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Red Giant Plunging Through S …
Title Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Description This image from the Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae (R Hya) in the constellation Hydra. Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star. R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 AU from the star to the apex and 6,188 AU thick. 1 AU is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth. The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
Optical & X-ray Views of McN …
Name Optical & X-ray Views of McNeil's Nebula
Chandra X-ray Image of McNei …
Name Chandra X-ray Image of McNeil's Nebula, Image is 170 by 130 arcsec
Chandra X-ray Image with Opt …
Name Chandra X-ray Image with Optical Contours of McNeil's Nebula
ACD07-0152-028
Perseid Meteor flight on Goo …
8/12/07
Description Perseid Meteor flight on Google's Gulfstream Aircraft. P.I. Peter Jeniskens, SETI Group L-R, Julian Nott, Santa Barbara, Peter Jenniskens, SETI and Apex Aviation Corp rep.
Date 8/12/07
ACD07-0152-030
Perseid Meteor flight on Goo …
8/12/07
Description Perseid Meteor flight on Google's Gulfstream Aircraft. P.I. Peter Jeniskens, SETI Group Peter Jenniskens, SETI - briefing w/L-R, J Nott, P Jenniskens, M Koop, D Holman and two Apex Aviation Corp reps.
Date 8/12/07
Photo Description Apex high-altitude research sailplane mock-up
Photo Date September 26, 1995
Photo Description Apex wing section undergoing loading test preparation
Photo Date Sept 1998
Apex wing section undergoing …
Photo Description Mark Nunnelee and Eliseo Sanchez prepare an Apex wing section for load tests.
Photo Date September 1998
Computer generated image of …
Photo Description This computer-generated image depicts the current design concept of the Apex high-altitude research aircraft being developed by Advanced Soaring Concepts (ASC) for NASA?s Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program, based at NASA?s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California.
Photo Date Sept. 1997
Fires in Central South Ameri …
Title Fires in Central South America
Description Scores of fires were filling the skies over Brazil and Bolivia with thick, yellowish smoke on October 7, 2004. This image of the region was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite, and places where the sensor detected actively burning fire are marked in red. Fires are concentrated in several locations in the scene. North of image center, numerous fires cluster along the banks of the Cautário and Sau Domingos Rivers, which flow northeast to southwest toward the large wetlands of northern Bolivia. This line of fire detections is 200 kilometers long, which may put the northernmost portions inside the boundaries of the Pacaás-Novos National Park. South of image center, a large patch of pale greenish-tan earth extends outward from the city of Santa Cruz, which is located at the apex of the curve of the tightly folded Andes Mountains. West of that area a line of fires runs along the eastern edge of the mountains. Some of these fires appear to be burning in or very near the Carrasco and Amboró National Parks. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
Fox Fur, the Unicorn, and a …
Title Fox Fur, the Unicorn, and a Christmas Tree
Explanation Glowing hydrogen gas fills this gorgeously detailed sky view [ http://www.rc-astro.com/nebulae/ngc2264_2003-02-23.htm ] centered on the variable star S Mon in the faint but fanciful constellation Monoceros [ http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/mon/index.html ], the Unicorn. A star forming region (NGC 2264 [ http://www.seds.org/messier/xtra/ngc/ n2264.html ]), the complex jumble of cosmic gas and dust is about 2,700 light-years distant and mixes reddish emission nebulae [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980828.html ] excited by energetic light from newborn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000219.html ] stars with dark [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020108.html ] interstellar dust clouds. Where the otherwise obscuring dust clouds lie close to stars they also reflect starlight, forming blue reflection nebulae [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011228.html ]. The wide vista spans about 1.5 degrees or nearly 3 full moons, covering 70 light-years at the distance of NGC 2264. Its cast of cosmic characters includes the Cone Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020503.html ] (far left), the Fox Fur Nebula [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020701.html ], whose convoluted pelt lies just below S Mon, and the Christmas Tree star cluster. The triangular Christmas Tree cluster [ http://www.astrocruise.com/cone.htm ] appears sideways here, with its apex at the Cone Nebula and its broader base centered on S Mon.
