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BOOMERANG MAP OF THE COSMIC
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This image is the first high
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| Description |
This image is the first highly detailed "snapshot" or "map" of the cosmic microwave background, which provides a snapshot of the universe when the radiation formed about 300,000 years after the Big Bang. At this time, regions with a higher density of matter and energy left a record in the background radiation. The minute temperature fluctuations in this map trace the interaction of photons and matter. The characteristic structures serve as a "thumbprint" that tells us about the nature, composition, and relative abundance of all forms of matter and energy in the universe. The pattern shown is consistent with an inflationary theory of cosmic development, which proposes that the universe went through a period of extreme, exponential inflation in the first moments after the Big Bang. This theory further predicts a flat geometry for the universe, because the immense stretching of space during inflation would have removed any initially strong curvature in the smaller and denser early universe. This map was obtained by internationally sponsored BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysics) balloon experiment, which flew 36 km. (23 mi.) above the atmosphere in Antarctica, December, 1998. Created at JPL's Microdevices Laboratory, a highly sensitive, micromesh bolometer was a critical component in creating the map. The spiderweb- shaped bolometer measured minute temperature variations of only 100-millionths of a degree (0.0001 C) in the cosmic microwave background. In this image, areas with slightly higher temperatures show up as red. In those areas, the density of matter and energy is higher. Bluer, colder areas are less dense. The BOOMERANG Project was led by Dr. Andrew Lange of the California Institute of Technology and by Dr. Paolo DeBernardis of the University of Rome La Sapienza. Primary funding for BOOMERANG was provided by the NSF and NASA in the United States, the Italian Space Agency, the Italian Antarctic Research Programme and the University of Rome La Sapienza in Italy, and the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council in the United Kingdom. The Department of Energy's National Energy Research Supercomputing Center provided high-level computer analysis of the dataset. The Microdevices Laboratory is a state-of-the-art research and technology-development facility in the Center for Space Microelectronics Technology (CSMT) at JPL. Funding for the bolometer came from JPL's Technology and Applications Programs (TAP) Directorate. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology on behalf of NASA. ##### |
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Comets Kick up Dust in Helix
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| Title |
Comets Kick up Dust in Helix Nebula |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed by amateur astronomers for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. The nebula, located about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, belongs to a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these colorful beauties were named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets like Jupiter. Planetary nebulae are the remains of stars that once looked a lot like our sun. When sun-like stars die, they puff out their outer gaseous layers. These layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and shine with infrared and visible colors. Our own sun will blossom into a planetary nebula when it dies in about five billion years. In Spitzer's infrared view of the Helix nebula, the eye looks more like that of a green monster's. Infrared light from the outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown out when the star died. The brighter red circle in the very center is the glow of a dusty disk circling the white dwarf (the disk itself is too small to be resolved). This dust, discovered by Spitzer's infrared heat-seeking vision, was most likely kicked up by comets that survived the death of their star. Before the star died, its comets and possibly planets would have orbited the star in an orderly fashion. But when the star blew off its outer layers, the icy bodies and outer planets would have been tossed about and into each other, resulting in an ongoing cosmic dust storm. Any inner planets in the system would have burned up or been swallowed as their dying star expanded. So far, the Helix nebula is one of only a few dead-star systems in which evidence for comet survivors has been found. This image is made up of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue shows infrared light of 3.6 to 4.5 microns, green shows infrared light of 5.8 to 8 microns, and red shows infrared light of 24 microns. |
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Comets Kick up Dust in Helix
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| Title |
Comets Kick up Dust in Helix Nebula |
| Description |
This infrared image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Helix nebula, a cosmic starlet often photographed by amateur astronomers for its vivid colors and eerie resemblance to a giant eye. The nebula, located about 700 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, belongs to a class of objects called planetary nebulae. Discovered in the 18th century, these colorful beauties were named for their resemblance to gas-giant planets like Jupiter. Planetary nebulae are the remains of stars that once looked a lot like our sun. When sun-like stars die, they puff out their outer gaseous layers. These layers are heated by the hot core of the dead star, called a white dwarf, and shine with infrared and visible colors. Our own sun will blossom into a planetary nebula when it dies in about five billion years. In Spitzer's infrared view of the Helix nebula, the eye looks more like that of a green monster's. Infrared light from the outer gaseous layers is represented in blues and greens. The white dwarf is visible as a tiny white dot in the center of the picture. The red color in the middle of the eye denotes the final layers of gas blown out when the star died. The brighter red circle in the very center is the glow of a dusty disk circling the white dwarf (the disk itself is too small to be resolved). This dust, discovered by Spitzer's infrared heat-seeking vision, was most likely kicked up by comets that survived the death of their star. Before the star died, its comets and possibly planets would have orbited the star in an orderly fashion. But when the star blew off its outer layers, the icy bodies and outer planets would have been tossed about and into each other, resulting in an ongoing cosmic dust storm. Any inner planets in the system would have burned up or been swallowed as their dying star expanded. So far, the Helix nebula is one of only a few dead-star systems in which evidence for comet survivors has been found. This image is made up of data from Spitzer's infrared array camera and multiband imaging photometer. Blue shows infrared light of 3.6 to 4.5 microns, green shows infrared light of 5.8 to 8 microns, and red shows infrared light of 24 microns. |
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Enceladus to Scale
| Description |
Enceladus to Scale |
| Full Description |
Saturn's moon Enceladus is only 505 kilometers (314 miles) across, small enough to fit within the length of the United Kingdom, as illustrated here. The intriguing icy moon also could fit comfortably within the states of Arizona or Colorado. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
