STS-30 Atlantis, OV-104, Lifts Off from KSC LC Pad 39B
date
05.08.1989
description
Moments after space shuttle main engine (SSME) and solid rocket booster (SRB) ignition, STS-30 Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, rises above mobile launcher platform at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39B before clearing launch tower. Exhaust plumes billow from the SRBs as an exhaust cloud surrounds LC Pad 39B. Launch occurred at 2:46:58 pm (Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). *Image Credit*: NASA
Ulysses Launch
title
Ulysses Launch
date
10.06.1990
description
The Space Shuttle Discovery hurtles into space as sister ship Columbia looks on from Launch Pad 39A. Discovery lifted off from pad 39B at 7:47 a.m. EDT, Oct. 6. Columbia will be moved to the vacated pad 39B where it will undergo testing to pinpoint the source of a liquid hydrogen leak. Discovery is carrying a crew of five and the Ulysses solar explorer as it embarks on mission STS-41, a four-day flight. *Image Credit*: NASA
Jupiter Bound
title
Jupiter Bound
date
10.18.1989
description
The Space Shuttle Atlantis - carrying the Galileo orbiter and atmospheric probe - lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on Oct. 18, 1989. *Image Credit*: NASA
Columbia Liftoff
title
Columbia Liftoff
date
04.12.1981
description
Space Shuttle Columbia liftoff from Complex 39A during the first launch of the space shuttle. *Image Credit*: NASA
NASA Unveils 50th Anniversar
…
title
NASA Unveils 50th Anniversary Logo
date
09.13.2007
description
Deputy Administrator Shana Dale unveiled the agency's anniversary logo Thursday in a ceremony at WIRED Magazine's annual NextFest [ http://www.wirednextfest.com/ ] in Los Angeles. NASA's "birthday" is October 1, 1958. Recent shuttle astronauts and future NASA technology are also in the spotlight at NextFest, which features the latest innovations in products and technologies in many areas where NASA plays a leading role. Dale and astronaut Scott Kelly introduced the space shuttle's STS-118 crew, including mission specialist and former educator Barbara Morgan, at NextFest opening ceremonies earlier Thursday. Morgan and the other crew members of the STS-118 mission will sign autographs throughout NextFest in the Exploration Pavilion. Deputy Administrator Dale also participated in an announcement regarding the X PRIZE Foundation at the X PRIZE stage. Other NASA technology on display: * A four foot model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/wavefront.html ]. The observatory is designed to study the faint light from objects at the farthest reaches of space and time and is targeted for launch in 2013. * A 3-D panorama of Mars * Demonstrations of the all-terrain technology in the current Mars rovers. [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mer/index.html ] * Information about experimental rovers that are helping scientists learn how robots could evaluate potential outposts on the moon or Mars. * An infrared video camera and monitor on display by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/SOFIA/index.html ] mission. It reveals remarkable temperature changes in the infrared spectrum on the faces of visitor volunteers. * An interactive assembly project featuring Constellation [ http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html ], NASA's next generation of human spacecraft.
Patagonian Ice Fields
title
Patagonian Ice Fields
date
04.14.1994
description
This pair of images illustrates the ability of multi-parameter radar imaging sensors such as the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-band Synthetic Aperture radar to detect climate- related changes on the Patagonian ice fields in the Andes Mountains of Chile and Argentina. The images show nearly the same area of the south Patagonian ice field as it was imaged during two space shuttle flights in 1994 that were conducted five-and-a-half months apart. The images, centered at 49.0 degrees south latitude and 73.5 degrees west longitude, include several large outlet glaciers. The images were acquired by SIR-C/X-SAR on board the space shuttle Endeavour during April and October 1994. The top image was acquired on April 14, 1994, at 10:46 p.m. local time, while the bottom image was acquired on October 5,1994, at 10:57 p.m. local time. Both were acquired during the 77th orbit of the space shuttle. The area shown is approximately 100 kilometers by 58 kilometers (62 miles by 36 miles) with north toward the upper right. The colors in the images were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received), green represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received), blue represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and vertically received). The overall dark tone of the colors in the central portion of the April image indicates that the interior of the ice field is covered with thick wet snow. The outlet glaciers, consisting of rough bare ice, are the brightly colored yellow and purple lobes which terminate at calving fronts into the dark waters of lakes and fiords. During the second mission the temperatures were colder and the corresponding change in snow and ice conditions is readily apparent by comparing the images. The interior of the ice field is brighter because of increased radar return from the dryer snow. The distinct green/orange boundary on the ice field indicates an abrupt change in the structure of the snowcap, a direct indication of the steep meteorological gradients known to exist in this region. The bluer color of the outlet glaciers is probably due to a thin snow cover. A portion of the terminus of the outlet glacier at the top left center of the images has advanced approximately 600 meters (1,970 feet) in the five-and-a-half months between the two missions. Because of the persistent cloud cover this observation was only possible by using the orbiting, remote imaging radar system. P-45740
Manicouagan Reservoir
title
Manicouagan Reservoir
description
Located in a rugged, heavily timbered area of the Canadian Shield in Quebec Province, Manicouagan Reservoir is impressive in this low-oblique, west-looking photograph. The reservoir, a large annular lake, marks the site of an impact crater 100 kilometers wide. Formed almost 212 million years ago when a large meteorite hit Earth, the crater has been worn down by many advances and retreats of glaciers and other processes of erosion. The reservoir is drained at its south end by the Manicouagan River, which flows from the reservoir and empties into the Saint Lawrence River nearly 483 kilometers south. *Note*: The tail fin visible on the lower left side of the image belongs to the Space Shuttle Columbia. It was taken during a 10-day mission in November-December 1983. *Image Credit*: NASA
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.
