Juno: Join The Mission!

Solar System: Things to Know This Week

Our solar system is huge, so let us break it down for you. Here are a few things to know this week:

1. We’re Going In

To be honest, Jupiter is kind of a monster. Not only is it the biggest planet in the solar system, but it also wields the most dangerous radiation and other powerful forces. Despite the risks, our Juno probe is going in close, because Jupiter also holds precious clues to how the planets formed, including our own. Arrival date: July 4. Watch the Juno mission trailer video HERE.

2. Moon Maps

The moon is beautiful in the sky, and also up close—sometimes even in the maps that scientists use to study its surface. Here are some evocative maps that lunar geologists have drawn up to chart the landscapes in the moon’s dramatic Tycho Crater. Take a look HERE.

3. That’s No Moon…Sort Of

The full moon we’ll see this week is not Earth’s only companion in space. Astronomers have discovered a small asteroid in an orbit around the sun that keeps it near the Earth, where it will remain for centuries. But it’s not exactly a second moon, either.

4. Power Blast

Venus has an “electric wind” strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere, which may have played a significant role in stripping Earth’s twin planet of its oceans, according to new results from the European Space Agency (ESA) Venus Express mission by NASA-funded researchers.

5. How Green (Well, Red) Was My Valley

“Marathon Valley” slices through the rim of a large crater on Mars. It has provided fruitful research targets for our Opportunity rover since July 2015, but now the rover’s team is preparing to move on.

Want to learn more? Read our full list of the 10 things to know this week about the solar system HERE.

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It’s Pi Day!

Pi Day, the informal holiday beloved by math enthusiasts — and even by the math averse — is here! March 14 marks the yearly celebration of the mathematical constant π (pi).

What is Pi?

Pi (3.1415….) is the ratio of circumference to diameter in a circle. Any time you want to find out the distance around a circle when you have the distance across it, you will need this formula.

Despite its frequent appearance in math and science, you can’t write pi as a simple fraction or calculate it by dividing two integers. For this reason, pi is said to be “irrational.” Pi’s digits extend infinitely and without any pattern, adding to its intrigue and mystery.

How Do We Use Pi at NASA?

Measurements: Pi can be used to make measurements – like perimeter, area and volume. 

For example, sometimes we use lasers to explode ice samples and study their composition. In this scenario, we can uses pi to calculate the width of the laser beam, which in turn can be used to calculate the amount of energy, or fluence, that hits the ice sample. A larger fluence equals a bigger explosion in the ice.

Commanding Rovers: Pi is also used every day commanding rovers on the Red Planet. Everything from taking images, turning the wheels, driving around, operating the robotic arm and even talking to Earth!

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Will Perseverance be near any other Rovers?

Rolling, rolling, rolling.

(via GIPHY)

How did your launch abort affect your future space flights?

Human Expansion Across Solar System

On this day in 1972, two NASA astronauts landed on the Moon. Now, 45 years later, we have been instructed to return to the lunar surface.

Today at the White House, President Trump signed the Space Policy Directive 1, a change in national space policy that provides for a U.S.-led program with private sector partners for a human return to the Moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond.

Among other dignitaries on hand for the signing, were NASA astronauts Sen. Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, Buzz Aldrin, Peggy Whitson and Christina Koch.

Schmitt landed on the moon 45 years to the minute that the policy directive was signed as part of our Apollo 17 mission, and is the most recent living person to have set foot on our lunar neighbor. 

Above, at the signing ceremony instructing us to send humans back to the lunar surface, Schmitt shows First Daughter Ivanka Trump the Moon sample he collected in 1972.

The effort signed today will more effectively organize government, private industry and international efforts toward returning humans on the Moon, and will lay the foundation that will eventually enable human exploration of Mars.

To learn more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/new-space-policy-directive-calls-for-human-expansion-across-solar-system

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To the Moon and Beyond: Why Our SLS Rocket Is Designed for Deep Space

It will take incredible power to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon’s South Pole by 2024.  That’s where America’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket comes in to play.

Providing more payload mass, volume capability and energy to speed missions through deep space than any other rocket, our SLS rocket, along with our lunar Gateway and Orion spacecraft, creates the backbone for our deep space exploration and Artemis lunar mission goals.