August 30, 2005 |
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SMART-1 Looks Back
| title |
SMART-1 Looks Back |
| description |
The first picture of Earth taken by the SMART-1 spacecraft on 21 May 2004 from a distance of 70,000 kilometres. The image shows from top left, Scandinavia, Denmark, United Kingdom and clear west and northern France. Southern France and Spain are at the centre under cloud cover. North Africa is bottom right (in the full-resoltion image). The image was taken by the Advanced Moon Micro-Imager Experiment (AMIE) camera. This imaging system has been developed by the Space-X company in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The AMIE camera is a remarkably compact design, a package of dedicated optics, electronics and mechanical interfaces that weighs only 450 grams. Once in orbit around the Moon, AMIE will survey the lunar terrain using visible and near-infrared light, providing clues about its chemical composition and geological history."The image shows clearly that the AMIE camera works well, and that we are really in space," says Principal Investigator Jean Luc Josset, Space-X."This picture is a great view of Earth seen as a planet," says ESA Project Scientist Bernard Foing. "Further synoptic images of Earth obtained during the cruise phase will be used to compare the signature of geophysical processes with what we shall measure on the Moon." *Image Credit*: European Space Agency |
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ROSAT X-ray Image of Puppis
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| Name |
ROSAT X-ray Image of Puppis A, Wide-Field |
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Hubble Uncovers Surprisingly
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| Title |
Hubble Uncovers Surprisingly Complex Structures in Radio Galaxies |
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Starry Bulges Yield Secrets
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| Title |
Starry Bulges Yield Secrets to Galaxy Growth |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. The Hubble telescope is uncovering important new clues to a galaxy's birth and growth by peering into its heart ? a bulge of millions of stars resembling a bulbous center yolk in the middle of a disk of egg white. Astronomers have combined information from the Hubble telescope's visible- and infrared-light cameras to show the heart of four spiral galaxies peppered with ancient populations of stars. The top row of pictures, taken by a ground-based telescope, represents complete views of each galaxy. The blue boxes outline the regions observed by the Hubble telescope. The bottom row represents composite pictures from Hubble's visible- and infrared-light cameras. Astronomers combined views from both cameras to obtain the true ages of the stars surrounding each galaxy's bulge. The Hubble telescope's sharper resolution allows astronomers to study the intricate structure of a galaxy's central region. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/34/text/ ] |
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Beta Pictoris Disk Hides Gia
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| Title |
Beta Pictoris Disk Hides Giant Elliptical Ring System |
| General Information |
What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Starry Bulges Yield Secrets
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| Title |
Starry Bulges Yield Secrets to Galaxy Growth |
| General Information |
What is a Space Science Update? Major Hubble discoveries on NASA television ... Astronomers explain their Hubble discoveries at a press conference, called a Space Science Update (SSU), broadcast on NASA television. The SSU includes a question and answer session with members of the media. The Hubble telescope is uncovering important new clues to a galaxy's birth and growth by peering into its heart ? a bulge of millions of stars resembling a bulbous center yolk in the middle of a disk of egg white. Astronomers have combined information from the Hubble telescope's visible- and infrared-light cameras to show the heart of four spiral galaxies peppered with ancient populations of stars. The top row of pictures, taken by a ground-based telescope, represents complete views of each galaxy. The blue boxes outline the regions observed by the Hubble telescope. The bottom row represents composite pictures from Hubble's visible- and infrared-light cameras. Astronomers combined views from both cameras to obtain the true ages of the stars surrounding each galaxy's bulge. The Hubble telescope's sharper resolution allows astronomers to study the intricate structure of a galaxy's central region. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/34/text/ ] |
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NASA Announces Contract for
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| Title |
NASA Announces Contract for Next-Generation Space Telescope Named After Space Pioneer |
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Hubble Reveals Complex Circu
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| Title |
Hubble Reveals Complex Circumstellar Disk |
| General Information |
What is an American Astronomical Society Meeting release? A major news announcement issued at an American Astronomical Society meeting, the premier astronomy conference. Back to top [ #top ] |
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Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' B
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| Title |
Hubble Sees 'Comet Galaxy' Being Ripped Apart By Galaxy Cluster |
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Hubble Space Telescope Sky S
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| Title |
Hubble Space Telescope Sky Survey Reveals Embryonic Galaxies |
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Astronomers Discover Nearby
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| Title |
Astronomers Discover Nearby Spiral Galaxy Hidden Behind the Milky Way |
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SOLAR FLARE LEAVES SUN QUAKI
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| Description |
SOLAR FLARE LEAVES SUN QUAKING Scientists have shown for the first time that solar flares produce seismic waves in the Sun's interior that closely resemble those created by earthquakes on our planet. The researchers observed a flare-generated solar quake that contained about 40,000 times the energy released in the great earthquake that devastated San Francisco in 1906. The amount of energy released was enough to power the United States for 20 years at its current level of consumption, and was equivalent to an 11.3 magnitude earthquake, scientists calculated. Dr. Alexander G. Kosovichev, a senior research scientist from Stanford University, and Dr. Valentina V. Zharkova from Glasgow (United Kingdom) University found the tell-tale seismic signature in data on the Sun's surface collected by the Michelson Doppler Imager onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft immediately following a moderate-sized flare on July 9, 1996. "Although the flare was a moderate one, it still released an immense amount of energy," said Dr. Craig Deforest, a researcher with the SOHO project. "The energy released is equal to completely covering the Earth's continents with a yard of dynamite and detonating it all at once." SOHO is a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA. The finding is