A powerful new satellite will soon provide insights into natural hazards, ecosystems, agriculture, and other fields of study that affect communities around the globe. The NISAR mission is a collaboration between NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and will use radar to track Earth’s changing surface in fine detail.
Short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, NISAR features an advanced radar system with two instruments: one from ISRO and one built at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Using radar enables NISAR to map Earth’s land and ice surfaces day or night, regardless of whether skies are cloudy or clear.
NISAR will launch from ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Launch is targeted for July 2025. Follow https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/nisar for the latest updates.
Watch the second episode of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission – Europe’s ambitious exploration journey to search for past and present signs of life on Mars.
This episode starts with Rosalind searching for traces of life below the martian surface using a ground penetrating radar and a set of cameras.
The rover will dig, collect, and investigate the chemical composition of material collected by a drill. Rosalind Franklin will be the first rover to reach a depth of up to two metres deep below the surface, acquiring samples that have been protected from surface radiation and extreme temperatures.
Rosalind Franklin uses the WISDOM radar to help scientists on Earth decide where to drill. Besides identifying the most promising targets for sampling, WISDOM will help the rover avoid potential hazards, such as the presence of buried rocks that could damage the drill. The scientific eyes of the rover are set on the Panoramic Camera suite known as PanCam. The Close-UP Imager (CLUPI) sits on the side of the drill box, a camera designed to acquire high-resolution, colour, close-up images of outcrops, rocks and soils. PanCam and CLUPI will help scientists find the most promising spots to drill. These instruments can also investigate very fine outcrop details and image drill samples before they are sent into the rover’s laboratory. After the rover retracts its drill, the sample is in a special chamber at the tip. Under the reduced martian gravity (38% of Earth’s), the material drops onto a special “hand” that the rover can extend to the front to collect drill samples. The mission will serve to demonstrate key technologies that Europe needs to master for future planetary exploration missions.
The ExoMars rover series show the rover and martian landscapes as true to reality as possible for a simulation.
Check ESA’s ExoMars website and our frequently asked questions for the latest updates.
Credits: ESA – European Space Production: Mlabspace for ESA 3D animation: ESA/Mlabspace Video footage: ESA/NASA, Shutterstock Music composed by Valentin Joudrier
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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.
ESA uses terrestrial rocks to recreate the Moon’s surface!
Two state-of-the-art ESA facilities are working closely to develop a simulated lunar environment that will serve as a proving ground for future exploration technologies.
Looking to power surface exploration on the Moon, new imagery from the surface of Mars, and our newest flight directors … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Producer: Andre Valentine Editor: Sonnet Apple Music: Universal Production Music
0:00 Introduction 0:13 NASA Announces Artemis Concept Awards for Nuclear Power on Moon 0:48 Curiosity Captures Stunning Views of a Changing Mars Landscape 1:25 NASA Introduces New Flight Directors in Class of 2022 1:49 NASA Documentary Celebrates Black Space Explorers 2:33 Vice President Hosts NASA for Family STEM Event
Earth from Space is presented by Malì Cecere from the ESA Web-TV virtual studios. The one hundred eightieth edition features a Sentinel-3A image of the River Nile and surroundings.
Rosetta’s deployment of Philae to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.
The animation begins with Philae still on Rosetta, which will come to within about 22.5 km of the centre of the nucleus to release the lander on 12 November 2014.
The animation then shows Philae being ejected by Rosetta and deploying its own three legs, and follows the lander’s descent until it reaches the target site on the comet about seven hours later.
The animation is speeded up, but the comet rotation is true: in the time it takes for Philae to descend, the nucleus has rotated by more than 180º (the comet’s rotation period is 12.4 hours).
The final steps of Philae’s descent towards the comet are shown as seen by a hypothetical observer close to the landing site on the comet.
Acknowledgement: The background image of the sequence showing Philae closing in on the landing site was taken by Rosetta’s OSIRIS narrow-angle camera (ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA) on 14 September 2014 from a distance of about 30 km.
Philae was provided by a consortium led by DLR, MPS, CNES and ASI.
Water in rivers, in a glass, or falling from clouds obeys gravity. It’s going to fall towards the ground because of the physical pull of the earth. But, what if we told you that you could turn a glass of water completely upside down and the water wouldn’t fall to the floor? That’s what happens in the Anti-Gravity Water demonstration. It’s a simple experiment that dramatically demonstrates the amazing physical properties of water.
Steve Spangler is a celebrity teacher, science toy designer, speaker, author and an Emmy award-winning television personality. Spangler is probably best known for his Mentos and Diet Coke geyser experiment that went viral in. Spangler is the founder of www.SteveSpanglerScience.com, a Denver-based company specializing in the creation of science toys, classroom science demonstrations, teacher resources and home for Spangler’s popular science experiment archive and video collection. Spangler is a frequent guest on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Denver 9 News where he takes classroom science experiments to the extreme. For teachers, parents or DIY Science ideas – check out other sources of learning:
