TDRS-K LAUNCH CLOSE-UP

FROM: NASA

Close-up Views of TDRS-K Launch

See multiple views of the Atlas V launch of the TDRS-K spacecraft

Quando os planetas se comportam como cometas

Quando os planetas se comportam como cometas

Rouler sans heurt à 300 km/h

Rouler sans heurt à 300 km/h

El nuevo satélite educativo de la ESA da un gran paso

El nuevo satélite educativo de la ESA da un gran paso

Luca a Star City

Luca a Star City

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Viaggio nella fabbrica dei razzi spaziali.

Viaggio nella fabbrica dei razzi spaziali.

ESA's werkpaard drijvende kracht achter NASA's Orion-ruimteschip

ESA's werkpaard drijvende kracht achter NASA's Orion-ruimteschip

Un día en la vida de Venus Express

Un día en la vida de Venus Express

Bételgeuse se prépare à une collision

Bételgeuse se prépare à une collision

ROBONAUT 2 TRAINING TO BE PART OF THE SPACE CREW

FROM: NASA

Robonaut Operates Task Board in Space
In the International Space Station's Destiny laboratory, Robonaut 2 is pictured on Jan. 2, during a round of testing for the first humanoid robot in space. Ground teams put Robonaut through its paces as they remotely commanded it to operate valves on a task board.

Robonaut is a testbed for exploring new robotic capabilities in space, and its form and dexterity allow it to use the same tools and control panels as its human counterparts do aboard the station.

Photo Credit: NASA

THE MARTIAN BULGE

FROM: NASA

Thermal Tides at Mars

This diagram illustrates Mars' "thermal tides," a weather phenomenon responsible for large, daily variations in pressure at the Martian surface. Sunlight heats the surface and atmosphere on the day side of the planet, causing air to expand upwards. At higher levels in the atmosphere, this bulge of air then expands outward, to the sides, in order to equalize the pressure around it, as shown by the red arrows. Air flows out of the bulge, lowering the pressure of air felt at the surface below the bulge. The result is a deeper atmosphere, but one that is less dense and has a lower pressure at the surface, than that on the night side of the planet. As Mars rotates beneath the sun, this bulge moves across the planet each day, from east to west. A fixed observer, such as NASA's Curiosity rover, measures a decrease in pressure during the day, followed by an increase in pressure at night. The precise timing of the increase and decrease are affected by the time it takes the atmosphere to respond to the sunlight, as well as a number of other factors including the shape of the planet's surface and the amount of dust in the atmosphere.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Ashima Research/SWRI

ESA / ESOC Jahresplanung 2013

ESA / ESOC Jahresplanung 2013

TITAN'S LAKE DISTRICT AND CHANGES IN LAKE LEVELS

FROM: NASA
Titan's Lake District, One Season Later

These images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show Titan's stable northern lake district. Cassini's radar instrument obtained the recent images on May 22, 2012. It observed some previously unseen regions but also some regions containing lakes that were last observed about six years-nearly one Titan season--ago. This marks the longest time interval between lake observations in the northern hemisphere.

The top image here shows part of the radar swath from May 22, 2012, centered near 79 degrees north latitude, 58 degrees west longitude, and about 220 by 47 miles (350 by 75 kilometers) in dimension. At the bottom, parts of this image are compared with those obtained in 2006. (The images appear slightly different from previous releases because they use a new filtering technique). In 2006, it was winter in the northern hemisphere and the lakes were in the dark. Although Titan spring began in 2009 and the sun has now risen over the lakes, there is no apparent change in lake levels since the 2006 flybys, consistent with climate models that predict stability of liquid lakes over several years. This shows that the northern lakes are not transient weather events, in contrast to the temporary darkening of parts of the equator after a rainstorm in 2010 (PIA 12819).

Changes in lake levels may still be detected later in the mission as Cassini continues to observe these high northern latitudes into the beginning of summer in 2017. At that point, the sun may cause evaporation. However, the lack of significant change over six years sets important constraints for climate models and the stability of liquids on Titan. Illumination is coming from the bottom.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, DC. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The radar instrument was built by JPL and the Italian Space Agency, working with team members from the United States and several European countries. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI

Game on - Europese codes bereiken het International Space Station

Game on - Europese codes bereiken het International Space Station