reported in the May 28 issue of the journal Nature, and is the subject of a press conference at the spring meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Boston, Mass., May 27. The solar quake that the science team recorded looks much like ripples spreading from a rock dropped into a pool of water. But over the course of an hour, the solar waves traveled for a distance equal to 10 Earth diameters before fading into the fiery background of the Sun's photosphere. Unlike water ripples that travel outward at a constant velocity, the solar waves accelerated from an initial speed of 22,000 miles per hour to a maximum of 250,000 miles per hour before disappearing. "People have looked for evidence of seismic waves from flares before, but they didn't have a theory so they didn't know where to look," says Kosovichev. Several years ago Kosovichev and Zharkova developed a theory that can explain how a flare, which explodes in space above the Sun's surface, can generate a major seismic wave in the Sun's interior. According to the currently accepted model of solar flares, the primary explosion creates high-energy electrons (electrically charged subatomic particles). These are funneled down into a magnetic flux tube, an invisible tube of magnetic energy, and produce X-rays, microwaves and a shock wave that heats the solar surface. Kosovichev and Zharkova developed a theory that predicts the nature and magnitude of the shock waves that this beam of energetic electrons should create when they slam down into the solar atmosphere. Although their theory directed them to the right area to search for the seismic waves, the waves that they found were 10 times stronger than they had, predicted. "They were so strong that you can see them in the raw data," Kosovichev says. The solar seismic waves appear to be compression waves like the "P" waves generated by an earthquake. They travel throughout the Sun's interior. In fact, the waves should recombine on the opposite side of the Sun from the location of the flare to create a faint duplicate of the original ripple pattern, Kosovichev predicts. Now that they know how to find them, the SOHO scientists say that the seismic waves generated by solar flares should allow them to verify independently some of the conditions in the solar interior that they have inferred from studying the pattern of waves that are continually ruffling the Sun's surface. SOHO is part of the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program, a global effort to observe and understand our star and its effects on our environment. The ISTP mission includes more than 20 satellites, coupled with with ground-based observatories and modeling centers, that allow scientists to study the Sun, the Earth, and the space between them in unprecedented detail. ISTP is a joint program of NASA, ESA, Japan's Institute for Astronautical Science, and Russia's Space Research Institute. |
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| Photo Description |
Nils Larson is a research pilot in the Flight Crew Branch of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Larson joined NASA in February 2007 and will fly the F-15, F-18, T-38 and ER-2. Prior to joining NASA, Larson was on active duty with the U.S. Air Force. He has accumulated more that 4,900 hours of military and civilian flight experience in more than 70 fixed and rotary winged aircraft. Larson completed undergraduate pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Chandler, Ariz., in 1987. He remained at Williams as a T-37 instructor pilot. In 1991, Larson was assigned to Beale Air Force Base, Calif., as a U-2 pilot. He flew 88 operational missions from Korea, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Panama and other locations. Larson graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in Class 95A. He became a flight commander and assistant operations officer for the 445th squadron at Edwards. He flew the radar, avionics integration and engine tests in F-15 A-D, the early flights of the glass cockpit T-38C and airworthiness flights of the Coast Guard RU-38. He was selected to serve as an Air Force exchange instructor at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Md. He taught systems and fixed-wing flight test and flew as an instructor pilot in the F-18, T-2, U-6A Beaver and X-26 Schweizer sailplane. Larson commanded U-2 operations for Warner Robins Air Logistics Center's Detachment 2 located in Palmdale, Calif. In addition to flying the U-2, Larson supervised the aircraft's depot maintenance and flight test. He was the deputy group commander for the 412th Operations Group at Edwards before retiring from active duty in 2007 with the rank of lieutenant colonel. His first experience with NASA was at the Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, where he served a college summer internship working on arcjet engines. Larson is a native of Bethany, W.Va,, and received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in astronautical engineering. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. |
| Photo Date |
March 16, 2007 |
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F-14 #991 cockpit
| Photo Description |
View of the cockpit of NASA's F-14, tail number 991. This aircraft was the first of a series of post-Vietnam fighters, followed by the F-15, F-16, and F-18. They were designed for maneuverability in air-to-air combat. The F-14s had a spin problem that posed problems for its ability to engage successfully in a dogfight, since it tended to depart from controlled flight at the high angles of attack that frequently occur in close-in engagements. |
| Project Description |
Following their initial deployment to the fleet in October 1972, the Navy?s F-14s began to experience out-of-control mishaps. As it turned out, the analog automatic flight-control system on the aircraft had a simple control-law architecture that caused departures from the intended flight path under certain flight conditions. Furthermore, the control system did not provide the pilots full control authority (flight-control-surface deflections) for a recovery from spins and other departures, resulting in the loss of several aircraft and crews. In the course of the project, a NASA-Grumman-Navy team updated the F-14 simulator model since the one the Navy was using was inaccurate. The Navy then used the updated model to upgrade the fleet trainer. In partnership with Grumman and Honeywell, Langley engineers developed new control laws involving what was called an aileron/rudder interconnect (ARI) that succeeded in limiting departures and providing recoveries from spins. The F-14 with the new control laws proved to be "very responsive and maneuverable above 30 degrees angle-of-attack, with no abrupt departure or spin tendencies." The program was an unqualified success, but the Navy did not immediately incorporate the new control laws into its F-14s because of insufficient funding. As a result, mishaps with the Tomcats continued. Finally, the Navy contracted with GEC Marconi Avionics of the United Kingdom to incorporate the control laws into a digital flight-control system with minimal changes, and this was deployed on fleet F-14Ds aboard the USS Kitty Hawk and USS Roosevelt in March of 1999, decreasing the danger of out-of-control flight and making powered approaches to carrier landings much safer. Meanwhile, already in 1980 Dryden research pilot Einar Enevoldson had received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his contributions as project pilot on the F-14 stall and spin resistance tests. |
| Photo Date |
July 2, 1980 |
