Nasa

At 67, Don Pettit is NASA’s oldest active astronaut. During three trips to the International Space Station (ISS) — in 2002, 2008, and 2011 — Pettit earned a reputation as a highly skilled photographer who created extraordinary images of the ISS, Earth, and beyond. Pettit, who describes himself as “an engineer by schooling, a scientist by profession, and an explorer by heart,” continues to share his amazing pictures on Twitter and Instagram, wowing his many followers on the social media platforms. Check out this one, for example, captured during ISS Expedition 30, a six-month mission that began in December 2011. Shared on Twitter on Sunday, the image features star trails over Earth. Another of my favorite star trails. These typically are 15-30 stacked shorter exposures yielding a total exposure of 20-30 minutes. The darkest part of orbital night lasts about 30 minutes, so that is the longest effective time exposure I can make. pic.twitter.com/Z2mqFHxnR3 — Don … [Read more...] about Amazing space images by NASA’s oldest active astronaut | Digital Trends

NASA has announced it will not be making any further attempts to latch the solar array of its Lucy spacecraft, at least for now. Launched in October 2021 on a mission to visit the Trojan asteroids in the orbit of Jupiter, Lucy had problems deploying one of its two circular arrays, and various attempts to address the issue over the past year have not managed to fix the problem entirely. However, NASA says that the spacecraft should be able to operate on its mission as planned. The two arrays needed to be folded up while the spacecraft was launched, then deployed in a clock-like manner once the vehicle was in space. One of the arrays deployed as planned, but the other one failed to unfurl all of the way, and so did not latch into place. Engineers managed to deploy the array most of the way by using two motors to tug hard on the lanyard that pulled the array into place. That got the array deployed to between 353 and 357 degrees open out of a total of 360 degrees. However, the team … [Read more...] about NASA won’t keep trying to latch Lucy’s stuck solar array | Digital Trends

With new tools like the James Webb Space Telescope , we’re discovering more exoplanets than ever and even peering into their atmospheres . Now, NASA is asking for the public’s help in learning more about some of the exoplanets that have already been detected in a citizen science program called Exoplanet Watch . “With Exoplanet Watch you can learn how to observe exoplanets and do data analysis using software that actual NASA scientists use,” said Rob Zellem, the creator of Exoplanet Watch and an astrophysicist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement . “We’re excited to show more people how exoplanet science is really done.” The Exoplanet Watch project has two parts, one involving observing for those who have access to a telescope, and one involving identifying exoplanets in existing data. Even if you don’t have access to equipment other than a computer or smartphone, you can still help in learning about exoplanets by requesting access to data collected by … [Read more...] about NASA is asking for your help to study exoplanets | Digital Trends

A briefcase-sized satellite on its way to the moon is experiencing difficulties with its thrusters. NASA’s Lunar Flashlight spacecraft is a small uncrewed satellite designed to search the moon’s south pole for surface ice using near-infrared lasers. Launched in December last year using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the satellite was deployed along with a private Japanese moon mission which includes a rover built by the UAE. Lunar Flashlight is still on its way to the moon as part of its four-month planned journey, however, the thruster issue could impede its progress. The plan is for it to enter an orbit called a near-rectilinear halo orbit, an efficient lunar orbit that requires little fuel to maintain. NASA announced that three of the spacecraft’s four thrusters are currently “underperforming,” leading to reduced thrust. Although the spacecraft is still in communication with Earth via the Deep Space Network and is otherwise healthy, the thruster issue could make it difficult for … [Read more...] about NASA’s Lunar Flashlight mission hindered by thruster issue | Digital Trends

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has been on Mars for almost two years and the high-tech contraption is still in good enough shape to get airborne. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the NASA unit overseeing the latest Mars mission that also includes the Perseverance rover, tweeted a GIF (below) showing the view from Ingenuity as it buzzed above the martian surface on Wednesday, January 11. #MarsHelicopter keeps exploring the Martian skies! pic.twitter.com/vnKq2uH4n2 — NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) January 12, 2023 During Ingenuity’s 39th flight, the aircraft stayed in the air for around 79 seconds. It flew a distance of 460 feet (140.25 meters) and reached an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) before returning to its launch location. Ingenuity didn’t break any records during its latest flight, nor did it perform any particular tasks, but it confirmed to JPL operators that the plucky machine is still in excellent working order and all set for further missions to assist … [Read more...] about Mars helicopter keeps on flying as it approaches anniversary | Digital Trends