Space Station’s Expandable Habitat

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is seen attached to the Tranquility module of the International Space Station. BEAM is an is an experimental expandable habitat. Expandable habitats, occasionally described as inflatable habitats, greatly decrease the amount of transport volume for future space missions. via NASA http://ift.tt/2dKqV2g

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cGKrYk

Testing the James Webb Space Telescope Pathfinder

In this photograph taken on Sept. 1, 2016, the James Webb Space Telescope Pathfinder structure has been configured for the Thermal Pathfinder Test at NASA Johnson Space Center’s giant thermal vacuum chamber, called Chamber A. The Pathfinder is a test version of the structure that supports the telescope. via NASA http://ift.tt/2dufZGQ

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2dxm8C0

‘Pandora’s Cluster’ Seen by Spitzer

This image of galaxy cluster Abell 2744, also called Pandora’s Cluster, was taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cWcwMr

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2d53aQC

Water Swirls, Gulf of St. Lawrence

Orbiting above eastern North America, a crew member on the International Space Station photographed a dense pattern of eddies in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Caught briefly in the Sun’s “glint point,” reflections off the water surface show an interlinked mass of swirls and eddies in the shallow water north of Prince Edward Island. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cAykkg

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cIBSQ0

Tectonically Active Planet Mercury

New NASA-funded research suggests that Mercury is contracting even today, joining Earth as a tectonically active planet. Images obtained by NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft reveal previously undetected small fault scarps— cliff-like landforms that resemble stair steps. via NASA http://ift.tt/2d3OfXI

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cwBHUw

Hubble Views a Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star

This star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, which formed a cocoon around the star’s remaining core. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cMFYGB

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2d5WGlp

Practicing Orion Spacecraft Recovery After Splashdown

A group of U.S. Navy divers, Air Force pararescuemen and Coast Guard rescue swimmers practice Orion underway recovery techniques in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to prepare for the first test flight of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft with the agency’s Space Launch System rocket during Exploration Mission (EM-1). via NASA http://ift.tt/2cZqSuR

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cZIG94

One Billion Base Pairs Sequenced on the Space Station

NASA astronaut Kate Rubins checks a sample for air bubbles prior to loading it in the biomolecule sequencer. When Rubins’ expedition began, zero base pairs of DNA had been sequenced in space. Within just a few weeks, she and the Biomolecule Sequencer team had sequenced their one billionth base of DNA aboard the orbiting laboratory. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cRwlW4

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2coT9iS

Space Station Flight Over the Southern Tip of Italy

The southern tip of Italy is visible in this image taken by the Expedition 49 crew aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 17, 2016. The brightly lit city of Naples can be seen in the bottom section of the image. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft can be seen in the foreground. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cAAbBy

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cOO4O5

Where the Small Moon Rules

Pan may be small as satellites go, but like many of Saturn’s ring moons, it has a has a very visible effect on the rings. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cCH3E7

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2d2gMKK

NASA’s IceBridge Observes Effects of Summer Melt on Greenland Ice Sheet

NASA’s IceBridge, an airborne survey of polar ice, flew over the Helheim/Kangerdlugssuaq region of Greenland on Sept. 11, 2016. This photograph from the flight captures Greenland’s Steenstrup Glacier, with the midmorning sun glinting off of the Denmark Strait in the background. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cOTwkk

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2d5MpX3

Infrared Echoes of a Black Hole Eating a Star

This illustration shows a glowing stream of material from a star, disrupted as it was being devoured by a supermassive black hole. The feeding black hole is surrounded by a ring of dust. This dust was previously illuminated by flares of high-energy radiation from the feeding black hole, and is now shown re-radiating some of that energy. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cIf9V1

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2d2Z50O

Sept. 14, 1966 – View From Gemini XI, 850 Miles Above the Earth

The western half of Australia, looking west, as seen from the Gemini XI spacecraft, 850 miles above the Earth on Sept. 14, 1966. Reaching this record-shattering altitude was a highlight of a demanding, three-day mission for Gemini XI command pilot Charles “Pete” Conrad and pilot Dick Gordon. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cttuTc

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cVpZsy

A Streamlined Form in Lethe Vallis, Mars

This image shows a portion of Lethe Vallis, an outflow channel that also transported lava. This is one of only a few places on Mars where these pristine-appearing landforms have been identified. The channel formed by catastrophic floods, during which it produced the prominent crater-cored, teardrop-shaped island in the middle. via NASA http://ift.tt/2c6qZ6U

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2ciUlFz

At Hangar, Raptors Find Shelter from the Storm

As Tropical Storm Hermine charged up the East Coast Sept. 2, the hangar at NASA Langley was able to carefully sandwich in more than a dozen Air Force fighters and offer them protection from the wind. The hangar provides 85,200 square feet (7,915 square meters) of open space and large door dimensions that allow for entry of big aircraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cQVL62

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cTtA9h

Hubble Peers into the Storm

Hubble sees a maelstrom of glowing gas and dark dust within one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, the Large Magellanic Cloud. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cfZtVm

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cIoYA9

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Mission Launch

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. via NASA http://ift.tt/2cHNiEK

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2cyeiDx