Galactic Voyages: Exploring NASA's Universe through Space Videos

Is climate change the same as global warming? Not quite. The warming of Earth — or global warming — is just one factor that makes up a range of changes that are happening to our planet, which is climate change.

We know the Moon contains water, but, could future astronauts access and make use of it? That’s the goal. At NASA, we’re actively trying to answer that question. Once it lands at the lunar south pole, our PRIME-1 — Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 – will robotically sample and analyze ice from beneath the lunar surface, contributing to our search for water on the Moon:

The Artemis II astronauts check out their ride to the Moon, practicing post-splashdown recovery operations for Artemis II, and the Webb Space Telescope checks out a record-breaking star … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!

There is a long process to getting the Space Shuttle ready to launch! If it lands Vandenburg Air Force Base in California then it will need to be flown across the United States to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is done on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA). All 135 Space Shuttle Launches happened from Florida. There are two launch pads - 39a and 39b. First the space shuttle is taken to the Orbital Processing Facility (OPF) where maintenance takes place. When there's a Rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) which is the Orbiter is lifted up and bolted to the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) and External Tank. The Shuttle is on top of the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) and is then moved by the Crawler Transporter (CT) to one of the two launch pads. The launch pad is made of the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and Rotating Service Structure (RSS). Other parts of the launch pad include the Orbiter Access Arm (OAA), Gaseous Hydrogen and Oxygen Vent Arms, Tail Service Masts (TSM), Sound Suppression System, and the Flame Trench. The launch involved Lift Off, Roll Program, Max-Q, and Main Engine Cut Off (MECO).

I was privileged to travel to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of Atlantis on what was then the "final scheduled" flight of the orbiter (STS-132). This video is my homage to the shuttle program through the in-depth experience of a single orbiter launch. I believe we should be thankful for the Atlantis orbiter, all her astronauts, the countless NASA staff who made her fly, and the American people who created a space vehicle of extraordinary power and grace. This footage incorporates numerous camera views from the ground, the footage I took during launch, and video and audio from NASA showing the orbiter stack itself during takeoff and flight. I hope you enjoy the experience of launch preparation and the resulting eight-and-a-half-minute exhilarating ride into space. In places, the timeline of the actual events has been extended to allow viewing of several different viewpoints of the same moment. This creative decision aims to bask in the experience from many angles and celebrate the amazing feat of launching a spacecraft into orbit. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Space shuttle Atlantis and its six-member crew began an 11-day delivery flight to the International Space Station on Monday with a 2:28 p.m. EST launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle will transport spare hardware to the outpost and return a station crew member who spent more than two months in space. Atlantis is carrying about 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station, keep it from overheating, and maintain a proper orientation in space. The large equipment can best be transported using the shuttle's unique capabilities.

The moment has finally arrived, it's time for Felix Baumgartner to perform the space dive. Taken from Red Bull Space Dive.