Spacewalking Astronaut's Selfie

Photo Credit: NASA 

Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly took this selfie on his first spacewalk on October 28, 2015.  Kelly, along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, is staying on the International Space Station 342 days, nearly a year.

"Dead" Skull-Shaped Comet Zips Past Earth on Halloween

Image Credits: NAIC-Arecibo/NSF 

The dead comet, named asteroid 2015 TB145, is approximately 2000 feet in diameter with a velocity of 35 km per second and is passing Earth at 1.3 lunar distances (302,000 miles) today - Halloween!  For more information on the comet see:  http://www.nasa.gov/feature/halloween-skies-to-include-dead-comet-flyby and https://www.facebook.com/notes/national-astronomy-and-ionosphere-center-arecibo-observatory/near-earth-asteroid-2015-tb145-passes-by-without-a-.

Cassini Satellite Successfully Goes Through the Water & Ice Plumes of Saturn's Ice-Covered Ocean Moon Enceladus

This beautiful "snowball" is actually Enceladus, Saturn's ice-covered ocean moon.
Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute 

Here is the article about today's fly-through: 

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/deepest-ever-dive-through-enceladus-plume-completed

Daily Multiple Images of Earth Now Available from 1 Million Miles Away!

Daily images of Earth from one million miles out in space are now available from the EPIC camera on NASA's DSCOVR satellite.  The images have been taken 12 to 36 hours before they're posted on the website below:
http://epic.gsfc.nasa.gov

Cassini Satellite Finds Global Ocean in Saturn's Moon Enceladus!

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For more information on this discovery see:

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/cassini-finds-global-ocean-in-saturns-moon-enceladus

Another View of the Earth from a Million Miles Away, This Time Showing Africa, Europe & Western Asia

This image was taken on July 6, 2015 from a NASA camera on the DSCOVR satellite from one million miles from Earth.

Photo Credit: NASA

First View of Earth from the DSCOVR Satellite from One Million Miles from Earth

This view from a NASA camera is the first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from the DSCOVR satellite from one million miles away.  The image was taken on July 6, 2015.  A daily series of new images covering the entire earth will be provided on a dedicated web page starting by September and these images will be posted on the web page within 12 to 36 hours after they're taken.  EarthObserver will of course link to those images once they're available. For more informatin about the DSCOVR satellite click here.  To enlarge the image below, go to this link and click on the image.

Image Credit: NASA

Expedition 43 Launches to Space Station

Image Credit: NASA / Bill Ingalls

For those of you that missed it, the Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft launched on March 27 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station with the crew for Expedition 43.  The crew consists of American astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Grenady Padalka. Kelly and Kornienko will spend almost a year on the Space Station.  The videos of the launch and the docking with the Space Station are below:

Click on the link below if video doesn't function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwR1SnpcYCo

Click on the link below if video doesn't function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO82R73Ocac

DSCOVR Launches

Photo Credit: NASA

The NOAA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) successfully launched yesterday, February 11, 2015 at 6:03 p.m. EST, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.  DSCOVR's primary purpose is to maintain the nation's solar wind observations which will provide space weather alerts, forecasts and warnings. It will also carry two NASA Earth science instruments for measuring conditions on Earth. DSCOVR will provide a continuous stream of color photographs of the sunlit side of Earth from its orbit position approximately 1 million miles from Earth between the Sun and Earth at the first Lagrange point (L1), the neutral gravity point between Earth and the Sun.  EarthObserver.Net will of course provide a link to the "live" color views of earth from DSCOVR as soon as they are publicly available, which should be in about 4 months. You can view the launch on the video below:

 

Click on link below if the video doesn't function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3d1OgMkqyw

The First Launch and Splashdown of the Orion Spacecraft, December 2014

Photo Credit: NASA / Bill Ingalls 

The unmanned Orion spacecraft, mounted on top of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy Rocket, launched on its first test flight at 7:05 a.m. EST, Friday December 5, 2014 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37.  The Orion is designed for long-distance travel to asteroids or Mars.  The video immediately below shows the lift-off and the next video shows the touch-down in the Pacific Ocean several hours later.

Click on the link below if video doesn't function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEuOpxOrA_0

Click on the link below if video doesn't function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdmZAvwznOU  

For an astronaut's-eye view of Orion's return through Earth's atmosphere check out the amazing video below taken from the Orion as it went through the atmosphere to its touchdown in the Pacific.

