Category: Astronomie
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Satellite Sees Global View of Sandy’s Life to Landfall
An animation of satellite observations from Oct. 21-30, 2012, shows the birth of Tropical Storm Sandy in the Caribbean Sea, the intensification and movement of Sandy in the Atlantic Ocean along the U.S. East Coast, and the landfall of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey on Oct. 29. This visualization was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., using observations from NOAA’s GOES-13 and GOES-15 satellites.
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ESA Euronews: Measuring earth’s vital magnetic field
Earth’s magnetosphere is an invisible shield, protecting our planet from harmful solar radiation.
Many living organisms – from bacteria to insects or birds – seem to rely on Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Man has been doing so for a thousand years since the invention of the compass.
But research shows the magnetic field is weakening and scientists are trying to understand why.
Some believe it signals a pole reversal in progress, not an uncommon phenomenon in the history of our planet.
As ground observatories fail to grasp the whole picture, we are sending magnetometers into orbit to try to measure the magnitude and the direction of the magnetic field.
Find out more, this week, in Space.
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NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Report #11 — October 19, 2012
A NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks’ elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover’s analytical laboratory instruments.
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Three launchers at Europe’s Spaceport
2012 has seen three launchers lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The heavy Ariane 5, the medium Soyuz and the small Vega now provide Europe with a full range of launch services and capabilities. Watch this new video of the trio’s assembly, final preparations, rollout and liftoff.
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Introduction to Astrobiology
In this introductory lecture, Dr. Gerda Horneck of the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine in Cologne describes Astrobiology as a newly emerging field of science.
Astrobiology comprises the study of the overall pattern of chemical evolution of potential precursors of life, in the interstellar medium, and on the planets and small bodies of our solar system. Astrobiology also consists of studying the history of life on Earth back to its roots, deciphering the environments of planets in our solar system and of their satellites and searching for other planetary systems in our Galaxy.
Hereby, Astrobiology provides clues to the understanding of the origin, evolution and distribution of life and its interaction with the environment, here on Earth and in the Universe.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour Traveling Through the Streets of Los Angeles
Space Shuttle Endeavour’s two-day trip from Los Angeles International Airport through the streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center is underway. The planned transport route of NASA’s youngest orbiter takes it past several well-known L.A. landmarks.
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NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Report #10
A NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a n
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ESA Euronews: Astrobiology tries to unravel the origins of life
Where does life come from? Are we really just stardust? Is there life elsewhere than on this planet? A new form of science tries to answer these questions – astrobiology.
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NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Report #8
A NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks’ elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover’s analytical laboratory instruments.
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NASA’s Curiosity Rover Finds Old Streambed on Mars
NASA’s newest Mars rover has found evidence that a stream once ran vigorously across the area on the Red Planet where the rover is now driving. The finding is a different type of evidence for water on Mars than ever found before. Scientists are studying Curiosity’s images of rocks containing ancient streambed gravels. The sizes and shapes of stones cemented into a layer of conglomerate rock are clues to the speed and distance of a long-ago stream’s flow.
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NASA’s Mars Curiosity Rover Report #7
A NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover team member gives an update on developments and status of the planetary exploration mission. The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft delivered Curiosity to its target area on Mars at 1:31:45 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, which includes the 13.8 minutes needed for confirmation of the touchdown to be radioed to Earth at the speed of light. The rover will conduct a nearly two-year prime mission to investigate whether the Gale Crater region of Mars ever offered conditions favorable for microbial life.
Curiosity carries 10 science instruments with a total mass 15 times as large as the science payloads on NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the tools, such as a laser-firing instrument for checking rocks’ elemental composition from a distance, are the first of their kind on Mars. Curiosity will use a drill and scoop, which are located at the end of its robotic arm, to gather soil and powdered samples of rock interiors, then sieve and parcel out these samples into the rover’s analytical laboratory instruments.
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Endeavour Goes Cross-Country on This Week @NASA
Atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Endeavour completes its journey from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Los Angeles, where it’ll go on display at the California Science Center next month. Also, Shuttle Social, Curiosity Cruises, Helping Hangout, Ride Remembered, and more.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour Over NASA’s Ames Research Center
NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, carrying space shuttle Endeavour, as it flew over NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain Valley, Calif. on Sept. 21.
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Space Shuttle Endeavour Arrives at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center
NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) with space shuttle Endeavour mounted atop arrived Sept. 20 at the agency’s Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base in California.
