On Jan. 31, 1958, at 10:48 p.m. EST, Explorer 1 launched into space, hurtling into Earth’s orbit in seven and a half minutes. Read more: https://go.nasa.gov/2nwic63
The next day’s front-page news declared that the United States was now officially in the Space Age.
Music: Look Forward by Laurent Dury, The Space Between by Max Concors, Picking Locks by James Alexander Dorman and Foraging At Dusk by Benjamin James Parsons. Complete transcript available.
This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization Studio at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12837
Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/LK Ward
In Bonn, Germany, two ESA astronauts recently went through a brand new training programme which could be very useful in case of no contact with the ground or when communication might be delayed.
Samantha Cristoferetti and Matthias Maurer were taught basic mechanical, electronic, electrical and pneumatic skills and how to use these skills to troubleshoot their equipment in space.
This new training, commissioned by ESA, has been developed by the Dr. Reinold-Hagen Foundation and by Space Application Services.
January 31 brings a lunar trifecta: the super blue blood Moon! Starting at 5:30 a.m. Eastern, NASA TV will offer a livestream of the Moon. This full moon is the third in a series of “supermoons,” when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit — known as perigee — and about 14 percent brighter than usual. It’s the second full moon of the month, commonly known as a “blue moon.” The super blue moon will pass through Earth’s shadow to give viewers in the right location a total lunar eclipse. While the Moon is in the Earth’s shadow it will take on a reddish tint, known as a “blood moon.” More: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/super-blue-blood-moon-coming-jan-31
The first space station spacewalk of the new year, launching GOLD to study Earth’s near-space environment, and – read all about it … there’s NASA tech you probably use every day … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2018_0126_Going%20EVA%20Outside%20the%20Space%20Station%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20January%2026,%202018.html
The first hot firing of Ariane 6’s Vulcain 2.1 main engine was performed in January 2018 at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany.
The engine, developed by ArianeGroup, has a simplified and more robust nozzle, a gas generator made through additive manufacturing, and an oxygen heater for oxygen tank pressurisation. These features lower the cost of the engine and simplify manufacturing.
Space vous emmène à Cologne découvrir la réplique terrestre de Columbus. Entretien avec des chercheurs et des astronautes.
Ce mois-ci, Space vous emmène au Centre Européen des Astronautes à Cologne, en Allemagne à la découverte de Columbus, le module européen de la Station spatiale internationale. Pendant ces dix dernières années il a été utilisé par les astronautes pour réaliser des expériences sur eux-mêmes, faire pousser des plantes et même développer de nouveaux métaux. Il y a dix ans, Columbus a pris une navette pour l’espace. Le premier laboratoire européen vola en orbite et fut soigneusement amarré à la Station Spatiale Internationale.
O módulo Columbus na Estação Espacial Internacional é a contribuição da Europa para o laboratório de investigação em órbita. Nos últimos dez anos, foi utilizado por astronautas para cultivar plantas, desenvolver novos metais e até para realizar experiências em si mesmos.
Bem-vindos a Space aqui no Centro Europeu de Astronautas em Colónia.
Este mês, debruçamo-nos sobre o módulo Columbus na Estação Espacial Internacional, o centro científico da Europa no espaço.
Nos últimos 10 anos tem sido utilizado por astronautas para realizar experiências em si mesmos, cultivar plantas e até mesmo desenvolver novos metais. Vamos descobrir mais.
Há dez anos, o Columbus apanhou uma boleia de foguetão para o espaço.
O primeiro laboratório em órbita da Europa foi cuidadosamente agregado à Estação Espacial Internacional.
Está situado en la Estación Espacial Internacional (ISS) y los astronautas lo emplean para cultivar plantas, desarrollar nuevos materiales e influso para experimentar sobre sí mismos.
El módulo Columbus de la Estación Espacial Internacional que se encuentra en el Centro Europeo de Astronautas en Colonia es una réplica del laboratorio espacial europeo en órbita. El de Colonia se emplea como módulo de entrenamiento.
Columbus lleva 10 años en el espacio y los astronautas lo usan para llevar a cabo todo tipo de experimentos: cultivar plantas, desarrollar nuevos metales e incluso experimentar diferentes variables sobre ellos mismos.
Fue puesto en órbita el 7 de febrero de 2008 y fue acoplado cuidadosamente a la Estación Espacial Internacional.
Firing the engine that will power humans to deep space, testing a potential source of power for future exploration, and practicing water recovery of the Orion spacecraft – a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2018_0119_Feel%20the%20Rumble!%20RS-25%20Engine%20Test%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20January%2019,%202018.html
The James Webb Space Telescope’s cryogenic vacuum testing at our Johnson Space Center verified it’s ready for the cold, harsh environment of space, and its mission to uncover a part of the universe we have not seen. From distant worlds orbiting other stars, to mysterious cosmic structures, Webb could help answer questions about our universe and our place in it. Launch of Webb is set for 2019. Also, Flight through Orion Nebula, 360 Degree View from the Center of the Galaxy, and Raging Water on Launch Pad!
