Red and green colors predominate in this view of the Aurora Australis photographed from the Space Shuttle in May 1991 at the peak of the last geomagnetic maximum. The payload bay and tail of the Shuttle can be seen on the left hand side of the picture. Auroras are caused when high-energy electrons pour down from the Earth's magnetosphere and collide with atoms. Red aurora occurs from 200 km to as high as 500 km altitude and is caused by the emission of 6300 Angstrom wavelength light from oxygen atoms. Green aurora occurs from about 100 km to 250 km altitude and is caused by the emission of 5577 Angstrom wavelength light from oxygen atoms. The light is emitted when the atoms return to their original unexcited state. At times of peaks in solar activity, there are more geomagnetic storms and this increases the auroral activity viewed on Earth and by astronauts from orbit. Photographing them requires careful technique with long exposures and fast film (in this case ASA 1600). Such film can only be used on short-duration Shuttle flights and not from the Space Station because it is sensitive to radiation damage in orbit over time. The most recent astronaut photograph of aurora was taken before the April 2001 flurry of solar activity, and showed only a relatively low-energy green glow. This image was taken by the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery in May 1991. *Image Credit*: NASA
Shuttle Atlantis returning t
…
Title
Shuttle Atlantis returning to Kennedy Space Center
Full Description
The Space Shuttle Atlantis atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) returns to the Kennedy Space Center after a ten month refurbishment.
Date
09/01/1998
NASA Center
Dryden Flight Research Center
Shuttle Enterprise Free Flig
…
Title
Shuttle Enterprise Free Flight
Full Description
The Space Shuttle prototype Enterprise flies free after being released from NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) over Rogers Dry Lakebed during the second of five free flights carried out at the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, as part of the Shuttle program's Approach and Landing Tests (ALT). The tests were conducted to verify orbiter aerodynamics and handling characteristics in preparation for orbital flights with the Space Shuttle Columbia beginning in April 1981. A tail cone over the main engine area of Enterprise smoothed out turbulent air flow during flight. It was removed on the two last free flights to accurately check approach and landing characteristics. A series of test flights during which Enterprise was taken aloft atop the SCA, but was not released, preceded the free flight tests. The Space Shuttle Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle and the modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) handled during low-speed flight and landing. The Enterprise, a prototype of the Space Shuttles, and the SCA were flown to conduct the approach and landing tests at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from February to October 1977. The first flight of the program consisted of the Space Shuttle Enterprise attached to the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. These flights were to determine how well the two vehicles flew together. Five "captive-inactive" flights were flown during this first phase in which there was no crew in the Enterprise. The next series of captive flights was flown with a flight crew of two on board the prototype Space Shuttle. Only three such flights proved necessary. This led to the free-flight test series. The free-flight phase of the ALT program allowed pilots and engineers to learn how the Space Shuttle handled in low-speed flight and landing attitudes. For these landings, the Enterprise was flown by a crew of two after it was released from the top of the SCA. The vehicle was released at altitudes ranging from 19,000 to 26,000 feet. The Enterprise had no propulsion system, but its first four glides to the Rogers Dry Lake runway provided realistic, in-flight simulations of how subsequent Space Shuttles would be flown at the end of an orbital mission. The fifth approach and landing test, with the Enterprise landing on the Edwards Air Force Base concrete runway, revealed a problem with the Space Shuttle flight control system that made it susceptible to Pilot-Induced Oscillation (PIO), a potentially dangerous control problem during a landing. Further research using other NASA aircraft, especially the F-8 Digital-Fly-By-Wire aircraft, led to correction of the PIO problem before the first orbital flight. The Enterprise's last free-flight was October 26, 1977, after which it was ferried to other NASA centers for ground-based flight simulations that tested Space Shuttle systems and structure.
Date
01/01/1977
NASA Center
Dryden Flight Research Center
STS-72 Landing
Title
STS-72 Landing
Full Description
The Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour and its crew of six glide in to Runway 15 at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility after spending nine days in space on the STS-72 mission, the first Shuttle flight of 1996. It is the eighth night landing of the Shuttle since the program began in 1981, but only the third night landing at KSC. Highlights of the mission were the retrieval of the Japanese Space Flyer Unit (SFU), the deployment and retrieval of NASA's Office of Aeronauts and Space Techology-Flyer (OAST-Flyer), and two Extravehicular Activities (EVA's) or spacewalks.
