A Decade of Sun
2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — SDO — has now been watching the Sun non-stop for over a full decade. From its orbit in space around the Earth, SDO has gathered 425 million high-resolution images of the Sun, amassing 20 million gigabytes of data over the past 10 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system. With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 10-year time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer — the corona. Compiling one photo every hour, the movie condenses a decade of the Sun into 61 minutes. The video shows the rise and fall in activity that occurs as part of the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle and notable events, like transiting planets and eruptions. The custom music, titled “Solar Observer,” was composed by musician Lars Leonhard (https://www.lars-leonhard.de). While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed towards the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. The dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. A longer blackout in 2016 was caused by a temporary issue with the AIA instrument that was successfully resolved after
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NASA in 2023: A Look Ahead
In 2022, we made history. In 2023, we are preparing for our future by exploring the secrets of the universe. All for the benefit of humanity
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NASA’s Lucy Mission Extends its Solar Arrays
NASA’s Lucy mission tests the deployment of its solar arrays in the thermal vacuum chamber at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. Each of the two circular arrays is nearly 24 feet (7.3 m) wide. These arrays will power Lucy on its 12-year odyssey through the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, breaking records for a solar powered mission by traveling 530 million miles (853 million km) from the Sun. These large arrays will capture the sunlight needed to power the spacecraft as it travels through deep space. More: nasa.gov/lucy Music: "CSI," Anthony Edward Phillips, Atmosphere Music, Ltd. Video credit: Copyright Lockheed Martin, 2021; used with permission
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133 Days on the Sun
video chronicles solar activity from Aug. 12 to Dec. 22, 2022, as captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). From its orbit in space around Earth, SDO has steadily imaged the Sun in 4K x 4K resolution for nearly 13 years. This information has enabled countless new discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how it influences the solar system. With a triad of instruments, SDO captures an image of the Sun every 0.75 seconds. The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument alone captures images every 12 seconds at 10 different wavelengths of light. This 133-day time lapse showcases photos taken at a wavelength of 17.1 nanometers, which is an extreme-ultraviolet wavelength that shows the Sun’s outermost atmospheric layer: the corona. Compiling images taken 108 seconds apart, the movie condenses 133 days, or about four months, of solar observations into 59 minutes. The video shows bright active regions passing across the face of the Sun as it rotates. The Sun rotates approximately once every 27 days. The loops extending above the bright regions are magnetic fields that have trapped hot, glowing plasma. These bright regions are also the source of solar flares, which appear as bright flashes as magnetic fields snap together in a process called magnetic reconnection. While SDO has kept an unblinking eye pointed toward the Sun, there have been a few moments it missed. Some of the dark frames in the video are caused by Earth or the Moon eclipsing SDO as they pass between the spacecraft and the Sun. Other blackouts are caused by instrumentation being down or data errors. SDO transmits 1.4 terabytes of data to the ground every day. The images where the Sun is off-center were observed when SDO was calibrating its instruments. SDO and other NASA missions will continue to watch our Sun in the years to come, providing further insights about our place in space and information to keep our astronauts and assets safe. The music is a continuous mix from Lars Leonhard’s “Geometric Shapes” album, courtesy of the artist. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Lead Producer Tom Bridgman (SVS): Lead Visualizer Scott Wiessinger (PAO): Editor This video can be freely shared and downloaded at https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14263. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14263. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit https://nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines. Video Description: On the left side of the frame is the full circle of the Sun. It appears in a golden yellow color, but splotchy and with thin yellow wisps extending from the surface. Some areas are very bright and others almost black. The whole Sun rotates steadily, with one full rotation taking 12 minutes in this time lapse. There are usually only a few bright regions visible at a time and they shift and flash like small fires. From these regions there are wispy loops reaching up above the surface that rapidly change shape and size. On the right side of the frame are two white-outlined squares with enlargements of interesting regions of the Sun. If you liked this video, subscribe to the NASA Goddard
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Moving Water in Space
Water in space behaves… differently. Surface tension and capillary flow can be harnessed to move fluids in more efficient ways. What looks like fun could actually help us improve systems for moving fluids in microgravity, in things like fuel tanks for space travel.
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How We Are Going to the Moon - 4K
While Apollo placed the first steps on the Moon, Artemis opens the door for humanity to sustainably work and live on another world for the first time. Using the lunar surface as a proving ground for living on Mars, this next chapter in exploration will forever establish our presence in the stars. ✨ We are returning to the Moon – to stay – and this is how we are going! Actress Kelly Marie Tran of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” lent her voice to this project.
