Category: Earth from Space

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Earth from Space Moon Landing Space Exploration

Amazing view of Earth from Apollo 9

Astronaut Dave Scott emerges from the Apollo 9 Command Module "Gumdrop" (cropped)
March 6, 1969 - With the Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules docked with the Lunar Module and earth in the background, astronaut Dave Scott opens the hatch of Gumdrop for his extravehicular activity. Astronaut Rusty Schweickart took the picture from outside the Lunar Module, Spider at approximately 249.5 kilometers (155 miles) above the Earth. The entire EVA lasted 37 minutes. (Apollo 9, AS09-20-3064) In simulations, Apollo 9 astronauts began to refer to the CSM as "Gumdrop", a name inspired by the CM's appearance while in the blue protective wrapping in which it was transported from the manufacturer, and the LM as "Spider", inspired by the LM's appearance with landing legs deployed. This is a cropped image. Full image source: Apollo Image Gallery

An amazing view of Earth from Apollo 9: on March 6, 1969, with the Command/Service Modules docked with the Lunar Module and Earth in the background, astronaut Dave Scott opens the hatch of CSM (“Gumdrop”) for his extravehicular activity (EVA) to test some of the spacesuit systems that will be used for lunar operations. Astronaut Rusty Schweickart took the picture from outside the Lunar Module, “Spider” at approximately 249.5 kilometers above the Earth. The entire EVA lasted 37 minutes.

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Space Exploration Earth from Space Moon Landing

Going to Space to benefit Earth (Jeff Bezos)

O'Neill cylinders as illustrated in The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space
O'Neill cylinders as illustrated in The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space, a 1976 book by Gerard K. O'Neill, a road map for what the United States might do in outer space after the Apollo program, the drive to place a man on the Moon and beyond. It envisions large manned habitats in the Earth-Moon system, especially near stable Lagrangian points. Three designs are proposed: Island one (a modified Bernal sphere), Island two (a Stanford torus), and Island 3, two O'Neill cylinders. These would be constructed using raw materials from the lunar surface launched into space using a mass driver and from near-Earth asteroids. The habitats were to spin for simulated gravity and be illuminated and powered by the sun. Solar power satellites were proposed as a possible industry to support the habitats. Image: Wikipedia

On May 9, 2019, Jeff Bezos, the founder of the American aerospace company, Blue Origin, discussed his vision to go to space to benefit Earth. In addition, he also announced the Blue Moon lunar lander, which is capable of taking people and payloads to the lunar surface. Here is the full replay of the event below. You’ll find more information about these announcements.

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Space Exploration Earth from Space Places

Venice from space [amazing photo]

Venice from space (cropped)
This perfectly-timed image of Venice from space was captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. A blanket of clouds approaches from the east the historic city's famous lagoon but seemingly stops short against the Lido sandbar (Lido di Venezia)! You can easily spot the S-shaped Grand Canal (Canale Grande). This is a cropped image.

This perfectly-timed image of Venice from space was captured by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. A blanket of clouds approaches the historic city’s famous lagoon but seemingly stops short against the Lido sandbar (Lido di Venezia)! You can easily spot the S-shaped Grand Canal (Canale Grande).

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Earth from Space Climate Environment Global Warming Life on Earth Plants Space Exploration

GEDI: NASA’s Laser Mission to Measure Trees

GEDI is NASA's Laser Mission to Measure Trees
GEDI is NASA's Laser Mission to Measure Trees. It is attached to the International Space Station (ISS) and weighs about a thousand pounds (454 kg) and looks like a refrigerator. It has a telescope of about 80 cm (31 in) in diameter. It has three laser ports and shoots out four laser beams that are then dithered, really quickly, in between shots. It makes one laser look like two. So GEDI is a laser altimeter. We have lasers that emit pulses of light, they travel down to the Earth, they get reflected from the Earth, and then we receive the reflection. We time how long it gets there, which allows us to measure the range to the surface. When the pulse of light hits the surface, it gets distorted and stretched out by any structure that is there.

NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) on the International Space Station (ISS) beams laser light down to Earth to reveal the height and density of trees and vegetation.

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Places Earth from Space Space Exploration

On Earth Day, NASA wants to see the Earth around you

A misty lake in the Belgrade Forest, İstanbul, Turkey
A misty lake in the Belgrade Forest, İstanbul, Turkey. But why there is a forest in İstanbul named "Belgrade Forest"? According to common belief, Belgrade Forest was named after a Serbian village that was forcibly relocated to the forest to manage the city's water supply system during Ottoman times. The people of the village were captives from Suleiman's (the Magnificent) Serbia campaign. Apparently they were known for being good at that sort of thing, and the sultan decided he'd prefer to have no one but the best looking after his aqueducts and dams. The water from the Belgrade Forest dams ended up along the European Bosporus shore all the way down (you can still see the remnants of the aqueducts in Bahcekoy) before getting terminated in the famous Taksim Square, where it was then distributed further. This is actually how Taksim got its name - "taksim" is Turkish for "distribution".