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NASA?s Marshall Space Flight
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| Name of Image |
NASA?s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Contributes to Solar B/Hinode |
| Date of Image |
2006-08-09 |
| Full Description |
Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun?s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth?s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft?s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency?s (JAXA?s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft, the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this rendering illustrates the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit with its solar panels partially extended. |
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NASA?s Marshall Space Flight
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| Name of Image |
NASA?s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Contributes to Solar B/Hinode |
| Date of Image |
2006-08-09 |
| Full Description |
Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun?s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth?s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft?s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency?s (JAXA?s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft, the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this video clip is an animated illustration of the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit. |
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NASA?s Marshall Space Flight
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| Name of Image |
NASA?s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Contributes to Solar B/Hinode |
| Date of Image |
2006-08-09 |
| Full Description |
Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun?s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth?s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft?s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency?s (JAXA?s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft, the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this rendering illustrates the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit with its solar panels completely extended. |
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Solar B/Hinode Image of Suns
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| Name of Image |
Solar B/Hinode Image of Sunspot |
| Date of Image |
2005-08-09 |
| Full Description |
Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun?s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth?s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft?s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency?s (JAXA?s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft, the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). This image of a sunspot, taken by Hinode, is a prime example of what the spacecraft can offer. |
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NASA?s Marshall Space Flight
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| Name of Image |
NASA?s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Contributes to Solar B/Hinode |
| Date of Image |
2006-08-09 |
| Full Description |
Hinode (Sunrise), formerly known as Solar-B before reaching orbit, was launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Japan on September 23, 2006. Hinode was designed to probe into the Sun?s magnetic field to better understand the origin of solar disturbances which interfere with satellite communications, electrical power transmission grids, and the safety of astronauts traveling beyond the Earth?s magnetic field. Hinode is circling Earth in a polar orbit that places the instruments in continuous sunlight for nine months each year and allows data dumps to a high latitude European Space Agency (ESA) ground station every orbit. NASA and other science teams will support instrument operations and data collection from the spacecraft?s operation center at the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency?s (JAXA?s) Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science facility located in Tokyo. The Hinode spacecraft is a collaboration among space agencies of Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed development of three instruments comprising the spacecraft, the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the X-Ray Telescope (XRT), and the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). Provided by the Multimedia support group at MSFC, this video clip is an animated illustration of the Solar-B Spacecraft in earth orbit. |
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Double Exposure Image of Spa
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| Name of Image |
Double Exposure Image of Spacelab-1 in Cargo Bay of Orbiter Columbia |
| Date of Image |
1983-01-01 |
| Full Description |
This double exposure image shows Spacelab-1 in the cargo bay of orbiter Columbia. From top to bottom inside the cargo bay are the Spacelab Access Turnel, which is connected to the mid-deck of the orbiter, the Spacelab module, a pressurized module in which scientists conduct experiments not possible on Earth, and Spacelab pallets, which can hold instruments for the experiments requiring direct exposure to space. The first Spacelab mission, Spacelab-1, sponsored jointly and shared equally by NASA and the European Space Agency, was a multidisciplinary mission, that is, investigations were performed in several different fields of scientific research. The overall goal of the mission was to verify Spacelab performance through a variety of scientific experiments. The disciplines represented by these experiments were astronomy and solar physics, earth observations, space plasma physics, materials sciences, atmospheric physics, and life sciences. International in nature, Spacelab-1 conducted experiments from the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Beluga, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Spacelab-1 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on November 28, 1983 aboard the orbiter Columbia (STS-9). The Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for managing the Spacelab missions. |
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Spacelab-1 Module
| Name of Image |
Spacelab-1 Module |
| Date of Image |
1983-01-01 |
| Full Description |
This photograph shows the Spacelab-1 module and Spacelab access turnel being installed in the cargo bay of orbiter Columbia for the STS-9 mission. The oribiting laboratory, built by the European Space Agency, is capable of supporting many types of scientific research that can best be performed in space. The Spacelab access tunnel, the only major piece of Spacelab hardware made in the U.S., connects the module with the mid-deck level of the orbiter cabin. The first Spacelab mission, Spacelab-1, sponsored jointly and shared equally by NASA and the European Space Agency, was a multidisciplinary mission, that is, investigations were performed in several different fields of scientific research. The overall goal of the mission was to verify Spacelab performance through a variety of scientific experiments. The disciplines represented by these experiments were: astronomy and solar physics, earth observations, space plasma physics, materials sciences, atmospheric physics, and life sciences. International in nature, Spacelab-1 conducted experiments from the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Beluga, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Spacelab-1, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on November 28, 1983 aboard the orbiter Columbia (STS-9). The Marshall Space Flight Center was responsible for managing the Spacelab missions. |
