So Excited For Ingenuity’s First Flight On Mars!!! Here’s My Ingenuity Poster I Designed To Hand

Somebody’s got to do it! Happy Star Wars Day! May The Fourth Be With You! #maythe4thbewithyou #starwarsday #nasa #jpl #solarsystemambassador https://www.instagram.com/p/COdI9JcDBej/?igshid=wxfr65xogirz

Looking Up -

When I was a kid, my parents bought me a pretty basic telescope. I’m sure it was only used less than fifty times. It was a pain to lug it outside and set up. The finder scope was always loose and impossible to align. Eventually, the telescope became part of my room decor.

It wasn’t all the telescope’s fault. I was naive and fell for the pretty pictures on the box showing me the universe. I thought I was going to set up in the backyard and find a comet in five minutes. I’d have my Doctorate by the end of the week...

Alas, the only thing I could line up was the Moon. I wasn’t patient enough to look for subtle differences from viewing to viewing. I was young, dumb, and bored. The telescope came out less often. Eventually, it quit getting brought outside at all.

Thirty five years later, a spark in me reignited. I found telescopes with red-dot finder scopes and computerized tracking. I now knew those incredible images on the old box required long exposures and specialized settings. I wanted to try again.

My new telescope has allowed me to see many aspects of the Moon I could never appreciate before. Also, with my camera mount, I can now see and photograph deep space objects. The joy I experienced on seeing my first nebula was overwhelming. I showed my wife my first picture like I was a schoolboy with an A+.

Now for the cool part... I get to share this with my daughter. At five years of age, she can identify the four major planets in the sky. I am jealous of the technology she’ll get to grow up with, but for now, we will use my telescope and maybe even find a comet.

Take a Road Trip through Time with Landsat 9

A lot can change in five decades! How we talk, what we wear – it all evolves. But one thing that’s stayed consistent is our unique view of our home planet from above. Five decades ago, we at NASA partnered with United States Geological Survey (USGS) to launch a satellite called Landsat to see Earth from space. Now, we’re launching Landsat 9 – that’s right, the ninth in the series!

Join us for a road trip through the decades from the idea of an Earth-imaging satellite in the groovy 60s to the launch of Landsat 9 this year. Hop in!

The 60s

Far out! In 1966, USGS proposed a satellite to image land all around our planet. Researchers worked with our scientists and engineers to design the satellite and figure out how it would work.

The 70s

Here’s the lowdown: In 1970, we got approval to build the Earth Resources Technology Satellite, later renamed Landsat 1. The satellite launched in 1972 and provided the first digital data of Earth, repeated at regular intervals, which allows us to see changes as they happen.

The 80s

In 1982, we launched Landsat 4, followed by Landsat 5 in 1984. These two satellites collected more wavelengths of light at higher precision, allowing for natural color images, which is totally radical, dude.

The 90s

Wasssup, 1990s? Landsat 7 launched this decade, collecting even more data than previous Landsat satellites, enough to produce the first hi-res natural color map of remote Antarctica.

The 2000s

In 2008, our partners at USGS made all Landsat data available for free. This gave peeps around the world access to all the data they needed, unlocking innovation and creating economic benefits, like the ability to track crop health from space. Sweet!

The 2010s

In 2013, Landsat 8 began the modern era of Landsat observations. A new style of sensor and ground system made it possible to download much more and better data than ever before. Plus, a partnership with European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites gives even more regular observations. We heart that!

The 2020s

Now, we’re set to launch Landsat 9, a twin to Landsat 8. Two Landsat satellites with two instruments each will highkey change our view of Earth once again.

Now, on to the next 50 years of Earth observations! Stay tuned to watch Landsat 9 launch and start telling us even more about our home planet.

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

Tomorrow, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will perform a “touch and go” maneuver with the asteroid Bennu, with the intent to collect a sample and return it to Earth. As the spacecraft orbited Bennu, a team of 3,600 people, including myself, analyzed 4,500 images to mark every crater, rock, and boulder in order to find the ideal spot for the “TAG”. We made 14 million notations! https://www.facebook.com/OSIRISREx/videos/2826486524306208/?vh=e&extid=0&d=n #bennu #osirisrex #space #tobennuandback @nasa @nasasolarsystem #nasaeducation https://www.instagram.com/p/CGjSy_yDuM-/?igshid=10jw6a0fmwa2h

My Jupiter image from yesterday has been selected as a featured image on the front page of NASA’s Mission Juno site almost one year after another one of my images was featured. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ-I85-DtzV/?igshid=17bv4zigqmnrw

Jupiter Day/Night Terminator - Juno Mission PJ19 #nasa #junomission https://www.instagram.com/p/BxXWlCVnhPx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12gkastdkd9n6

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxYDkafxqs9/?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ==

The Moon - 5/14/2019 Celestron 127slt MAK iPhone SE (exposure, contrast, and color adjusted) #themoon #telescope #astronomy #georgia #space https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxegx9gH6NA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ryx1dcqg1rsk