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Everything that happens on the International Space Station revolves around one thing: Earth, sixteen times a day! So for Earth Day 2021, NASA offers a gift you can’t get anywhere else with this leisurely view of our home planet, from 250 miles up, rendered in extraordinary ultra-high definition video. Hit play, relax and enjoy. This 4K footage was recorded between 2019 and 2020.

In this artist’s rendition, we explore a metallic world named Psyche, an asteroid that offers a unique window into the building blocks of planet formation. The NASA Psyche mission launches in 2023 and will arrive at the asteroid Psyche, which orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter, in 2026. The spacecraft, also named Psyche, will spend 21 months orbiting the asteroid, mapping it and studying its properties. The mission is led by Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is responsible for the mission’s overall management, system engineering, integration and test, and mission operations. Maxar Technologies is providing a high-power solar electric propulsion spacecraft chassis.

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.

For Earth Day 2021, we explore the connections of Earth systems and NASA's ability to observe them in a changing world, highlighting the links between dust transport, vegetation, water quality, conservation and human health, the cryosphere, and disasters. Music: "Ellipsis" and "Terrafirma" by Ben Niblett and Jon Cotton [PRS] via Universal Production Music Video credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Jefferson Beck (USRA): Lead Producer Ellen T. Gray (ADNET): Writer Sofie Bates (KBR): Writer Roberto Molar Candanosa (KBR): Writer While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, some individual imagery and music may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other product. If you liked this video,plz press subscribe.

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 Explorers: Jose Aponte/Natalie Curran/Julie Mitchell/Adam Naids/Noah Petro/Kelsey Young/Jessica Watkins Music: a. “Daylight Falls” by Jay Price b. “Good Omens” by Count Zero and Rohan Stevenson c. “Lightspeed” by Gresby Race Nash d. “Wonders of Life” by Enrico Cacace and Lorzeno Castellarin e. “Hold Still” by Enrico Cacace f.

Watch live as the Dragon Freedom spacecraft undocks with the four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission aboard: NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, and Jessica Watkins, as well as ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Undocking from the International Space Station (ISS) is targeted for Friday, Oct. 14. Splashdown is targeted several hours later at 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC) Friday off the coast of Florida. During their stay of nearly six months on the ISS, Crew-4 members contributed to ongoing and new scientific investigations and technology demonstrations, work that is helping to prepare humans for future space exploration missions and generating innovations and benefits for humanity on Earth.

NASA’s Lucy mission is heading to the Jupiter Trojans – two swarms of primitive asteroids trapped in Jupiter’s orbit that may hold clues to the formation of the planets. Lucy launched on October 16, 2021. After a year in orbit around the Sun, it is returning home on its launch anniversary for the first of three Earth gravity assists. On October 16, 2022, Lucy will fly by the Earth like a partner in a swing dance, boosting its speed and elongating its orbit around the Sun. At 7:04 am, Eastern Time, Lucy will make its closest approach at just 219 miles above the planet: lower than the International Space Station. This exceptionally close shave will increase its velocity by four-and-a-half miles per second, setting Lucy on track to gain even more speed when it returns to Earth for its second gravity assist in December 2024.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Dan Gallagher (KBRwyle): Producer Kel Elkins (USRA): Lead Visualizer Walt Feimer (KBRwyle): Lead Animator Jenny McElligott (AIMM): Animator Krystofer Kim (KBRwyle): Animator Jonathan North (KBRwyle): Animator Katherine Kretke (SwRI): Support Ernie Wright (USRA): Support Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET): Technical Support Universal Production Music: “Determined Arrival 5” by Joel Goodman; “Finding Solace” by Eric Chevalier; “Subtle Confidence 3” by Joel Goodman 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

The astronauts of Crew-4 have undocked from the International Space Station and are on their way home to Earth. Watch live with NASA as the Dragon spacecraft Freedom reenters the atmosphere and splashes down off the coast of Florida. Splashdown is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT (2055 UTC), Friday, Oct. 14. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Jessica Watkins, Bob Hines, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti spent five and a half months living and working aboard the orbiting laboratory. During their stay, they contributed to a number of experiments to expand our understanding of space while benefitting life on Earth:

New time-lapse movies from NASA’s NEOWISE mission give astronomers the opportunity to see objects, like stars and black holes, as they move and change over time. The videos include previously hidden brown dwarfs, a feeding black hole, a dying star, a star-forming region, and a brightening star. They combine more than 10 years of NEOWISE observations and 18 all-sky images, enabling a long-term analysis and a deeper understanding of the universe. 0:44 – NEOWISE all-sky scan animation 1:03 – Feeding black hole 1:14 – Pulsing star reaches the end of its life 1:21 – Protostars in star-forming region 1:34 – Brown dwarf moves across the sky 2:00 – Unexplained stellar brightening The NEOWISE mission uses a space telescope to hunt for asteroids and comets, including those that could pose a threat to Earth. Launched in December 2009 as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, the space telescope was originally designed to survey the sky in infrared, detecting asteroids, stars and some of the faintest galaxies in space. WISE did so successfully until completing its primary mission in February 2011. Observations resumed in December 2013, when the telescope was taken out of hibernation and re-purposed for the NEOWISE project as an instrument to study near-Earth objects.