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Delta II
| Name of Image |
Delta II |
| Date of Image |
1990-06-01 |
| Full Description |
The Delta II expendable launch vehicle with the ROSAT (Roentgen Satellite), cooperative space X-ray astronomy mission between NASA, Germany and United Kingdom, was launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on June 1, 1990. |
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ATLAS-1 Logo
| Name of Image |
ATLAS-1 Logo |
| Date of Image |
1990-11-26 |
| Full Description |
The primary payload for the Space Shuttle mission STS-45, launched March 24, 1992, was the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-1 (ATLAS-1)which was mounted on nondeployable Spacelab pallets in the orbiter cargo bay. Eight countries, th U.S., France, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Japan, provided 12 instruments designed to perform 14 investigations in four fields. Atmospheric science instruments/investigations: Atmospheric Lyman-Alpha Emissions (ALAE), Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS), Grille Spectrometer (GRILLE), Imaging Spectrometric Observatory (ISO), Millimeter-Wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS). Solar Science: Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM), Measurement of the Solar Constant (SOLCON), Solar Spectrum from 180 to 3,200 Nanometers (SOLSPEC), Solar Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SUSIM). Space Plasma Physics: Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imaging (AEPI), Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC). Ultraviolet astronomy: Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope (FAUST). This is the logo or emblem that was designed to represent the ATLAS-1 payload. |
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Binary Colloidal Alloy Test
| Name of Image |
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test |
| Date of Image |
2001-01-24 |
| Full Description |
Close-up view of the Binary Colloidal Alloy Test during an experiment run aboard the Russian Mir space station. BCAT is part of an extensive series of experiments plarned to investigate the fundamental properties of colloids so that scientists can make colloids more useful for technological applications. Some of the colloids studied in BCAT are made of two different sized particles (binary colloidal alloys) that are very tiny, uniform plastic spheres. Under the proper conditions, these colloids can arrange themselves in a pattern to form crystals, which may have many unique properties that may form the basis of new classes of light switches, displays, and optical devices that can fuel the evolution of the next generation of computer and communication technologies. This Slow Growth hardware consisted of a 35-mm camera aimed toward a module which contained 10 separate colloid samples. To begin the experiment, one of the astronauts would mix the samples to disperse the colloidal particles. Then the hardware operated autonomously, taking photos of the colloidal samples over a 90-day period. The investigation proved that gravity plays a central role in the formation and stability of these types of colloidal crystal structures. The investigation also helped identify the optimum conditions for the formation of colloidal crystals, which will be used for optimizing future microgravity experiments in the study of colloidal physics. Dr. David Weitz of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Peter Pusey of the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, are the principal investigators. |
|
International Space Station
| Name of Image |
International Space Station |
| Date of Image |
1998-01-01 |
| Full Description |
This artist's digital concept depicts the completely assembled International Space Station (ISS) passing over Florida. As a gateway to permanent human presence in space, the Space Station Program is to expand knowledge benefiting all people and nations. The ISS is a multidisciplinary laboratory, technology test bed, and observatory that will provide unprecedented undertakings in scientific, technological, and international experimentation. Experiments to be conducted in the ISS include: microgravity research, Earth science, space science, life sciences, space product development, and engineering research and technology. The sixteen countries participating the ISS are: United States, Russian Federation, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Brazil. |
|
International Space Station
| Name of Image |
International Space Station |
| Date of Image |
1998-01-01 |
| Full Description |
This artist's concept depicts the completely assembled International Space Station (ISS) passing over Florida and the Bahamas. As a gateway to permanent human presence in space, the Space Station Program is to expand knowledge benefiting all people and nations. The ISS is a multidisciplinary laboratory, technology test bed, and observatory that will provide unprecedented undertakings in scientific, technological, and international experimentation. Experiments to be conducted in the ISS include: microgravity research, Earth science, space science, life sciences, space product development, and engineering research and technology. The sixteen countries participating in the ISS are: United States, Russian Federation, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Brazil. |
|
International Space Station
| Name of Image |
International Space Station |
| Date of Image |
1998-01-01 |
| Full Description |
This artist's concept depicts the completely assembled International Space Station (ISS) passing over the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. As a gateway to permanent human presence in space, the Space Station Program is to expand knowledge benefiting all people and nations. The ISS is a multidisciplinary laboratory, technology test bed, and observatory that will provide unprecedented undertakings in scientific, technological, and international experimentation. Experiments to be conducted in the ISS include: microgravity research, Earth science, space science, life sciences, space product development, and engineering research and technology. The sixteen countries participating the ISS are: United States, Russian Federation, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Brazil. |
|
International Space Station
…
| Name of Image |
International Space Station Assembly |
| Date of Image |
1999-01-01 |
| Full Description |
The International Space Station (ISS) is an unparalleled international scientific and technological cooperative venture that will usher in a new era of human space exploration and research and provide benefits to people on Earth. On-Orbit assembly began on November 20, 1998, with the launch of the first ISS component, Zarya, on a Russian Proton rocket. The Space Shuttle followed on December 4, 1998, carrying the U.S.-built Unity cornecting Module. Sixteen nations are participating in the ISS program: the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The ISS will include six laboratories and be four times larger and more capable than any previous space station. The United States provides two laboratories (United States Laboratory and Centrifuge Accommodation Module) and a habitation module. There will be two Russian research modules, one Japanese laboratory, referred to as the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), and one European Space Agency (ESA) laboratory called the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF). The station's internal volume will be roughly equivalent to the passenger cabin volume of two 747 jets. Over five years, a total of more than 40 space flights by at least three different vehicles - the Space Shuttle, the Russian Proton Rocket, and the Russian Soyuz rocket - will bring together more than 100 different station components and the ISS crew. Astronauts will perform many spacewalks and use new robotics and other technologies to assemble ISS components in space. |
