Thank You Gene Cernan!

Eugene Cernan died this month on Monday, January 16, 2017.  He flew three times in space including two times to the moon.  He was the second American to walk in space and the last human to leave the lunar surface. For more information on Gene Cernan's life click here.

Euene Cernan in the Lunar Module After his Second Moon Walk on the Appollo 17 Mission.  Photo Credit: NASA

Eugene Cernan on his Second Moonwalk on the Appollo 17 Mission.  Photo Credit: NASA.

Thank You John Glenn!

Photo Credit:  NASA

Photo Credit:  NASA

Photo Credit:  NASA

John Glenn died last week on Thursday December 8, 2016 at age 95.  He was one of the original seven original American astronauts and on February 20, 1962 was the first American to orbit the Earth.  He also was the oldest person to fly in space when he lifted off on the space shuttle Discovery for almost 9 days on October 29, 1998.  Some of his many other accomplishments include being a fighter pilot in both World War II and the Korean War, being a test pilot setting a transcontinental speed record in 1957 and later serving four terms as a U.S. Senator.  For more information about John Glenn's amazing life see the link below:

Profile of John Glenn

Up It Goes to the Asteroid!

(For an explanation of the mission click on "YouTube" once video starts and see beneath video)
Click on the link below if video doesn't function.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfQdFY9PQM 

Today is Asteroid Day!

Today is Asteroid Day.  Check out these videos produced for Asteroid Day!

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLzbX4PGfSjCG0O-6kN8aAYTFmQtCpIvcu&v=G0NhCzeebjI

Earthrise 2015

Image Credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University

The image above was created from a series of images taken October 12, 2015 by the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) when the LRO was about 83 miles above the moon's farside crater Compton.

Welcome Home Scott Kelly! - After 340 Days in Space, a New American Record!

A Scott Kelly selfie in the International Space Station's cupola on July 12, 2015.  Image Credit: NASA

It's Time to Get Serious About the Threat to Earth from Asteroids!

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x0POlNWGwE

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM4tL6AM_bo 

A Beautiful Launch of Expedition 46 to the Space Station

Photo Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky
(click on photo to enlarge it)

Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko (Russia), Flight Engineer Tim Kopra (USA) and Flight Engineer Tim Peake (United Kingdom) launch to the International Space Station on the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday afternoon, December 15, 2015.

Photo Credit: NASA / Joel Kowsky

A camera on board the ISS captured the view below of the Soyuz climbing towards the Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA TV

In the below photo, the Expedition 46 Soyuz is approaching the ISS for docking on December 15, 2015. Commander Malenchenko had to manually dock the Soyuz after the automatic docking controls failed.

Photo Credit: NASA 

Check out the launch on this video:

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

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: