NASAAstro

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a mysterious dwarf planet called Ceres. Its surface is dark and muddy, but has hundreds of patches of bright material. The salt-covered dome and other bright features in Occator Crater are so reflective that they looked like flashlights in distant images. NASA’s Dawn spacecraft got a close look at Ceres and pointed scientists to the idea that liquid brine has come up from the interior, forming the Occator dome and other bright features. Ceres’ crust also contains a significant amount of ice. Astrobiologist Britney Schmidt discusses the implications, as well as her fieldwork in Antarctica.

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission will give us the most detailed look yet at Jupiter’s extraordinary moon Europa. Smaller than our own Moon, Europa is one of the prime candidates for life beyond Earth because it has a deep ocean under its icy shell. The Europa Clipper spacecraft, named for speedy 19th century merchant ships, will map the surface, learn more about the ocean using ice-penetrating radar, and see if there are plumes of water shooting out from the cracks in the ice, among many other scientific activities. Project scientist Bob Pappalardo discusses this mission as well as the possibility of life on Europa and how it would be able to survive without sunlight. Subscribe to listen to the full podcast at https://www.nasa.gov/gravityassist.

The Curiosity rover has been probing the secrets of Mars since its arrival in 2012. Its discoveries include chemical signatures that could be related to life – or, alternatively, to geological processes. The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument has found organic molecules, which are fundamental building blocks of life on Earth, but can also be produced in nonbiological ways. Scientists have also observed sudden rises and falls in methane, a gas also associated with life, but which can be geological in nature, too. But with such a thin atmosphere, cold temperatures and scathing radiation from the Sun, the surface of Mars would be hostile to life. Where could life be hiding, if it were on Mars? Jen Eigenbrode, astrobiologist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, discusses.

NASA spacecraft deliver stunning visual imagery of the cosmos, but we can also experience that data by turning it into sound. Kim Arcand at the Chandra X-Ray Observatory has helped develop many different sonifications including from galaxies, black holes, nebulae and more. Kim chats with NASA’s Chief Scientist Jim Green about her process of choosing instruments to represent different kinds of light, and plays a few examples of these cosmic sounds. Kim developed these sonifications in collaboration with astrophysicist Matt Russo and musician Andrew Santaguida, both of the SYSTEM Sound project. Check out the full series of sonifications at chandra.si.edu/sound and listen to the rest of this Gravity Assist podcast episode at nasa.gov/gravityassist.

The Ingenuity helicopter made history on April 19, 2021, with the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet. How do engineers talk to a helicopter all the way out on Mars? We’ll hear about it from Nacer Chahat of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who worked on the helicopter’s antenna and telecommunication system. He chats with NASA’s Chief Scientist Jim Green in this episode of the “Gravity Assist” podcast. Subscribe and listen to the full episode at https://www.nasa.gov/gravityassist.

On NASA’s Gravity Assist podcast, we have interviewed dozens of scientists, engineers, and others dedicated to the mission of NASA space exploration. We have toured Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. We have asked big questions and met fascinating people investigating the possibilities for life elsewhere, building spacecraft, and doing other important behind-the-scenes work to understand our place in the cosmos. And we talked to them about their gravity assists, the boosts of support or inspiration they received in their careers. After five years, the show is coming to a close. Here are some final thoughts and episode highlights from the podcast team. Listen to the full version of this episode at https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/gravit....

NASA’s #DARTmission will purposely crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its orbital period. But in order to hit the mark, this test mission needs to locate its target first. That's why Johns Hopkins APL engineer Michelle Chen helped develop new autonomous navigation techniques that will ensure a bullseye. Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

NASA’s #DARTmission will purposely crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its orbital period. But in order to hit the mark, this test mission needs to locate its target first. That's why Johns Hopkins APL engineer Michelle Chen helped develop new autonomous navigation techniques that will ensure a bullseye. Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

#DARTmission #PlanetaryDefense NASA is crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid… on purpose! Our #DARTmission is a first-of-its-kind #PlanetaryDefense test to change the motion of an asteroid in space so that we could use this technique if an asteroid were ever discovered to be a threat to Earth. Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

NASA’s #DARTmission will purposely crash a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its orbital period. But in order to hit the mark, this test mission needs to locate its target first. That's why Johns Hopkins APL engineer Michelle Chen helped develop new autonomous navigation techniques that will ensure a bullseye. Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021.

NASA’s #DARTmission is crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to try to change its motion in space. But how will we know if this test worked? That’s where Johns Hopkins APL scientist Andy Rivkin comes in. He’ll be studying the precise change in the asteroid’s motion right here from Earth. In fact, Andy loves DART so much, he even wrote a song about it. Follow DART: www.nasa.gov/DART The DART mission is a test of a technique that could be used to mitigate the threat of an asteroid on a collision course with Earth should one be discovered in the future. DART’s target is not a threat to Earth. While no known asteroid larger than 140 meters in size has a significant chance to hit Earth for the next 100 years, only about 40 percent of those asteroids have been found as of October 2021. NASA

9,491 views Apr 25, 2022 After being together -- every day -- for many many months, preparing for a long-duration spaceflight, you’d think the astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission would know one another pretty well. And you’d be right, even down to them being pretty sure who is going to tell the next bad joke! Watch as Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins and Samantha Cristoforetti have fun answering questions about each other, pondering the 1995 versions of themselves, great baristas in history, and the wonders of American take-out food.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Mission Overview The next flight to the International Space Station is ready to launch! NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission will deliver four new crewmembers to the space station and power the next increment of groundbreaking science research. Join NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, for a look into their expedition to low-Earth orbit, and share their excitement about the prospect of flying on the Dragon vehicle for the first time.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Astronauts Take Questions from Media NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 astronauts discuss their upcoming mission to the International Space Station and take questions from media. The mission will carry NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the space station. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than Wednesday, April 20.

When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon, they’ll travel to sites never before visited by humans. Namely, they'll explore the South Pole region, home to the Moon’s largest crater, areas of near-constant light and deep shadows, and some of the coldest temperatures in the solar system. Exploring the South Pole will teach us more about the Moon’s history, as well as the history of our solar system. It's home to frozen water, which is crucial for living sustainably on the lunar surface and exploring deeper into the solar system. Artemis astronauts will explore the Moon on behalf of all of us and bring back lunar rocks and soil for analyses by generations of scientists who will help us gain unimaginable insights into our cosmic history. Series Executive Producers: Katy Mersmann/Lauren Ward Season Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman/Stephanie Sipila/James Tralie/Molly Wasser

NASA’S SpaceX Crew-4 training reel NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti train for their long-duration mission to the International Space Station. Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. #NASA #Space

When Artemis astronauts land on the Moon, they’ll travel to sites never before visited by humans. Namely, they'll explore the South Pole region, home to the Moon’s largest crater, areas of near-constant light and deep shadows, and some of the coldest temperatures in the solar system. Exploring the South Pole will teach us more about the Moon’s history, as well as the history of our solar system. It's home to frozen water, which is crucial for living sustainably on the lunar surface and exploring deeper into the solar system. Artemis astronauts will explore the Moon on behalf of all of us and bring back lunar rocks and soil for analyses by generations of scientists who will help us gain unimaginable insights into our cosmic history. Series Executive Producers: Katy Mersmann/Lauren Ward Season Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman/Stephanie Sipila/James Tralie/Molly Wasser

Before Jessica Watkins was an astronaut, she was a geologist. Now working on the International Space Station, Jessica and her fellow astronauts are preparing to explore the Moon and beyond. But collecting and investigating rocks on other worlds is very different from digging dirt here on Earth. That’s where tools engineer Adam Naids comes in. Tools designed for Earth geologists may not work in the lower gravity and extreme temperatures of the Moon, and that’s before you bring in the bulky spacesuits! NASA Explorers come together at space school to train astronauts to conduct science on the Moon. Series Executive Producers: Katy Mersmann/Lauren Ward Season Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman/Stephanie Sipila/James Tralie/Molly Wasser

Meet NASA’s rock detectives. Using tiny samples of lunar rock brought back by Apollo astronauts, these NASA Explorers are looking into the origins of our Moon, our planet, and ourselves. They might be among the first scientists to study samples from the Moon’s South Pole that will be delivered to Earth by Artemis astronauts. In episode 2 of “NASA Explorers: Artemis Generation,” we’re joining scientists like Natalie Curran and Jose Aponte, who are looking at clues buried in Moon rocks. Series Executive Producers: Katy Mersmann/Lauren Ward Season Producers: Lonnie Shekhtman/Stephanie Sipila/James Tralie/Molly Wasser Explorers: Natalie Curran/Jose Aponte

These are our explorers. They're the people who will get us to the Moon, collect Moon rocks, deliver them to Earth safely, and ensure that we can study them for years to come. On episode one of “NASA Explorers: Artemis Generation," meet astronaut Jessica Watkins, engineer Adam Naids, Moon rock curator Julie Mitchell, and astrobiologist Jose Aponte. They each had a different path to NASA, from conducting hazardous kitchen chemistry experiments in Lima, Peru, to exploring the Louisiana Bayou, to dissecting a cow’s eye in a science program in Colorado. Each person is a vital part of NASA’s goal to conduct science on the Moon’s surface.

NASA will begin coverage of the Orion spacecraft performing the first of two maneuvers to exit lunar orbit, called the distant retrograde orbit departure burn, on Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. EST (21:30 UTC). The burn is scheduled to occur at 4:53 p.m. EST (21:53 UTC). Orion launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at 1:47 a.m. EST (06:47 UTC) on Nov. 16 from historic Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Orion entered a distant retrograde orbit on at 4:52 p.m. EST (21:52 UTC) on Nov. 25, where the spacecraft has been testing systems in a deep space environment. The Artemis I mission is the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems: the Orion spacecraft, the SLS rocket, and Kennedy Space Center ground systems.

Earth rises from behind the Moon in this video captured by a camera on one of Orion’s solar array wings. The video was taken at 8:05 a.m. EST on flight day six of the 25.5 day Artemis I mission, shortly after the outbound powered flyby and six minutes after the spacecraft regained connection with NASA’s Deep Space Network.

Cameras on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft give us amazing views of our adventure around the Moon. See up close views of the Moon from external cameras as well as the view from inside the capsule. Orion is the only spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth on Artemis missions to deep space and bringing them back to Earth from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion has a launch abort system to keep astronauts safe if an emergency happens during launch, and a European-built service module that is the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion and keeps astronauts alive with water, oxygen, power, and temperature control, as well as a heat shield that can handle high-speed returns from deep space. SLS is the most powerful rocket in the world and the only rocket capable of launching Orion with astronauts and their supplies on Artemis missions to the Moon. Orion launched on the SLS rocket from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test of our SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and exploration ground systems for future Artemis missions—which will provide the foundation to send humans to the lunar surface, develop a long-term presence on and around the Moon, and pave the way for humanity to set foot on Mars.

The Earth is seen setting from the far side of the Moon just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.

The Earth is seen setting from the far side of the Moon just beyond the Orion spacecraft in this video taken on the sixth day of the Artemis I mission by a camera on the tip of one of Orion’s solar arrays. The spacecraft was preparing for the Outbound Powered Flyby maneuver which would bring it within 80 miles of the lunar surface, the closest approach of the uncrewed Artemis I mission, before moving into a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft entered the lunar sphere of influence Sunday, Nov. 20, making the Moon, instead of Earth, the main gravitational force acting on the spacecraft.