|
Payload Operations Center (P
…
| Name of Image |
Payload Operations Center (POC) for the International Space Station (ISS) |
| Date of Image |
2001-02-01 |
| Full Description |
The International Space Station (ISS) Payload Operations Center (POC) at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, is the world's primary science command post for the International Space Station (ISS), the most ambitious space research facility in human history. The Payload Operations team is responsible for managing all science research experiments aboard the Station. The center is also home for coordination of the mission-plarning work of variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel. Within the POC, critical payload information from the ISS is displayed on a dedicated workstation, reading both S-band (low data rate) and Ku-band (high data rate) signals from a variety of experiments and procedures operated by the ISS crew and their colleagues on Earth. The POC is the focal point for incorporating research and experiment requirements from all international partners into an integrated ISS payload mission plan. This photograph is an overall view of the MSFC Payload Operations Center displaying the flags of the countries participating the ISS. The flags at the left portray The United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and Sweden. The flags at the right portray The Russian Federation, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Norway. |
|
Payload Operations Center (P
…
| Name of Image |
Payload Operations Center (POC) for the International Space Station (ISS) |
| Date of Image |
2000-02-01 |
| Full Description |
The International Space Station (ISS) Payload Operations Center (POC) at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, is the world's primary science command post for the (ISS), the most ambitious space research facility in human history. The Payload Operations team is responsible for managing all science research experiments aboard the Station. The center is also home for coordination of the mission-plarning work of variety of international sources, all science payload deliveries and retrieval, and payload training and safety programs for the Station crew and all ground personnel. Within the POC, critical payload information from the ISS is displayed on a dedicated workstation, reading both S-band (low data rate) and Ku-band (high data rate) signals from a variety of experiments and procedures operated by the ISS crew and their colleagues on Earth. The POC is the focal point for incorporating research and experiment requirements from all international partners into an integrated ISS payload mission plan. This photograph is an overall view of the MSFC Payload Operations Center displaying the flags of the countries participating in the ISS. The flags at the left portray The United States, Canada, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and Sweden. The flags at the right portray The Russian Federation, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Norway. |
|
African Dust Reaches Norther
…
| Title |
African Dust Reaches Northern Europe |
| Description |
Mixed with white streaks of clouds, a huge plume of African dust is blowing over the United Kingdom (left) in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite on April 15, 2003. In the waters of the North Sea between the UK and Denmark (to the east), the water is swirling with color that could indicate a mixture of sediment and marine plant life. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
African Dust Reaches Norther
…
| Title |
African Dust Reaches Northern Europe |
| Description |
On April 18, 2003, a mixture of dust from the Sahara Desert, air pollution, and smoke lingers over the Atlantic Ocean (left). This image shows numerous fires (red dots) burning in the United Kingdom (left of center) and the Republic of Ireland (farther left). A few scattered fires are burning in other parts of the image. This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
African Dust Reaches Norther
…
| Title |
African Dust Reaches Northern Europe |
| Description |
Dust from North Africa continues to mingle with other aerosols in the skies over the United Kingdom (left of center) and Ireland (farther west) on April 18, 2003. The dust is more prominent to the north over the Atlantic, where it can be seen as a tan swirl west of Norway. West of Ireland, the haze is grayer, and is more likely pollution. In the United Kingdom, a few bright plumes of white could be associated with fires. Image provided by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project, NASA-GSFC, and ORBIMAGE |
|
African Dust Reaches Norther
…
| Title |
African Dust Reaches Northern Europe |
| Description |
African dust still hangs over Europe and the Atlantic Ocean on April 17, 2003. This image of the region was captured by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS), and shows the thickest dust concentrated over the North Sea, northwest of image center. The North Sea lies between the United Kingdom (west), Norway and Sweden (north), and Denmark (east). Image provided by the SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE |
|
Fog over London
| Title |
Fog over London |
| Description |
Thick fog surrounded London on the afternoon of December 20, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image. White fingers of fog creep from the edge of the fog bank into valleys and over rivers, tracing out the contours of the land. The thickest fog is west of London, the cement-grey sprawl across the center of the image. London's primary airport, Heathrow, is located under the fog bank. As a result, many flights out of the airport were canceled, leaving as many as 40,000 travelers stranded, reported the BBC. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6198917.stm ] The fog disrupted travel out of Heathrow on both December 20 and December 21, and was expected to cause additional cancellations on December 22. London was not the only city in the United Kingdom that experienced disruptions because of fog. In the large image, which shows a broader area, patches of thick fog hang over much of the island. For daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/ ] of the United Kingdom, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Haze and Pollution over West
…
| Title |
Haze and Pollution over Western Europe |
| Description |
The United Kingdom was uncommonly cloud free on March 28, 2002, as can be seen in this true-color SeaWiFS image. Much of the mainland also has clear skies albeit somewhat hazy (greyish pixels), probably the result of human particulate pollution. At the very southern edge of the image a large dust cloud (brownish pixels) is visible crossing the Alboran Sea from Africa to Spain. Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ] NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE |
|
Haze and Pollution over West
…
| Title |
Haze and Pollution over Western Europe |
| Description |