The 18th Northrop Grumman commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station carries scientific investigations of topics such as 3D printing of knee cartilage, plant mutations, and mudflow structure—along with a demonstration of camera technology and small satellites from Japan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The Cygnus spacecraft carrying these investigations to the orbiting laboratory is scheduled for liftoff no earlier than Nov. 6, 2022 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia. Learn more about some of the scientific research traveling to the station on this mission.

In order to slow down spacecraft quickly and safely as they land, we get some help from an unexpected source: the planet’s atmosphere! To use the air around a planet to our advantage, we use heat shields, which have an air-resistant design. Learn more about heat shields, like LOFTID, and how they may help us land on Mars!

We’re testing a new way of landing on Mars… by crashing into its surface. The Simplified High Impact Energy Landing Device (SHIELD) is a lander concept being tested at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It could one day provide a new way for low-cost missions to land on Mars. Rather than rely on parachutes or retrorockets, SHIELD would include a collapsible, accordion-like base to absorb the energy of a landing. A full-size prototype of the base was tested on Aug. 12, 2022. The prototype was hurled at the ground from the top of a nearly 90-foot-tall (27-meter-tall) drop tower at JPL. A steel plate ensured the impact was even harder than what would be experienced on Mars. The design worked: After crushing against the steel plate at 110 mph (177 kph), several electronic components inside the SHIELD prototype, including a smartphone, survived the impact.

In this video, measurements collected by the Waves instrument aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its close flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa on Sept. 29, 2022 have been converted to an audible frequency. As the white line moves across the spectrogram, which is a visual way of representing signal strength over time, the variation of frequency of the plasma waves observed near Europa can be heard as the plasma density varies. The video shows data collected over approximately 1.5 hours during the Europa flyby.

Are hurricanes getting stronger? Although we’ll never see a Category 6 hurricane, data does show that more hurricanes are becoming more severe. Hurricane and climate expert Mara Cordero-Fuentes of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center tells us more about the connection between climate change and tropical cyclones.

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: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

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is filling sample tubes with rocky material on the Red Planet as the agency works on the next steps to get them safely back to Earth. The Mars Sample Return campaign would bring samples collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth for detailed study. The campaign involves an international interplanetary relay team, including the European Space Agency (ESA). These samples could answer a key question: did life ever exist on Mars? Aaron Yazzie, who works on the Mars Sample Return campaign, explains the work being done at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to ensure the safe return of the sample tubes.

Chasing Sprites in Electric Skies Paul Smith is a night-sky fanatic and photographer. His obsession is sprites: immense jolts of light that flicker high above thunderstorms. Last October, he guided NASA scientist Dr. Burcu Kosar through the backroads of Oklahoma to catch one herself. Although she’d studied sprites for more than 15 years, she hadn’t yet chased one.

Earth Science Satellite Will Help Communities Plan for a Better Future A new Earth science mission, led by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES), will help communities plan for a better future by surveying the planet’s salt and freshwater bodies. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will measure the height of water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and the oceans. As climate change accelerates the water cycle, more communities around the world will be inundated with water while others won’t have enough. SWOT data will be used to improve flood forecasts and monitor drought conditions, providing essential information to water management agencies, civil engineers, universities, the U.S. Department of Defense, disaster preparedness agencies, and others who need to track water in their local areas. In this video, examples of how SWOT data will be used in these communities are shared by a National Weather Service representative in Oregon, an Alaska Department of Transportation engineer, researchers from the University of Oregon and University of North Carolina, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist working with the Department of Defense, and a JPL scientist working with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Agency. :30 - Flood Watches & Warnings - Portland, Oregon 1:08 - Water Management - Fern Ridge Lake, Oregon 2:05 - Protecting Infrastructure - Alaska 2:54 - National Security - Department of Defense 3:24 - Coastal Protection - Mississippi River Delta SWOT is expected to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California in December 2022. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency and UK Space Agency. JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project.

133 Days on the Sun This 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..