Highlights 2013

Highlights 2013

TRACKING INTERPLANETARY SPACECRAFT

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

FROM:  NASA, GOLDSTONE 

Late night in the desert: Goldstone's 230-foot (70-meter) antenna tracks spacecraft day and night. This photograph was taken on Jan. 11, 2012. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, located in the Mojave Desert in California, is one of three complexes that comprise NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The DSN provides radio communications for all of NASA's interplanetary spacecraft and is also utilized for radio astronomy and radar observations of the solar system and the universe. DSN, the world's largest and most powerful communications system for "talking to" spacecraft, will reach a milestone on Dec. 24: the 50th anniversary of its official creation. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Deep Space Network for NASA.

FDA WARNS CONSUMERS ABOUT MUSCLE GROWTH SUPPLEMENT "MASS DESTRUCTION"

FROM:  U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers to immediately stop using a product called Mass Destruction, marketed as a dietary supplement for muscle growth. The product is labeled to contain at least one synthetic anabolic steroid and has been linked to at least one reported serious illness.

The FDA was alerted by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services of a serious injury associated with use of Mass Destruction. The report described a previously healthy 28-year-old male with liver failure requiring transplant after several weeks of product use. Liver injury is generally known to be a possible outcome of using products that contain anabolic steroids and steroid-like substances. The product’s ingredients are undergoing further analysis by the FDA.

Mass Destruction is manufactured for Blunt Force Nutrition in Sims, N.C. and sold in retail stores, fitness gyms, and on the Internet. An investigation is underway to identify the product’s manufacturer. Consumers who suspect they are experiencing problems associated with Mass Destruction or other body building products should consult a health care professional, especially if they have experienced unexplained fatigue, abdominal or back pain, discolored urine, or any other unexplained changes in their health.

Mars Express se dirige a un atrevido encuentro con Fobos

Mars Express se dirige a un atrevido encuentro con Fobos

NASA NEWS CONFERENCE: VOYAGER REACHES INTERSTELLAR SPACE

ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE NEARLY 5 1/2 HOUR SPACEWALK TO REPAIR SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA 

NASA astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins completed a 5 hour and 28 minute spacewalk Saturday to remove a faulty ammonia pump on the International Space Station. A second spacewalk to install a new unit now is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 24.

The extra day will allow time for the crew to resize a spare spacesuit on the space station for use by Mastracchio. During repressurization of the station’s airlock following the spacewalk, a spacesuit configuration issue put the suit Mastracchio was wearing in question for the next excursion -- specifically whether water entered into the suit’s sublimator inside the airlock. The flight control team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston decided to switch to a backup suit for the next spacewalk.

This issue is not related to the spacesuit water leak that was seen during a July spacewalk by European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA’s Chris Cassidy. Both Mastracchio and Hopkins reported dry conditions repeatedly throughout Saturday’s activities and the two were never in danger.
NASA Television coverage of Tuesday’s spacewalk will begin at 6:15 a.m. EST. The spacewalk scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m.

ROCKET PREPPED FOR LAUNCH ON RESUPPLY MISSION TO ISS

FROM:   NASA 

An Orbital Science Corporation Antares rocket is seen on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2013 as it is rolled out to launch Pad-0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, VA. The Antares is scheduled to launch a Cygnus spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 19 at 9:19 p.m. EST. The Orbital-1 mission is Orbital Sciences' first contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Among the cargo aboard Cygnus set to launch to the space station are science experiments, crew provisions, spare parts and other hardware. Weather permitting, it may be widely visible along the east coast of the United States. > Map of Orbital-1 Launch Viewing Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Season's greetings

Season's greetings

Sigue en directo el lanzamiento de Gaia el jueves 19 de diciembre de 09:50 a 11:20 CET

Sigue en directo el lanzamiento de Gaia el jueves 19 de diciembre de 09:50 a 11:20 CET

Gaia: Die größte Entdeckungsmaschine der Astronomie(Special)

Gaia: Die größte Entdeckungsmaschine der Astronomie(Special)

Traslado del Soyuz VS06 a la plataforma de lanzamiento

Traslado del Soyuz VS06 a la plataforma de lanzamiento

A LOOK AT THE YELLOWKNIFE ON MARS

FROM:  NASA 
Yellowknife Bay Formation on Mars

This mosaic of images from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows geological members of the Yellowknife Bay formation. The scene has the Sheepbed mudstone in the foreground and rises up through Gillespie Lake member to the Point Lake outcrop. These rocks record superimposed ancient lake and stream deposits that offered past environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Rocks here were exposed about 70 million years ago by removal of overlying layers due to erosion by the wind.

The scene is a portion of a 111-image mosaic acquired during the 137th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Dec. 24, 2012). The foothills of Mount Sharp are visible in the distance, upper left, southwest of camera position.  Image Credit: NASA-JPL-Caltech-MSSS

La Nébuleuse du Crabe

La Nébuleuse du Crabe

Aspettando il Natale, in contatto radio con lo spazio. Mike Hopkins parla con gli studenti italiani

Aspettando il Natale, in contatto radio con lo spazio. Mike Hopkins parla con gli studenti italiani

NASA VIDEO: SPACE HABITATS OF THE FUTURE?

Marte 360: el polo norte

Marte 360: el polo norte

Rosetta: point presse

Rosetta: point presse

Vesmír v srdci

Vesmír v srdci

NANOSATELLITES LAUNCHED FROM SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA 
ISS038-E-003872 (19 Nov. 2013) --- Three nanosatellites, known as Cubesats, are deployed from a Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD) attached to the Kibo laboratory’s robotic arm at 7:10 a.m. (EST) on Nov. 19, 2013. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata, Expedition 38 flight engineer, monitored the satellite deployment while operating the Japanese robotic arm from inside Kibo. The Cubesats were delivered to the International Space Station Aug. 9, aboard Japan’s fourth H-II Transfer Vehicle, Kounotori-4.  Credit: NASA

NASA | The Sun Reverses its Magnetic Poles (+playlist)

Kometenmission Rosetta: Auf der Suche nach der Urmaterie (Special)

Kometenmission Rosetta: Auf der Suche nach der Urmaterie (Special)

Luca in conferenza

Luca in conferenza

Lancement de Swarm

Lancement de Swarm

Tutto Luca in italiano

Tutto Luca in italiano

Thomas Reiter bei Festveranstaltung „Faszination Raumfahrt – Grenzen überschreiten“ in Bremen

Thomas Reiter bei Festveranstaltung „Faszination Raumfahrt – Grenzen überschreiten“ in Bremen

Convocatoria de rueda de prensa: El despertar de Rosetta

Convocatoria de rueda de prensa: El despertar de Rosetta

ESA’s new breed of Galileo endures weeks of simulated space

ESA’s new breed of Galileo endures weeks of simulated space

ESA-Bodenstationen unterstützen chinesische Mondmission

ESA-Bodenstationen unterstützen chinesische Mondmission

A comet's tale

A comet's tale

LADEE TAKES A LOOK

Artist’s concept of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft in orbit above the moon as dust scatters light during the lunar sunset.  Image Credit-NASA AMES- Dana Berry

FROM:  NASA 

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is ready to begin collecting science data about the moon.

