Solar Wx: 06/21/13

NASA Ames Research Center News and Features Update

UP Aerospace Launches 'SpaceLoft 7' for NASA

06/21/2013 12:00 AM EDT

The NASA-funded UP Aerospace SpaceLoft 7 reusable sounding rocket launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico on June 21.

NASA Announces Winners of 2012 George M. Low Award for Quality

06/21/2013 12:00 AM EDT

Two companies that share a commitment to teamwork, technical and managerial excellence, safety, and customer service have been selected to receive NASA's premier honor for quality and performance, the George M. Low Award.

Catch that bug!

21-06-2013 02:52 PM CEST

Spiders, beetles and worms might look creepy, but these creatures tell us a lot about biodiversity. Students are being challenged to count the creepy-crawlies' eyes, legs and antennae and compare them with specimens found by astronauts on an underground adventure in September.

Colliding Galaxy Pair

06/21/2013 12:00 AM EDT

This striking NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which shows what looks like the profile of a celestial bird, belies the fact that close encounters between galaxies are a messy business. This interacting galaxy duo is collectively called Arp 142.

The pair contains the disturbed, star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 2936, along with its elliptical companion, NGC 2937 at lower left.

Once part of a flat, spiral disk, the orbits of the galaxy's stars have become scrambled due to gravitational tidal interactions with the other galaxy. This warps the galaxy's orderly spiral, and interstellar gas is strewn out into giant tails like stretched taffy.

Gas and dust drawn from the heart of NGC 2936 becomes compressed during the encounter, which in turn triggers star formation. These bluish knots are visible along the distorted arms that are closest to the companion elliptical.
The reddish dust, once within the galaxy, has been thrown out of the galaxy's plane and into dark veins that are silhouetted against the bright starlight from what is left of the nucleus and disk.

The companion elliptical, NGC 2937, is a puffball of stars with little gas or dust present. The stars contained within the galaxy are mostly old, as evidenced by their reddish color.
There are no blue stars that would be evidence of recent star formation. While the orbits of this elliptical's stars may be altered by the encounter, it's not apparent that the gravitational pull by its neighboring galaxy is having much of an effect.

Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team

Safe splashdown for Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle

21-06-2013 03:00 PM CEST

ESA's experimental reentry vehicle passed its milestone descent and landing test on Wednesday at the Poligono Interforze Salto di Quirra off the east coast of Sardinia in Italy.