Date
1/20/1996
NASA Center
Kennedy Space Center
Electrical Storm
Title
Electrical Storm
Full Description
A powerful electrical storm created an eerie tapestry of light in the skies near Complex 39A in the hours preceding the launch of STS-8.
Date
8/30/1983
NASA Center
Kennedy Space Center
Orbiter Atlantis (STS-110) L
…
Name of Image
Orbiter Atlantis (STS-110) Launch With New Block II Engines
Date of Image
2002-04-08
Full Description
Powered by three newly-enhanced Space Shuttle Maine Engines (SSMEs), called the Block II Maine Engines, the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad on April 8, 2002 for the STS-110 mission. The Block II Main Engines incorporate an improved fuel pump featuring fewer welds, a stronger integral shaft/disk, and more robust bearings, making them safer and more reliable, and potentially increasing the number of flights between major overhauls. NASA continues to increase the reliability and safety of Shuttle flights through a series of enhancements to the SSME. The engines were modified in 1988 and 1995. Developed in the 1970s and managed by the Space Shuttle Projects Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center, the SSME is the world's most sophisticated reusable rocket engine. The new turbopump made by Pratt and Whitney of West Palm Beach, Florida, was tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Boeing Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, California, manufactures the SSME. This image was extracted from engineering motion picture footage taken by a tracking camera.
NASA space shuttle Columbia
…
Photo Date
March 1, 2001
Endeavour (STS-67) launch
Name of Image
Endeavour (STS-67) launch
Date of Image
1995-03-02
Full Description
The Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-67) embarks on NASA's longest shuttle flight to date, carrying a complement of unique telescopes that will give astronomers a view of the universe impossible to obtain from the ground. The 15-day mission will allow the crew to conduct round-the-clock observations with the ASTRO-2 observatory, a trio of telescopes designed to study the universe of ultraviolet astronomy. Because of Earth's protective ozone layer ultraviolet light from celestial objects does not reach gound-based telescopes, and such studies can only be conducted from space.
Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-4
…
Name of Image
Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-46 launch
Date of Image
1992-07-31
Full Description
The Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis (STS-46) breaks free of all earthly constraints and hurdles past the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) and beanie cap which only moments before had been in place above the external tank. The Shuttle Atlantis carried and deployed the European Retrievable Carrier (Eureca). The NASA/ISA Tethered Satellite System (TSS-1) was also deployed for the first time, allowing for a new capability for probing the space environment.
Shuttle Moon
Title
Shuttle Moon
Explanation
As a gorgeous full Moon rose above the eastern horizon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010219.html ] on February 7, the Space Shuttle Atlantis streaked skyward towards an orbital rendezvous with the International Space Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap001214.html ]. Watching from Orlando, Florida, about 60 miles west of the Kennedy Space Center [ http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/facilities/ tour.htm ] launch site, photographer Tony DeVito captured this digital image, one of a series [ http://www.thedevitos.com/shuttle.html ] of pictures of the shuttle's fiery climb. While foreground street lights flickered on and a clear evening sky grew dark, the shuttle's path just grazed the bright lunar disk. On this mission, STS-98, Atlantis carried the U.S. Destiny laboratory [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/assembly/elements/uslab/ index.html ] module to be added to the expanding orbital outpost. Atlantis [ http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/ atlantis.html ] is currently scheduled to return to the space station next month.
Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise A
…
Name of Image
Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise Arrives at Redstone Arsenal Airfield
Date of Image
1978-03-13
Full Description
The Shuttle Orbiter Enterprise atop a 747 landing at Redstone Arsenal Airfield for later Mated Vertical Ground Vibration tests (MVGVT) at Marshall Space Flight Center's Dynamic Test Stand. The tests marked the first time ever that the entire shuttle complement (including orbiter, external tank, and solid rocket boosters) were mated vertically.