On Nov. 20, the spacecraft successfully entered its planned orbit around the moon's equator -- a unique position allowing the small probe to make frequent passes from lunar day to lunar night. This will provide a full scope of the changes and processes occurring within the moon's tenuous atmosphere.

LADEE now orbits the moon about every two hours at an altitude of eight to 37 miles (12-60 kilometers) above the moon's surface. For about 100 days, the spacecraft will gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky.

"A thorough understanding of the characteristics of our lunar neighbor will help researchers understand other small bodies in the solar system, such as asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of outer planets," said Sarah Noble, LADEE program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Scientists also will be able to study the conditions in the atmosphere during lunar sunrise and sunset, where previous crewed and robotic missions detected a mysterious glow of rays and streamers reaching high into the lunar sky.
“This is what we’ve been waiting for – we are already seeing the shape of things to come,” said Rick Elphic, LADEE project scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

On Nov. 20, flight controllers in the LADEE Mission Operations Center at Ames confirmed LADEE performed a crucial burn of its orbit control system to lower the spacecraft into its optimal position to enable science collection. Mission managers will continuously monitor the spacecraft's altitude and make adjustments as necessary.

"Due to the lumpiness of the moon's gravitational field, LADEE's orbit requires significant maintenance activity with maneuvers taking place as often as every three to five days, or as infrequently as once every two weeks," said Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames. "LADEE will perform regular orbital maintenance maneuvers to keep the spacecraft’s altitude within a safe range above the surface that maximizes the science return."

In addition to science instruments, the spacecraft carried the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration, NASA's first high-data-rate laser communication system. It is designed to enable satellite communication at rates similar to those of high-speed fiber optic networks on Earth. The system was tested successfully during the commissioning phase of the mission, while LADEE was still at a higher altitude.

LADEE was launched Sept. 6 on a U.S. Air Force Minotaur V, an excess ballistic missile converted into a space launch vehicle and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. LADEE is the first spacecraft designed, developed, built, integrated and tested at Ames. It also was the first probe launched beyond Earth orbit from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington funds the LADEE mission. Ames manages the overall mission and serves as a base for mission operations and real-time control of the probe. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the science instruments and technology demonstration payload, the science operations center and overall mission support. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages LADEE within the Lunar Quest Program Office.

Relève de la garde à Concordia

Relève de la garde à Concordia

Partner der ESA: Das Deutsche GeoForschungsZentrum

Partner der ESA: Das Deutsche GeoForschungsZentrum

Los satélites Swarm completan con éxito la primera fase de su misión

Los satélites Swarm completan con éxito la primera fase de su misión

Einladung zum Workshop: Für die Erde ins All - Transport & Logistik

Einladung zum Workshop: Für die Erde ins All - Transport & Logistik

THE BIRDS AND THE BEAST AT CAPE CANAVERAL

FROM:  NASA 
Taking Flight at Cape Canaveral

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA’s Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.  Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient - Sally Ride | The White House

Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient - Sally Ride | The White House

Lancement de Swarm

Lancement de Swarm

Livestream: Swarm-Start

Livestream: Swarm-Start

BBC Report 2013 Mission to Mars India now leads Japan & China

The Path Toward Humans to Mars

Space Station scrapbook

Space Station scrapbook

Mission Control Team der ESA startklar für Dreifach-Start der Swarm-Mission

Mission Control Team der ESA startklar für Dreifach-Start der Swarm-Mission

Swarm sur le pas de tir

Swarm sur le pas de tir

Un hervidero galáctico lleno de gas caliente

Un hervidero galáctico lleno de gas caliente

Liftoff of MAVEN

Week in Images

Week in Images

"MURRAY RIDGE"

FROM:  NASA 

This scene shows the "Murray Ridge" portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars. The ridge is the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's work area for the rover's sixth Martian winter. The ridge rises about 130 feet (40 meters) above the surrounding plain, between "Solander Point" at the north end of the ridge and "Cape Tribulation," beyond Murray Ridge to the south. This view does not show the entire ridge. The visible ridge line is about 10 meters (33 feet) above the rover's location when the component images were taken. The scene sweeps from east to south. The planar rocks in the foreground at the base of the hill are part of a layer of rocks laid down around the margins of the crater rim. At this location, Opportunity is sitting at the contact between the Meridiani Planum sandstone plains and the rocks of the Endeavour Crater rim. On the upper left, the view is directed about 22 kilometers (14 miles) across the center of Endeavour crater to the eastern rim. Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004 and has been investigating parts of Endeavour's western rim since August 2011. The scene combines several images taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the 3,446th Martian day, or sol, of the mission's work on Mars (Oct. 3, 2013) and the following three sols. On Sol 3451 (Oct. 8, 2013), Opportunity began climbing the ridge. The slope offers outcrops that contain clay minerals detected from orbit and also gives the rover a northward tilt that provides a solar-energy advantage during the Martian southern hemisphere's autumn and winter. The rover team chose to call this feature Murray Ridge in tribute to Bruce Murray (1931-2013), an influential advocate for planetary exploration who was a member of the science teams for NASA's earliest missions to Mars and later served as director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena. This view is presented in approximately true color, merging exposures taken through three of the Pancam's color filters, centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU

Swarm brengt aardmagnetisch veld in kaart

Swarm brengt aardmagnetisch veld in kaart

Blazing to Earth

Blazing to Earth

Des satellites serrés comme des sardines

Des satellites serrés comme des sardines

Goodbye, GOCE

Goodbye, GOCE

GOCE heute Nacht der Schwerkraft erlegen

GOCE heute Nacht der Schwerkraft erlegen

EXPEDITION 38 GOES INTO SPACE

FROM:  NASA 
Expedition 38 Lifts Off

The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket is launched with Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency onboard, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (Nov. 6 in the U.S.). Tyurin, Mastracchio, and, Wakata will spend the next six months aboard the International Space Station.  Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

