Universe Unearthed

On Nov. 16, 2022, the Orion spacecraft launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and embarked on the #Artemis I mission to the Moon and back. Orion orbited the Moon, getting as close as 79 miles to the lunar surface, and successfully splashed back down to Earth 25.5 days later on Dec. 11. Four RS-25 engines and two five-segment solid rocket boosters provided more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust for SLS during liftoff and flight. Thanks in part to development of a new RS-25 engine controller that checks engine health 50 times per second, engineers were able to collect more than 100 measurements on pressures, temperatures, flows, speeds, and vibrations on the four RS-25 engines that helped power Artemis I. The preliminary post-flight data indicates that all SLS systems performed exceptionally and that the designs are ready to support a crewed flight on Artemis II. The Artemis II mission will bring us closer to establishing a sustained human presence on the lunar surface and landing the first woman and first person of color on the Moon. This video was captured from the Launch Pad 39B perimeter and was used by engineers to monitor and track the rocket during flight. Video credit: NASA Music credit: Universal Production Music

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus spacecraft onboard, is seen in this time-lapse movie as it is raised at launch Pad-0A, Thursday, July 10, 2014, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Antares will launch with the Cygnus spacecraft filled with over 3,000 pounds of supplies for the International Space Station, including science experiments, experiment hardware, spare parts, and crew provisions. The Orbital-2 mission is Orbital Sciences' second contracted cargo delivery flight to the space station for NASA. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

An animation of satellite observations from Oct. 21-30, 2012, shows the birth of Tropical Storm Sandy in the Caribbean Sea, the intensification and movement of Sandy in the Atlantic Ocean along the U.S. East Coast, and the landfall of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey on Oct. 29. This visualization was created by the NASA GOES Project at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., using observations from NOAA's GOES-13 and GOES-15 satellites.

Our SpaceX Crew-6 mission safely returns to Earth, the tech demo hitching a ride on our Psyche spacecraft, and studying ancient life on Earth to better understand Mars … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! Link to download this video: https://images.nasa.gov/details/Our%20SpaceX%20Crew-6%20Mission%20Safely%20Returns%20to%20Earth%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20%E2%80%93%20September%208,%202023 Video Producer: Andre Valentine Video Editor: Andre Valentine Narrator: Andre Valentine Music: Universal Production Music Credit: NASA

As you watch the Moon over the course of a month, you'll notice that different features are illuminated by the Sun at different times. However, there are some parts of the Moon that never see sunlight. These areas are called permanently shadowed regions, and they appear dark because unlike on the Earth, the axis of the Moon is nearly perpendicular to the direction of the sun's light. The result is that the bottoms of certain craters are never pointed toward the Sun, with some remaining dark for over two billion years. However, thanks to new data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can now see into these dark craters in incredible detail. Download Link: https://images.nasa.gov/details/GSFC_20130306_Moons_m11218_Shadowed Credit: NASA