M2-F1 lifting body and Pares …
Title M2-F1 lifting body and Paresev 1B on ramp
Description In this photo of the M2-F1 lifting body and the Paresev 1B on the ramp, the viewer sees two vehicles representing different approaches to building a research craft to simulate a spacecraft able to land on the ground instead of splashing down in the ocean as the Mercury capsules did. The M2-F1 was a lifting body, a shape able to re-enter from orbit and land. The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) used a Rogallo wing that could be (but never was) used to replace a conventional parachute for landing a capsule-type spacecraft, allowing it to make a controlled landing on the ground. The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a "flying bathtub," and was designated the M2-F1, the "M" referring to "manned" and "F" referring to "flight" version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter "Whitey" Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden "Bud" Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the "instant L/D rocket," was installed in the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The, Rogallo wing was never used on a spacecraft, it revolutionized the sport of hang gliding, and a different but related kind of wing will be used on the X-38 technology demonstrator for a crew return vehicle from the International space station., referred to as a `space frame.' The keel and leading edges of the wings were constructed of 2 1/2-inch diameter aluminum tubing. The leading edge sweep angle was held constant at 50 degrees by a rigid spreader bar. Additional wing structure fabricated of steel tubing ensured structural integrity. Seven weeks after the project was initiated the team rolled out the Paresev 1. It resembled a grown-up tricycle, with a rudimentary seat, an angled tripod mast, and, perched on top of the mast, a Rogallo-type parawing. The pilot sat out in the open, strapped in the seat, with no enclosure of any kind. He controlled the descent rate by tilting the wing fore and aft, and turned by tilting the wing from side to side with a control stick that came from overhead. NASA registered the Paresev, the first NASA research airplane to be constructed totally "in-house," with the Federal Aviation Administration on February 12, 1962. Flight testing started immediately. There was one space frame built called the Paresev that used four different wing types. Paresev 1 had a linen membrane, with the control stick coming from overhead in front of the pilots seat. Paresev 1A had a regulation control stick and a Dacron membrane. Paresev 1B had a smaller Dacron membrane with the space frame remaining the same. Paresev 1C used a half-scale version of the inflatable Gemini parawing with a small change to the space frame. All `space frames,' regardless of the parawing configuration, had a shield with "Paresev 1-A" and the NASA meatball on the front of the vehicle. PARESEV-1 After the space frame was completed a sailmaker was asked to sew the wing membrane according to the planform developed by NASA Flight Research Center personnel. He suggested using Dacron instead of the linen fabric chosen, but yielded to the engineers' specs. A nylon bolt rope was attached in the trailing edge of the 150-square-foot wing membrane. The rope was unrestrained except at the wing tips and was therefore free to equalize the load between the two lobes of the wing. This worked reasonably well, but flight tests proved the wing to be too flexible with it flapping and bulging in alarming ways. The poor membrane design led to trailing edge flutter, with longitudinal and lateral stick forces being severe. A number of different rigging modifications to improve the flying characteristics were tried, but very few were successful and none were predictable. Everything seemed to affect stick forces in the worst way. The fifth flight aloft lasted 10 seconds. On a ground tow the Paresev and pilot fell 10 feet. Considerable damage was done to the Paresev with the pilot, Bruce Peterson, being taken to the base hospital. Injuries sustained by the pilot were not serious. After this accident the Paresev was extensively rebuilt and renamed, Paresev-1A. PARESEV 1-A The sailmaker was asked again to construct a 150-square-foot membrane the way he wanted to. The resulting wing membrane had excellent contours in flight and, rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project). The Paresev (Paraglider Rescue Vehicle) was an indirect outgrowth of kite-parachute studies by NACA Langley engineer Francis M. Rogallo. In the early 1960s the "Rogallo wing" seemed an excellent means of returning a spacecraft to Earth. The delta wing design was patented by Mr. Rogallo. In May 1961, Robert R. Gilruth, director NASA's Space Task Group, requested studies of an inflatable Rogallo-type "Parawing" for spacecraft. Several companies responded, North American Aviation produced the most acceptable concept and development was contracted to that company. In November 1961 NASA Headquarters launched a paraglider development program, with Langely doing wind-tunnel studies and the NASA Flight Research Center supporting the North American test program. The North American concept was a capsule type vehicle with a stowed "parawing" that could be deployed and controlled from within for a landing more like an airplane instead of a "splash down" in the ocean as was the practice in the Mercury and later the Gemini and Apollo programs. The logistics became enormous and the price exorbitant, besides which, NASA pilots and engineers felt some baseline experience like building a vehicle and flying a Parawing should be accomplished first. The Paresev (Paraglider Research Vehicle) was used to gain in-flight experience with four different membranes (wings) and was not used to develop the more complicated inflatable deployment system. The Paresev was designed by Charles Richard, of the Flight Research Center's Vehicle and System Dynamics Branch, with the rest of the team being: engineers Richard Klein, Gary Layton, John Orahood, and Joe Wilson, Frank Fedor and LeRoy Barto from the Maintenance and Manufacturing Branch, Project Manager Victor Horton, with Gary Layton becoming Project Manager later on in the Program. Mr. Paul Bikle, Director of the Center, gave instructions that were short and to the point: build a single-seat Paraglider and "do it quick and cheap." The Paresev was unpowered, the "fuselage" an open framework fabricated of welded 4130 steel tubing, was made from 6 ounce Dacron. The space frame was rebuilt with more sophistication than the Paresev 1 had. The shock absorbers were Ford automotive parts, the wing universal joint was a 1948 Pontiac part, and the tires and wheels were from a Cessna 175 aircraft. The overhead stick was replaced with a stick and pulley arrangement that operated more like conventional aircraft controls. This vehicle had much improved stick forces and handling qualities. The instrumentation used to obtain data was quite crude, partially as a result of the desire to keep the program simple and low in cost and also because there was no onboard power. To measure performance, technicians installed a large alpha vane on the wing apex with a scale at the trailing edge that the pilot could read directly. A curved bubble level measured the vehicle's attitude, and a Fairchild camera recorded the glide slope PARESEV 1-B The Paresev 1-B used the Paresev 1-A space frame with a smaller Dacron wing (100 square feet) and was flight tested to evaluate its handling qualities with lower lift-to-drag values. One NASA project engineer described its gliding ability as "pretty scary." PARESEV 1-C The space frame of the vehicle remained almost unchanged from the earlier vehicles. However, a new control box gave the pilot the ability to increase or decrease the nitrogen in the inflatable wing supports to compensate for the changing density of the air. Two bottles of nitrogen provided an extra supply of nitrogen. The vehicle featured a partially inflatable wing. The whole wing was not inflatable, the three chambers that acted as spars and supported the wing inflated. The center spar ran fore and aft and measured 191 inches, two other inflatable spars formed the leading edges. These three compartments were filled with nitrogen under pressure to make them rigid. The Paresev in this configuration was expected to closely approximate the aerodynamic characteristics that would be encountered with the Gemini space capsule with a parawing extended. The Paresev was very unstable in flight with this configuration. The first Paresev flights began with tows across the dry lakebed, in 1962, using a NASA vehicle, an International Harvester carry-all (6 cylinder). Eventually ground and airtows were done using a Stearman sport biplane (450 hp), a Piper Super Cub (150-180 hp), Cessna L-19 (200 hp Bird Dog) and a Boeing-Vertol HC-1A. Speed range of the Paresev was about 35-65 mph. The Paresev completed nearly 350 flights during a research program from 1962 until 1964. Pilots flying the Paresev included NASA pilots Milton Thompson, Bruce Peterson, and Neil Armstrong from Dryden, Robert Champine from Langley, and astronaut Gus Grissom, plus North American test pilot Charles Hetzel. The Paresev was legally transferred to the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. Despite its looks, the Paresev was a useful research aircraft that helped develop a new way to fly. Although the
Date 01.01.1963
Apex high-altitude research …
Title Apex high-altitude research sailplane mock-up
Description This photo shows a mock-up of the Apex high-altitude research sailplane intended to be carried aloft by a balloon. The Apex High-Altitude Flight Experiment is expected to explore the aerodynamics of controlled flight at very high altitudes near 100,000 feet. The Apex will be hoisted aloft tail-first from Dryden by a large high-altitude balloon and released at about 110,000-feet altitude. As it gradually descends, its instrumentation will collect aerodynamic data. The remotely-piloted, semi-autonomous Apex will combine a modified ASC sailplane fuselage design with a new wing designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The wing will have a special airfoil designed for high subsonic speeds at extreme altitudes. A device extending behind the right wing is a "wake rake," which will measure aerodynamic drag behind a test section of the wing, while a rocket pack mounted beneath the fuselage will assist the Apex in transitioning to horizontal flight. Research flights were expected to begin in mid-1998, but a series of technical problems delayed them. In the spring of 1999, Apex entered mothball status. This continued for a year, and in the spring of 2000 NASA selected Apex as part of phase 1 of the Revolutionary Concepts effort.
Date 09.26.1995
Apex wing section undergoing …
Title Apex wing section undergoing loading test
Description STRESS TEST -- A test section of a wing being developed for the Apex high-altitude research project is being subjected to simulated air loads similar to what it will encounter in flight during tests at Dryden's Flight Loads Laboratory. The current tests on a fiberglass test wing are developing test methods to be used during future ultimate loads tests that will apply loads of 150 percent or greater on another test section until it fails. That section is being built from the actual materials to be used in the Apex flight wing, an all-composite structure which features a stiff, lightweight boron fiber skin covering a foam and graphite cloth core. It is designed for flight loads of 5 Gs (five times the force of gravity) positive and 3 Gs negative. The Apex project, part of NASA's Revolutionary Concepts (RevCon) effort, will use a highly-modified commercial sailplane design to acquire data on the aerodynamics of flight in the previously unexplored regime of 70,000 to 100,000 feet altitude and subsonic speeds of about Mach 0.65. The Apex High-Altitude Flight Experiment is expected to explore the aerodynamics of controlled flight at very high altitudes near 100,000 feet. The Apex will be hoisted aloft tail-first from Dryden by a large high-altitude balloon and released at about 110,000-feet altitude. As it gradually descends, its instrumentation will collect aerodynamic data. The remotely-piloted, semi-autonomous Apex will combine a modified ASC sailplane fuselage design with a new wing designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The wing will have a special airfoil designed for high subsonic speeds at extreme altitudes. A device extending behind the right wing is a "wake rake," which will measure aerodynamic drag behind a test section of the wing, while a rocket pack mounted beneath the fuselage will assist the Apex in transitioning to horizontal flight. Research flights were expected to begin in mid-1998, but a series of technical problems delayed them. In the spring of 1999, Apex entered mothball status. This continued for a year, and in the spring of 2000 NASA selected Apex as part of phase 1 of the Revolutionary Concepts effort.
Date 03.01.1998
Apex wing section undergoing …
Title Apex wing section undergoing loading test preparation
Description This photo shows preparations for a load test of an Apex wing section. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed the wings for Apex. The Apex High-Altitude Flight Experiment is expected to explore the aerodynamics of controlled flight at very high altitudes near 100,000 feet. The Apex will be hoisted aloft tail-first from Dryden by a large high-altitude balloon and released at about 110,000-feet altitude. As it gradually descends, its instrumentation will collect aerodynamic data. The remotely-piloted, semi-autonomous Apex will combine a modified ASC sailplane fuselage design with a new wing designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The wing will have a special airfoil designed for high subsonic speeds at extreme altitudes. A device extending behind the right wing is a "wake rake," which will measure aerodynamic drag behind a test section of the wing, while a rocket pack mounted beneath the fuselage will assist the Apex in transitioning to horizontal flight. Research flights were expected to begin in mid-1998, but a series of technical problems delayed them. In the spring of 1999, Apex entered mothball status. This continued for a year, and in the spring of 2000 NASA selected Apex as part of phase 1 of the Revolutionary Concepts effort.
Date 09.01.1998
Apex wing section undergoing …
Title Apex wing section undergoing loading test preparation by Mark Nunnelee and Eliseo Sanchez
Description Mark Nunnelee and Eliseo Sanchez prepare an Apex wing section for load tests. The Apex High-Altitude Flight Experiment is expected to explore the aerodynamics of controlled flight at very high altitudes near 100,000 feet. The Apex will be hoisted aloft tail-first from Dryden by a large high-altitude balloon and released at about 110,000-feet altitude. As it gradually descends, its instrumentation will collect aerodynamic data. The remotely-piloted, semi-autonomous Apex will combine a modified ASC sailplane fuselage design with a new wing designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The wing will have a special airfoil designed for high subsonic speeds at extreme altitudes. A device extending behind the right wing is a "wake rake," which will measure aerodynamic drag behind a test section of the wing, while a rocket pack mounted beneath the fuselage will assist the Apex in transitioning to horizontal flight. Research flights were expected to begin in mid-1998, but a series of technical problems delayed them. In the spring of 1999, Apex entered mothball status. This continued for a year, and in the spring of 2000 NASA selected Apex as part of phase 1 of the Revolutionary Concepts effort.
Date 09.01.1998
Computer generated image of …
Title Computer generated image of Apex high-altitude research sailplane in flight
Description This computer-generated image depicts the current design concept of the Apex high-altitude research aircraft being developed by Advanced Soaring Concepts (ASC) for NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program, based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The Apex High-Altitude Flight Experiment is expected to explore the aerodynamics of controlled flight at very high altitudes near 100,000 feet. The Apex will be hoisted aloft tail-first from Dryden by a large high-altitude balloon and released at about 110,000-feet altitude. As it gradually descends, its instrumentation will collect aerodynamic data. The remotely-piloted, semi-autonomous Apex will combine a modified ASC sailplane fuselage design with a new wing designed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The wing will have a special airfoil designed for high subsonic speeds at extreme altitudes. A device extending behind the right wing is a "wake rake," which will measure aerodynamic drag behind a test section of the wing, while a rocket pack mounted beneath the fuselage will assist the Apex in transitioning to horizontal flight. Research flights were expected to begin in mid-1998, but a series of technical problems delayed them. In the spring of 1999, Apex entered mothball status. This continued for a year, and in the spring of 2000 NASA selected Apex as part of phase 1 of the Revolutionary Concepts effort.
Date 01.01.1997
USS Los Angeles
Title USS Los Angeles
Description Tunnel interior views of USS Los Angeles Airship. US Navy airship in flight. Tunnel installation set-up. The device mounted at the tower's apex made a turning radius measurement of the Navy Dirigible U.S.S. Los Angeles in this photo taken in 1928. A camera obscura situated on top of a platform at the edge of the flying field measures the turning radius of the navy dirigible U.S.S. Los Angeles in 1928.
Date 04.16.1926
LDEF (Flight), S0014 : Advan …
Title LDEF (Flight), S0014 : Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, Tray E09
Description The flight photograph was taken from the Orbiter aft flight deck during the LDEF retrieval and prior to the berthing of LDEF in the Orbiter's cargo bay. The Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment (APEX) is an active experiment completely self-contained in a 12 inch deep LDEF peripheral tray. The APEX includes 155 solar cells permanently mounted on 127 removable aluminum plates of 12 different sizes, an Eppley Type HF cavity radiometer, a Digital Solar Angle Sensor, a dichroic mirror assembly, a 'night' or dark sensor, a row of 16 bandpass filters clamped over silicon solar cell sensors, two ultraviolet exposure monitors and two solar concentrator cells with deposited aluminum (on Kapton and Mylar foil) mirrors. An aluminum sub-structure provides a mounting surface for experiment components and controls the field of view of solar cells. Two separate electronic systems and power sources were included, one for the experiment and data acquisition and one, the Experiment Power and Data System (EPDS), for data processing and storage. The experiment structure was painted with Chemglaze Z-306 flat black paint over a Chemglaze 9924 wash primer and assembled with non-magnetic stainless steel fasteners. The tray flanges and tray clamp blocks appear as prelaunch but white paint dots on tray clamp blocks have a slight variation in color. The paint color on the upper-left clamp block is white, but paint on the right-center and lower-center clamp blocks is lightly discolored. The APEX has a number of physical changes that are apparent. The Chemglaze Z-306 black paint on the exposed surfaces have degraded badly leaving the Chemglaze 9924 primer , a redish-brown color, clearly visible. The difference in the amount of paint remaining may be a function of initial paint thickness, as the plate covering the tray's center section was painted at a different time than the other two plates. The small gold colored rectangular plate in the upper right section of the tray, was fabricated from an aluminum alloy and coated with a clear anodize. A light brown discoloration can be seen on the solar cell mounting plates and on areas of the aluminum base structure. The solar concentrator cells, located at the right end of the second slot from the top, appear to be damaged or a large piece of debris has lodged in the slot. Structural members of the experiment appear to be intact.