STS-96 Launch
Name of Image
STS-96 Launch
Date of Image
1999-05-28
Full Description
This spectacular photo is of the May 27, 1999 liftoff of the Orbiter Discovery (STS-96). The STS-96 mission, of almost 10 days, was the second International Space Station (ISS) assembly and resupply flight and the first flight to dock with the station. The crew installed foot restraints and the Russian built crane, STRELA. The Shuttle's SPACEHAB double module carried internal and resupply cargo for station outfitting and the Russian cargo crane was carried aboard the shuttle in the integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC).
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discov
…
Name of Image
STS-114 Space Shuttle Discovery Performs Back Flip For Photography
Date of Image
2005-07-28
Full Description
Launched on July 26, 2005 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, STS-114 was classified as Logistics Flight 1. Among the Station-related activities of the mission were the delivery of new supplies and the replacement of one of the orbital outpost's Control Moment Gyroscopes (CMGs). STS-114 also carried the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and the External Stowage Platform-2. A major focus of the mission was the testing and evaluation of new Space Shuttle flight safety, which included new inspection and repair techniques. Upon its approach to the International Space Station (ISS), the Space Shuttle Discovery underwent a photography session in order to assess any damages that may have occurred during its launch and/or journey through Space. Discovery was over Switzerland, about 600 feet from the ISS, when Cosmonaut Sergei K. Kriklev, Expedition 11 Commander, and John L. Phillips, NASA Space Station officer and flight engineer photographed the spacecraft as it performed a back flip to allow photography of its heat shield. Astronaut Eileen M. Collins, STS-114 Commander, guided the shuttle through the flip. The photographs were analyzed by engineers on the ground to evaluate the condition of Discovery?s heat shield. The crew safely returned to Earth on August 9, 2005. The mission historically marked the Return to Flight after nearly a two and one half year delay in flight after the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy in February 2003.
STS-116 Launch
Name of Image
STS-116 Launch
Date of Image
2006-12-09
Full Description
Against a black night sky, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled linkup with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B occurred at 8:47 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 9, 2006 in what was the first evening shuttle launch since 2002. The primary mission objective was to deliver and install the P5 truss element. The P5 installation was conducted during the first of three space walks, and involved use of both the shuttle and station?s robotic arms. The remainder of the mission included a major reconfiguration and activation of the ISS electrical and thermal control systems, as well as delivery of Zvezda Service Module debris panels, which will increase ISS protection from potential impacts of micro-meteorites and orbital debris. Two major payloads developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) were also delivered to the Station. The Lab-On-A Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) and the Water Delivery System, a vital component of the Station?s Oxygen Generation System.
STS-116 Launch
Name of Image
STS-116 Launch
Date of Image
2006-12-09
Full Description
Against a black night sky, the Space Shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew head toward Earth-orbit and a scheduled linkup with the International Space Station (ISS). Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39B occurred at 8:47 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 9, 2006 in what was the first evening shuttle launch since 2002. The primary mission objective was to deliver and install the P5 truss element. The P5 installation was conducted during the first of three space walks, and involved use of both the shuttle and station?s robotic arms. The remainder of the mission included a major reconfiguration and activation of the ISS electrical and thermal control systems, as well as delivery of Zvezda Service Module debris panels, which will increase ISS protection from potential impacts of micro-meteorites and orbital debris. Two major payloads developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) were also delivered to the Station. The Lab-On-A Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) and the Water Delivery System, a vital component of the Station?s Oxygen Generation System.
STS-43 Launch
Name of Image
STS-43 Launch
Date of Image
1991-08-02
Full Description
Launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on August 2, 1991, the STS-43 mission?s primary payload was the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 5 (TDRS-5) attached to an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), which became the 4th member of an orbiting TDRS cluster. The flight crew consisted of 5 astronauts: John E. Blaha, commander, Michael A. Baker, pilot, Shannon W. Lucid, mission specialist 1, James C. Adamson, mission specialist 2, and G. David Low, mission specialist 3.
STS-31 Launch
Name of Image
STS-31 Launch
Date of Image
1990-04-24
Full Description
The STS-31 crew launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990 at 8:33:51am (EDT). Included in the crew of five were Loren J. Shriver, commander, Charles F. Bolden, pilot, and Steven A. Hawley, Bruce McCandless, and Kathryn D. Sullivan, all mission specialists. The primary goal of the mission was the deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) which was a Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) managed program.