Click on the link below if video doesn't function

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtWzuZ6WZ8E   

November was an Amazing Month for Space Exploration!

Credit: European Space Agency - ESA

In the above photo taken on October 7th, the Philae lander of the Rosetta Mission took this self portrait of the side of the Rosetta spacecraft and one of Rosetta's solar arrays.  The Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is just 10 miles in the background.  Philae descended to the comet's surface on November 12th.  Rosetta is the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet, escort it as it goes around the Sun and deploy a lander to its surface.

View of the Comet on November 20.  Credit: European Space Agency - ESA

And there was the successful launch of three new crew members to the International Space Station on November 23rd:

Spacewalking in October!

Photo Credit: NASA

This photo shows astronaut Reid Wiseman taking a spacewalk on October 7th. His spacewalking companion, European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, took this shot.  They were relocating and installing some equipment on the outside of the International Space Station.

And if you missed the launch and docking of three new crew members to the International Space Station a few weeks ago, check out these videos of the launch and docking:

Looking at Our Beautiful Planet Through the Cupola of the International Space Station

Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst enjoys the view of Earth from the windows of the cupola of the International Space Station.  Gerst, from Germany, is a new resident on the Station and this photo was downloaded from NASA's site where it first appeared on June 13, 2014.  Photo Credit: NASA

This photo, now one of the world's most famous photos, shows astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson looking through the cupola of the International Space Station on November 15, 2010.  Photo Credit: Expedition 24 Crew/NASA  

Traveling Up to the International Space Station!

Photo Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

The Soyuz TMA-13M rocket launches with Expedition 40 Soyuz Commander Maxim Suraev of the Russian Space Agency ROSCOSMOS, and astronauts Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency and Reid Wiseman of NASA.  The video below shows the launch .

 See NASA photos of pre launch activities and launch on

"Expedition 40 Flickr Gallery"

How the Most Famous Photo of Earth was the Result of Serendipity

"Earthrise" Taken in December 1968 during the Apollo 8 Mission. Credit: Apollo 8, NASA

The famous photo above was not part of a planned photography session and it came about by sheer luck and coincidence. The video below explains the fascinating circumstances around how "Earthrise" was taken.

     

Three New Crew Members Launch to the International Space Station

Expedition 39/40 Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov & Flight Engineer Oleg Artemyev of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineer Steven Swanson of NASA launch on the Russian Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft on March 25th from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Flickr Set of Photos of Launch Preparation & Launch

Spacewalking!

Image Credit: NASA

Astronaut Mike Hopkins takes a spacewalk on December 24, 2013 with astronaut Rick Mastracchio whose image shows up in Hopkin's helmet visor.  They were on the second of two very successful spacewalks to change out a degraded pump module on the exterior of the International Space Station.

MAVEN Lifts Off to Mars

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

The MAVEN spacecraft launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida at 1:28 pm EST today.  It's going to Mars to attempt to determine why Mar's atmosphere diminished to it's current state from what was believed to be its atmosphere of billions of years ago that was similar to Earth's current atmosphere.  The trip to Mars will take 10 months and MAVEN will go into orbit around Mars in September 2014.

A Beautiful Launch and Docking to the International Space Station Last Week

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

On November 7, 2013 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Russia, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of the USA and Koichi Wakata of Japan lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on their way to the International Space Station.

NASA Video: Expedition 38 Launches to Join Six-Member Station Crew

NASA Video: New Crew Arrives at Space Station

The Lakes of Titan

Photo Credit: NASA

For those of you that haven't seen this amazing photo, this is not a photo of Earth, but is instead an enhanced image of the lakes in the northern hemisphere of Titan, one of Saturn's moons.  NASA reports that the data for the above image was taken by the Cassini Orbiter during a close flyby of Titan on September 12, 2013, and that the image is actually a false-color mosaic made from infrared data.  The hydrocarbon lakes are believed to be made of liquid ethane and methane.  Titan is the only other body in the solar system known to have a stable liquid weather system on its surface.  For more information about the above image and about the lakes on Titan see NASA's "Titan's Northern Lakes: Salt Flats?" and "Cassini Gets New Views of Titan's Land of Lakes."