NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers, Hangout Today

NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers, Hangout Today

06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT

After an extensive year-and-a-half search, NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars.

NASA Ames Research Center News and Features Update

Media Invited to View UP Aerospace Launch for NASA

06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT

The first suborbital rocket launch from Spaceport America funded by NASA's Flight Opportunities Program to carry multiple space technology payloads will launch on June 2

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

Astrium ships Alphasat to launch site

17-06-2013 05:14 PM CEST

Alphasat, the most sophisticated commercial communications satellite ever built, has left Astrium's facilities in Toulouse today after completion of its final integration and test campaign and is now en route to Kourou, French Guyana, to be prepared for its launch aboard an Ariane 5, scheduled for the end of July.

European Space Agency Flickr Update

Signature of Rider 1 to ESA Contract for Exomars

17-06-2013 06:05 PM CEST

Signature of Rider 1 to ESA Contract for Exomars at the ESA pavilion at the Paris Air Space Show, 17 June 2013.

From left to right: Jean-Loïc Galle, Chief Executive Officer of Thales Alenia Space, Vincenzo Giorgio, VP Domain Exploration and Science, Thales Alenia Space, Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA Director of Science and Robotic Exploration, Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General.

For more images, please click here.


Credits: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2013

ESA pavilion at the Paris Air Space Show

17-06-2013 12:39 PM CEST

Entrance of the ESA pavilion at the Paris Air Space Show, 17 June 2013.

The 50th International Paris Air Space Show at Le Bourget will open its doors on Monday 17 June. The Agency's pavilion, situated between the full-size models of the Ariane 1 and Ariane 5 launchers, will feature the wealth of ESA programmes across all space domains, and focus on recent and upcoming launches and their results.

For more images, please click here.


Credits: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2013

Messier 61 looks straight into the camera

17-06-2013 10:18 AM CEST

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured this image of nearby spiral galaxy Messier 61, also known as NGC 4303. The galaxy, located only 55 million light-years away from Earth, is roughly the size of the Milky Way, with a diameter of around 100 000 light-years.

The galaxy is notable for one particular reason â six supernovae have been observed within Messier 61, a total that places it in the top handful of galaxies alongside Messier 83, also with six, and NGC 6946, with a grand total of nine observed supernovae. In this Hubble image the galaxy is seen face-on as if posing for a photograph, allowing us to study its structure closely.

The spiral arms can be seen in stunning detail, swirling inwards to the very centre of the galaxy, where they form a smaller, intensely bright spiral. In the outer regions, these vast arms are sprinkled with bright blue regions where new stars are being formed from hot, dense clouds of gas. Messier 61 is part of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster, a massive group of galaxies in the constellation of Virgo (the Virgin).

Galaxy clusters, or groups of galaxies, are among the biggest structures in the Universe to be held together by gravity alone. The Virgo Cluster contains more than 1300 galaxies and forms the central region of the Local Supercluster, an even bigger gathering of galaxies.

The image was taken using data from Hubbleâs Wide Field Camera 2. Different versions of this image were submitted to the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestants Gilles Chapdelaine, Luca Limatola, and Robert Gendler.

Credits: ESA/Hubble NASA
Acknowledgements: G. Chapdelaine, L. Limatola, and R. Gendler.

Ligeia Mare

17-06-2013 10:08 AM CEST

Ligeia Mare, shown here in a false-color image from the international Cassini mission, is the second largest known body of liquid on Saturn's moon Titan. It measures roughly 420 km x 350 km and its shorelines extend for over 3,000 km. It is filled with liquid hydrocarbons, such as ethane and methane.

The mosaic shown here is composed from synthetic aperture radar images from flybys between February 2006 and April 2007.

The Cassini–Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA and ASI, the Italian space agency.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell

European Space Agency YouTube Update

ATV-4 Release in 3D

17-06-2013 07:20 PM CEST

ATV-4 release sequence in 3D taken from ESA's ATV-4 launch recorded with the Sterex experiment.

These images provide a stunning view of Europe's cargo vessel ATV separating from its Ariane 5 launcher and being released into free flight.
 

The video system was developed by Kayser-Threde GmbH for ESA and DLR and integrated on Ariane by Astrium GmbH. Usage for ATV-4 was financed by DLR and ESA and supported by Arianespace and CNES. 

Copyright: ESA / DLR-BMWi 2013

NASA Invites Media to View Space Launch System Progress

NASA Invites Media to View Space Launch System Progress

06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT

NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier and other agency officials will debut a new machine for manufacturing NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and check on development progress with the heavy-lift rocket at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Friday, June 21.

An Astronaut's View from Station

An Astronaut's View from Station

06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT

A view of Earth as seen from the Cupola on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station.

Visible in the top left foreground is a Russian Soyuz crew capsule. In the lower right corner, a solar array panel can be seen. This photo was taken from the ISS on June 12, 2013.

 Image Credit: NASA

ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction

ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction

17-06-2013 04:05 PM CEST

ESA's mission to Mars in 2016 has entered the final stage of construction with the signature of a contract today with Thales Alenia Space at the Paris Air  Space Show.

Talking Alphasat

Talking Alphasat

17-06-2013 05:08 PM CEST

Round table with the Alphasat partners at Paris Air and Space Show 18 June. Watch it live from 14:30 to 15:30 CEST

ATV-4

ATV-4

17-06-2013 04:03 PM CEST

Europe's largest spacecraft reaches its destination in orbit

NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers; Google+ Hangout Today

NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers; Google+ Hangout Today

06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT

 

After an extensive year-and-a-half search, NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars. Eight candidates have been selected to be NASA's newest astronaut trainees, hoping to be among those who are the first to launch from U.S. soil on commercial American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttle.

The 2013 astronaut candidate class comes from the second largest number of applications NASA has received -- more than 6,000. Half of the selectees are women, making this the highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class. The group will receive a wide array of technical training at space centers and remote locations around the globe to prepare for missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars.

ATV-4 in 3D

ATV-4 in 3D

17-06-2013 02:22 PM CEST

Front row seats: watch in 3D ATV Albert Einstein released into space as never seen before

Final command: Herschel ends operations as orbiting testbed

Final command: Herschel ends operations as orbiting testbed

17-06-2013 09:25 AM CEST

With the exhaustion of its helium coolant, Herschel's science mission ended on 29 April. 

But the stalwart satellite continued providing value to the end, serving as an orbiting testbed for control techniques that can't normally be tested in flight.

Europe’s space hub to open its doors on 6 October

Europe's space hub to open its doors on 6 October

17-06-2013 08:55 AM CEST

From the latest space ferry to the very first Alphasat, Europe has never been more active in space, with a crowded manifest of ESA launches across the rest of the year. 

But where are all these varied missions born? See for yourself this October, as ESA's ESTEC research and technology centre opens its doors to the public.

Titanic Sea

Titanic Sea

17-06-2013 09:22 AM CEST

Space science image of the week: Ligeia Mare, the second largest known sea on Saturn's moon Titan.