Le rover de l’ESA termine son exploration d’un désert similaire à Mars

Le rover de l’ESA termine son exploration d’un désert similaire à Mars

Week in Images

Week in Images

Luca rientra a Terra

Luca rientra a Terra

C’est l’heure de rentrer, Luca

C’est l’heure de rentrer, Luca

Ultima chiamata da Luca

Ultima chiamata da Luca

Presseeinladung

Presseeinladung

Minister Kamp bezoekt ESTEC

Minister Kamp bezoekt ESTEC

Galileo put to the test

Galileo put to the test

Kinexon GmbH gewinnt mit Trainings-Online-Analyse den 10. Europäischen Satellitennavigationswettbewerb (ESNC)

Kinexon GmbH gewinnt mit Trainings-Online-Analyse den 10. Europäischen Satellitennavigationswettbewerb (ESNC)

Quinteto de lunas

Quinteto de lunas

Mission accomplished!

Mission accomplished!

RADIATION PLUMES

FROM:  NASA

3C353: Giant Plumes of Radiation

Jets generated by supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies can transport huge amounts of energy across great distances. 3C353 is a wide, double-lobed source where the galaxy is the tiny point in the center and giant plumes of radiation can be seen in X-rays from Chandra (purple) and radio data from the Very Large Array (orange).

Image Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Tokyo Institute of Technology/J.Kataoka et al, Radio: NRAO/VLA

Teachers participate in workshop at Harwell

Teachers participate in workshop at Harwell

Euronews: Presto una mappa della Via Lattea

Euronews: Presto una mappa della Via Lattea

Un paseo por Marte

Un paseo por Marte

ATV-4: La cuarta nave de carga de la ESA finaliza su misión

ATV-4: La cuarta nave de carga de la ESA finaliza su misión

RELEASE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA

Expedition 37 crew members aboard the International Space Station released Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft from the station's robotic arm at 7:31 a.m. EDT on Oct. 22. Orbital Sciences engineers now will conduct a series of planned burns and maneuvers to move Cygnus toward a destructive re-entry in Earth's Cygnus had been attached to the space station's Harmony module for 23 days. The spacecraft delivered about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food, clothing and student experiments, on a demonstration cargo resupply mission to the station.  Cygnus was launched on Orbital's Antares rocket on Sept. 18 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport Pad-0A at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  Image Credit: NASA-Karen Nyberg

Week in Images

Week in Images

FIRES IN AUSTRALIA

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82189&src=eoa-iotd

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Das Technische Museum Wien lädt zu einer Reise durch Zeit und Raum

Das Technische Museum Wien lädt zu einer Reise durch Zeit und Raum

Commande d’adieu au télescope spatial Planck de l’ESA

Commande d’adieu au télescope spatial Planck de l’ESA

Mission-X: jump for the Moon

Mission-X: jump for the Moon

Fin de la mission GOCE de l’ESA

Fin de la mission GOCE de l’ESA

Kterak sonda SMART mapovala severní lunární pól

Kterak sonda SMART mapovala severní lunární pól

Special Ops Command Seeks Prototypes for 'Iron Man Suit'

Special Ops Command Seeks Prototypes for 'Iron Man Suit'

Un equipo de estudiantes españoles lanza un experimento en globo para estudiar el clima

Un equipo de estudiantes españoles lanza un experimento en globo para estudiar el clima

L’ESA fait progresser les satellites de télécommunications tout électriques

L’ESA fait progresser les satellites de télécommunications tout électriques

Juno Fly-by

Juno Fly-by

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Robot challenge: unload a spacecraft

Robot challenge: unload a spacecraft

Amazing future

Amazing future

ESA rover completes exploring Mars-like desert

ESA rover completes exploring Mars-like desert

Taking 3D printing into the metal age

Taking 3D printing into the metal age

Una burbuja galáctica que esconde una gran sorpresa

Una burbuja galáctica que esconde una gran sorpresa

Rosetta: 100 dias para acordar

Rosetta: 100 dias para acordar

Rosetta: 100 days to wake-up

Rosetta: 100 days to wake-up

Weldra ontwikkeling van nieuwe technologie voor de ruimtevaart in Leuven

Weldra ontwikkeling van nieuwe technologie voor de ruimtevaart in Leuven

Dos estaciones de seguimiento en extremos opuestos de Europa permiten probar el servicio de búsqueda y rescate de Galileo

Dos estaciones de seguimiento en extremos opuestos de Europa permiten probar el servicio de búsqueda y rescate de Galileo

A Terra vista do Espaço: gelo em movimento

A Terra vista do Espaço: gelo em movimento

Week in Images

Week in Images

Immagine EO della settimana: Ghiaccio in Movimento

Immagine EO della settimana: Ghiaccio in Movimento

Un demi-siècle de conquête spatiale à Charleroi

Un demi-siècle de conquête spatiale à Charleroi

A HOT TOWER FORMS IN TROPICAL DEPRESSION 11

 FROM:  NASA

Tropical Depression 11 formed in the central Atlantic Ocean and NASA's TRMM satellite passed overhead and gathered information  and identified a "hot tower" that indicated it would strengthen. The depression became Tropical Storm Jerry on Sept. 30 at 10:30 a.m. EDT.  A "hot tower" is a tall cumulonimbus cloud that reaches at least to the top of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. It extends approximately nine miles (14.5 km) high in the tropics. The hot towers in Tropical Depression 11 were reaching heights of 16 km/9.9 miles high around the depression's center. These towers are called "hot" because they rise to such altitude due to the large amount of latent heat. Water vapor releases this latent heat as it condenses into liquid. NASA research shows that a tropical cyclone with a hot tower in its eye wall was twice as likely to intensify within six or more hours, than a cyclone that lacked a hot tower. Those hot towers also drop heavy rainfall.  mage Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce.

Essais dans le désert pour le rover martien de l’ESA

Essais dans le désert pour le rover martien de l’ESA

ESA’s Clean Space initiative to be presented to UK space sector

ESA’s Clean Space initiative to be presented to UK space sector

Tenkrát nad Alpami

Tenkrát nad Alpami

Experiments wanted for the next-best-thing to human research in space

Experiments wanted for the next-best-thing to human research in space

Herschel ayuda a detectar señales esquivas del Universo primigenio

Herschel ayuda a detectar señales esquivas del Universo primigenio

Seatest: una aventura en el fondo del mar

Seatest: una aventura en el fondo del mar

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update: From Army Officer to Mars Colonist?

