NASA spacecraft detects ‘alien’ matter from beyond our solar system
The ‘interstellar material’ is the leftovers of older stars that have ended their lives in a supernova.
(via scinerds)
NASA spacecraft detects ‘alien’ matter from beyond our solar system
The ‘interstellar material’ is the leftovers of older stars that have ended their lives in a supernova.
(via scinerds)
Mars Exploration Family Portrait
Jason Davis put together this summary of the checkered history of Mars exploration with the cruise configurations of the landed missions are included in the circle surrounding Mars. The launch dates and summary of the fate of the spacecraft are listed for each mission.
High-Res: 3922×2886px (1.63 MB)
(via spaceandstuffidk)
The Juno spacecraft will investigate Jupiter’s origins, its interior structure, its deep atmosphere and its magnetosphere from an innovative, highly elliptical orbit with a suite of seven science instruments. In addition, a camera called JunoCam will be used by student participants in the Juno Education and Public Outreach program to take the first images of Jupiter’s polar regions.
via juno.wisc.edu
(via abcstarstuff)
Soyuz spacecraft
Juno Spacecraft to Carry Three Figurines to Jupiter Orbit
NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft will carry the 1.5-inch likeness of Galileo Galilei, the Roman god Jupiter and his wife Juno to Jupiter when the spacecraft launches this Friday, Aug. 5. The inclusion of the three mini-statues, or figurines, is part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Keep reading.
Juno Ready to Launch to Jupiter
The Juno spacecraft will soon be on its way to Jupiter on a mission to look deep beneath the planet’s swirling curtain of clouds to find out what lies beneath. The answer might confirm theories about how the solar system formed, or it may change everything we thought we knew.
“The special thing about Juno is we’re really looking at one of the first steps, the earliest time in our solar system’s history,” said Scott Bolton, the principal investigator for the Juno mission. “Right after the sun formed, what happened that allowed the planets to form and why are the planets a slightly different composition than the sun?”
Starting the 4-ton spacecraft on its five-year journey to the largest planet in the solar system is the job of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V equipped with five solid-fueled boosters. Even with that much power, Juno will still require a flyby of Earth to get up enough energy to swing out to Jupiter.
(via NASA)
(via xevilious)
Hayabusa spacecraft entering Earth’s atmosphere
(over an unpopulated area of central Australia on June 12, 2010)