We Found The Perfect Spot To Land Our Moon Rover

Fun times at the Apollo to Artemis Gala celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 16! #nasa #nasasolarsystemambassador #solarsystemambassador #artemis #apollo16 #sls (at U.S. Space & Rocket Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/CcneEbjOwD_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Happy Place! #nasa #ksc #kennedyspacecenter #solarsystemambassador (at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQEtNWljQ06/?utm_medium=tumblr

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Galaxies...

Spent some time today processing data from the Hubble Space Telescope. Also watched a lecture on Chinese Space Suits...

As for this evening, there is a visible ISS pass at 6:31PM over the Atlanta area.

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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Being a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador has its perks. Not only do I get to talk to kids about space science, but I also get some cool mission shirts! The Perseverance Rover is currently collecting samples of Martian rock and soil. Soon, it will be dropping off some collection tubes at a point called Three Forks Sample Depot. In the near future, the Mars Sample Recovery Mission will pick up the Martian samples and bring them back to Earth for analysis. #explorepage #nasa #perseverance #mars2020 #lifeonmars #marssamplereturn #jpl https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck44siYuh2V/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

The kids at the Lilburn Activities Building learned about the Space Shuttle and NASA's James Webb Space Telescope today!!! They got to see what a Space Shuttle cockpit looked like when it was in orbit. The kids examined a piece of a space flown shuttle tire, and acted out the duties of shuttle crew members. To top it off, the kids took home Space Shuttle gliders, along with shuttle and JWST coloring pages! Special thanks to former astronaut, Terry Virts, for recording my introduction! The kids loved hearing your insights! #explorepage #space #stemeducation #spaceshuttle #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #solarsystemambassador (at Lilburn, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf9Xg3AujqY/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Hubble Peers at Cosmic Blue Bauble

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch. April 12, 2019

Globular clusters are inherently beautiful objects, but the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image, Messier 3, is commonly acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful of them all. Containing an incredible half-million stars, this 8-billion-year-old cosmic bauble is one of the largest and brightest globular clusters ever discovered. However, what makes Messier 3 extra special is its unusually large population of variable stars — stars that fluctuate in brightness over time. New variable stars continue to be discovered in this sparkling stellar nest to this day, but so far we know of 274, the highest number found in any globular cluster by far. At least 170 of these are of a special variety called RR Lyrae variables, which pulse with a period directly related to their intrinsic brightness. If astronomers know how bright a star truly is based on its mass and classification, and they know how bright it appears to be from our viewpoint here on Earth, they can thus work out its distance from us. For this reason, RR Lyrae stars are known as standard candles — objects of known luminosity whose distance and position can be used to help us understand more about vast celestial distances and the scale of the cosmos. Messier 3 also contains a relatively high number of so-called blue stragglers, which are shown quite clearly in this Hubble image. These are blue main sequence stars that appear to be young because they are bluer and more luminous than other stars in the cluster. As all stars in globular clusters are believed to have formed together and thus to be roughly the same age, only a difference in mass can give these stars a different color. A red, old star can appear bluer when it acquires more mass, for instance by stripping it from a nearby star. The extra mass changes it into a bluer star, which makes us think it is younger than it really is. Messier 3 is featured in Hubble’s Messier catalog, which includes some of the most fascinating objects that can be observed from Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. See the NASA-processed image and other Messier objects at: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-s-messier-catalog.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

For more information about Hubble, visit: http://hubblesite.org/ http://www.nasa.gov/hubble http://www.spacetelescope.org/ Text Credits: ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA/Rob Garner/Image, Animation, Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, G. Piotto et al. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

Fun night outside! Took advantage of some tips I’ve read and watched, and captured some decent Moon images. Still have some focusing issues, but these turned out pretty good for what I was using. #celestron127slt #iphone11 #moon #astronomy #backyardastronomy https://www.instagram.com/p/CO9SFAMjd3A/?igshid=163w76p92jsl7