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

A TERRA VISTA DO ESPAÇO: CIDADE DO CONHECIMENTO

A TERRA VISTA DO ESPAÇO: CIDADE DO CONHECIMENTO

Logo der Mission "The blue dot" veröffentlicht

Logo der Mission "The blue dot" veröffentlicht

HOT GAS ARMS IN COMA CLUSTER OF GALAXIES

FROM:  NASA,  
Clues to the Growth of the Colossus in Coma

A team of astronomers has discovered enormous arms of hot gas in the Coma cluster of galaxies by using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. These features, which span at least half a million light years, provide insight into how the Coma cluster has grown through mergers of smaller groups and clusters of galaxies to become one of the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity.

A new composite image, with Chandra data in pink and optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey appearing in white and blue, features these spectacular arms. In this image, the Chandra data have been processed so extra detail can be seen.

The X-ray emission is from multimillion-degree gas and the optical data shows galaxies in the Coma Cluster, which contain only about one-sixth the mass in hot gas. Only the brightest X-ray emission is shown here, to emphasize the arms, but the hot gas is present over the entire field of view.

Researchers think that these arms were most likely formed when smaller galaxy clusters had their gas stripped away by the head wind created by the motion of the cluster through the hot gas, in much the same way that the headwind created by a roller coaster blows the hats off riders.

Coma is an unusual galaxy cluster because it contains not one, but two giant elliptical galaxies near its center. These two giant elliptical galaxies are probably the vestiges from each of the two largest clusters that merged with Coma in the past. The researchers also uncovered other signs of past collisions and mergers in the data.

From their length, and the speed of sound in the hot gas (about four million km/hr), the newly discovered X-ray arms are estimated to be about 300 million years old, and they appear to have a rather smooth shape. This gives researchers some clues about the conditions of the hot gas in Coma. Most theoretical models expect that mergers between clusters like those in Coma will produce strong turbulence, like ocean water that has been churned by many passing ships. Instead, the smooth shape of these lengthy arms points to a rather calm setting for the hot gas in the Coma cluster, even after many mergers.

Large-scale magnetic fields are likely responsible for the small amount of turbulence that is present in Coma. Estimating the amount of turbulence in a galaxy cluster has been a challenging problem for astrophysicists. Researchers have found a range of answers, some of them conflicting, and so observations of other clusters are needed.

Two of the arms appear to be connected to a group of galaxies located about two million light years from the center of Coma. One or both of these arms connects to a larger structure seen in the XMM-Newton data, and spans a distance or at least 1.5 million light years. A very thin tail also appears behind one of the galaxies in Coma. This is probably evidence of gas being stripped from a single galaxy, in addition to the groups or clusters that have merged there.

These new results on the Coma cluster, which incorporate over six days worth of Chandra observing time, will appear in the September 20, 2013, issue of the journal Science. The first author of the paper is Jeremy Sanders from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany. The co-authors are Andy Fabian from Cambridge University in the UK; Eugene Churazov from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany; Alexander Schekochihin from University of Oxford in the UK; Aurora Simionescu from Stanford University in Stanford, CA; Stephen Walker from Cambridge University in the UK and Norbert Werner from Stanford University in Stanford, CA.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra Program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.

Credits: X-ray: NASA/CXC/MPE/J. Sanders et al; Optical: SDSS

LANL News: Water for Future Mars Astronauts?

LANL News: Water for Future Mars Astronauts?

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update: Optical Illusion in Spce

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Descubierto el eslabón perdido de la evolución de los púlsares

Descubierto el eslabón perdido de la evolución de los púlsares

Handy technology

Handy technology

Bannir le risque d’étincelle explosive dans les mines souterraines

Bannir le risque d’étincelle explosive dans les mines souterraines

NASA PARTNERS WITH INDUSTRY TO FURTHER COMPOSITE MATERIALS RESEARCH

FROM:  NASA 

NASA Announces Advanced Composite Research Partnership
NASA has selected six companies from five U.S. states to participate in a government-and-industry partnership to advance composite materials research and certification.

The companies are:
• Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas
• GE Aviation of Cincinnati
• Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company of Palmdale, Calif.
• Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems of Redondo Beach, Calif.
• Boeing Research & Technology of St. Louis
• United Technologies Corporation and subsidiary Pratt & Whitney of Hartford, Conn.

They were selected from 20 proposals submitted by teams from industry and academia in response to a call from the Advanced Composites Project, which is part of NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Integrated Systems Research Program. The project sought proposals to reduce the time for development, verification and regulatory acceptance of new composite materials and structures.

A panel of experts from NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory reviewed the submissions and assessed them according to specific criteria. The six firms were chosen for their technical expertise, willingness and ability to share in costs, certification experience with government agencies, focused technology areas and partnership histories.
The first task for the partners is to develop articles of collaboration and establish how the alliance will work and how companies may be added in the future.

Země z vesmíru: hora, která je jako ostrov

Země z vesmíru: hora, která je jako ostrov

A preparar o lançamento do Swarm

A preparar o lançamento do Swarm

AN ANTARES ROCKET LAUNCHES TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

FROM:  NASA   
The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, is seen in this false color infrared image, as it launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013, NASA Wallops Flight Facility.  NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. Cygnus is on its way to rendezvous with the space station. The spacecraft will deliver about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food and clothing, to the Expedition 37 crew.  Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Broeikasgassen vanuit de ruimte

Broeikasgassen vanuit de ruimte

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Comienza la campaña de lanzamiento de Swarm

Comienza la campaña de lanzamiento de Swarm

Rejoignez-nous pour la Nuit des chercheurs européens

Rejoignez-nous pour la Nuit des chercheurs européens

Successful Launch for the Air Force

Successful Launch for the Air Force

Mit dem Satelliten-Guide an die richtigen Orte

Mit dem Satelliten-Guide an die richtigen Orte

Um respirador de fogo

Um respirador de fogo

Week in Images

Week in Images

CAVES 2013: Unterirdisches Astronauten-Training als Vorbereitung für Weltraummissionen

CAVES 2013: Unterirdisches Astronauten-Training als Vorbereitung für Weltraummissionen

Vlieg met je klas naar de rand van de ruimte!

Vlieg met je klas naar de rand van de ruimte!