NASA tweeted this morning and said that “Good morning Europe and Africa! Celebrate Earth Day today by sharing with NASA a photo of the gorgeous planet we call home. Show us how you #PictureEarth around you.”

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Earth from Space

Amazing weather balloon flight to the Stratosphere

Earth from a weather balloon
Weßel wrote on Reddit that: "I was a member of a team that sent 4 balloons to 20-30 km. (they sent more since then, but I left them). What we did (in Poland) is coordinate with the "FAA" that coordinated with ATC. We had a launch window, and had to call them after launching. You retrieve it by simply following the balloon and picking it up. We had 2 different trackers in the balloon, but there was a flight or two where they both failed (I don't know why we had such problems with the trackers). You find out wherever it landed, and go pick it up. One time we had to go to another country, that was fun."

An amazing video showing a weather Balloon flight to the Stratosphere. Cameras were installed in a box attached to a weather balloon to get high-altitude images of the Earth. Published by the J. W. Astronomy channel.

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Earth from Space Space Exploration

Salar de Uyuni salt flat from space

Salar de Uyuni from the ISS
While orbiting over South America, an astronaut on the International Space Station shot this photograph of the Atacama Desert and the numerous salt flats in the Andes Mountains along the border of Chile and Bolivia. The centerpiece is the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on Earth. It regularly captures the attention of astronauts due to its high contrast against the brown landscape. Salar de Uyuni and its smaller neighbor, Salar de Coipasa, have darker tones along their edges in this image. These dried lake beds are typically bright white in color, but rainfall can bring an influx of dark volcanic sediments. The region experienced rainfall in early February 2019, which caused temporary discoloration of the salars. By the time this image was taken in March 2019, the flats had started to shift back to their lighter colors. Nearby, the much smaller Laguna Colorada displays bright hues thanks to algae that thrive in the salty water. To the west and northwest of the lake, some of the white dots are snow-capped volcanoes and mountains. The salars receive less than 200 millimeters of rainfall per year. In contrast, the cloud-covered parts of Bolivia (north of the salars) see more than 1,750 mm of rain annually. The Andes Mountains create a rain shadow effect along the coast of northern Chile and western Bolivia, as air masses carrying moisture from the east drop most of their water before cooling and moving up over the mountains. Along the coast, the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth, sometimes going years without rainfall. NASA uses the Atacama Desert to test rovers and other instruments because the area is a good analogue for future astrobiological exploration of Mars. Image source: NASA Earth Observatory webpage

While orbiting over South America” on March 17, 2019, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) shot this photograph of the Atacama Desert, the driest non-polar desert in the world, and the numerous salt flats in the Andes Mountains along the border of Chile and Bolivia. The centerpiece is the Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on Earth.

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Earth from Space Space Exploration

Sarychev Volcano eruption from the ISS [Amazing Video]

Sarychev Volcano Eruption from the International Space Station
Sarychev Peak Volcano erupted June 11-21, 2009, sending out ash plumes. As the volcano is near some of the main air routes between East Asia and North America, there was some disruption to air traffic. During an early stage of the eruption, on June 12, 2009, the International Space Station passed overhead and astronauts were able to photograph the event. A hole in the overhead clouds, possibly caused by the shock wave from the explosion, allowing a clear view of the plume and pyroclastic flow down the sides of the mountain.

On June 12, 2009, a fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) made it possible for an astronaut onboard to capture the Sarychev Volcano in the early stages of the eruption.

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Earth from Space Space Exploration

Coming back down to our fragile oasis (returning back from the International Space Station – video)

Earth from ISS, 2011
Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), 2011. One of the images taken by the forner NASA astronaut Ronald John Garan Jr . He flew on both the US Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Ron is also an aquanaut and participated in the joint NASA-NOAA, NEEMO-9 mission, an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, the world’s only undersea research laboratory. During this mission he and the crew spent 18 continuous days living and working on the ocean floor. Ron’s last NASA assignment was in NASA’s Open Innovation Initiative, which seeks to increase openness, transparency, collaboration, and innovation within government. In this capacity, Ron has been involved in many global mass collaboration and citizen science programs.

International Space Station Expeditions 27 and 28 astronaut Ron Garan presents a video about his return from space, including a compilation of time-lapse photography of “our fragile oasis”, the Earth. The images were captured by Garan and Expedition 28 and 29 astronaut Mike Fossum while aboard the space station.

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Planet Earth Earth from Space Environment Space Exploration

World Water Day 2019: what’s space got to do with it?

Water inequality: digging for drinking water in a dry riverbed
A woman scoops water in a dry riverbed near Kataboi village in remote Turkana in northern Kenya. In 40°C heat and with no access to clean water, she resorts to collecting unfiltered water for her family in containers. The lack of rain in the arid years across the Horn of Africa results in failed crops, lack of water and death of livestock. Picture: Marisol Grandon/Department for International Development. Image source: Wikimedia

March 22, 2019, is World Water Day. Water is a basic human right. According to the United Nations, water scarcity affects more than 40% of people (40% !) around the world, and this is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures. Providing clean water and sanitation for all is a huge challenge.

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