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library: https://images.nasa.gov/details-NHQ_2018_0112_Webb%20Space%20Telescope%20Update%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20January%2012,%202018.html
By combining the visible and infrared capabilities of the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers and visualization specialists from NASA’s Universe of Learning program have created a spectacular, three-dimensional, fly-through movie of the magnificent Orion nebula, a nearby stellar nursery. Using actual scientific data along with Hollywood techniques, a team at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Caltech/IPAC in Pasadena, California, has produced the best and most detailed multi-wavelength visualization yet of the Orion nebula.
Credits: Space Telescope Science Institute
More: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/hubble-yields-new-discoveries-at-the-winter-aas-meeting
Download: http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-04
The Moon is a destination, a laboratory for science, a place to learn the skills of planetary exploration, and a source of materials and energy for use on the Moon and in space to create new spacefaring capability.
Advocate of a human return on the Moon, Paul D. Spudis, Senior Staff Scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston (Texas, USA), takes us on a journey to rediscover the value of lunar exploration, a topic on which he has spent more than 40 years of study, thought and publications.
Space Bites hosts the best talks on space exploration from the most inspiring and knowledgeable speakers from the field. Held at the technical heart of the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, the lectures are now also available on YouTube. If you want to know about the present and future challenges of ESA, stay tuned for more.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Astronaut John Young, who walked on the Moon during Apollo 16 and commanded the first space shuttle mission, has passed away at the age of 87.
He is the only person to go into space as part of the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs and was the first to fly into space six times — or seven times, when counting his liftoff from the Moon during Apollo 16.
After a fruitful 2017 with many exciting launches and the end of some historic missions, ESA is ready for the year to come. 2018 will see the 10th anniversary of the International Space Station’s Columbus module and an ESA astronaut taking the helm of the ISS as commander. There will be more launches of new Earth observation and exploration satellites and ESA will venture to the innermost planet in our Solar System. 2018 will also mark the completion of the first part of the Copernicus constellation observing the Earth and of the full Galileo constellation, Europe’s own satellite navigation system.
The astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station take pictures of Earth out their windows nearly every day, and over a year that adds up to thousands of photos. The people at the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston had the enviable job of going through this year’s crop to pick their top 17 photos of Earth for 2017—here’s what they chose!
With 2018 approaching rapidly and 2017 coming to a close, ESA can look back on a fruitful year. It has been a year dominated by the ESA astronaut missions to the International Space Station, the launch of more Sentinel satellites and the first launch of a small Geo satellite.
This video looks back at the highlights of 2017 for ESA.
Europe’s first Space Exploration Masters competition, based around space exploration activities, welcomed new players to boost business and innovation in the space industry. The event was held at the NewSpace Europe conference on 16 November 2017 in Luxembourg.
Prizes worth more than €500 000 were awarded to winners with disruptive ideas to connect space and non-space areas with new approaches, solutions and services.
This is NASA’s 2018 ‘To Do’ list.
The work we do, which will continue in 2018, helps the United States maintain its world leadership in space exploration and scientific discovery.
Launches, discoveries and more exploration await in the year ahead.
This video is available for download from NASA’s Image and Video Library:
images-assets.nasa.gov/video/NHQ_2017_1219_NASA 2018 TO DO LIST_FINAL/NHQ_2017_1219_NASA 2018 TO DO LIST_FINAL~orig.mp4
The race is on to build the new launch pad for the Ariane 6 rocket, due to make its maiden voyage in July 2020. Construction is in full swing in French Guiana as Europe builds not only a new rocket but also a new way of launching rockets, in a bid to face down competition from the likes of Space X.
When Euronews visited, around 500 people were active on the site from six in the morning until ten at night, with attention focused on two key elements of the pad – firstly the huge flame trench which will take the hot gases away from the rocket on launch, and the new building in which the Ariane 6 will be built.
El Puerto Espacial Europeo en la Guyana francesa, está en plena efervescencia. Estamos en medio de una gigantesca obra. Aquí se sitúa la nueva plataforma de lanzamiento de Ariane 6, cuyo despegue está previsto en julio de 2020. Intentamos averigurar qué se necesita para mantenerse a la vanguardia en el negocio del espacio.
Amanece en Guyana y los ingenieros europeos se afanan en la construcción del terminal de lanzamiento de Ariane 6. Esta gigantesca obra tiene un único objetivo: lanzar cohetes al espacio por un coste, dos veces inferior al de Ariane 5. Para lograrlo se necesita un montón de hormigón, de acero y de mano de obra.