Empresa criada por um português produz guias turísticos baseados em ligação por satélite

Empresa criada por um português produz guias turísticos baseados em ligação por satélite

Gaia supera con éxito un ensayo fundamental

Gaia supera con éxito un ensayo fundamental

ESA’s biggest scientific gathering is under way

ESA’s biggest scientific gathering is under way

Terra vista do Espaço: a ilha montanha

Terra vista do Espaço: a ilha montanha

Une rencontre à haut niveau confirme l'importance du centre spatial de Redu pour la Belgique et l'ESA

Une rencontre à haut niveau confirme l'importance du centre spatial de Redu pour la Belgique et l'ESA

THE NEW PLUG-AND-PLAY APPROACH TO BUILDING A SPACECRAFT

LADEE Spacecraft.  Photo Credit:  NASA 

FROM:  NASA

On Friday, Sept. 6, NASA is scheduled to launch a small satellite mission, called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about its atmosphere and the role of dust in the lunar sky.

LADEE is the first spacecraft designed, developed, built, integrated and tested at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. Using a Modular Common Spacecraft Bus architecture, also developed by Ames, LADEE will demonstrate how to build a first class spacecraft at reduced cost. The LADEE spacecraft makes use of general purpose spacecraft modules that allow for a plug-and-play approach to manufacturing and assembly. This approach along with commercial off-the-shelf products allows mission designers to develop, assemble and test multiple spacecraft modules at the same time – essentially giving them the versatility to get the biggest bang for NASA's buck.

“LADEE’s common bus is an innovative concept that brings NASA a step closer to multi-use designs and assembly line production, while moving away from custom design,” said Ames Director S. Pete Worden. "This mission will put the common bus design to the test. This same common bus can be used on future missions to explore other destinations, including voyages to orbit and land on the moon, low-Earth orbit, and near-Earth objects."

The space agency has adopted a “more with less” approach to robotic missions. It also is about using NASA’s small satellite missions to test cutting-edge space technologies for rapid development. These technology demonstrations allow NASA the opportunities to test in space emerging science and engineering technologies, and economical commercial off-the-shelf technologies on a smaller scale. These demonstrations also help researchers better understand how hardware will survive the harsh radiation, temperature and vacuum conditions encountered in space. All while being faster, more efficient and less expensive than traditional missions.
Findings could reap untold benefits for science and industry here on Earth. Rapid technology developments will allow future NASA missions to pursue bolder and more sophisticated science, enable safe and rewarding human missions beyond low-Earth orbit and enable entirely new approaches to U.S. space operations.
“NASA is looking for affordable ways to launch often and inexpensively,” said David Korsmeyer, Director of Engineering at NASA Ames.  “We can use off-the-shelf components because customized components are expensive to continually develop and improve. If these systems work successfully, NASA will be looking for other commercial technologies to use for space exploration.”

Instead of building increasingly large and complex exploratory missions, these low-cost accelerated missions could open the door for creativity, clever problem solving, and inspired missions with simple goals. Mission planners expect the next decade could see amazing developments as NASA continues to fund missions using this innovative concept.

“Simplicity was not a necessary aspect of this mission, but is clearly a driver for successful missions,” said Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames. “The important thing is to maximize the success per dollar.”

NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington funds the LADEE mission. In addition to designing the spacecraft, Ames manages the overall mission, operates the spacecraft, and hosts the project scientist. Goddard manages the science instruments and technology demonstration payload, the science operations center and provides overall mission support. Wallops is responsible for launch vehicle integration, launch services and operations. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages LADEE within the Lunar Quest Program Office.

Le ‘cartographe d’un milliard d’étoiles’ de l’ESA réussit un test crucial de connexion en direct

Le ‘cartographe d’un milliard d’étoiles’ de l’ESA réussit un test crucial de connexion en direct

Week in Images

Week in Images

Reflecting on Earth’s albedo

Reflecting on Earth’s albedo

Europas Raumfahrt macht sich bereit für die Zukunft – Richtfest zur Erweiterung des European Space Operations Centre

Europas Raumfahrt macht sich bereit für die Zukunft – Richtfest zur Erweiterung des European Space Operations Centre

Oproep voor de media: live kennismaken met NIRSpec

Oproep voor de media: live kennismaken met NIRSpec

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

ESA-Euronews

ESA-Euronews

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Europa e JWST

Europa e JWST

Immagine EO della settimana: Turchia Salata

Immagine EO della settimana: Turchia Salata

Week in Images

Week in Images

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update: GALAXY

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Pour voler plus facile, moins cher, plus sûr

Pour voler plus facile, moins cher, plus sûr

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Convocatoria de medios: La ESA entrega a la NASA el instrumento europeo NIRSpec para su integración en el telescopio espacial JWST

Convocatoria de medios: La ESA entrega a la NASA el instrumento europeo NIRSpec para su integración en el telescopio espacial JWST

Luca Parmitano: EVA 23 - Grenzen ausloten

Luca Parmitano: EVA 23 - Grenzen ausloten

El entorno de Orión

El entorno de Orión

Gaia ya se encuentra en la Guayana Francesa

Gaia ya se encuentra en la Guayana Francesa

"POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS NEAR-EARTH OBJECT 1998 KN3"

FROM:  NASA 

This image shows the potentially hazardous near-Earth object 1998 KN3 as it zips past a cloud of dense gas and dust near the Orion nebula. NEOWISE, the asteroid-hunting portion of the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, mission, snapped infrared pictures of the asteroid, seen as the yellow-green dot at upper left. Because asteroids are warmed by the sun to roughly room temperature, they glow brightly at the infrared wavelengths used by WISE. Astronomers use infrared light from asteroids to measure their sizes, and when combined with visible-light observations, they can also measure the reflectivity of their surfaces. The WISE infrared data reveal that this asteroid is about .7 mile (1.1 kilometers) in diameter and reflects only about 7 percent of the visible light that falls on its surface, which means it is relatively dark. In this image, blue denotes shorter infrared wavelengths, and red, longer. Hotter objects emit shorter-wavelength light, so they appear blue. The blue stars, for example, have temperatures of thousands of degrees. The coolest gas and dust appears red. The asteroid appears yellow in the image because it is about room temperature: cooler than the distant stars, but warmer than the dust. JPL manages the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The principal investigator, Edward Wright, is at UCLA. The mission was competitively selected under NASA's Explorers Program managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The science instrument was built by the Space Dynamics Laboratory, Logan, Utah, and the spacecraft was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Science operations and data processing take place at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

ESA Week in Images

Week in Images

Richtfest ESOC II - "Europas Tor zum Weltraum in Südhessen" erschließt neues Terrain