Following an overnight stay, the SCA and Endeavour will salute the Edwards Air Force Base area early Friday, Sept. 21 with a low flyby northbound to Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area. Next the aircraft will travel south, making a pass over NASA’s Ames Research Center, Vandenberg Air Force Base and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory before heading into the Los Angeles area.
Finally, the SCA and Endeavour will land about noon PDT at Los Angeles International Airport, for an arrival ceremony before Endeavour is taken off the SCA and transported to its permanent home at the California Science Center next month.
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The Nation says Farewell to Neil Armstrong on This Week @ NASA
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden joined other agency officials and dignitaries at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life and career of astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who died Aug. 25. The memorial was broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed on nasa.gov and the National Cathedral’s website.
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NASA 2012 Hispanic Heritage Month Profile — Luis Dominguez – Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Luis Dominguez is a systems engineer in the Systems Integration and Test Group at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California (JPL). Dominguez is a Test Conductor/Analyst for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Mission System Testbed Team. He started at JPL as an academic part time employee in the fall of 2007 working for the MSL Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) Team and subsequently moved to the Testbed team in 2009. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California in the Leimert Park/Mid-City area. Luis holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
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Earth from Space: Gulf of Guinea
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios.
In the thirty-fifth edition, we explore West Africa, the Gulf of Guinea and the Cameroon Volcanic Line. -
NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Arrives at Kennedy Space Center
NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified 747 jumbo jet, touched down just before 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SCA, which is designated NASA 905, was the original shuttle carrier and was used in 1977 for the space shuttle approach and landing tests. This series of eight captive and five free flights with the orbiter prototype Enterprise, in addition to ground taxi tests, validated the aircraft’s performance as an SCA, in addition to verifying the glide and landing characteristics of the orbiter configuration — paving the way for orbital flights and ferry flights. NASA 905 now will fly the final ferry flight in Space Shuttle Program history.
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JFK’s Rice Speech on NASA TV Sept. 12
50 years ago, President John F. Kennedy delivered his historic “Space Challenge” speech to students and faculty at Rice University in Houston that included this now-iconic statement, “We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard.” See and hear the speech in its entirety this Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. Central on NASA TV just as it was delivered that morning on September 12, 1962
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NASA Launches Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission
NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP), the first twin-spacecraft mission designed to explore our planet’s radiation belts, launched into the predawn skies at 4:05a.m. EDT Thursday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The two satellites, each weighing just less than 1,500 pounds, comprise the first dual-spacecraft mission specifically created to investigate this hazardous regions of near-Earth space, known as the radiation belts. These two belts, named for their discoverer, James Van Allen, encircle the planet and are filled with highly charged particles. The belts are affected by solar storms and coronal mass ejections and sometimes swell dramatically. When this occurs, they can pose dangers to communications, GPS satellites and human spaceflight.
The hardy RBSP satellites will spend the next 2 years looping through every part of both Van Allen belts. By having two spacecraft in different regions of the belts at the same time, scientists finally will be able to gather data from within the belts themselves, learning how they change over space and time. Designers fortified RBSP with special protective plating and rugged electronics to operate and survive within this punishing region of space that other spacecraft avoid. In addition, a space weather broadcast will transmit selected data from those instruments around the clock, giving researchers a check on current conditions near Earth.
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Armstrong Remembered by NASA Administrator
In a message to NASA employees, Administrator Charles Bolden celebrates the legacy of Neil Armstrong, who died Saturday, Aug. 25, at age 82.
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ESA – Space to Relax / MagISStra City Views: Photos by Paolo Nespoli
A breathtaking collection of photos taken by ESA Astronaut Paolo Nespoli during his 6-month MagISStra mission on the International Space Station 25 December 2010 – 24 May 2011.
Music: Dream Elements by Green Sun licensed by Ambient Music Garden.
Video produced for Lufthansa inflight entertainment (released June 2011). -
Armstrong Hosts NASA 50th Anniversary Documentary
Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 Commander and first person to walk on the moon, guides us through the history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the half-century since its establishment in 1958. Produced by NASA TV, 2008.
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NASA Celebrates Apollo
This live program at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC highlights the success of America’s space program as it met President Kennedy’s challenge of putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11 Commander, who was the first person to set foot on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, features prominently.