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
Space Shuttle Main Engine Te
…
Title
Space Shuttle Main Engine Test Firing
Full Description
A cloud of extremely hot steam boils out of the flame deflector at the A-1 test stand during a test firing of a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Hancock County, Mississippi.
Date
01/01/1988
NASA Center
Stennis Space Center
Mars Exploration Rover terra
…
Kathryn Sullivan
title
Kathryn Sullivan
date
07.01.1979
description
An unofficial sustained American aviation altitude record for women was set July 1, 1979, by astronaut candidate Kathryn D. Sullivan in a NASA WB-57F reconnaissance aircraft. The record altitude of 63,300 feet was reached during a four-hour flight. Sullivan, in a high altitude pressure suit, operated color infrared cameras and multispectral scanning equipment as the WB-57F spent one and one-half hours of the Big Bend area of West Texas. Piloting the aircraft was Jim Korkowski, one of the NASA Airborne Instrumentation Research Program Pilots. The flight was out of Ellington AFB near Houston. Sullivan, who has a doctorate in geology, was selected in 1978 as one of 35 astronaut candidates training for the Shuttle program. She trained to be a mission specialist and flights in the WB-57F were training in preparation for her assignments on the Shuttle. Sullivan later served as a mission specialist on STS-41G, STS-31, and STS-45. *Image Credit*: NASA
Sagan and Viking
title
Sagan and Viking
description
Famous for his television series "Cosmos," Dr. Carl Sagan poses with a model of the Viking lander in Death Valley, Calif. *Image Credit*: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Dwarfed by Storms
Description
Dwarfed by Storms
Full Description
Tiny Mimas is dwarfed by a huge white storm and dark waves on the edge of a cloud band in Saturn's atmosphere. Although the east-west winds on Saturn are stronger than on Earth or even Jupiter, the contrast in appearance between these zones is more muted, and the departures of the wind speeds from east to west are lower. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Sept. 25, 2004, at a distance of 7.8 million kilometers (4.8 million miles) from Saturn through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 727 nanometers. The image scale is 46 kilometers (29 miles) per pixel. 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 Cassini-Huygens 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 team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Image Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
A Real Shiner
Description
A Real Shiner
Full Description
Saturn's moon Rhea shows off the moon equivalent of a black eye -- a bright, rayed crater near its eastern limb. Rhea is about half the size of Earth's moon. At 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across, it is the second-largest moon orbiting Saturn. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Oct. 24, 2004, at a distance of about 1.7 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 40 degrees. The image scale is approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. Cassini will image this hemisphere of Rhea again in mid-January 2005, just after the Huygens probe landing on Titan - with approximately 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) resolution. 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 Cassini-Huygens 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 team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Image Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
General Description
STS-93 Shuttle Mission Imagery
At a special presentation in
…
Description
At a special presentation in the IMAX 2 Theater in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, KSC and 45th Space Wing employees share the honors as recipients of the Hammer Award. The Hammer Award is Vice President Al Gore's special recognition of teams of federal employees who have made significant contributions in support of the principles of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government. Morley Winograd, director of the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, presented the award to Ed Gormel and Chris Fairey, co-chairs of the Joint Base Operations and Support Contract (J-BOSC) Source Evaluation Board (SEB. This Hammer Award acknowledges the accomplishments of a joint NASA and Air Force team that established the J-BOSC SEB. The team developed and implemented the acquisition strategy for establishing a single set of base operations and support service requirements for KSC, Cape Canaveral Air Station and Patrick Air Force Base
Release Date
07/16/1999
Mars Laser Communication Dem
…
PIA07499
Title
Mars Laser Communication Demonstration, Artist's Concept
Original Caption Released with Image
This illustration depicts a concept for operation of an optical communications system on NASA's Mars Telecommunications Orbiter. The orbiter is in development for launch in September 2009 with a payload including the spacecraft terminal of the Mars Laser Communication Demonstration Project. This project will also include an Earth-based terminal for two-way, high-data-rate communication using infrared light. The orbiter's primary communications with Earth will use radio frequencies. The laser demonstration is intended to build experience for use in decisions about possible use of optical communications by later missions.
Mars Science Laboratory Usin
…
PIA09202
Title
Mars Science Laboratory Using Laser Instrument, Artist's Concept
Original Caption Released with Image
This artist's conception of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory portrays use of the rover's ChemCam instrument to identify the chemical composition of a rock sample on the surface of Mars. ChemCam is innovative for planetary exploration in using a technique referred to as laser breakdown spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of samples from distances of up to about 8 meters (25 feet) away. ChemCam is led by a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France. Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch opportunity in 2009. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Mars Science Laboratory Usin
…
title
Mars Science Laboratory Using Laser Instrument, Artist's Concept
Description
This artist's conception of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory portrays use of the rover's ChemCam instrument to identify the chemical composition of a rock sample on the surface of Mars. ChemCam is innovative for planetary exploration in using a technique referred to as laser breakdown spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of samples from distances of up to about 8 meters (25 feet) away. ChemCam is led by a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France. Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch opportunity in 2009. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
In Search of Landing Sites o
…
title
In Search of Landing Sites on Mars
Description
Planetary scientists have long been excited about the prospect of one day exploring the "grand canyon" of Mars. Valles Marineris is a chasm vastly larger than Earth's Grand Canyon that also has many layers of rock that serve as windows into the past. A corner of Valles Marineris known as Melas Chasma is one of 36 potential landing sites being considered for the next robotic wanderer to the red planet, the Mars Science Laboratory, to be launched in 2009. But because Mars exploration is risky, NASA's planetary explorers are very careful about selecting a safe place to land. The proposed site is perched in a basin that rises above the canyon floor as high as a 4,000-foot mountain on Earth. Images such as this one from NASA's Odyssey orbiter help mission planners get a closer look. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
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