Astronaut In The House!

Solar System 10 Things: Two Years of Juno at Jupiter

Our Juno mission arrived at the King of Planets in July 2016. The intrepid robotic explorer has been revealing Jupiter's secrets ever since. 

Here are 10 historic Juno mission highlights:

1. Arrival at a Colossus

After an odyssey of almost five years and 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion kilometers), our Juno spacecraft fired its main engine to enter orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. Juno, with its suite of nine science instruments, was the first spacecraft to orbit the giant planet since the Galileo mission in the 1990s. It would be the first mission to make repeated excursions close to the cloud tops, deep inside the planet’s powerful radiation belts.

2. Science, Meet Art

Juno carries a color camera called JunoCam. In a remarkable first for a deep space mission, the Juno team reached out to the general public not only to help plan which pictures JunoCam would take, but also to process and enhance the resulting visual data. The results include some of the most beautiful images in the history of space exploration.

3. A Whole New Jupiter

It didn’t take long for Juno—and the science teams who hungrily consumed the data it sent home—to turn theories about how Jupiter works inside out. Among the early findings: Jupiter's poles are covered in Earth-sized swirling storms that are densely clustered and rubbing together. Jupiter's iconic belts and zones were surprising, with the belt near the equator penetrating far beneath the clouds, and the belts and zones at other latitudes seeming to evolve to other structures below the surface.

4. The Ultimate Classroom

The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) project, a collaboration among NASA, JPL and the Lewis Center for Educational Research, lets students do real science with a large radio telescope. GAVRT data includes Jupiter observations relevant to Juno, and Juno scientists collaborate with the students and their teachers.

5. Spotting the Spot

Measuring in at 10,159 miles (16,350 kilometers) in width (as of April 3, 2017) Jupiter's Great Red Spot is 1.3 times as wide as Earth. The storm has been monitored since 1830 and has possibly existed for more than 350 years. In modern times, the Great Red Spot has appeared to be shrinking. In July 2017, Juno passed directly over the spot, and JunoCam images revealed a tangle of dark, veinous clouds weaving their way through a massive crimson oval.

“For hundreds of years scientists have been observing, wondering and theorizing about Jupiter’s Great Red Spot,” said Scott Bolton, Juno principal investigator from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. “Now we have the best pictures ever of this iconic storm. It will take us some time to analyze all the data from not only JunoCam, but Juno’s eight science instruments, to shed some new light on the past, present and future of the Great Red Spot.”

6. Beauty Runs Deep

Data collected by the Juno spacecraft during its first pass over Jupiter's Great Red Spot in July 2017 indicate that this iconic feature penetrates well below the clouds. The solar system's most famous storm appears to have roots that penetrate about 200 miles (300 kilometers) into the planet's atmosphere.

7. Powerful Auroras, Powerful Mysteries

Scientists on the Juno mission observed massive amounts of energy swirling over Jupiter’s polar regions that contribute to the giant planet’s powerful auroras – only not in ways the researchers expected. Examining data collected by the ultraviolet spectrograph and energetic-particle detector instruments aboard Juno, scientists observed signatures of powerful electric potentials, aligned with Jupiter’s magnetic field, that accelerate electrons toward the Jovian atmosphere at energies up to 400,000 electron volts. This is 10 to 30 times higher than the largest such auroral potentials observed at Earth. 

Jupiter has the most powerful auroras in the solar system, so the team was not surprised that electric potentials play a role in their generation. What puzzled the researchers is that despite the magnitudes of these potentials at Jupiter, they are observed only sometimes and are not the source of the most intense auroras, as they are at Earth.

8. Heat from Within

Juno scientists shared a 3D infrared movie depicting densely packed cyclones and anticyclones that permeate the planet’s polar regions, and the first detailed view of a dynamo, or engine, powering the magnetic field for any planet beyond Earth (video above). Juno mission scientists took data collected by the spacecraft’s Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument and generated a 3D fly-around of the Jovian world’s north pole. 

Imaging in the infrared part of the spectrum, JIRAM captures light emerging from deep inside Jupiter equally well, night or day. The instrument probes the weather layer down to 30 to 45 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) below Jupiter's cloud tops.

9. A Highly Charged Atmosphere

Powerful bolts of lightning light up Jupiter’s clouds. In some ways its lightning is just like what we’re used to on Earth. In other ways,it’s very different. For example, most of Earth’s lightning strikes near the equator; on Jupiter, it’s mostly around the poles.