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50 Years of Exploration: The Golden Anniversary of NASA
Premiered in 2008 at NASA’s Golden Anniversary Gala held at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., this 13-and-a-half-minute video produced by NASA TV highlights the agency’s historic half-century milestones, including the landing of Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon in 1969.
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Full orbit: How an astronaut will view Mars from orbit – with distance counter
This movie was generated from 600 individual still images captured by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on board Mars Express during the 8194th orbit on 27 May 2010 between 02:00 and 09:00 UTC (04:00-11:00 CEST) and were transmitted to Earth a few hours later via ESA’s 35m New Norcia deep space station in Australia.
The portion of the movie where the planet beneath the spacecraft was dark has been largely removed since no detail was visible.
The images show the spacecraft’s slow descent from high above the planet, speeding up as closest approach is passed and then slowing down again as the distance increases. Towards the start of the video, the giant Martian volcanoes can be seen followed by the beginning of the ice coverage around the South Pole as the spacecraft crosses over to the night side of the planet. Shortly after emerging back onto the day side of the planet, the beautiful North Pole can be observed, followed by the long climb away from the planet over the equator. Finally, at the end of the movie, the disk of Phobos can be seen crossing from top to bottom of the image.
Credit: ESA – European Space Agency, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Copyright Notice:
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) licence. The user is allowed to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly perform this publication, without explicit permission, provided that the content is accompanied by an acknowledgement that the source is credited as ‘ESA/DLR/FU Berlin’, a direct link to the licence text is provided and that it is clearly indicated if changes were made to the original content. Adaptation/translation/derivatives must be distributed under the same licence terms as this publication. To view a copy of this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/
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We’re NASA and We Know It (Mars Curiosity) Satire
Performed by David Hudson [http://twitter.com/dubhud]
Executive Producer: Alexander JL Theoharis [http://twitter.com/Satire]
Director: Forest Gibson [http://twitter.com/ForestGibson]
Editors: Cinesaurus [http://cinesaurus.com]
Steven Hudson [http://twitter.com/HudsonFilm] & David Hudson [http://twitter.com/DubHud]
Written by Rob Whitehead [http://twitter.com/RobCWhitehead]
Prop Designer: Christopher Parker [http://twitter.com/chrstphrprkr]
Costumer: Jared Cheshier [http://twitter.com/JaredMonkey]
Camera Operator: Forest Gibson, Steven Hudson, Jon Sim
Cast: Steven Hudson, Tara Theoharis [http://twitter.com/geekyhostess], Zac Cohn [http://twitter.com/zaccohn], Danielle Sparks [http://twitter.com/dannysparky], Kevin Lane [http://twitter.com/_kevin_lane_], Monica Houston, Anne Ketola, Tim Uomoto [http://twitter.com/FRockClothing], Brendan Uomoto, Alexander JL Theoharis
Promotional Support: Zac Cohn and Tara TheoharisSpecial Thanks to Anne Ketola for all the awesome NASA gear, and David Zimmerman for video equipment!
Lyrics:
When I EDL, time for seven minutes of flamin’ hell
Rover’s touchin’ down
everybody passin’ peanuts around, yeah
We’re at mission control, getting full use outta ev-er-y Sol (wa!)
Just 25 feet left to go
It’s Curiosity, look out below (yo)Crane lower that rover (ah)
Crane lower that rover (ah)
Crane lower that rover (ah)N-N-N-Now bug out!
Crane lower that rover
Crane lower that rove
Crane lower that roverNow bug out!
Kickin’ it at my con(sole), this is what I see (okay)
Data streaming back from curiosity
I got stars on my ‘hawk
and I ain’t afraid to show it (show it, show it, show it)
We’re NASA and we know itWe’re NASA and we know it
(Yo)
When I look for ice, gotta calibrate, gotta be precise
And when I raise the mast, panoramic views are unsurpassed (wha?)
This is how I rove, baking red rocks in my nuclear stove
We headed to the peak, with my laser eye
No one to bury me when it’s time to die (ow!)Crane lower that rover
Crane lower that rover
Crane lower that roverNow bug out!
Crane lower that rover
Crane lower that rover
Crane lower that roverNow bug out!
Shoutout to Carl the Sage (and) Neil Degrasse T (B.A.!)
Shoutout to JPL and the Rocker-Bogie
We’re better than SpaceX
And we ain’t afraid to show it (show it, show it, show it)
We’re NASA and we know it
We’re NASA and we know it -
ESA astronaut André Kuipers’ tour of the International Space Station
ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers invites you to follow a guided tour of the complete International Space Station. Andre himself is the tour guide during this unique visit to the Station.