Date 01.12.1990
LDEF (Postflight), S0014 : A …
Title LDEF (Postflight), S0014 : Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, Tray E09
Description LDEF (Postflight), S0014 : Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, Tray E09 The postflight photograph was taken in the SAEF II at KSC after the experiment was removed from the LDEF. The Advanced Photovoltiac Experiment (APEX) is an active experiment completely self contained in a 12 inch deep LDEF peripheral tray. The APEX includes 155 solar cells permanently mounted on 127 removable aluminum plates of 12 different sizes, an Eppley Type HF cavity radiometer, a Digital Solar Angle Sensor, a dichroic mirror assembly, a night or dark sensor, a row of 16 bandpass filters clamped over silicon solar cell sensors, two ultraviolet exposure monitors and two solar concentrator cells with deposited aluminum (on Kapton and Mylar foil) mirrors. An aluminum sub-structure provides a mounting surface for experiment components and controls the field of view of solar cells. Two separate electronic systems and power sources were included, one for the experiment and data acquisition and one, the Experiment Power and Data System (EPDS), for data processing and storage. The experiment structure was painted with Chemglaze Z-306 flat black paint over a Chemglaze 9924 wash primer and assembled with non-magnetic stainless steel fasteners. The tray flanges and tray clamp blocks appear as prelaunch but white paint dots on tray clamp blocks have a slight variation in color. The paint color on the upper-left clamp block is white, but paint on the right-center and lower-center clamp blocks is lightly discolored. The APEX has a number of physical changes that were observed in the flight photograph. The extent of degradation to the Chemglaze Z-306 black paint on exposed surfaces is clearer as evidenced by the amount of Chemglaze 9924 primer , a redish-brown color, visible. The difference in the amount of paint remaining may be a function of initial paint thickness, as the plate covering the tray's center section was painted at a different time than the other two plates. The small gold colored rectangular plate in the lower-right section of the tray, was fabricated from an aluminum alloy and coated with a clear anodize. A light brown discoloration can be seen on the solar cell mounting plates and on areas of the aluminum base structure. A solar concentrator cell, located at the lower end of the second slot from the right, appears to be damaged. The large piece of gold colored material lodged in the slot appears to be a segment of the aluminum deposited on Kapton mirror. Structural members of the experiment appear to be intact.
Date 03.12.1990
LDEF (Prelaunch), S0014 : Ad …
Title LDEF (Prelaunch), S0014 : Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, Tray E09
Description LDEF (Prelaunch), S0014 : Advanced Photovoltaic Experiment, Tray E09 The prelaunch photograph was taken in SAEF II at KSC prior to installation of the integrated tray on the LDEF. The Advanced Photovoltiac Experiment (APEX) is an active experiment completely self contained in a 12 inch deep LDEF peripheral tray. The APEX experiment includes 155 solar cells permanently mounted on 127 removable aluminum plates of 12 different sizes, an Eppley Type HF cavity radiometer, a Digital Solar Angle Sensor, a dichroic mirror assembly, a night or dark sensor, a row of 16 bandpass filters clamped over silicon solar cell sensors, two ultraviolet expo- sure monitors and two concentrator cells with deposited aluminum (on Kapton and Mylar foil) mirrors. An aluminum sub-structure provides a mounting surface for experiment components and controls the field of view of solar cells. Two separate electronic systems and power sources were included, one for the experiment and data acquisition and one, the Experiment Power and Data System (EPDS), for data processing and storage. The experiment structure was painted with Chemglaze Z-306 flat black paint over a Chemglaze 9924 wash primer and assembled with nonmagnetic stainless steel fasteners.
Date 01.12.1984
Nez Perce Reservation : Imag …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
The Clearwater River cuts ca …
nezperce_l7_1999190
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 1999-07-09
creator NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the University of Maryland's glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/index.shtml Global Land Cover Facility.
identifier nezperce_l7_1999190
Lake Morari, Tibet: Image of …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Meltwater from glaciers to t …
ISS013-E-76262
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-09-04
creator NASA -- The featured astronaut photograph eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS013&roll=E&frame=76262 ISS013-E-76262 was acquired September 4, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using an 800 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. spaceflight.nasa.gov/home/index.html The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
identifier ISS013-E-76262
Fires in Central South Ameri …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Scores of fires were filling …
Bolivia.AMOA2004281
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-10-07
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Bolivia.AMOA2004281
Forest Fire in Southern Fran …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Forest fires have swept thro …
France.TMOA2003210
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date July 28, 2003
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier France.TMOA2003210
The Nile : Image of the Day
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
This image of the northern p …
PIA02647
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-01-30
creator NASA -- Image credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/ MISR Team.