10. Extra Innings

In June, we approved an update to Juno’s science operations until July 2021. This provides for an additional 41 months in orbit around. Juno is in 53-day orbits rather than 14-day orbits as initially planned because of a concern about valves on the spacecraft’s fuel system. This longer orbit means that it will take more time to collect the needed science data, but an independent panel of experts confirmed that Juno is on track to achieve its science objectives and is already returning spectacular results. The spacecraft and all its instruments are healthy and operating nominally. ​

Read the full web version of this week’s ‘Solar System: 10 Things to Know’ article HERE. 

For regular updates, follow NASA Solar System on Twitter and Facebook. 

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Peering deep into the core of the Crab Nebula, this close-up image reveals the beating heart of one of the most historic and intensively studied remnants of a supernova, an exploding star. The inner region sends out clock-like pulses of radiation and tsunamis of charged particles embedded in magnetic fields.

The neutron star at the very center of the Crab Nebula has about the same mass as the sun but compressed into an incredibly dense sphere that is only a few miles across. Spinning 30 times a second, the neutron star shoots out detectable beams of energy that make it look like it's pulsating.

The Hubble Space Telescope snapshot is centered on the region around the neutron star (the rightmost of the two bright stars near the center of this image) and the expanding, tattered, filamentary debris surrounding it. Hubble's sharp view captures the intricate details of glowing gas, shown in red, that forms a swirling medley of cavities and filaments. Inside this shell is a ghostly blue glow that is radiation given off by electrons spiraling at nearly the speed of light in the powerful magnetic field around the crushed stellar core.

Read more about this image HERE. 

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🌊🌊🌊 This natural-color image captured May 17 near the coast of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa shows estuaries branching out like a network of roots from a plant. Crossfading to a data visualization helps reveals water clarity due to dissolved organic matter in Guinea-Bissau. 

With their long tendrils, the rivers meander through the country’s lowland plains to join the Atlantic Ocean. On the way, they carry water, nutrients, but also sediments out from the land. These estuaries play an important role in agriculture for this small country that is mostly made up of flat terrain. While the coastal valleys can flood often during the rainiest part of the year in the summer, the rain makes the valleys good locations for farming, especially rice cultivation. Using satellite data, researchers continue to observe the country's change in terrain and as a result, they're documenting a regrowth of previously eroded coastal areas.

Learn more

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who was your biggest inspiration, if any, and what events led you to follow this career choice?

Celebrating Women’s History Month: Most Recent Female Astronauts

For Women’s History Month, NASA and the International Space Station celebrate the women who conduct science aboard the orbiting lab. As of March 2019, 63 women have flown in space, including cosmonauts, astronauts, payload specialists, and space station participants. The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova who flew on Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963. The first American woman in space, Sally Ride, flew aboard the Space Shuttle STS-7 in June of 1983.

If conducted as planned, the upcoming March 29 spacewalk with Anne McClain and Christina Koch would be the first all-female spacewalk. Women have participated in science on the space station since 2001; here are the most recent and some highlights from their scientific work:

Christina Koch, Expedition 59

Christina Koch (pictured on the right) becomes the most recent woman in space, launching to the space station in mid-March to take part in some 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations. Koch served as station chief of the American Samoa Observatory and has contributed to the development of instruments used to study radiation particles for the Juno mission and the Van Allen Probe.

Anne McClain, Expedition 57/58, 59

Flight Engineer Anne McClain collects samples for Marrow, a long-term investigation into the negative effects of microgravity on the bone marrow and blood cells it produces. The investigation may lead to development of strategies to help prevent these effects in future space explorers, as well as people on Earth who experience prolonged bed rest. McClain holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as an Army Aviator, with more than 2,000 flight hours in 20 different aircraft.

Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, Expedition 56/57

Serena Auñón-Chancellor conducts research operations for the AngieX Cancer Therapy inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). This research may facilitate a cost-effective drug testing method and help develop safer and more effective vascular-targeted treatments. As a NASA Flight Surgeon, Auñón-Chancellor spent more than nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for International Space Station crew members. 

Peggy Whitson, Expeditions 5, 16, 50, 51/52

Astronaut Peggy Whitson holds numerous spaceflight records, including the U.S. record for cumulative time in space – 665 days – and the longest time for a woman in space during a single mission, 289 days. She has tied the record for the most spacewalks for any U.S. astronaut and holds the record for the most spacewalk time for female space travelers. She also served as the first science officer aboard the space station and the first woman to be station commander on two different missions. During her time on Earth, she also is the only woman to serve as chief of the astronaut office. Here she works on the Genes in Space-3 experiment, which completed the first-ever sample-to-sequence process entirely aboard the International Space Station. This innovation makes it possible to identify microbes in real time without having to send samples back to Earth, a revolutionary step for microbiology and space exploration.  