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Space-Grown Crystals Offer Clarity on Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson’s disease affects more than 5 million people on Earth. Research on the International Space Station could provide insight into this chronic neurodegenerative disease and help scientists find ways to treat and prevent it. In this video, NASA astronaut Serena Auñon-Chancellor narrates as European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Alexander Gerst uses a microscope to examine and photograph the LRRK2 crystals.
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Mercury Transit 2019
Starting around approximately 1200 - 1808 UTC (7:00 am - 1:38pm ET) November 11, 2019, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory watched as Mercury move across the Sun. The Solar Dynamics Observatory views the Sun in a variety of wavelengths of light in the extreme ultraviolet. Music Credit: Frosted Lace by Matthew Charles Gilbert Davidson
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Rocket Engine Testing the NASA Way!
Stennis Space Center has long been known as the agency’s largest rocket testing facility and they have been extremely busy with the testing of the upgraded RS-25 engines. In fact all RS-25 Engine testing happens exclusively at Stennis Space Center! If these look familiar to you, it may be due to the fact that they were used as the space shuttle main engine for the last 30 years. Compared to the 3 RS-25 engines that the space shuttle had the SLS will utilize 4 of them to produce 2 Million pounds of thrust. The thorough testing of the RS-25 plays an essential role in upholding NASA’s high standards of efficient and reliable engines.
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Clair de Lune 4K Version - Moon Images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
This visualization uses a digital 3D model of the Moon built from global elevation maps and image mosaics by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. It was created to accompany a performance of Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune by the National Symphony Orchestra Pops, led by conductor Emil de Cou, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on June 1 and 2, 2018, as part of a celebration of NASA's 60th anniversary. Clair de Lune (moonlight in French) was published in 1905, as the third of four movements in the composer's Suite Bergamasque, and unlike the other parts of this work, Clair is quiet, contemplative, and slightly melancholy, evoking the feeling of a solitary walk through a moonlit garden. The visuals were composed like a nature documentary, with clean cuts and a mostly stationary virtual camera. The viewer follows the Sun throughout a lunar day, seeing sunrises and then sunsets over prominent features on the Moon. The sprawling ray system surrounding Copernicus crater, for example, is revealed beneath receding shadows at sunrise and later slips back into darkness as night encroaches. This video is public domain and along with other supporting visualizations can be downloaded from the Scientific Visualization
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Space Station Crew Members Discuss Life in Space with the Media
Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle of NASA and Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) discussed life and research on the complex during a pair of in-flight interviews Jan. 3 with KMSP-TV, Minneapolis and the Voice of America. Vande Hei has been on board the station since September, while Tingle and Kanai are in the third week of a planned six-month mission.
ScienceCasts: Ocean Worlds
We once thought oceans made our planet unique, but we’re now coming to realize that ‘ocean worlds’ are all around us.
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Wind Tunnel Test of NASA’s Most Powerful Rocket (360° Animation)
What are wind tunnels? And how do they help researchers design and test next-generation aircraft and spacecraft? This interactive 360° animation takes you inside the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The facility is one of seven wind tunnels located at Ames for exploring the complex physics of flight.
The video features a four percent scale model of NASA’s most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, or SLS. Two SLS models--one silver and one pink--appear in the video. The latter is coated with a special paint to track surface pressure readings during testing. Once built, the SLS rocket will be capable of sending astronauts on bold new missions into deep space.
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Apollo_11_moonwalk_montage
This two-minute video montage shows highlights of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.
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A Quick Look at Supernova 1987A
On February 24, 1987, astronomers in the southern hemisphere saw a supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
This new object was dubbed “Supernova 1987A” and was the brightest stellar explosion seen in over four centuries.
Chandra has observed Supernova 1987A many times and the X-ray data reveal important information about this object.
X-rays from Chandra have shown the expanding blast wave from the original explosion slamming into a ring of material expelled by the star before it exploded.
The latest Chandra data reveal the blast wave has moved beyond the ring into a region that astronomers do not know much about.
These observations can help astronomers learn how supernovas impact their environments and affect future generations of stars and planets.
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OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule Lands in Houston
After a seven-year journey to asteroid Bennu and back, the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule landed in the Utah desert at the Utah Training and Testing Range on Sunday, September 24. Its journey did not end there. Bright and early Monday, September 25, the sample capsule hitched a ride in a C-17 aircraft to Houston. After landing at the Ellington airfield, the sample was driven to a facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
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