA #Space #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Booster #Satellite #EO #EarthObservation #RemoteSensing #SARah1 #Military #Bundeswehr #Germany #Deutschland #Earth #Orbit #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #Commerce #Spaceport #VandenbergSFB #SpaceForce #California #UnitedStates #FAA #STEM #Education

China Shenzhou-14 Crew's First Week at Tiangong Space Station

China Shenzhou-14 Crew's First Week at Tiangong Space Station

Three Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, successfully arrived at the core module of China's Tiangong Space Station on June 5, 2022. Chen Dong, Liu Yang, and Cai Xuzhe are adapting to microgravity at the start of their six-month long duration mission to complete the construction of the facility. Liu became the first Chinese woman in space during the Shenzhou-9 Mission in 2012. Shenzhou-14 represents the second space mission for Chen Dong and Liu Yang. Cai Xuzhe is on his first. 

The astronauts first needed to fetch living necessities from the Tianzhou-4 cargo craft, said Liu Weibo, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space project. "They need to transfer things such as food, water, air filters and set them up in the core module."

Setting up all the equipment and moving around the supplies were the astronauts' main tasks during the first week of their stay. Tianzhou-4, which holds supplies for the Shenzhou-14 crewed mission, docked with the combination of Tianhe core module and Tianzhou-3 cargo vessel in May 2022.

With a length of 10.6 meters and a maximum diameter of 3.35 meters, the Tianzhou-4 cargo ship carried about 6 tons of goods and 750 kg of propellant for the space station complex. Colored tags were put on parcels with different goods, so that the astronauts can quickly identify and find the goods they need. 

The lab module Wentian is scheduled to arrive in July 2022, the lab module Mengtian in October, and then the Tianzhou-5 cargo craft and the Shenzhou-15 crew mission spacecraft later this year. The Wentian and Mengtian lab modules will provide larger platforms for scientific experiments in microgravity. Nearly 100 experiments are planned during the construction phase of China's space station. After operations are normalized, larger-scale scientific research will be conducted. This is expected to effectively promote breakthroughs in major frontier scientific fields, such as dark matter and dark energy, galaxy formation and evolution, laws about the nature of matter, as well as in sustainable development on Earth. 

Credit: China Global Television Network (CGTN)

Duration: 2 minutes, 40 seconds

Release Date: June 15, 2022

#NASA #Space #China #中国 #Shenzhou14 #神舟十四号 #Taikonauts #Astronauts #ChenDong #LiuYang #刘洋 #Women #Pilots #Pioneers #CaiXuzhe #王亚平 #Tiangong #天宫 #SpaceStation #CNSA #CMSA #国家航天局 #Science #Technology #Engineering #STEM #Education #International #UNOOSA #UnitedNations #HDVideo #Video

SpaceX Starlink Mission: June 17, 2022

SpaceX Starlink Mission: June 17, 2022

53 Starlink satellites successfully deployed.

SpaceX is targeting Sunday, June 19, 2022 at 12:27 a.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of Globalstar FM15 to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida.

Learn more about Starlink: https://www.starlink.com

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX)

Image Date: June 17, 2022

#NASA #Space #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Rocket #Satellites #Starlink #Broadband #Internet #Earth #Orbit #ElonMusk #GwynneShotwell #Spaceflight #Technology #Engineering #Commerce #Spaceport #CapeCanaveral #Florida #FAA #UnitedStates #STEM #Education

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover—New June 2022 Images | JPL

NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover—New June 2022 Images | JPL

MSL - Sol 1819 - Mastcam

MSL - Sol 1555 - Mastcam

MSL - Sol 3504 - Mastcam

MSL - Sol 3504 - Mastcam

Curiosity Rover Update: Sols 3493-3495

"Everywhere you look in the Navcam mosaic (above) there's something interesting to see!

We're up close to a nifty layered outcrop, which is getting lots of imaging including ChemCam LIBS on targets 'Rukumata' and 'Guarico,' a ChemCam mosaic on 'Kamakusa,' MAHLI dogs-eye imaging of 'Tabaco' and the DRT location 'Issano,' which will also have APXS on it.

Mastcam will also be imaging Issano pre- and post-DRT for comparison, and taking a mosaic of the outcrop as a whole. Off the outcrop, ChemCam is also doing LIBS on 'Sisipelin,' which Mastcam will also image, and ChemCam and Mastcam are both taking mosaics further afield towards the Gediz Vallis Ridge.

I . . . was very excited to see the great view we have of the north crater rim, especially since we've been spending so much time recently in among lots of terrain blocking this view. Imaging the crater rim can help us to characterise the amount of dust in the atmosphere, which is especially important in the dusty season.

Aside from the crater rim observations, we are also trying to catch dust devils with a dust devil survey and movie, keeping an eye on the clouds with a few cloud movies, and taking Mastcam tau observations as an additional way to quantify the amount of dust in the atmosphere.

After this marathon of observations, we'll drive about 30 m further and finish up the weekend with a morning ENV block with our weekly AM cloud and dust observations."

Caption Credit: Alex Innanen/JPL

Release Date: June 7, 2022

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

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

Launch: November 6, 2011

Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

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

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS)/Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Date: June 17, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Crater #GaleCrater #MountSharp #Curiosity #Rovers #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

NASA Astronauts on American Tour

NASA Astronauts on American Tour

NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson, left, Jasmin Moghbeli, and Tom Marshburn, along with Vice President Kamala Harris watch a video screen as NASA astronauts onboard the International Space Station give remarks prior to the screening of the movie Lightyear on the grounds of the Vice President's residence at the Naval Observatory, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Washington. 

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn gives remarks prior to the screening of the movie Lightyear on the grounds of the Vice President's residence at the Naval Observatory, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Washington.

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli works with students during a hands-on STEM activity on the grounds of the Vice President's residence at the Naval Observatory, Friday, June 17, 2022, in Washington. 

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 NASA astronaut Megan McArthur speaks to students during a visit to Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia.

Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-2 NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough speaks to students during a visit to Arlington Science Focus Elementary School, Friday, June 10, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia. 

Photo Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani

Astronaut Stephanie Wilson Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/stephanie-d-wilson/biography/

Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jasmin-moghbeli

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jasmin-moghbeli/biography

Astronaut Thomas Marshburn Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/thomas-h-marshburn/biography

Astronaut Megan McArthur Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/k-megan-mcarthur

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/k-megan-mcarthur/biography

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough Official NASA Biography

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/robert-shane-kimbrough

https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/robert-shane-kimbrough/biography

#NASA #Space #Earth #ISS #Moon #Artemis #Children #Students #ElementarySchool #Events #Astronauts #Astronaut #StephanieWilson #JasminMoghbeli #ThomasMarshburn #MeganMcArthur #ShaneKimbrough #HumanSpaceflight #Washington #DC #Arlington #Virginia #STEM #Education

Next Prelaunch Rehearsal Before Artemis I Moon Mission | This Week @NASA

Next Prelaunch Rehearsal Before Artemis I Moon Mission | This Week @NASA

The next prelaunch rehearsal before launch of our Artemis I Moon mission, news about some NASA astronomy missions, and a critical milestone for an Earth-observing satellite . . . a few of the stories to tell you about—This Week at NASA!

Credit: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Producer: Andre Valentine

Editor: Lacey Young

Music: Universal Production Music

Duration: 3 minutes, 35 seconds

Release Date: June 17, 2022

#NASA #ESA #Space #Moon #Artemis #ArtemisI #SLS #Rocket #DeepSpace #Orion #Spacecraft #Astronauts #Mars #JourneyToMars #Science #Engineering #Technology #Exploration #SolarSystem #LaunchComplex39B #KSC #Spaceport #Florida #UnitedStates #Europe #STEM #Education #HD #Video

Last Rays of an Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

Last Rays of an Orbital Sunset | International Space Station

The last rays of an orbital sunset burst through Earth's horizon as the International Space Station flew 258 miles above Brazil.

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)

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.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC)

Image Date: June 10, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Sun #Orbital #Sunset #Planet #Atmosphere #Astronauts #FlightEngineers #HumanSpaceflight #Art #Science #Photography #Technology #Engineering #UnitedStates #Canada #Europe #Italy #Italia #Japan #日本 #Russia #Россия #International #STEM #Education

NASA's Mars Perseverance & Curiosity Rovers—New June 2022 Images | JPL

NASA's Mars Perseverance & Curiosity Rovers—New June 2022 Images | JPL

MSL - Sol 3491 - MAHLI

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - Sol 470 - Watson

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Kevin M. Gill

Mars2020 - MastCam-Z - SOL 467 - PanoramaB 

(4 images combined)

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/PipploIMP

Mars2020 - MastCam-Z - SOL 466 - Panorama B (from 2 images)

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/PipploIMP

Mars2020 - MastCam-Z - SOL 467 - Panorama C (from 6 images)

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/PipploIMP

Perseverance Rover Update:

Perseverance has continued into Hawksbill Gap, making remote sensing observations of small portions of outcropping rock layers in search of a good place to collect a sample. Since Perseverance is in the Shenandoah quadrangle, we are using target names from Shenandoah National Park. Some of the names this past week included “Bald_Face_Mountain,” “Little_Devil_Stairs,” “Sunset_Hill,” “Luck_Hollow,” and “Moody_Creek.” Perseverance logged nearly 400 meters of driving progress for the week of May 15-21, accumulating a total distance since landing of over 11.8 km as of Sol 446.

Caption Credit: Eleni Ravanis, Student Collaborator at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Release Date: June 2, 2022

Curiosity Rover Update: Sols 3493-3495

"Everywhere you look in the Navcam mosaic (above) there's something interesting to see!

