This 360-degree mosaic from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover looks out over a portion of the Bagnold Dunes, which stretch for several miles. via NASA http://ift.tt/2p4yfvJ
Tag: NASA
A PHOTO: Illustration of an Earth-Sized ‘Tatooine’ Planet
This illustration shows a hypothetical planet covered in water around the binary star system of Kepler-35A and B. With two suns in its sky, Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in "Star Wars" looks like a parched, sandy desert world. In real life, we know that two-star systems can indeed support planets. via NASA http://ift.tt/2p9yXmD
A PHOTO: North Pole of Enceladus
In the north, Enceladus' surface appears to be about as old as any in the solar system. The south, however, is an entirely different story. via NASA http://ift.tt/2p5HPcO
A PHOTO: NASA Marks Progress on Hardware for Orion’s Second Flight with Space Launch System Rocket
Machining for NASA's Orion spacecraft, scheduled to fly on the second integrated flight with agency's Space Launch System rocket, is well underway at Ingersoll Machine Tools in Rockford, Illinois. The new deep space spacecraft will take humans farther into the solar system than we have ever traveled before. via NASA http://ift.tt/2qANEQE
A PHOTO: Clouds ‘Roll’ Over Pacific Atolls
Areas near the equator are frequently cloudy, obscuring the view of Earth’s surface from space. April 7, 2017, was no different. On that day, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of clouds over the Gilbert Islands. via NASA http://ift.tt/2oYkeLf
A PHOTO: SLS Engine Section Test Article Loaded on Barge Pegasus
A engine section structural qualification test article for NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, is loaded onto the barge Pegasus at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The test article now will make its way from Michoud to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for structural loads testing. via NASA http://ift.tt/2qc60YS
A PHOTO: Cassini Captures Closest Images of Saturn’s Atmosphere
Cassini Captures Closest Images of Saturn's Atmosphere via NASA http://ift.tt/2ozjMHC
A PHOTO: Cygnus Spacecraft Approaches Space Station in the Sunset
On Saturday April 22, 2017, Expedition 51 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency photographed Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft as it approached the International Space Station. Using the station's robotic Canadarm2, Cygnus was successfully captured by Pesquet and Commander Peggy Whitson at 6:05 a.m. EDT Saturday morning. via NASA http://ift.tt/2qf1WWY
A PHOTO: James Webb Space Telescope Mirror Seen in Full Bloom
It's springtime and the deployed primary mirror of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope looks like a spring flower in full bloom. Once launched into space, the Webb telescope’s 18-segmented gold mirror is specially designed to capture infrared light from the first galaxies that formed in the early universe. via NASA http://ift.tt/2oDRs37
A PHOTO: NASA Astronaut Peggy Whitson Sets Spaceflight Record
534 days, 2 hours, 49 minutes and counting. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson flew through the standing record for cumulative time spent in space by a U.S. astronaut at 1:27 a.m. EDT on April 24, 2017, and with the recent extension of her stay at the International Space Station, she has five months to rack up a new one. via NASA http://ift.tt/2pcSZQM
A PHOTO: NASA’s Fleet of Satellites Keep an Eye on Earth
NASA's fleet of 18 Earth science missions in space, supported by aircraft, ships and ground observations, measure aspects of the environment that touch the lives of every person around the world. This visualization shows the NASA fleet in 2017. via NASA http://ift.tt/2plZ9yK
A PHOTO: Expedition 51 Launch to the International Space Station
The Soyuz MS-04 rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 1:13 p.m. Baikonur time carrying NASA astronaut Jack Fischer and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos into orbit to begin their four and a half month mission on the International Space Station. via NASA http://ift.tt/2oq0hxi
A PHOTO: The Arrhythmic Beating of a Black Hole Heart
At the center of the Centaurus galaxy cluster, there is a large elliptical galaxy called NGC 4696. Deeper still, there is a supermassive black hole buried within the core of this galaxy. New data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes has revealed details about this giant black hole. via NASA http://ift.tt/2oOFlkG
A PHOTO: Liftoff of Orbital ATK Cargo Mission to International Space Station
The Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module is carried atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Orbital ATK's seventh commercial resupply services mission will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the International Space Station. via NASA http://ift.tt/2oq0waK
A PHOTO: Watercolor World
When imaged at infrared wavelengths that pierce the planet’s upper haze layer, the high-speed winds of Saturn's atmosphere produce watercolor-like patterns. via NASA http://ift.tt/2pa9Owi