identifier PIA02647
Alluvial Fan Along a Crater …
PIA09666
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Alluvial Fan Along a Crater Wall
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_003269_1600 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003269_1600 ]) covers an alluvial fan along the wall of a large crater in the mid latitudes of the southern hemisphere of Mars. The fan was formed when water and sediments drained down the steep wall of the crater creating a cone-shaped pile of debris at the base. As the fan grew with time, the channels carrying water and sediment across the fan surface changed locations, producing a layered deposit capped by channels radiating from the fan apex along the crater wall. Subsequent stripping of the fan surface by the wind has left the coarser channel deposits in relief and exposed the fine scale layering within the fan in many locations. While is it is not known whether the source of the water responsible for creating the fan was related runoff from precipitation or groundwater or perhaps both, alluvial fans of broadly similar form are observed in many locations on Earth and are usually formed by runoff from precipitation. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 4 April 2007 Local Mars time: 3:42 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -19.9° Degrees longitude (East): 123.2° Range to target site: 258.6 km (161.6 miles) Original image scale range: 25.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~78 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 4.7° Phase angle: 48.6° Solar incidence angle: 53°, with the Sun about 37° above the horizon Solar longitude: 215.1°, Northern Autumn NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
Alluvial Fan Along a Crater …
PIA09666
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Alluvial Fan Along a Crater Wall
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_003269_1600 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003269_1600 ]) covers an alluvial fan along the wall of a large crater in the mid latitudes of the southern hemisphere of Mars. The fan was formed when water and sediments drained down the steep wall of the crater creating a cone-shaped pile of debris at the base. As the fan grew with time, the channels carrying water and sediment across the fan surface changed locations, producing a layered deposit capped by channels radiating from the fan apex along the crater wall. Subsequent stripping of the fan surface by the wind has left the coarser channel deposits in relief and exposed the fine scale layering within the fan in many locations. While is it is not known whether the source of the water responsible for creating the fan was related runoff from precipitation or groundwater or perhaps both, alluvial fans of broadly similar form are observed in many locations on Earth and are usually formed by runoff from precipitation. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 4 April 2007 Local Mars time: 3:42 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -19.9° Degrees longitude (East): 123.2° Range to target site: 258.6 km (161.6 miles) Original image scale range: 25.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~78 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 4.7° Phase angle: 48.6° Solar incidence angle: 53°, with the Sun about 37° above the horizon Solar longitude: 215.1°, Northern Autumn NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crat …
PIA09399
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crater: Did It Rain on Mars?
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image at up to 29 cm/pixel scale supports the alluvial fan interpretation, in particular by showing that the sizes of the largest rocks decrease away from the mouths of the fans. Aptly-named Mojave crater in the Xanthe Terra region has alluvial fans that look remarkably similar to landforms in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California and portions of Nevada and Arizona. Alluvial fans are fan-shaped deposits of water-transported material (alluvium). They typically form at the base of hills or mountains where there is a marked break, or flattening of slope. They typically deposit big rocks near their mouths (close to the mountains) and smaller rocks at greater distances. Alluvial fans form as a result of heavy desert downpours, typically thundershowers. Because deserts are poorly vegetated, heavy and short-lived downpours create a great deal of erosion and nearby deposition. There are fans inside and around the outsides of Mojave crater on Mars that perfectly match the morphology of alluvial fans on Earth, with the exception of a few small impact craters dotting this Martian landscape. Channels begin at the apex of topographic ridges, consistent with precipitation as the source of water, rather than groundwater. This remarkable landscape was first discovered from Mars Orbital Camera images. Mars researchers have suggested that impact-induced atmospheric precipitation may have created these unique landscapes. Image PSP_001415_1875 [ http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/PSP/PSP_001415_1875/ ] was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 14, 2006. The complete image is centered at 7.6 degrees latitude, 327.4 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 273.5 km (170.9 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 27.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 109.4 cm/pixel (with 4 x 4 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:29 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 52 degrees, thus the sun was about 38 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 135.4 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crat …
PIA09399
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Alluvial Fans in Mojave Crater: Did It Rain on Mars?
Original Caption Released with Image Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image at up to 29 cm/pixel scale supports the alluvial fan interpretation, in particular by showing that the sizes of the largest rocks decrease away from the mouths of the fans. Aptly-named Mojave crater in the Xanthe Terra region has alluvial fans that look remarkably similar to landforms in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California and portions of Nevada and Arizona. Alluvial fans are fan-shaped deposits of water-transported material (alluvium). They typically form at the base of hills or mountains where there is a marked break, or flattening of slope. They typically deposit big rocks near their mouths (close to the mountains) and smaller rocks at greater distances. Alluvial fans form as a result of heavy desert downpours, typically thundershowers. Because deserts are poorly vegetated, heavy and short-lived downpours create a great deal of erosion and nearby deposition. There are fans inside and around the outsides of Mojave crater on Mars that perfectly match the morphology of alluvial fans on Earth, with the exception of a few small impact craters dotting this Martian landscape. Channels begin at the apex of topographic ridges, consistent with precipitation as the source of water, rather than groundwater. This remarkable landscape was first discovered from Mars Orbital Camera images. Mars researchers have suggested that impact-induced atmospheric precipitation may have created these unique landscapes. Image PSP_001415_1875 [ http://hiroc.lpl.arizona.edu/images/PSP/PSP_001415_1875/ ] was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 14, 2006. The complete image is centered at 7.6 degrees latitude, 327.4 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 273.5 km (170.9 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 27.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 109.4 cm/pixel (with 4 x 4 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:29 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 52 degrees, thus the sun was about 38 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 135.4 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
The Nile
PIA02647
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title The Nile