Richtfest ESOC II - "Europas Tor zum Weltraum in Südhessen" erschließt neues Terrain

Convite à imprensa: Não perca a maior conferência científica da ESA, sobre o clima e o ambiente terrestres

Convite à imprensa: Não perca a maior conferência científica da ESA, sobre o clima e o ambiente terrestres

Un sans-faute du lancement d’Alphasat, le plus grand et le plus sophistiqué des satellites de télécommunications européens

Un sans-faute du lancement d’Alphasat, le plus grand et le plus sophistiqué des satellites de télécommunications européens

Galileo déploie ses ailes

Galileo déploie ses ailes

TESTING BEFORE TELESCOPE'S ASSEMBLY

PHOTO:  A crane in a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., lowers a test mass simulator (center of frame) onto the Ambient Optical Assembly Stand or AOAS to ensure it can support the James Webb Space Telescope's Optical Telescope Element during its assembly.  Image Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

FROM:  NASA 

Dropping in on a James Webb Space Telescope Clean Room Test
The James Webb Space Telescope is a large space telescope, optimized for infrared wavelengths. It is scheduled for launch later in this decade. Webb will find the first galaxies that formed in the early Universe, connecting the Big Bang to our own Milky Way galaxy. Webb will peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own solar system. Webb's instruments will be designed to work primarily in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum, with some capability in the visible range.

Webb will have a large mirror, 6.5 meters (21.3 feet) in diameter, and a sunshield the size of a tennis court. The mirror and sunshade won't fit into a rocket fully open, so both will be folded and open once Webb is in outer space. Webb will reside in an orbit about 1.5 million km (1 million miles) from Earth at the second Lagrange point.

The James Webb Space Telescope was named after a former NASA administrator.

WEEK IN IMAGES

Week in Images

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Explorando o subsolo marciano

Explorando o subsolo marciano

Družice Alphasat rozevřela svoji obří parabolu

Družice Alphasat rozevřela svoji obří parabolu

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update: The Cosmic Wheel

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Sun, Moon, and Two Planets Rising Over Earth’s Limb : Earth Matters

Sun, Moon, and Two Planets Rising Over Earth’s Limb : Earth Matters

Ruimtestroom op Woensdagmorgen.nl

Ruimtestroom op Woensdagmorgen.nl

ESA Week in Images

Week in Images

Clin d'oeil à Gaia pour les Nuits des étoiles 2013

Clin d'oeil à Gaia pour les Nuits des étoiles 2013

Água num deserto marciano

Água num deserto marciano

L'ESA, partenaire de l'opération "Le Ciel sur Cordes"

L'ESA, partenaire de l'opération "Le Ciel sur Cordes"

L’ESA apporte son soutien au festival d’astronomie de Fleurance

L’ESA apporte son soutien au festival d’astronomie de Fleurance

NASA SHOWS ISS VIEW OF LAKE SUPERIOR

FROM:  NASA 
Gravity Waves and Sunglint, Lake Superior

From the vantage point of the International Space Station, astronauts frequently observe atmospheric and surface phenomena in ways that are impossible to view from the ground. Two such phenomena—gravity waves and sunglint—are illustrated in this photograph of northeastern Lake Superior. At the top of the image, the Canadian Shield of southern Ontario is covered by an extensive forest canopy typical of early summer. Offshore and to the west and southwest of Pukaskwa National Park, several distinct sets of parallel cloud bands are visible. Gravity waves are produced when moisture-laden air encounters imbalances in air density, such as might be expected when cool air flows over warmer air. This can cause the flowing air to oscillate up and down as it moves, causing clouds to condense as the air rises and cools and to evaporate away as the air sinks and warms. This produces parallel bands of clouds oriented perpendicular to the wind direction. The orientation of the cloud bands in this image, parallel to the coastlines, suggests that air flowing off of the land surfaces to the north is interacting with moist, stable air over the lake surface, creating gravity waves. The second phenomenon—sunglint—affects the water surface around and to the northeast of Isle Royale. Sunglint is caused by light reflection off a water surface; some of the reflected light travels directly back towards the observer, resulting in a bright mirror-like appearance over large expanses of water. Water currents and changes in surface tension—typically caused by presence of oils or surfactants—alter the reflective properties of the water and can be highlighted by sunglint. For example, surface water currents are visible to the east of Isle Royale that are oriented similarly to the gravity waves, suggesting that they too are the product of winds moving off of the land surface. Astronaut photograph ISS036-E-11843 was acquired on June 24, 2013, with a Nikon D3S digital camera using a 50 millimeter lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 36 crew. It has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Image Credit: NASA Caption: William L. Stefanov (Jacobs/JETS) and Michael H. Trenchard (Barrios/JETS), NASA Johnson Space Center

This Week @ NASA, August 2, 2013 | NASA

This Week @ NASA, August 2, 2013 | NASA

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

La danza de los rayos X

La danza de los rayos X

Laserkommunikationssystem bereit für Mondmission

Laserkommunikationssystem bereit für Mondmission

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update: "GOING BEYOND OUR PLANET"

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

REMARKS: INTERNATIONAL SPACE RECEPTION PANEL

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
International Space Reception Panel
Remarks
Frank A. Rose
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Washington, DC
July 24, 2013
Thank you Victoria , for that kind introduction.

I also want to thank you and your colleagues at the Secure World Foundation not only for sponsoring this reception, but for your organization’s ongoing work with the governments and the private sector to – in the words of your Mission Statement -- “develop and promote ideas and actions for international collaboration that achieve the secure, sustainable, and peaceful uses of outer space.” Your involvement on a range of important space issues in both domestic and international engagements has made SWF one of the Department of States’ valued partners in civil society.

So I don’t need to remind you and most of the other experts here this evening that we will soon observe the 50th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the “Declaration of Legal Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space.” This resolution, which was adopted by consensus on December 13, 1963, laid out a number of key principles, including that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried on in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations.

In endorsing these principles, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed what had been key precepts of the U.S. National Space Policies of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. Diplomatic historians note that the consensus on the 1963 Principles Declaration also benefited from an easing of superpower tensions after the peaceful resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Just over three years later, the Principles Declaration formed the core for the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which remains the foundation of the international legal framework for space activities.

In the half century since the Principles Declaration was adopted, all nations and peoples have seen a radical transformation in the way we live our daily lives, in many ways due to our use of space. The globe-spanning and interconnected nature of space capabilities and the world’s growing dependence on them mean that irresponsible acts in space can have damaging consequences for all of us. As a result, it is essential that all nations work together to adopt approaches for responsible activity in space to preserve this right for the benefit of future generations.