In the space of one hour Andre shows every module of the International Space Station and explains the ins and outs of living in the largest laboratory in space. This video gives a wonderful glimpse of how life is for an astronaut living in the Station. From science and maintenance to operating robotic arms and finding lost equipment, Andre takes you from the Japanese research module via the Station’s cellar and ‘garden’ to the Russian segment, ending his tour with breath-taking views of Earth from the European-built Cupola observation module.
This video was recorded during the end of ESA’s PromISSe mission. Andre spent a total of 193 days in space before returning to Earth on 1 July 2012.
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Making NASA History
“Making NASA History” is a 12 minute video introducing kids to the key moments in the history of the American space program. This video combines historical footage, photographs, and audio files with narration by two spacesuit-sporting interns from the NASA History Program Office. The goal of this video is to inspire both kids and adults to appreciate and learn more about NASA’s many accomplishments in space exploration and aeronautics.
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New NASA Mission to Study Space Weather
With 14 days until its launch, the Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission is previewed by scientists at NASA Headquarters in Washington. RBSP will study the role of the Earth’s radiation belts in producing space weather that can adversely affect communications and electronic systems.
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NASA Lands Car-Size Rover Beside Martian Mountain
NASA’s most advanced Mars rover Curiosity has landed on the Red Planet. The one-ton rover, hanging by ropes from a rocket backpack, touched down onto Mars Sunday to end a 36-week flight and begin a two-year investigation.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft that carried Curiosity succeeded in every step of the most complex landing ever attempted on Mars, including the final severing of the bridle cords and flyaway maneuver of the rocket backpack.
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Ariane 5 performs 50th successful launch in a row
Thursday 2 August 2012 marked the 50th successful Ariane flight in a row: an Ariane 5 was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to perform a dual deployment of two telecommunications satellites, Intelsat 20 and Hylas-2, into their planned transfer orbits.
Lift off of flight VA208 took place at 22:54 CEST; 17:54 French Guiana time. This was Ariane 5’s fourth launch of 2012, continuing a line of launch successes unbroken since 2003.
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Shatner Hosts Curiosity’s “Grand Entrance” to Mars
Actor William Shatner narrates this thrilling video about NASA’s Curiosity rover, from its entry and descent through the Martian atmosphere to its landing and exploration of the Red Planet in NASA’s hardest planetary science mission to date.
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Red Planet Rendezvous on This Week @NASA
The Curiosity rover continues to make its way to Mars and its scheduled landing in Gale Crater on Monday, Aug. 6. Also Mars Yard; New record set; New heat shield test and new mission previewed; Landsat 40 and remembering Sally Ride and more….
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The Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) – An Innovative Teamworking Method
Traditionally, engineers faced with the task of designing a new, complex system or structure – a car, an aircraft or a satellite – work sequentially, one step at a time, passing the design from engineer to engineer. This is inefficient and consumes time and resources.
For more than a decade, many of ESA’s sophisticated spacecraft have been designed with the help of the CDF, making use of very advanced iterative techniques – hence its title ‘concurrent’.
Concurrent engineering puts all related engineers, with all their brain power and required tools together with the final user representative – or customer – in the same location at the same time. This allows for iterative design at a fast pace, with customer and designers agreeing requirements and taking decisions in real time to ensure the best design for the right cost and an acceptable risk.
This process has been developed and honed so it is now common to produce a risk assessed conceptual space mission design complete with various options and including scheduling, testing and operations in a matter of weeks.
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Backstage at ESA with the Travel Office, HR Outreach, ‘Heavy Gang’ and more!
This short video looks at some of the behind the scene roles that contribute to making the ESA working environment a success.
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NASA-TV’s Curiosity Landing Coverage Begins Aug. 5
The Mars Science Laboratory, the hardest mission ever attempted in planetary robotic exploration is about to prove its mettle with the landing of its Curiosity rover on the Red Planet. Live coverage begins at 11:30 p.m. Eastern on NASA TV.
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Lunar Lander mission
Lunar Lander mission, from launch to landing and exploring the Moon.
Lunar Lander is a robotic explorer that will demonstrate key European technologies and conduct science experiments.
The mission is a forerunner to future human and robotic exploration of the Moon and Mars. It will establish European expertise to allow strong international partnerships in exploration.