Kate Rubins, Expedition 48/49

The Heart Cells investigation studies the human heart, specifically how heart muscle tissue contracts, grows and changes its gene expression in microgravity and how those changes vary between subjects. In this image, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins conducts experiment operations in the U.S. National Laboratory. Rubins also successfully sequenced DNA in microgravity for the first time as part of the Biomolecule Sequencer experiment.

Samantha Cristoforetti, Expedition 42/43

The first Italian woman in space, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti conducts the SPHERES-Vertigo investigation in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). The investigation uses free-flying satellites to demonstrate and test technologies for visual inspection and navigation in a complex environment.

Elena Serova, Expedition 41/42

Cosmonaut Elena Serova, the first Russian woman to visit the space station, works with the bioscience experiment ASEPTIC in the Russian Glavboks (Glovebox). The investigation assessed the reliability and efficiency of methods and equipment for assuring aseptic or sterile conditions for biological investigations performed on the space station. 

Karen Nyberg, Expedition 36/37

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg sets up the Multi-Purpose Small Payload Rack (MSPR) fluorescence microscope in the space station’s Kibo laboratory. The MSPR has two workspaces and a table used for a wide variety of microgravity science investigations and educational activities.

Sunita Williams, Expeditions 32/33, 14/15

This spacewalk by NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Aki Hoshide, reflected in Williams’ helmet visor, lasted six hours and 28 minutes. They completed installation of a main bus switching unit (MBSU) and installed a camera on the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2. Williams participated in seven spacewalks and was the second woman ever to be commander of the space station. She also is the only person ever to have run a marathon while in space. She flew in both the space shuttle and Soyuz, and her next assignment is to fly a new spacecraft: the Boeing CST-100 Starliner during its first operational mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. 

Cady Coleman, Expeditions 26/27

Working on the Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE), NASA astronaut Catherine (Cady) Coleman performs a Corner Flow 2 (ICF-2) test. CFE observes the flow of fluid in microgravity, in particular capillary or wicking behavior. As a participant in physiological and equipment studies for the Armstrong Aeromedical Laboratory, she set several endurance and tolerance records. Coleman logged more than 4,330 total hours in space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and the space station.

Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Expedition 24

A system to purify water for use in intravenous administration of saline would make it possible to better treat ill or injured crew members on future long-duration space missions. The IVGEN investigation demonstrates hardware to provide that capability. Tracy Caldwell Dyson sets up the experiment hardware in the station’s Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG). As noted above, she and Shannon Walker were part of the first space station crew with more than one woman. 

Shannon Walker, Expedition 24/25

Astronaut Shannon Walker flew on Expedition 24/25, a long-duration mission that lasted 163 days. Here she works at the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF), an incubator with an artificial gravity generator used in various life science experiments, such as cultivating cells and plants on the space station.  She began working in the space station program in the area of robotics integration, worked on avionics integration and on-orbit integrated problem-solving for the space station in Russia, and served as deputy and then acting manager of the On-Orbit Engineering Office at NASA prior to selection as an astronaut candidate.

Stephanie Wilson, STS-120, STS-121, STS-131

Astronaut Stephanie Wilson unpacks a Microgravity Experiment Research Locker Incubator II (MERLIN) in the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Part of the Cold Stowage Fleet of hardware, MERLIN provides a thermally controlled environment for scientific experiments and cold stowage for transporting samples to and from the space station. Currently serving as branch chief for crew mission support in the Astronaut Office, Wilson logged more than 42 days in space on three missions on the space shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System (STS). 

Other notable firsts:

• Roscosmos cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya, the first woman to participate in an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, on July 25, 1984

• NASA astronaut Susan Helms, the first female crew member aboard the space station, a member of Expedition 2 from March to August 2001

• NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, the first female ISS Commander, April 2008, during a six-month tour of duty on Expedition 16

• The most women in space at one time (four) happened in 2010, when space shuttle Discovery visited the space station for the STS-131 mission. Discovery’s crew of seven included NASA astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Stephanie Wilson and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Naoko Yamazaki. The space station crew of six included NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson.

• Susan Helms shares the record for longest single spacewalk, totaling 8 hours 56 minutes with fellow NASA astronaut Jim Voss. 

