Category: Space Exploration

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Mars

Bagnold Dunes: a geological formation on Mars with breathtaking scenery

Bagnold Dunes, Mars
Part of the Bagnold Dune Field in Gale Crater on Mars. Bagnold Dunes was named to honor Brigadier Bagnold, who crossed the Libyan Desert and was one of the first explorers to acquire a deep understanding of the physics behind sand dunes. Image by Peter D. Tillman, with crop and a bit of reprocessing - Namib dune, Gale Crater, which links to the original NASA-JPL source image, and a couple of discussions of the dunes. Public Domain, Link

In November 2015, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover started exploring the Bagnold Dunes, a 35-kilometer-long (about 22 miles) and 1-2 km wide (0.62-1.25 mi) group of dark grey dunes in the Gale Crater on Mars, on the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp. The dunes are named after the 20th-century desert explorer, geologist, and soldier Ralph Alger Bagnold (3 April 1896- 28 May 1990), who staged the first recorded East-to-West crossing of the Libyan Desert in 1932. Curiosity’s exploration of the area continued for about 1.5 years, ending in April 2017.

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Moon Landing Solar System Space Exploration

Can you see an astronaut on the Moon via a strong telescope? No, here’s why

Apollo 14 Commander Alan B. Shepard on the Moon
Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., Apollo 14 commander, assembles a double core tube as he stands beside the rickshaw-type portable workbench or modularized equipment transporter (MET) unique to this mission. The photograph was taken by astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, standing some 170 meters (560 feet) northeast of the Lunar Module (LM), during the mission's second extravehicular activity (EVA) on Feb. 6, 1971. While astronauts Shepard and Mitchell descended in the LM "Antares" to explore the Fra Mauro region of the moon, astronaut Stuart A. Roosa, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Kitty Hawk" in lunar orbit. Apollo 14 was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. This photo was taken on February 6, 1971. This is a cropped and resized image. You can see the original photo on the NASA Spaceflight website.

As NASA plans to return to the moon, will we be able to see the astronauts on the Moon via a really strong telescope, when they were landed?

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Earth from Space Geology

Tonga’s Hunga volcano eruption from space, amazing video

Hunga Tonga volcano eruption from space
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano eruption from space

Satellite imagery captures Tonga’s Hunga volcano erupting. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted for the second time in 2 days and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-West satellite captured imagery of the eruption. The eruption also triggered a tsunami that hit the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga. This time-lapse video composed of images taken from space shows how powerful the eruption was.

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Space Exploration

Stranded in space: the story of Sergei Krikalev, the last Soviet cosmonaut

Sergei Krikalev in space, 1991
Sergei Krikalev in space, 1991

Soviet cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev (born August 27, 1958) was in space when the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991. He was stranded on board the Mir Space Station during the dissolution of the USSR. As the country that had sent him into space no longer existed, his return was delayed until further notice. He stayed in orbit for 311 consecutive days, twice as long as the original duration of the mission. He eventually returned back to earth – to a very different nation.

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Space Exploration

NASA introduces a new logo for extending International Space Station operations through 2030

International Space Station 2030 logo
NASA has debuted a new logo for extending International Space Station operations through 2030

On December 31, 2021, the Biden-Harris administration extended the International Space Station (ISS) operations through 2030. Today, NASA has introduced a new International Space Station logo for extending operations.

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Space Exploration Mars

Viral “Remove Before Flight” James Webb meme was an April Fool

"Remove Before Flight" James Webb Space Telescope meme
"Remove Before Flight" James Webb Space Telescope meme

The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that that viral “Remove Before Flight” James Webb Space Telescope meme was actually an April Fool from 2016.

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Earth from Space Space Exploration

Top 10 Most Beautiful Earth Photos Taken From the International Space Station in 2021

Most beautiful Earth photos taken from the International Space Station in 2021: Earth's horizon and a cloudy Pacific Ocean.
Most beautiful Earth photos taken from the International Space Station in 2021: Earth's horizon and a cloudy Pacific Ocean. NASA

Here are the top 10 most beautiful Earth photos taken from the International Space Station in 2021. Which one is your favorite? Or if your favorite image was not listed here, please leave a comment below. To see all images taken from the ISS and published by NASA, visit Space Station Images webpage.

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Space Exploration Solar System

Triumph at Saturn: Cassini’s Grand Voyage [Documentary]

Cassini, artist conception
This is an artist's concept of Cassini during the Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) maneuver, just after the main engine has begun firing. The spacecraft is moving out of the plane of the page and to the right (firing to reduce its spacecraft velocity with respect to Saturn) and has just crossed the ring plane. The SOI maneuver, approximately 90 minutes long, allowed Cassini to be captured by Saturn's gravity into a five-month orbit. Image: NASA

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL) has published a great documentary about Casini Spacecraft’s grand voyage (and its finale) around Saturn. Titled “Triumph at Saturn”, the two-part documentary chronicles the story of NASA’s Cassini mission.

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Earth from Space Moon Landing Space Exploration

Blue Marble: the famous Apollo 17 photograph of Earth from space

The Blue Marble
In December 1972, Apollo 17 spacecraft took a photo of Earth from space, at a distance of about 45,000 kilometers (28,000 miles). This image, with the official NASA designation AS17-148-22727, became known as "The Blue Marble", one of the most iconic photos of Earth from space. In fact, it was not the first clear image of Earth taken from space - similar photos had already been taken as early as 1967. But, the 1970s were the scene of a big surge in environmental activism. For example, on April 22, 1970, the first "Earth Day" was organized by Gaylord Nelson, former senator of Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate student. Millions of people gather in the United States for the event. So, in today's terms, image AS17-148-22727 went "viral" and became a symbol of the environmental movement, as a depiction of Earth's frailty, vulnerability, and isolation amid the vast expanse of space. According to NASA archivist Mike Gentry, it is among the most widely distributed images in human history.

On December 7, 1972, the crewmembers of Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon took a photo of Earth from space, at a distance of about 45,000 kilometers (28,000 miles). This image, with the official NASA designation AS17-148-22727, became known as “The Blue Marble”. It remains one of the most iconic photos of Earth taken from space.

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Space Exploration Astronomy

Fastest human-made object: Parker Solar Probe

Parker Solar Probe
Artistic rendition of the Parker Solar Probe - The fastest human-made object ever built

On November 21, 2021, the spacecraft traveled with a velocity of 364,660 miles per hour (586,863 km/h), or 101 miles per second (mi/s) (163 kilometers per second), and once again became the fastest human-made object ever built. That speed is fast enough to fly from New York to Tokyo in just over a minute.

Despite it seeming blazingly fast (and actually, it is), it is only about 0.05437% of the speed of light.

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