Original Caption Released with Image This image of the northern portion of the Nile River was captured by MISR's nadir camera on January 30, 2001 (Terra orbit 5956). The Nile is the longest river in the world, extending for about 6700 kilometers from its headwaters in the highlands of eastern Africa. At the apex of the fertile Nile River Delta is the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. To the west are the Great Pyramids of Giza. North of here the Nile branches into two distributaries, the Rosetta to the west and the Damietta to the east. Also visible in this image is the Suez Canal, a shipping waterway connecting Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez. The Gulf is an arm of the Red Sea, and is located on the righthand side of the picture. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
MISR Views the Middle East
PIA02626
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR …
Title MISR Views the Middle East
Original Caption Released with Image This image, generated using 16 orbits of MISR data collected between August 16 and August 30, 2000, takes us to the cradle of many civilizations. The data are from the 60-degree aftward-viewing camera. Because the individual orbit swaths are only 400 kilometers wide, they were "mosaiced" together to form this composite picture, which covers about 2700 kilometers from west to east and 1750 kilometers from north to south. A few discontinuities are present in the mosaic, particularly near clouds, due to changes in the scene which occurred between dates when the individual orbit data were acquired. At the northern tip of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba frame the sandy deserts and spectacular mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. The highest peaks are Gebel Katherina (Mountain of St. Catherine, 2637 meters) and Gebel Musa (Mountain of Moses, also known as Mount Sinai, 2285 meters). To the northeast, Israel and Jordan flank the Dead Sea, one of the saltiest inland water bodies in the world. At its northern edge is Qumran, where the ancient Scrolls were discovered, the city of Jerusalem lies about 30 kilometers to the west. Several large rivers are prominent. Flowing southeastward through Iraq are the Tigris and Euphrates. The dark area between the two rivers, northwest of the Persian Gulf, is a very fertile region where fishing and farming are prevalent. Wending its way through eastern Egypt is the Nile. In the south is Lake Nasser and the Aswan Dam, continuing northward the Nile passes the Temple of Luxor as it sharply loops to the east. It then turns west and northward, eventually passing the capital city of Cairo, and finally spreading into a prominent delta as it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The bright dot just west of the apex of the delta marks the location of the great Pyramids and Sphinx complexes on the Giza Plateau. On the coast, west of the delta, is the ancient city of Alexandria, Egypt's main seaport."MISR", as it turns out, is the transliteration of the Arabic name for Egypt. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.
Red Giant Plunging Through S …
PIA09070
Multiband Imaging Photometer …
Title Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Original Caption Released with Image Poster Version This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae, or R Hya, in the constellation Hydra. Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star. R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 astronomical units from the star to the apex and 6,188 astronomical units thick (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth). The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth. The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
Red Giant Plunging Through S …
PIA09070
Multiband Imaging Photometer …
Title Red Giant Plunging Through Space
Original Caption Released with Image Poster Version This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (left panel) shows the "bow shock" of a dying star named R Hydrae, or R Hya, in the constellation Hydra. Bow shocks are formed where the stellar wind from a star are pushed into a bow shape (illustration, right panel) as the star plunges through the gas and dust between stars. Our own Sun has a bow shock, but prior to this image one had never been observed around this particular class of red giant star. R Hya moves through space at approximately 50 kilometers per second. As it does so, it discharges dust and gas into space. Because the star is relatively cool, that ejecta quickly assumes a solid state and collides with the interstellar medium. The resulting dusty nebula is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected using an infrared telescope. This bow shock is 16,295 astronomical units from the star to the apex and 6,188 astronomical units thick (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth). The mass of the bow shock is about 400 times the mass of the Earth. The false-color Spitzer image shows infrared emissions at 70 microns. Brighter colors represent greater intensities of infrared light at that wavelength. The location of the star itself is drawn onto the picture in the black "unobserved" region in the center.
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
PIA01036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars: Seepage Sites in "Aerobraking Crater" Revisited
Original Caption Released with Image The first clue that there might be places on Mars where liquid groundwater seeps out onto the surface came from a picture taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the pre-mapping Orbit Insertion Phase of the mission. The picture, shown in (A)above, was taken at the end of December 1997 while the spacecraft was still in the midst of aerobraking maneuvers to put it into the circular orbit needed for the Mapping Phase of the project. The Aerobraking 1 image, AB1-07707, showed dark, v-shaped scars on the western wall of a 50 kilometer-(31 mile)-diameter impact crater in southern Noachis Terra at 65°S, 15°W (see B, above, for context). The v-shaped features taper downslope to form narrow, somewhat curved channels. The relationship seen here was interpreted by MOC scientists to be similar to seepage landforms on Earth that form where springs emerge on a slope and water runs downhill. Once MGS achieved its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, the MOC was in a better position to take pictures of 10 times higher resolution than the Aerobraking AB1-07707 image. The opportunity to take a new picture of the proposed "seepage" sites on the wall of the crater in southern Noachis finally arose in January 2000. The result is MOC image M11-00530, shown above in (top) and (C). This new close-up shows that the darkly-shaped scars host many small channels of only a few meters (yards) across. These small channels run downslope and coalesce at the apex (or point) of each "v". Amid the small channels are many large boulders, some of them the size of houses, that have eroded out of the crater wall. A 3-D view created using the AB1 and M11 images is shown in (D). The stereo picture (red-blue "3D" glasses required) emphasizes the presence of small channels and valleys, and shows that these valleys start almost at the very top of the v-shaped dark areas. The context picture in (B) is a mosaic of Viking 2 orbiter images 497B47 and 497B48 acquired December 28, 1977. The Aerobraking MGS MOC image, AB1-07707, is shown overlain on the Viking context image, it was taken 20 years later on December 29, 1997. The smaller white box in the context picture shows the location of MOC Mapping Phase image M11-00530, roughly 2 years later on January 4, 2000. North is "up" in pictures (A) and (B), and to the lower right in (top), (C), and (D). Sunlight illuminates (A) from the upper left, (B) from the upper right, and (top) and (C) from the upper right. The top image in (top) is the aerobraking image, AB1-07707, with a white box indicating the location of the lower image, M11-00530, and the stereo pair in (D). The white box on the left in (C) shows the location of the close-up on the right in (C).