• Expedition 24 marked the first with two women, NASA astronauts Shannon Walker and Tracy Caldwell Dyson, assigned to a space station mission from April to September, 2010

• The 2013 astronaut class is the first with equal numbers of women and men. 

• NASA astronaut Anne McClain became the first woman to live aboard the space station as part of two different crews with other women: Serena Auñón-Chancellor in December 2018 and currently in orbit with Christina Koch.

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Have you seen any eclipse in your life?

I saw a partial eclipse once, I think back in middle school (not sure I want to check the date as that would remind me how old I am...). I’m really looking forward to Monday, and then 2024  and 2045 which will be the next couple of times we have totality in the continental US. 

Optical Communications: Explore Lasers in Space

When we return to the Moon, much will seem unchanged since humans first arrived in 1969. The flags placed by Apollo astronauts will be untouched by any breeze. The footprints left by man’s “small step” on its surface will still be visible across the Moon’s dusty landscape.

Our next generation of lunar explorers will require pioneering innovation alongside proven communications technologies. We’re developing groundbreaking technologies to help these astronauts fulfill their missions.

In space communications networks, lasers will supplement traditional radio communications, providing an advancement these explorers require. The technology, called optical communications, has been in development by our engineers over decades.

Optical communications, in infrared, has a higher frequency than radio, allowing more data to be encoded into each transmission. Optical communications systems also have reduced size, weight and power requirements. A smaller system leaves more room for science instruments; a weight reduction can mean a less expensive launch, and reduced power allows batteries to last longer.

On the path through this “Decade of Light,” where laser joins radio to enable mission success, we must test and demonstrate a number of optical communications innovations.

The Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission will send data between ground stations in Hawaii and California through a spacecraft in an orbit stationary relative to Earth’s rotation. The demo will be an important first step in developing next-generation Earth-relay satellites that can support instruments generating too much data for today’s networks to handle.

The Integrated LCRD Low-Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier-Terminal will provide the International Space Station with a fully operational optical communications system. It will communicate data from the space station to the ground through LCRD. The mission applies technologies from previous optical communications missions for practical use in human spaceflight.

In deep space, we’re working to prove laser technologies with our Deep Space Optical Communications mission. A laser’s wavelength is smaller than radio, leaving less margin for error in pointing back at Earth from very, very far away. Additionally, as the time it takes for data to reach Earth increases, satellites need to point ahead to make sure the beam reaches the right spot at the right time. The Deep Space Optical Communications mission will ensure that our communications engineers can meet those challenges head-on.

An integral part of our journey back to the Moon will be our Orion spacecraft. It looks remarkably similar to the Apollo capsule, yet it hosts cutting-edge technologies. NASA’s Laser Enhanced Mission Communications Navigation and Operational Services (LEMNOS) will provide Orion with data rates as much as 100 times higher than current systems.

LEMNOS’s optical terminal, the Orion EM-2 Optical Communications System, will enable live, 4K ultra-high-definition video from the Moon. By comparison, early Apollo cameras filmed only 10 frames per second in grainy black-and-white. Optical communications will provide a “giant leap” in communications technology, joining radio for NASA’s return to the Moon and the journey beyond.

NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program office provides strategic oversight to optical communications research. At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the Exploration and Space Communications projects division is guiding a number of optical communications technologies from infancy to fruition. If you’re ever near Goddard, stop by our visitor center to check out our new optical communications exhibit. For more information, visit nasa.gov/SCaN and esc.gsfc.nasa.gov.

Europa Clipper is a space mission crafted with one overarching goal: determine if Jupiter’s ocean moon, Europa, has conditions suitable for life. Watch launch live on Oct. 14 as the largest uncrewed spacecraft we've ever built begins its journey into the solar system.

Take a moment, look outside your window. 🌷🌼

Today is the #FirstDayOfSpring in the Northern Hemisphere, also known as the vernal equinox.

#DYK Earth’s tilted axis causes the season? Throughout the year, different parts of Earth receive the Sun’s most direct rays. So, when the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. And when the South Pole tilts toward the Sun, it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

These images are of Zinnias. They are part of the flowering crop experiment that began aboard the International Space Station on Nov. 16, 2015, when NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren activated the Veggie system and its rooting "pillows" containing zinnia seeds.

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Do you ever get to work along side people you use to look up to?

I did get a chance to work with some people that I really looked up to, and I was surprised by their generosity and giving me great advice. They’re busy people, and they spent hours giving me great advice.