STS-98 Emits Plume of Smoke
Name of Image
STS-98 Emits Plume of Smoke
Date of Image
2001-02-07
Full Description
This awesome image depicts the full moon, sunset launch of the Space Shuttle Orbiter Atlantis STS-98 mission on February 7, 2001 at 6:13 p.m. eastern time. The large white plume is the pillar of smoke and stream left behind by the solid rocket boosters. The very bright dot that exists above the plume is the flame still visible at the base of the rocket boosters. The top of the plume is being directly illuminated by sunlight whereas the bottom portion lies within the Earth's shadow. The bright orb in the lower right-hand corner of the image is the full sunlit face of the moon which has already risen above the eastern horizon. The dark cone-shaped feature extending downward towards the moon is the smoke plume shadow, known as the Bugeron Effect (common during sunrise and sunset launches). The Earth, Moon, and Sun were naturally in alignment causing the shadow to appear to end at the moon. (Photo courtesy Patrick McCracken, NASA Headquarters)
The Moons of Earth
Title
The Moons of Earth
Explanation
While orbiting the planet during their June 1998 mission, the crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020126.html ] photographed this view [ http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/shuttle/ sts-91/html/91711028.html ] of two moons of Earth. Thick storm clouds are visible in the lovely blue planet's nurturing atmosphere [ http://wwwt.ncep.noaa.gov/ ] and, what was then Earth's largest artificial moon, the spindly Russian Mir Space Station [ http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast10mar_1.htm ] can be seen above the planet's limb. The bright spot to the right of Mir is Earth's very large natural satellite [ http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov/ ], The Moon. The Mir [ http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_close_calls.html ] orbited planet Earth [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ earthfact.html ] once every 90 minutes about 200 miles above the planet's surface or about 4,000 miles from Earth's center. The Moon [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ moonfact.html ] orbits once every 28 days at a distance of about 250,000 miles from the center of the Earth [ http://jv.gilead.org.il/wolcott/CE-allc/ ].
Apollo 14 Launch
Title
Apollo 14 Launch
Full Description
The Apollo 14 Saturn V Space Vehicle, carrying Astronauts Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Stuart A. Roosa, and Edgar D. Mitchell, lifted off at 4:03 p.m. EST on January 31, 1971, from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, to begin the fourth manned lunar landing mission.
Date
1/31/1971
NASA Center
Kennedy Space Center
Apollo 15 Saturn V Launch
Title
Apollo 15 Saturn V Launch
Full Description
The 363-foot tall Apollo 15 Saturn V is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 9:34:00.79 a.m., July 26, 1971, on a lunar landing mission. Note that the launch is reflected in a body of water across from the launch complex.
Date
06/26/1971
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Apollo 9 Lunar Module "Spide
…
title
Apollo 9 Lunar Module "Spider" Over Earth's Ocean
date
03.09.1969
description
Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules (CSM) nicknamed "Gumdrop" and Lunar Module (LM), nicknamed "Spider" are shown docked together as Command Module pilot David R. Scott stands in the open hatch. Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, Lunar Module pilot, took this photograph of Scott during his EVA as he stood on the porch outside the Lunar Module. Apollo 9 was an Earth orbital mission designed to test docking procedures between the CSM and LM as well as test fly the Lunar Module in the relative safe confines of Earth orbit.
Apollo 17 Pre-Launch
Title
Apollo 17 Pre-Launch
Full Description
The Apollo 17 Space Vehicle sits poised beneath a full moon on Launch Pad 39A during launch countdown. Astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, Commander, Ronald A. Evans, Command Module Pilot, and Dr. Harrison H. Jack Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot, will be the crew for the sixth manned lunar landing mission.
Date
12/6/1972
NASA Center
Kennedy Space Center
Apollo 11 Launch
Title
Apollo 11 Launch
Full Description
The American flag heralds the flight of Apollo 11, the first Lunar landing mission. The Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle lifted off with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., at 9:32 a.m. EDT July 16, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A. During the planned eight-day mission, Armstrong and Aldrin will descend in a lunar module to the Moon's surface while Collins orbits overhead in the Command Module. The two astronauts are to spend 22 hours on the Moon, including two and one-half hours outside the lunar module. They will gather samples of lunar material and will deploy scientific experiments which will transmit data about the lunar environment. They will rejoin Collins in the Command Module for the return trip to Earth.