Given the importance of international cooperation, I am pleased to report the achievement of consensus of the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures (TCBMs) in Outer Space Activities during meetings earlier this month in New York.

The GGE was established by the UN General Assembly to study the possible contributions of voluntary, non-legally binding TCBMs to strengthen stability and security in outer space. It included experts nominated by fifteen UN Member States. Victor Vasiliev, Russia’s deputy permanent representative to Conference on Disarmament, ably served as the Group’s co-chair in three sessions over the last twelve months. I was privileged to serve as the U.S. expert.

To help inform its work, the Group agreed at its first meeting last year to solicit inputs from other governments, other parts of the UN system involved in space activities, as well as civil society. In response, the GGE received a number of thoughtful and substantive inputs, including one provided by the Secure World Foundation.

As the GGE study progressed, the United States sought to find solutions to common challenges and problems in an increasingly contested and congested space environment. The Group’s study was a unique opportunity to establish consensus on the importance and priority of voluntary and pragmatic measures to ensure the sustainability and safety of the space environment as well as to strengthen stability and security in space for all nations.

The Group recommended that States and international organizations consider and implement a range of measures to enhance the transparency of outer space activities, further international cooperation, consultations and outreach, and promote coordination to enhance safety and predictability in the uses of outer space.

Furthermore, the Group endorsed efforts to pursue political commitments – including a multilateral code of conduct – to encourage responsible actions in, and the peaceful use of, outer space. In this regard, the Group noted the efforts of the European Union to develop an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities through open-ended consultations with the international community.(As most of you know, the United States announced its decision in January 2012 to join with the European Union and other nations to develop a Code of Conduct.)

The GGE’s endorsement of voluntary, non-legally binding transparency and confidence building measures to strengthen stability in space is a landmark development. The United States looks forward to the official issuance of the GGE study, which will be submitted by the UN Secretary General to the sixty-eighth session of the General Assembly. We think this report can serve as the basis for a consensus resolution on space TCBMs –which would serve as a most appropriate commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Principles Declaration.

Finally, the Group’s study endorsed efforts to pursue bilateral transparency and confidence-building measures. This highlights the importance of efforts such as ongoing discussions on space security policy that the United States has been conducting with a number of spacefaring nations. These discussions, along with U.S. efforts to develop mechanisms for improved warning of potential hazards to spaceflight safety, themselves constitute significant measures to clarify intent and build confidence.

As my colleagues on this evening’s panel will note, we are increasingly reliant on space, not only when disasters strike, but also for our day-to-day life. However, our ability to continue to use space for these benefits is at serious risk. Accidents or irresponsible acts against space systems would not only harm the space environment, but would also disrupt services on which the international community depends. As a result, we must take action now and pursue TCBMs in space. These TCBMs will enhance the long-term sustainability, stability, safety, and security of the space environment. Protecting the space environment for future generations is in the vital interests of the United States and the entire global community.

Views of a Distant Earth

Views of a Distant Earth

OPEN DAG ESTEC

OPEN DAG ESTEC

OBSERVING THE ROVER FROM SPACE

FROM:  NASA 

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity appears as a bluish dot near the lower right corner of this enhanced-color view from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.  The rover's tracks are visible extending from the landing site, "Bradbury Landing," in the left half of the scene. Two bright, relatively blue spots surrounded by darker patches are where the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft's landing jets cleared away reddish surface dust at the landing site. North is toward the top.  For scale, the two parallel lines of the wheel tracks are about 10 feet (3 meters) apart. HiRISE shot this image on June 27, 2013, when Curiosity was at an outcrop called "Shaler" in the "Glenelg" area of Gale Crater.  Subsequently the rover drove away from Glenelg toward the southwest. When HiRISE captured this view, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was rolled for an eastward-looking angle rather than straight downward. The afternoon sun illuminated the scene from the western sky, so the lighting was nearly behind the camera. Specifically, the angle from sun to orbiter to rover was just 5.47 degrees. This geometry hides shadows and reveals subtle color variations. The image is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_032436_1755.  Other image products from this observation are available at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_032436_1755 . HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory projects for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona › Related release.

ESA Euronews

ESA Euronews

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Alexander besucht Krankenstation

Alexander besucht Krankenstation

DOD Contracts for July 23, 2013

Contracts for July 23, 2013

Dos erupciones solares simultáneas

Dos erupciones solares simultáneas

Immagine EO della settimana: Un Territorio Esplosivo

Immagine EO della settimana: Un Territorio Esplosivo

CELEBRATION AND APOLLO 11

 

FROM:  NASA

Mission Control Celebrates Success of Apollo 11

Flight controllers celebrate the successful conclusion of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission on July 24, 1969, at NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. On July 20, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong planted the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbed down the ladder and proclaimed: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Image Credit: NASA.

This Week @ NASA, July 19, 2013 | NASA

This Week @ NASA, July 19, 2013 | NASA

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

The Future of American Space Flight

The Future of American Space Flight

Sigue en directo el segundo paseo espacial de Luca Parmitano

Sigue en directo el segundo paseo espacial de Luca Parmitano

NASA Ames Keeps the Dream of Space Exploration Alive | NASA

NASA Ames Keeps the Dream of Space Exploration Alive | NASA

LANL News: X-Ray Imaging, Spacecraft Nuclear Fission and Cosmic Ray Contraband Detection Score R&D 100 Awards

LANL News: X-Ray Imaging, Spacecraft Nuclear Fission and Cosmic Ray Contraband Detection Score R&D 100 Awards

Galileo déploie ses ailes

Galileo déploie ses ailes

sortie 2

sortie 2

NASA | IRIS: The Science of NASA's Newest Solar Explorer

Dokonalé nebe

Dokonalé nebe

Le cubesat Belge Oufti-1 retenu pour “Fly Your Satellite!”

Le cubesat Belge Oufti-1 retenu pour “Fly Your Satellite!”

Space school gets new leader

Space school gets new leader

Gaia

Gaia

MARS PATHFINDER ANNIVERSARY

FROM:  NASA
Anniversary of the Mars Pathfinder Landing
 Mars Pathfinder was launched on Dec. 4, 1996 at 1:58:07 am EST on a Delta II rocket. After an uneventful journey, the spacecraft safely landed on the surface of Mars on July 4, 1997. The first set of data was received shortly after 5:00 p.m. followed by the release of images at 9:30 p.m. The Sojourner rover, with three Lewis components, then began its Martian trek and returned images and other data over the course of three months.

