Category: Space Exploration

Capturing a Satellite [November 1984]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 18, 2020
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An amazing image titled “Capturing a Satellite” by NASA: Astronaut Dale A. Gardner prepares to dock with the spinning WESTAR VI satellite during the STS-51A mission. He was wearing a getting his turn in the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU, see notes 1). Gardner used a large tool called the Apogee Kick Motor Capture Device to enter the nozzle of a spent WESTAR VI engine and stabilize the communications spacecraft sufficiently to capture it for return to Earth in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Physics Space Exploration

What is an orbit? [and how does it work] [Explained]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 14, 2020
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This short video titled “how orbits work” beautifully explains what is an orbit and what you should do to enter into a stable one around Earth, or any other celestial body.

Earth from Space Space Exploration

Moonset from the International Space Station

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 12, 2020
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Moonset from the ISS (International Space Station)

On January 9, 2012, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this amazing footage of the orbital moonset.

Moon Landing Earth from Space Space Exploration

Mister Fred Rogers reading some of Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden’s space poems

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 8, 2020
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Fred Rogers reads Al Worden's poems — Mister Fred Rogers reading some of Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden's poems

The American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, and producer “Mister” Fred Rogers (Fred McFeely Rogers, March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) reads some of Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden’s space poems at his TV show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”, which ran from 1968 to 2001.

Mars Space Exploration

Here’s how NASA sends probes and rovers to Mars

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date May 1, 2020
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Curiosity Rover selfie (October 11, 2019) — NASA's Curiosity rover took this selfie on October 11, 2019, the 2,553rd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. The rover drilled twice in this location, nicknamed "Glen Etive" (pronounced "glen EH-tiv"). About 984 feet (300 meters) behind the rover, Vera Rubin Ridge rises up. Behind it lies the floor of Gale Crater, which Curiosity is exploring, and the northern rim of the crater. Just left of the rover are the two drill holes, called "Glen Etive 1" (right) and "Glen Etive 2" (left). Curiosity performed its first wet-chemistry experiment on a drilled sample at this location. The rover can analyze the chemical composition of rock samples by powderizing them with the drill, then dropping the samples into a portable lab in its belly called Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). This panorama is made up of 57 individual images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm. The images are stitched together into a panorama; the robotic arm isn't visible in the parts of the images used in the composite. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego. The SAM instrument suite was built at Goddard Space Flight Center with significant elements provided by industry, university, and national and international NASA partners. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. This is a cropped and resized image. You can see the original image on NASA.gov.

Robert Frost, a NASA employee, has shut down a conspiracy theorist on the popular question-answer site Quora. He perfectly explained how NASA sends probes and rovers to Mars. I wanted to share it here because his answer is so informative and enlightening.

Earth from Space Space Exploration

Namib Desert from space [ESA Image]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date April 25, 2020
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Namib Desert from space (cropped) — Namib Desert from space. This is a cropped image. You can see the original photo on the European Space Agency (ESA) CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

European Space Agency (ESA) published an amazing photo of the Namib Desert from space, taken by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 Earth Observation mission on October 27, 2019.

Moon Landing Space Exploration

Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell’s MIT speech

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date April 22, 2020
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Last week was Apollo 13’s 50th anniversary – the most “successful failure” in the history of space exploration. On April 27, 2016, former NASA astronaut and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell made a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and told the story of the legendary Apollo 13 flight. Here’s the full video of that speech below.

Moon Landing Space Exploration

Soviet N1 Rocket [3D model]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date April 19, 2020
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3D model of the Soviet N1 Rocket (rotated)

A 3D model of the Soviet N1 Rocket, which was intended to enable crewed travel to the Moon and beyond, Soviet counterpart to the United States’ mighty Saturn V, which was used by NASA between 1967 and 1973 during lunar landings.

Earth from Space Space Exploration

Venice from Space, 2019 vs 2020

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date April 14, 2020
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Venice from Space, 2019-2020 (cropped) — Venice from Space, 2019 vs 2020. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the streets and canals of Venice remain almost empty, with only police officers patrolling the streets and waterways. This is a cropped image. Original image: "Deserted Venetian lagoon" on the European Space Agency (ESA) website CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

The European Space Agency (ESA) published an image showing Italy’s beautiful Venice from space, April 2019 vs April 2020.

The 2020 version shows the Grand Canal of Venice and the Giudecca Canal (Venetian: Canal de ła Zueca) are empty of boats.

Space Exploration Moon Landing

Apollo 13 Booster Impact Experiment [Footage by NASA]

Post author By M. Özgür Nevres
Post date April 7, 2020
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Apollo 13 S-IVB booster impact experiment — Apollo 13 Booster Impact Experiment involved sending the launch vehicle's S-IVB (the Saturn V's third stage) rocket booster to impact the lunar surface. The seismic signals would be recorded using equipment set up during the Apollo 12 mission.

The story of Apollo 13 (called a “successful failure” by the mission commander Jim Lovell) goes beyond a tale of survival. The mission also successfully completed a scientific investigation that is still helping to inform our understanding of the Moon to this day. Early in Apollo 13’s voyage, Mission Control sent the spacecraft’s empty S-IVB rocket booster on a collision course with the lunar surface, where a seismometer set up by the Apollo 12 mission would measure the tremors.

The video below, published by NASA Goddard Channel contains archival footage captured by the crew & newly-uncovered audio. It highlights the beginning and end of that impact experiment and shows how current data and imagery from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission help us better interpret and analyze the results.