We're up close to a nifty layered outcrop, which is getting lots of imaging including ChemCam LIBS on targets 'Rukumata' and 'Guarico,' a ChemCam mosaic on 'Kamakusa,' MAHLI dogs-eye imaging of 'Tabaco' and the DRT location 'Issano,' which will also have APXS on it.

Mastcam will also be imaging Issano pre- and post-DRT for comparison, and taking a mosaic of the outcrop as a whole. Off the outcrop, ChemCam is also doing LIBS on 'Sisipelin,' which Mastcam will also image, and ChemCam and Mastcam are both taking mosaics further afield towards the Gediz Vallis Ridge.

I . . . was very excited to see the great view we have of the north crater rim, especially since we've been spending so much time recently in among lots of terrain blocking this view. Imaging the crater rim can help us to characterise the amount of dust in the atmosphere, which is especially important in the dusty season.

Aside from the crater rim observations, we are also trying to catch dust devils with a dust devil survey and movie, keeping an eye on the clouds with a few cloud movies, and taking Mastcam tau observations as an additional way to quantify the amount of dust in the atmosphere.

After this marathon of observations, we'll drive about 30 m further and finish up the weekend with a morning ENV block with our weekly AM cloud and dust observations."

Caption Credit: Alex Innanen/JPL

Release Date: June 7, 2022

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 possible return to Earth.

Launch: July 30, 2020    

Landing: Feb. 18, 2021, Jezero Crater, Mars

Mission Name: Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)

Rover Name: Curiosity

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

Launch: November 6, 2011

Landing: August 5, 2012, Gale Crater, Mars

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

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University/Kevin M. Gill

Image Release Dates: June 13-16, 2022

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Mars #RedPlanet #Planet #Astrobiology #Geology #Jezero #Crater #MountSharp #GaleCrater #Perseverance #Curiosity #Rovers #Robotics #Technology #Engineering #JPL #Pasadena #California #UnitedStates #JourneyToMars #CitizenScience #STEM #Education

China’s Chang’e 5 Lunar Lander Finds Water on Moon | South China Morning Post

China’s Chang’e 5 Lunar Lander Finds Water on Moon | South China Morning Post

Soil samples collected by China’s Chang’e 5 lunar lander have determined that much of the water on the lunar surface likely comes from within the Moon itself, not solar winds as previously hypothesized. The discovery comes from the first-ever water survey conducted on the surface of the Moon and is an important step in China’s ambitions to build a Moonbase by 2027. However, while Chinese scientists discovered water, they found far less of it than initially predicted—a minuscule 30 grams per ton of soil so far.

Chang'e 5 is the fifth lunar exploration mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. It launched in November 23, 2020 from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island, landed on the Moon December 1, 2020, collected ~1,731 g (61.1 oz) of lunar samples (including from a core ~1 m deep), and returned samples to the Earth on December 16, 2020. The Chang'e 5 landing site is at 43.1°N (in latitude), 51.8°W (in longitude) in the Northern Oceanus Procellarum near a huge volcanic complex, Mons Rümker, located in the northwest lunar near side.

Related story:

Chinese scientists find clues to the origins of water on the moon https://sc.mp/z6lw

Chang'e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Support the South China Morning Post (SCMP):

https://subscribe.scmp.com

Video Credit: South China Morning Post (SCMP)

Duration: 1 minute, 41 seconds

Release Date: June 17, 2022

#China #Space #Moon #SampleReturn #Spacecraft #Lander #Robotics #Change5 #嫦娥五号 #Science #Technology #Engineering #Water #SolarSystem #Exploration #中国 #STEM #Education #HD #Video

European Space Agency Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Works on U.S. Spacesuits

European Space Agency Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti Works on U.S. Spacesuits

European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy works on U.S. spacesuits inside the International Space Station's Quest airlock. Samantha is also a mechanical engineer and a former fighter pilot in the Italian Air Force. She has flown six types of military aircraft: SF-260, T-37, T-38, MB-339A, MB-339CD and AM-X. Cristoforetti can speak Italian, English, German, French, and Russian, and she has studied Mandarin.

Samantha Cristoforetti's Biography (ESA)

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Samantha_Cristoforetti

Expedition 67 Crew

Commander Oleg Artemyev (Russia)

Roscosmos Flight Engineers: Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov (Russia)

NASA Flight Engineers: Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins (USA)

European Space Agency (ESA) Flight Engineer: Samantha Cristoforetti (Italy)

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)

Image Date: May 11, 2022

#NASA #Space #ISS #Earth #Planet #Spacesuits #EVA #Spacewalk #Science #Technology #Engineering #ESA #Astronaut #SamanthaCristoforetti #Pilot #FlightEngineer #MechanicalEngineer #Minerva #Italy #Italia #ASI #HumanSpaceflight #Expedition67 #Europe #UnitedStates #International #STEM #Education