Playing With Blue Filter On My Celestron 127slt Mak. To Windy For Tracking, So This Is A Single Image.

Captured last night using one of the remote telescopes of the Harvard - Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. All processing by Johnathan Brackett. https://www.instagram.com/p/CO4EUFfDWT5/?igshid=1ucmb7lsqb6m2

Ascent Abort-2 crew module arrives in Houston in Orion’s March newsletter: http://bit.ly/OrionMar18

Saturn...

Took the telescope rig out to see if I could finally get a look at Saturn this Summer. It seemed every time I wanted to go out, it was cloudy, rainy, or I was already exhausted from the day. Other times, it would be a perfect evening, but I was nowhere near my home and scope.

On Tuesday, 8/6/2019, I saw the rings of Saturn for the first time through my own scope. There’s almost an emotional aspect added when it’s your own equipment you’re observing through. Anyway, here is my first ever capture of Saturn taken with an iPhone 8 and a Celestron 127slt mak.

Hurry! You Can Catch a Ride to Jupiter with NASA

Well, at least your name can.  

One of the planet Jupiter’s largest and most intriguing moons is called Europa. Evidence hints that beneath its icy shell, Europa hides an ocean of liquid water – more water than all of Earth’s oceans combined. In 2024, our Europa Clipper robotic spacecraft sets sail to take a closer look…and when it launches, your name can physically be aboard! Here’s how: 

NASA’s Message in a Bottle campaign invites people around the world to sign their names to a poem written by the U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. The poem connects the two water worlds — Earth, yearning to reach out and understand what makes a world habitable, and Europa, waiting with secrets yet to be explored.

The poem will be engraved on Europa Clipper, along with participants' names that will be physically etched onto microchips mounted on the spacecraft. Together, the poem and names will travel 1.8 billion miles to the Jupiter system.

Signing up is easy! Just go to this site to sign your name to the poem and get on board. You can send your name en español, too. Envía tu nombre aquí.

The Europa Clipper launch window opens in October 2024, but don’t wait – everyone’s names need to be received this year so they can be loaded onto the spacecraft in time. Sign up by Dec. 31, 2023.

We hope you’ll be riding along with us! Follow the mission at europa.nasa.gov.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

My third attempt at Mars. I didn’t use a filter on this one, but I’m going to try a red filter tonight. #celestrontelescope #celestron127slt #backyardastronomy #mars #planets https://www.instagram.com/p/CGUu8Xnj12b/?igshid=i4jdoaqhd4c7

Welding is underway on the Artemis III Orion! 

At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, Lockheed Martin technicians welded together 3 cone-shaped panels on Orion’s crew module for the mission that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon.

go.nasa.gov/2YjUoVK

Another day, another lecture... ... and another 82 acronyms.

When you speak to a group of Daisy Girl Scouts and the troop leader says, “Thanks for the presentation! What’s your favorite cookie?” #nasa #daisyscouts #girlscouts #girlscoutcookie #stem #space #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca3nqxbOvtS/?utm_medium=tumblr

In about 3 weeks, I’ll be attending Astronaut Training Experience at SpaceCamp as an educator! I’m so excited! Not bad for John, the world’s biggest 12 year old. Speaking of 12, that is also the number of former and current astronauts who have attended SpaceCamp. Astronaut Kate Rubins, who is on the ISS right NOW, attended as a seventh grader. #nasa @issnationallab @iss #space #stemeducation #spacecamp #iss #huntsvillealabama #launchamerica #stem https://www.instagram.com/p/CHcDEIWjriP/?igshid=rb5zh2exe8bt

Did you know: NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 is the first NASA Commercial Crew Program mission to fly two international partner astronauts? Both Thomas Pesquet of ESA - European Space Agency and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) will be aboard the Crew Dragon launching April 22 to the International Space Station. #nasa #crewdragon #iss #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/CNmFBvmj2Qk/?igshid=1vvs39ahvj71a