cusco shares a report: For the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic views from the Voyager mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is publishing a new version of the image known as the “Pale Blue Dot.” The updated image uses modern image-processing software and techniques while respecting the intent of those who planned the image. Like the…
Tag: jet propulsion laboratory
NASA’s Mars 2020 rover goes coast-to-coast to prep for launch
NASA’s next Mars rover has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for its launch to the Red Planet this July. Two Air Force C-17 Globemaster cargo planes carrying the Mars 2020 rover as well as the cruise stage, descent stage and Mars Helicopter touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at about 3 p.m. EST (12 p.m. PST) today, completing…
Image: ‘Pale Blue Dot’ revisited
For the 30th anniversary of one of the most iconic views from the Voyager mission, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is publishing a new version of the image known as the “Pale Blue Dot.” Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-image-pale-blue-dot-revisited.html…
Tarantula Nebula seen through the eyes of Spitzer
Stunning new Spitzer Space Telescope image of the Tarantula Nebula in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud dwarf galaxy. Spitzer ended its 16-year mission on January 30. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/tarantula-nebula-spitzer-telescope-image…
Today in science: Launch of Explorer 1
Can you believe it’s been 62 years since the United States launched its 1st satellite? Explorer 1 advanced the space race between the US and the Soviet Union. It led to the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/launch-of-explorer-1-jan-31-1958…
Voyager 2 engineers working to restore normal operations
Engineers for NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft are working to return the mission to normal operating conditions after one of the spacecraft’s autonomous fault protection routines was triggered. Multiple fault protection routines were programmed into both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 in order to allow the spacecraft to automatically take actions to protect themselves if potentially harmful circumstances arise. At NASA’s Jet…
2 Satellites Will Narrowly Avoid Colliding Over Pittsburgh On Wednesday
Two defunct satellites traveling at 32,800 mph will narrowly miss colliding with one another over Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening. “If the two satellites were to collide, the debris could endanger spacecraft around the planet,” reports Space.com. From the report: It will be a near miss: LeoLabs, the satellite-tracking company that made the prediction, said they should pass between 50 feet and…
Climate Models Are Getting Future Warming Projections
Alan Buis of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, writes: There’s an old saying that “the proof is in the pudding,” meaning that you can only truly gauge the quality of something once it’s been put to a test. Such is the case with climate models: mathematical computer simulations of the various factors that interact to affect Earth’s climate, such as our atmosphere,…
After Two Years NASA Loses Contact With Its Briefcase-Sized, Exoplanet-Hunting Satellite
“NASA has a lot of high-tech hardware cruising around in space right now, but one of the space agency’s pint-sized exoplanet hunters appears to have gone dark,” reports BGR: In a post by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the group explains that its ASTERIA satellite has been failing to return attempts to contact it for about a month now. ASTERIA is a…
NASA Showcases Its New Mars Rover, Calls It Precursor to Humans on Mars
“The Mars 2020 rover, which sets off for the Red Planet next year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they unveiled the vehicle.” An anonymous reader quotes Agence France-Presse: The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in…