Animation: How a Glacier Melts
When warm summer air melts the surface of a glacier, the meltwater bores holes down through the ice. It makes its way all the way down to the bottom of the glacier where it runs between the ice and the glacier bed, and eventually shoots out in a plume at the glacier base and into the surrounding ocean.
The meltwater plume is lighter than the surrounding ocean water because it doesn't contain salt. So it rises toward the surface, mixing the warm ocean water upward in the process. The warm water then rubs up against the bottom of the glacier, causing even more of the glacier to melt. This often leads to calving – ice cracking and breaking off into large ice chunks (icebergs) – at the front end, or terminus of the glacier.
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Solar Probe just made history by touching the Sun
Discover the groundbreaking mission of NASA's Parker Solar Probe as it ventures closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before.
Dive into the extraordinary findings and technological feats of this historic journey, revolutionizing our understanding of the Sun and its impact on Earth.
Unveiling the secrets of our star, this remarkable probe has touched the Sun's upper atmosphere and unraveled the origins of the fast solar wind.
Explore the implications for space weather prediction and the broader field of stellar physics.
EPIC View of Moon Transiting the Earth
This animation features actual satellite images of the far side of the moon, illuminated by the sun, as it crosses between the DSCOVR spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) and telescope, and the Earth - one million miles away.
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How Do Spacecraft Slow Down? We Asked a NASA Technologist
How do spacecraft slow down? Rigid heat shields and retropropulsion have been the favorites of engineers for years. Now NASA is testing a new inflatable heat shield technology that could allow us to carry even larger payloads to worlds with atmospheres: https://www.nasa.gov/loftid
Launching on Nov. 1 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket along with NOAA’s JPSS-2 mission, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, will demonstrate the heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive atmospheric entry: https://go.nasa.gov/3N7yzBG
Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde
Editor: Daniel Salazar
Credit: NASA
#NASA #Technology #Spacecraft
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Space to Ground:
NASA's Space to Ground is your weekly update on what's happening aboard the International Space Station.
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