Here’s why our SLS rocket is a deep space rocket like no other:

It’s a heavy lifter

The Artemis missions will send humans 280,000 miles away from Earth. That’s 1,000 times farther into space than the International Space Station. To accomplish that mega feat, you need a rocket that’s designed to lift — and lift heavy. With help from a dynamic core stage — the largest stage we have ever built — the 5.75-million-pound SLS rocket can propel itself off the Earth. This includes the 57,000 pounds of cargo that will go to the Moon. To accomplish this, SLS will produce 15% more thrust at launch and during ascent than the Saturn V did for the Apollo Program.

We have the power 

Where do our rocket’s lift and thrust capabilities come from? If you take a peek under our powerful rocket’s hood, so to speak, you’ll find a core stage with four RS-25 engines that produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust alongside two solid rocket boosters that each provide another 3.6 million pounds of thrust power. It’s a bold design. Together, they provide an incredible 8.8 million pounds of thrust to power the Artemis missions off the Earth. The engines and boosters are modified heritage hardware from the Space Shuttle Program, ensuring high performance and reliability to drive our deep space missions.

A rocket with style

While our rocket’s core stage design will remain basically the same for each of the Artemis missions, the SLS rocket’s upper stage evolves to open new possibilities for payloads and even robotic scientific missions to worlds farther away than the Moon like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. For the first three Artemis missions, our SLS rocket uses an interim cryogenic propulsion stage with one RL10 engine to send Orion to the lunar south pole. For Artemis missions following the initial 2024 Moon landing, our SLS rocket will have an exploration upper stage with bigger fuel tanks and four RL10 engines so that Orion, up to four astronauts and larger cargoes can be sent to the Moon, too. Additional core stages and upper stages will support either crewed Artemis missions, science missions or cargo missions for a sustained presence in deep space.

It’s just the beginning

Crews at our Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are in the final phases of assembling the core stage for Artemis I— and are already working on assembly for Artemis II.

Through the Artemis program, we aim not just to return humans to the Moon, but to create a sustainable presence there as well. While there, astronauts will learn to use the Moon’s natural resources and harness our newfound knowledge to prepare for the horizon goal: humans on Mars.

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How Well Do you Know Neptune?

Dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds, Neptune is the last of the hydrogen and helium gas giants in our solar system. More than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth, the planet takes almost 165 Earth years to orbit our sun! In fact, in 2011, Neptune completed its first orbit since its discovery in 1846.

Here are a few things you might not know about the windiest planet:

If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, the Earth would be the size of a nickel and Neptune would be about as big as a baseball.

Neptune orbits our sun, a star. Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun at a distance of about 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles) or 30.07 AU. 

One day on Neptune takes about 16 hours (the time it takes for Neptune to rotate or spin once)

Neptune makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Neptunian time) in about 165 Earth years (60,190 Earth days)

Neptune has six rings

Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Neptune

Neptune has 13 moons. They are named after various sea gods and nymphs in Greek mythology

Did you know that Neptune has storms?

Similar to Jupiter, Neptune has storms that create gigantic spots in its atmosphere…well, it did. When Voyager 2 flew past Neptune in 1989, it tracked and imaged the “Great Dark Spot” — a storm larger than the entire Earth! When the Hubble Space Telescope imaged Neptune the spot had disappeared, only to be replaced with two smaller storms, which in turn also disappeared.

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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.

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Making the Skies Safe for Unmanned Aircraft

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (commonly known as UAS or drones) are typically a smaller aircraft that fly without an onboard pilot. Currently used for research, testing, and aerial-visual purposes, these vehicles could one day carry cargo, or even passengers, through countryside and city landscapes.

UAS are a key component of our Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration in the National Aairspace Ssystem (UAS in the NAS) project. Our research will help develop the rules so that unmanned aircraft can safely coexist with manned aircraft in the national airspace.

We collaborate with private companies, like Navmar Applied Science Corporation (NASC), to research and test aerodynamically efficient UAS. We also work with government agencies like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct research that will contribute to setting standards and certifications.

We are leading the nation to open a new era in air transportation called Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). AAM will enable safe, sustainable, affordable, and accessible aviation that moves people and cargo between places using a transformed air transportation system and revolutionary new aircraft.

With new cost-and-fuel efficient aircraft and technologies becoming available, UAS will provide substantial benefit to U.S. industry and the public. Such benefits include air-lifted organ transplant deliveries that arrive more quickly and safely than ever before; and search and rescue missions performed with increased speed and accuracy.

There are other benefits too, like pizza being air- dropped to your front door, and less package delivery trucks on the road. The burgeoning landscape of AAM holds many potentials – and it’s our job to help safely and sustainably map out and navigate what that future landscape looks like.

Want to learn the many ways that NASA is with you when you fly? Visit https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics. Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.