Europa Impact Crater
PIA02561
Jupiter
Near Infrared Mapping Spectr …
Title Europa Impact Crater
Original Caption Released with Image A newly discovered, city-sized impact crater viewed by NASA's Galileo spacecraft may shed new light on the nature of the enigmatic icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. This false-color image reveals the scar of a past major impact of a comet or small asteroid on Europa's surface. The bright, circular feature at center right has a diameter of about 80 kilometers (50 miles), making it comparable in size to the largest cities on Earth. The area within the outer boundary of the continuous bright ring is about 5,000 square kilometers (nearly 2,000 square miles). The diameter of the darker area within the bright ring is about 29 kilometers (18 miles), which is large enough to contain both the city of San Francisco and New York's Manhattan Island, side by side. The brightest reds in this image correspond to surfaces with high proportions of relatively pure water ice, while the blue colors indicate that non-ice materials are also present. The composition of the darker materials is controversial, they may consist of minerals formed by evaporation of salty brines, or they may be rich in sulfuric acid. The bright ring is a blanket of ejecta that consists of icy subsurface material that was blasted out of the crater by the impact, while the darker area in the center may retain some of the materials from the impacting body. Further study may yield new insights about both the nature of the impactor and the surface chemistry of Europa. Europa's surface is a question of great interest at present, since an ocean of liquid water may exist beneath the icy crust, possibly providing an environment suitable for life. Geologic investigations of Europa's surface are underway, and a new spacecraft mission, the Europa Orbiter, is planned. Impact craters with diameters of 20 kilometers (12 miles) and larger are extremely rare on Europa, as of 1999 only 7 such features were known. The rarity of larger impact craters on Europa lends greater significance to the discovery of this one. Impact crater counts are often employed to estimate the ages of the exposed surfaces of planets and satellites, and the small number of craters found on Europa implies that the surface may be quite young in geological terms. Thus the discovery of this feature may provide additional insights into questions about the age and level of geological activity of Europa's surface. Impact craters are expected to form with greater frequency on the "leading" sides of satellites that always turn the same face to their primary planet, in this case, Jupiter. The process is much like the effect of running through a rainstorm. The "apex" of Europa's leading side is located on the equator at 90 degrees West longitude, only about 10 degrees removed from the feature shown. Europa's leading side does not receive a continuous bombardment by ionized particles carried along by Jupiter's rapidly rotating magnetosphere (as is the case for the trailing side), which may allow greater preservation of the chemical, signatures of the impacting object. To the east of the bright ring-like feature are two, or perhaps three, similar but less well-defined quasi-circular features, raising the possibility that this crater is one member of a catena, or chain of craters. This would lend still greater interest to this area as a potential target for focused investigations by later missions such as the Europa Orbiter. The near-infrared mapping spectrometer on board Galileo obtained this image on May 31,1998, during that spacecraft's 15th orbital encounter with Europa. The image data was returned to Earth in several segments during both the 15th and the 16th orbital periods. Merging and processing of the full data set was accomplished in 1999. Analysis and interpretation are ongoing. Galileo has been orbiting Jupiter and its moons since December 1995. Its primary mission ended in December 1997, and after that Galileo successfully completed a two-year extended mission. The spacecraft is in the midst of yet another extended journey called the Galileo Millennium Mission. More information about the Galileo mission is available at:http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov ]JPL manages Galileo for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
General Description STS-123 Shuttle Mission Imagery
General Description International Space Station Imagery
General Description STS-106 Shuttle Mission Imagery
APEX FLIGHT PROJECT
Title APEX FLIGHT PROJECT
ADVANCED PHOTOVOLTAIC FLIGHT …
Title ADVANCED PHOTOVOLTAIC FLIGHT EXPERIMENT (APEX)
Nile Delta, Egypt
Title Nile Delta, Egypt
Description The Nile Delta of Egypt (30.0N, 31.0E) irrigated by the Nile River and its many distributaries, is some of the richest farm land in the world and home to some 45 million people, over half of Egypt's population of 57 million. The capital city of Cairo is at the apex of the delta in the middle of the scene. Across the river from Cairo can be seen the three big pyramids and sphinx at Giza and the Suez Canal is just to the right of the delta.
Date Taken 1982-07-04
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