Date
7/16/1969
NASA Center
Kennedy Space Center
Apollo 17: Shorty Crater Pan
…
Title
Apollo 17: Shorty Crater Panorama
Explanation
In December of 1972, Apollo 17 [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo17/ Apollo17.html ] astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/ ] in the Taurus-Littrow [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17OTM.html ] valley, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. This sharp panorama is digitally stitched together from pictures taken by Cernan as he and Schmitt roamed the valley floor [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040417.html ]. Starting with a view of the imposing South Massif, scrolling the panorama to the right will reveal Schmitt and the lunar rover [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040605.html ] at the edge of Shorty Crater, near the spot where geologist Schmitt discovered orange [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010523.html ] lunar soil. The Apollo 17 crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/cchoice/moonrocks/ moonrocks6.htm ] and soil samples, more than was returned from any of the other lunar landing sites [ http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~durda/Apollo/ landing_sites.html ]. Now thirty five years later, Cernan and Schmitt are still the last [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051210.html ] to walk on the Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060826.html ].
Apollo Saturn V Height Compa
…
Name of Image
Apollo Saturn V Height Comparison to Statue of Liberty
Date of Image
1967-09-09
Full Description
This 1967 illustration compares the Apollo Saturn V Spacecraft of the Moon Landing era to the Statue of Liberty located on Ellis Island in New York City. The Apollo Saturn V, at 363 feet towers above Lady Liberty, as the statue is called, standing at 305 feet.
Saturn V Launch Vehicle Lift
…
Name of Image
Saturn V Launch Vehicle Lifts Off With Apollo 11 Spacecraft
Date of Image
1969-07-16
Full Description
The Saturn V launch vehicle, developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft and crew. The massive rocket hurled the spacecraft into Earth orbit and then onto the trajectory to the Moon. Apollo 11, the first manned lunar mission, launched from KSC on July 16, 1969 and safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Aboard were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The CM, piloted by Michael Collins remained in a parking orbit around the Moon while the LM, named ?Eagle??, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, landed on the Moon. Armstrong was the first human to ever stand on the lunar surface, followed by Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin. During 2½ hours of surface exploration, the crew collected 47 pounds of lunar surface material for analysis back on Earth. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
View of damaged Apollo 13 Se
…
Title
View of damaged Apollo 13 Service Module from the Lunar/Command Modules
Description
This view of the damaged Apollo 13 Service Module (SM) was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module following SM jettisoning. Nearest the camera is the Service Propulsion System (SPS) engine and nozzle. An entire SM panel was blown away by the apparent explosion of oxygen tank number two located in Sector 4 of the SM. The damage to the SM caused the Apollo 13 crewmen to use the Lunar Module (LM) as a "lifeboat". The LM was jettisoned just prior to Earth reentry by the Command Module.
Date Taken
1970-04-17
The Universe "Down Under" is
…
Title
The Universe "Down Under" is the Latest Target for Hubble's Latest Deep-View
Working at the Hubble Contro
…
Title
Working at the Hubble Control Center, Space Telescope Science Institute
Description
At Hubble?s control center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Md., in 2005, Shift Supervisor Larry Stake uses a series of consoles to monitor Hubble operations. All the commands transmitted to Hubble, including the instructions on recording scientific data and orders on which stars to observe, come from these consoles. The shift supervisor is responsible for overall operations and the health and safety of Hubble. Hubble is monitored constantly by four teams, each made up of a quartet of flight controllers. The flight controllers deal with operations ranging from pointing the telescope to receiving data.
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Title
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Description
In this image of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, several objects are identified as the faintest, most compact galaxies ever observed in the distant universe. They are so far away that we see them as they looked less than one billion years after the Big Bang. Blazing with the brilliance of millions of stars, each of the newly discovered galaxies is a hundred to a thousand times smaller than our Milky Way Galaxy. The detection required joint observations between Hubble and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Blue light seen by Hubble shows the presence of young stars. The absence of infrared light from Spitzer observations conclusively shows that these are truly young galaxies without an earlier generation of stars.