Dans cette édition de Space, nous entrons dans les coulisses d’un chantier colossal au Centre spatial européen de Kourou en Guyane française. Un pas de tir est en train de sortir de terre en vue du vol inaugural d’Ariane 6 programmé en juillet 2020. Grâce à ce projet, l’Europe se relance dans la compétition mondiale qui oppose les acteurs du secteur spatial.
Sur la côte nord-est de l’Amérique du Sud, à Kourou en Guyane, des ingénieurs européens s’affairent à la construction du nouveau pas de tir d’Ariane 6. Ce chantier colossal doit répondre à un objectif simple : diviser par deux, les coûts de lancement par rapport à son modèle précédent. Pour y parvenir, il faut d’abord une quantité astronomique de béton, d’acier et de main-d’oeuvre.
ESA is taking advantage of Novespace’s latest ‘Zero-G’ aircraft to perform a number of experiments in microgravity. Twelve experiments – which include six by professional scientists and six by students as part of ESA’s Fly Your Thesis programme – took to the skies for three series of 31 parabolas off the coast of France. Conditions of microgravity, or weightlessness, are unique for research ranging from fundamental physics, testing Einstein’s weak equivalence principle, to psychology, neuroscience and the deployment of a balloon that may one day make measurements while falling through Mars’ atmosphere.
The newly-discovered Kepler-90i — a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days — was found by researchers from Google and The University of Texas at Austin using machine learning. Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence in which computers “learn.” In this case, computers learned to identify planets by finding in Kepler data instances where the telescope recorded signals from planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets.
Video credit: NASA/Ames Research Center
NASA’s Ames Research Center is located in California’s Silicon Valley. Follow us on social media to hear about the latest developments in space, science and technology.
Christina, a physicist from Denmark, shares her experience as a Young Graduate Trainee. In ESA she is working in the Education Office, and in this video she talks about a project she is part of there, the AstroPi challenge, and what motivates her to work on educational material in the European Space Agency.
2017: A year of groundbreaking discoveries and record-setting exploration at NASA. The Moon became a focal point for the agency, we brought you unique coverage of the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse in the U.S. in 99 years, we announced the most Earth-size planets ever found in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system, and more!
This animation takes the viewer on a simulated flight into, and then out of, Jupiter’s upper atmosphere at the location of the Great Red Spot. It was created by combining an image from the JunoCam imager on NASA’s Juno spacecraft with a computer-generated animation.
The perspective begins about 2,000 miles (3,000 kilometers) above the cloud tops of the planet’s southern hemisphere. The bar at far left indicates altitude during the quick descent; a second gauge next to that depicts the dramatic increase in temperature that occurs as the perspective dives deeper down. The clouds turn crimson as the perspective passes through the Great Red Spot. Finally, the view ascends out of the spot.
Atmospheric carbon dioxide is the most important human-made greenhouse gas responsible for global warming. Oceans assist in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: phytoplankton accumulate carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and their chlorophyll colours the ocean’s waters. Satellites use this colour to measure chlorophyll, which helps scientists to calculate how much carbon dioxide is absorbed or emitted.
The Geminid meteor shower will put on a dazzling show for skywatchers when it peaks overnight on Dec. 13-14, 2017. NASA will show a livestream of the Geminid shower beginning at 9 p.m. EST (10 p.m. Central) on Dec. 13, from the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Stella, an astrophysicist from Estonia, shares her experience as a YGT at ESA working with data provided by the Gaia mission’s team to model the movements of stars.
A series of daytime photos were taken by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli from on board the International Space Station flying from Africa, to Italy and Russia to create this time-lapse of Earth.
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli in currently working and living on board the International Space Station as part of the Italian Space Agency’s long-duration VITA mission.
A series of nighttime photos were taken by ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli to create this time-lapse of the Earth as seen from the Space Station and the Moon rising above the horizon.
ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli in currently working and living on board the International Space Station as part of the Italian Space Agency’s long-duration VITA mission.
The Expedition 53 crew received a surprise with the recent arrival of the Cygnus spacecraft at the International Space Station – a make your own pizza kit!
With thanks to NASA for sharing the video with us.
Connect with the crew on Twitter:
@astro_paolo (http://paolonespoli.esa.int)
@sergeyiss
@Astro_Sabot
@AstroAcaba
@astrokomrade
Earth from Space is presented by Kelsea Brennan-Wessels from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. In the 250th edition, the Sentinel-2A satellite takes us over northern Brazil where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Chris from the UK shares his experience as an ESA YGT. He has a background in Materials Engineering and in this video, he shows the set-up that he has been using in the lab at ESTEC to test stress corrosion cracking in spacecraft propellant tanks.
At Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, Ariane 6 is now a reality with the launch zone taking shape.
Indeed there is no time to lose for the future European launcher since its first launch is planned for July 2020.
But the independent access to space for Europe is at stake along with its leading role on the launcher market.
This video shows the status of Ariane 6 launch zone in Kourou with latest drone images and an interview with Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA’s Director of Space Transportation.