 After operating on the surface of Mars three times longer than expected and returning a tremendous amount of new information about the red planet, NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission completed the last successful data transmission cycle from Pathfinder at 6:23 a.m. EDT on Sept. 27, 1997. A panoramic view of Pathfinder's Ares Vallis landing site reveals traces of a warmer, wetter past, showing a floodplain covered with a variety of rock types, boulders, rounded and semi-rounded cobbles and pebbles. These rocks and pebbles are thought to have been swept down and deposited by floods which occurred early in Mars' evolution in the Ares and Tiu regions near the Pathfinder landing site. The image, which is a 75-frame, color-enhanced mosaic taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder, looks to the southwest toward the Rock Garden, a cluster of large, angular rocks tilted in a downstream direction from the floods.

The Pathfinder rover, Sojourner, is shown snuggled against a rock nicknamed Moe. The south peak of two hills, known as Twin Peaks, can be seen on the horizon, about 1 kilometer (6/10ths of a mile) from the lander. The rocky surface is comprised of materials washed down from the highlands and deposited in this ancient outflow channel by a catastrophic flood. The remarkably successful Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, part of NASA's Discovery program of fast track, low-cost missions with highly focused science objectives, was the first spacecraft to explore Mars in more than 20 years. In all, during its three months of operations, the mission returned about 2.6 gigabits of data, which included more than 16,000 images of the Martian landscape from the lander camera, 550 images from the rover and about 8.5 million temperature, pressure and wind measurements. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

NASA Tests Game Changing Composite Cryogenic Fuel Tank | NASA

NASA Tests Game Changing Composite Cryogenic Fuel Tank | NASA

Anche una squadra italiana in ESTEC per “Fly Your Satellite”

Anche una squadra italiana in ESTEC per “Fly Your Satellite”

Envihab

Envihab

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Três universidades, um desafio: estudantes trazem tecnologia espacial para a Terra

Três universidades, um desafio: estudantes trazem tecnologia espacial para a Terra

Una última mirada a todo un icono

Una última mirada a todo un icono

Le déploiement de Gaia

Le déploiement de Gaia

Week In Images

Week In Images

AMERICA WORKS TO REGAIN LAUNCH CAPABILITY

FROM: NASA

CCP Industry Partners Work Toward Space Station

NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager and three aerospace industry partner representatives discuss America's efforts to regain a domestic crew launch capability to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station.

LOOKING THROUGH THE CUPULA

FROM: NASA

An Astronaut's View from Station

A view of Earth as seen from the Cupola on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station. Visible in the top left foreground is a Russian Soyuz crew capsule. In the lower right corner, a solar array panel can be seen.

This photo was taken from the ISS on June 12, 2013. Image Credit: NASA

Vermessung und Kartierung der Nordhalbkugel

Vermessung und Kartierung der Nordhalbkugel

Demonstration neuer Betriebskonzepte im ESOC: Das OPS-SAT-Projekt beginnt

Demonstration neuer Betriebskonzepte im ESOC: Das OPS-SAT-Projekt beginnt

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Le Bourget

Le Bourget

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

Presentando a Gaia

Presentando a Gaia

26. Astronauten-Weltkongress – Astronauten zu Gast in Deutschland

26. Astronauten-Weltkongress – Astronauten zu Gast in Deutschland

U.S.-India Joint Fact Sheet: Cooperation in Space

U.S.-India Joint Fact Sheet: Cooperation in Space

ESA au Bourget

ESA au Bourget

PLANET FAR FROM ITS STAR

FROM: NASA

NASA'S Hubble Uncovers Evidence of Farthest Planet Forming From Its Star

WASHINGTON -- Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found compelling evidence of a planet forming 7.5 billion miles away from its star, a finding that may challenge current theories about planet formation.

Of the almost 900 planets outside our solar system that have been confirmed to date, this is the first to be found at such a great distance from its star. The suspected planet is orbiting the diminutive red dwarf TW Hydrae, a popular astronomy target located 176 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Hydra the Sea Serpent.

Hubble's keen vision detected a mysterious gap in a vast protoplanetary disk of gas and dust swirling around TW Hydrae. The gap is 1.9 billion miles wide and the disk is 41 billion miles wide. The gap's presence likely was caused by a growing, unseen planet that is gravitationally sweeping up material and carving out a lane in the disk, like a snow plow.

The planet is estimated to be relatively small, at 6 to 28 times more massive than Earth. Its wide orbit means it is moving slowly around its host star. If the suspected planet were orbiting in our solar system, it would be roughly twice Pluto's distance from the sun.

Planets are thought to form over tens of millions of years. The buildup is slow, but persistent as a budding planet picks up dust, rocks, and gas from the protoplanetary disk. A planet 7.5 billion miles from its star should take more than 200 times longer to form than Jupiter did at its distance from the sun because of its much slower orbital speed and the deficiency of material in the disk. Jupiter is 500 million miles from the sun and it formed in about 10 million years.

TW Hydrae is only 8 million years old, making it an unlikely star to host a planet, according to this theory. There has not been enough time for a planet to grow through the slow accumulation of smaller debris. Complicating the story further is that TW Hydrae is only 55 percent as massive as our sun.

"It's so intriguing to see a system like this," said John Debes of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md. Debes leads a research team that identified the gap. "This is the lowest-mass star for which we've observed a gap so far out."

An alternative planet-formation theory suggests that a piece of the disk becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses on itself. In this scenario, a planet could form more quickly, in just a few thousand years.

"If we can actually confirm that there's a planet there, we can connect its characteristics to measurements of the gap properties," Debes said. "That might add to planet formation theories as to how you can actually form a planet very far out."

The TW Hydrae disk also lacks large dust grains in its outer regions. Observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array in Chile show dust grains roughly the size of a grain of sand are not present beyond about 5.5 billion miles from the star, just short of the gap.

"Typically, you need pebbles before you can have a planet. So, if there is a planet and there is no dust larger than a grain of sand farther out, that would be a huge challenge to traditional planet formation models," Debes said.

The team used Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) to observe the star in near-infrared light. The researchers then compared the NICMOS images with archival Hubble data and optical and spectroscopic observations from Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). Debes said researchers see the gap at all wavelengths, which indicates it is a structural feature and not an illusion caused by the instruments or scattered light.

The team's paper will appear online June 14 in The Astrophysical Journal.