Spitzer and Hubble Team Up T
…
Title
Spitzer and Hubble Team Up To Find 'Big Baby' Galaxies in the Newborn Universe
Description
This image demonstrates how data from two of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, are used to identify one of the most distant galaxies ever seen. This galaxy is unusually massive for its youthful age of 800 million years. (After the Big Bang, the Milky Way by comparison, is approximately 13 billion years old.) [Left] - The galaxy, named HUDF-JD2, was pinpointed among approximately 10,000 others in a small area of sky called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. This is the deepest images of the universe ever made at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. [Upper Right] - A blow-up of one small area of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field is used to identify where the distant galaxy is located (inside green circle). This indicates that the galaxy's visible light has been absorbed by traveling billions of light-years through intervening hydrogen. [Center Right] - The galaxy was detected using Hubble's near infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer. But at near-infrared wavelengths it is very faint and red. [Bottom Right] - The Spitzer infrared array camera, easily detects the galaxy at longer infrared wavelengths. The instrument is sensitive to the light from older, redder stars which should make up most of the mass in a galaxy. The brightness of the infrared galaxy suggests that it is quite massive.
Spitzer and Hubble Team Up T
…
Title
Spitzer and Hubble Team Up To Find 'Big Baby' Galaxies in the Newborn Universe
Description
This image demonstrates how data from two of NASA's Great Observatories, the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes, are used to identify one of the most distant galaxies ever seen. This galaxy is unusually massive for its youthful age of 800 million years. (After the Big Bang, the Milky Way by comparison, is approximately 13 billion years old.) [Left] - The galaxy, named HUDF-JD2, was pinpointed among approximately 10,000 others in a small area of sky called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. This is the deepest images of the universe ever made at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. [Upper Right] - A blow-up of one small area of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field is used to identify where the distant galaxy is located (inside green circle). This indicates that the galaxy's visible light has been absorbed by traveling billions of light-years through intervening hydrogen. [Center Right] - The galaxy was detected using Hubble's near infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer. But at near-infrared wavelengths it is very faint and red. [Bottom Right] - The Spitzer infrared array camera, easily detects the galaxy at longer infrared wavelengths. The instrument is sensitive to the light from older, redder stars which should make up most of the mass in a galaxy. The brightness of the infrared galaxy suggests that it is quite massive.
Hubble Restored: The Telesco
…
Title
Hubble Restored: The Telescope's Latest Look
Description
The revamped Hubble Space Telescope, fresh from its fourth visit by astronauts, sports new solar arrays on its outside, and new instruments inside. The new solar arrays, which collect sunlight to power the telescope, are smaller than the previous ones, but more powerful. This image was taken shortly after Hubble separated from the Columbia space shuttle in March 2002, making it the most up-to-date picture of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Hubble Floating Free
Title
Hubble Floating Free
Description
The Hubble Space Telescope floats against the background of Earth after a week of repair and upgrade by Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts in 2002. Hubble?s fourth servicing mission gave the telescope its first new instrument installed since the 1997 repair mission ? the Advanced Camera for Surveys. It doubled Hubble?s field of view and records information much faster than Hubble?s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2.
Hubble Docked with the Shutt
…
Title
Hubble Docked with the Shuttle Endeavor
Description
Astronaut F. Story Musgrave, anchored on the Space Shuttle Endeavor?s robotic arm, prepares to be elevated to the top of the Hubble Space Telescope during Hubble?s first servicing mission in 1993. Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, inside the shuttle payload bay, assists Musgrave. Hubble?s first servicing mission replaced and repaired various instruments, but its most important task was installing technology that corrected the tiny flaw in Hubble?s main mirror that distorted the telescope?s view. Hubble was specially designed to be repaired and upgraded by astronauts while in orbit.