The United Kingdom was uncommonly cloud free on March 29, 2002, as can be seen in this SeaWiFS image. Much of mainland Western Europe also had clear skies, albeit somewhat hazy. At the southern extreme of the image, much dust is still visible in the air over northern Algeria and moving northward toward Europe. Two low-pressure systems?one centered just northeast of Cape Ortegal, Spain, and the other over the Norwegian Sea?can be seen moving in from the west. (The northern spiral looks horizontally stretched because of the projection used to make this scene.) Image courtesy the SeaWiFS Project, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/redirect?http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ] NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE |
|
Haze over the United Kingdom
| Title |
Haze over the United Kingdom |
| Description |
A large low-pressure system off the southweast coast of the United Kingdom was entraining a lot of haze (gray pixels) from over northwestern Europe on March 23, 2003. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Heat Wave in Western Europe
| Title |
Heat Wave in Western Europe |
| Description |
Western Europe continued to bake in late July 2006. Following an unusually warm spell between July 12 and 19, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13743 ] temperatures across most of the region remained much warmer than normal. This image shows land surface (as opposed to air) temperatures collected from July 20-27, 2006, compared to the average temperatures for that period over the past six years (2000-2005). Places that were up to ten degrees Celsius warmer than average are deep red, while places that were up to ten degrees cooler than average are deep blue. Places where the temperatures were average are white. The temperatures were measured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite. In the center of the image, deep red areas of very warm temperatures spread across Germany, as well as France (to the west), and Poland (to the east). To the north (top center), both Norway (west) and Sweden (east) were much warmer than average. Only small pockets of the region were cooler than average: northeastern Spain, the "toe" of Italy's boot and the western half of the island of Sicily, and parts of Greece (lower right). July 2006 was a record-breaking month for heat in many Western European countries, coming in as the hottest July on record in several countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of Zhengming Wan, MODIS Land Surface Temperature Group, Institute for Computational Earth System Science [ http://www.icess.ucsb.edu/ ], University of California, Santa Barbara. |
|
Dust Storm off Iceland
| Title |
Dust Storm off Iceland |
| Description |
A low-pressure system north of the United Kingdom was blowing dust off Iceland and sending it southward over the Atlantic Ocean on Oct. 5, 2004. The dust plume (light brown) is easily distinguished from the bright, white clouds in this true-color scene, acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). NASA images courtesy the SeaWiFS Project [ http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html ], Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE [ http://www.orbimage.com/ ] |
|
European Heat Wave
| Title |
European Heat Wave |
| Description |
Europe is experiencing an historic heat wave that has been responsible for at 3,000 deaths in France alone. Compared to July 2001, temperatures in July 2003 were sizzling. This image shows the differences in day time land surface temperatures collected in the two years by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. A blanket of deep red across southern and eastern France (left of image center) shows where temperatures were 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter this summer. White areas show where temperatures were similar, and blue shows where temperatures were cooler in 2003 than 2001. Even the Alps, which arc across southeastern France, Switzerland, Austria, and northern Italy (just below image center), are very warm this year. Glaciers are melting rapidly and swelling rivers and lakes to dangerously high levels. Climbers had to be evacuated from Switzerland's famous Matterhorn after melting triggered the collapse of a rock face. The popular climbing destination has been closed while geologists assess the possibility of further collapses. The heat wave stretches northward all the way to the United Kingdom, particularly southern England (bottom of island) and Scotland (top of island). In London, trains were shut down over fears that tracks would buckle in the heat, while in Scotland the high temperatures combined with falling water levels in rivers and streams are threatening the spawning and survival of salmon. Throughout France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, the intense heat and dry conditions sparked devastating forest fires that killed at least 15 people. Image by Reto Stockli and Robert Simmon, NASA?s Earth Observatory Team. |
|
Petrol Depot Fire in the Uni
…
| Title |
Petrol Depot Fire in the United Kingdom |
| Description |
Sunday, December 11, 2005, was a day without sun for many Londoners. At about 6 a.m. local time, an explosion rocked a fuel depot in Hertfordshire, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London. The ensuing oil fire sent thick clouds of sun-blocking black smoke billowing over London and South England. By 11:50 a.m., when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flew over on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the smoke had fanned south over tens of kilometers. London, normally a large cement-colored circle on the landscape, was not even visible beneath the smoke. Nearly three hours later when Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] MODIS flew over, the fire was still burning, and the smoke had spread still farther. By December 12 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13281 ], the smoke had thinned to a single plume. The extent of the smoke is easier to see in the false-color images, right, which were created using light from the shortwave and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these images, the dark smoke stands out clearly against the brilliant green of the plant-covered land. At the source of the smoke, the intense heat of the fire glows in the infrared. According to news reports, the fire was the largest of its kind ever seen in Europe. British health officials advised those living under the smoke plume to remain indoors. The smoke contains small particles, soot, that may cause irritation when inhaled, but no long-term health effects were expected. The smoke also contains gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. For more information about the health impacts of the smoke, see the Health Protection Agency [ http://www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel_Q_As.htm ] web site. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/2005345 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Petrol Depot Fire in the Uni
…
| Title |
Petrol Depot Fire in the United Kingdom |
| Description |