Hubble Shoots the Moon
Title
Hubble Shoots the Moon
Hubble Monitors Jupiter in S
…
Title
Hubble Monitors Jupiter in Support of the New Horizons Flyby
Hubble's Deepest View of the
…
Title
Hubble's Deepest View of the Universe Unveils Bewildering Galaxies across Billions of Years
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. One peek into a small part of the sky, one giant leap back in time. The Hubble telescope has provided mankind's deepest, most detailed visible view of the universe. Representing a narrow "keyhole" view stretching to the visible horizon of the universe, the Hubble Deep Field image covers a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75 feet away. Though the field is a very small sample of the heavens, it is considered representative of the typical distribution of galaxies in space, because the universe, statistically, looks largely the same in all directions. Gazing into this small field, Hubble uncovered a bewildering assortment of at least 1,500galaxies at various stages of evolution. Read more: * Release Text [ http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1996/01/text/ ]
Spitzer Spies Spectacular So
…
Title
Spitzer Spies Spectacular Sombrero
Description
NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes joined forces to create this striking composite image of one of the most popular sights in the universe. Messier 104 is commonly known as the Sombrero galaxy because in visible light, it resembles the broad-brimmed Mexican hat. However, in Spitzer's striking infrared view, the galaxy looks more like a "bull's eye." In Hubble's visible light image (lower left panel), only the near rim of dust can be clearly seen in silhouette. Recent observations using Spitzer's infrared array camera (lower right panel) uncovered the bright, smooth ring of dust circling the galaxy, seen in red. Spitzer's infrared view of the starlight, piercing through the obscuring dust, is easily seen, along with the bulge of stars and an otherwise hidden disk of stars within the dust ring. Spitzer's full view shows the disk is warped, which is often the result of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy, and clumpy areas spotted in the far edges of the ring indicate young star-forming regions. The Sombrero galaxy is located some 28 million light-years away. Viewed from Earth, it is just six degrees south of its equatorial plane. Spitzer detected infrared emission not only from the ring, but from the center of the galaxy too, where there is a huge black hole, believed to be a billion times more massive than our Sun. The Spitzer picture is composed of four images taken at 3.6 (blue), 4.5 (green), 5.8 (orange), and 8.0 (red) microns. The contribution from starlight (measured at 3.6 microns) has been subtracted from the 5.8 and 8-micron images to enhance the visibility of the dust features. The Hubble Heritage Team took these observations in May-June 2003 with the space telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Images were taken in three filters (red, green, and blue) to yield a natural-color image. The team took six pictures of the galaxy and then stitched them together to create the final composite image. This magnificent galaxy has a diameter that is nearly one-fifth the diameter of the full Moon.
Hubble Provide Complete View
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Title
Hubble Provide Complete View of Jupiter's Auroras
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. The Hubble telescope has captured a complete view of Jupiter's northern and southern auroras. Images taken in ultraviolet light show both auroras, the oval-shaped objects in the inset photos. The "curtains" of auroral light extend several hundred miles above the edge of Jupiter. Images of Earth's auroral curtains, taken from the space shuttle, have a similar appearance. Jupiter's auroras are viewed against a backdrop of the entire planet. The auroras are brilliant curtains of light in Jupiter's upper atmosphere. Jovian auroral storms, like Earth's, develop when electrically charged particles trapped in the magnetic field surrounding the planet spiral inward at high energies toward the north and south magnetic poles. When these particles hit the upper atmosphere, they excite atoms and molecules there, causing them to glow (the same process acting in street lights).
Saturn Stars in Three Hubble
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Title
Saturn Stars in Three Hubble Movies
Mars Exploration Rover
title
Mars Exploration Rover
date
12.15.2003
description
An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Two rovers, Spirit and Opportunitylanded on Mars in January 2004. Each has the mobility and toolkit to function as a robotic geologist. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL/Cornell University/Maas Digital
Hubble Finds a Bare Black Ho
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Title
Hubble Finds a Bare Black Hole Pouring Out Light
Saturn's Auroras
Description
Saturn's Auroras
Full Description
These images of Saturn's polar aurora were taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on Jan. 24, 26, and 28. Each of the three images of Saturn combines ultraviolet images of the south polar region (to show the auroral emissions) with visible wavelength images of the planet and rings. The Hubble images were obtained during a joint campaign with NASA's Cassini spacecraft to measure the solar wind approaching Saturn and the Saturn kilometric radio emissions. The strong brightening of the aurora on January 26 corresponded with the recent arrival of a large disturbance in the solar wind. These results are presented in three papers, which appear in the Feb. 17 issue of the journal Nature. *Credit:* NASA/Hubble/Z. Levay and J. Clarke
Date
February 16, 2005
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