Sunday, December 11, 2005, was a day without sun for many Londoners. At about 6 a.m. local time, an explosion rocked a fuel depot in Hertfordshire, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London. The ensuing oil fire sent thick clouds of sun-blocking black smoke billowing over London and South England. By 11:50 a.m., when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flew over on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the smoke had fanned south over tens of kilometers. London, normally a large cement-colored circle on the landscape, was not even visible beneath the smoke. Nearly three hours later when Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] MODIS flew over, the fire was still burning, and the smoke had spread still farther. By December 12 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13281 ], the smoke had thinned to a single plume. The extent of the smoke is easier to see in the false-color images, right, which were created using light from the shortwave and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these images, the dark smoke stands out clearly against the brilliant green of the plant-covered land. At the source of the smoke, the intense heat of the fire glows in the infrared. According to news reports, the fire was the largest of its kind ever seen in Europe. British health officials advised those living under the smoke plume to remain indoors. The smoke contains small particles, soot, that may cause irritation when inhaled, but no long-term health effects were expected. The smoke also contains gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. For more information about the health impacts of the smoke, see the Health Protection Agency [ http://www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel_Q_As.htm ] web site. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/2005345 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Petrol Depot Fire in the Uni
…
| Title |
Petrol Depot Fire in the United Kingdom |
| Description |
Sunday, December 11, 2005, was a day without sun for many Londoners. At about 6 a.m. local time, an explosion rocked a fuel depot in Hertfordshire, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London. The ensuing oil fire sent thick clouds of sun-blocking black smoke billowing over London and South England. By 11:50 a.m., when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flew over on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the smoke had fanned south over tens of kilometers. London, normally a large cement-colored circle on the landscape, was not even visible beneath the smoke. Nearly three hours later when Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] MODIS flew over, the fire was still burning, and the smoke had spread still farther. By December 12 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13281 ], the smoke had thinned to a single plume. The extent of the smoke is easier to see in the false-color images, right, which were created using light from the shortwave and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these images, the dark smoke stands out clearly against the brilliant green of the plant-covered land. At the source of the smoke, the intense heat of the fire glows in the infrared. According to news reports, the fire was the largest of its kind ever seen in Europe. British health officials advised those living under the smoke plume to remain indoors. The smoke contains small particles, soot, that may cause irritation when inhaled, but no long-term health effects were expected. The smoke also contains gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. For more information about the health impacts of the smoke, see the Health Protection Agency [ http://www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel_Q_As.htm ] web site. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/2005345 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Petrol Depot Fire in the Uni
…
| Title |
Petrol Depot Fire in the United Kingdom |
| Description |
Sunday, December 11, 2005, was a day without sun for many Londoners. At about 6 a.m. local time, an explosion rocked a fuel depot in Hertfordshire, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London. The ensuing oil fire sent thick clouds of sun-blocking black smoke billowing over London and South England. By 11:50 a.m., when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flew over on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the smoke had fanned south over tens of kilometers. London, normally a large cement-colored circle on the landscape, was not even visible beneath the smoke. Nearly three hours later when Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] MODIS flew over, the fire was still burning, and the smoke had spread still farther. By December 12 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13281 ], the smoke had thinned to a single plume. The extent of the smoke is easier to see in the false-color images, right, which were created using light from the shortwave and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these images, the dark smoke stands out clearly against the brilliant green of the plant-covered land. At the source of the smoke, the intense heat of the fire glows in the infrared. According to news reports, the fire was the largest of its kind ever seen in Europe. British health officials advised those living under the smoke plume to remain indoors. The smoke contains small particles, soot, that may cause irritation when inhaled, but no long-term health effects were expected. The smoke also contains gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. For more information about the health impacts of the smoke, see the Health Protection Agency [ http://www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel_Q_As.htm ] web site. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/2005345 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Petrol Depot Fire in the Uni
…
| Title |
Petrol Depot Fire in the United Kingdom |
| Description |
Sunday, December 11, 2005, was a day without sun for many Londoners. At about 6 a.m. local time, an explosion rocked a fuel depot in Hertfordshire, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of London. The ensuing oil fire sent thick clouds of sun-blocking black smoke billowing over London and South England. By 11:50 a.m., when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flew over on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, the smoke had fanned south over tens of kilometers. London, normally a large cement-colored circle on the landscape, was not even visible beneath the smoke. Nearly three hours later when Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] MODIS flew over, the fire was still burning, and the smoke had spread still farther. By December 12 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13281 ], the smoke had thinned to a single plume. The extent of the smoke is easier to see in the false-color images, right, which were created using light from the shortwave and near-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In these images, the dark smoke stands out clearly against the brilliant green of the plant-covered land. At the source of the smoke, the intense heat of the fire glows in the infrared. According to news reports, the fire was the largest of its kind ever seen in Europe. British health officials advised those living under the smoke plume to remain indoors. The smoke contains small particles, soot, that may cause irritation when inhaled, but no long-term health effects were expected. The smoke also contains gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulphur dioxide. For more information about the health impacts of the smoke, see the Health Protection Agency [ http://www.hpa.org.uk/explosions/hemel_Q_As.htm ] web site. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Europe_2_01/2005345 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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