Derek Smith’s Post

Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the ONLY MOON in the solar system with its own intrinsic global magnetic field. It's also got a salt water ocean sandwiched between normal ice on top and "heavy ice" below. Europe's JUICE spacecraft is on its way there right now to study it! Because Ganymede has about the same gravity as our own Moon, you can FEEL what it would be like to be on Ganymede when you book a moon- and zero-gravity flight with Zero-G using the promo code KirbyPlanex - that saves you 5% and allows us to connect over Zoom for your Planetary Gravity Tour preflight briefing! (image credit: NASA)

NASA is set to provide live coverage of the Europa Clipper launch to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which is expected to take place on Thursday, October 10 at 12:31 p.m. EDT. Europa Clipper is considered one of the solar system's most promising potentially habitable environments beyond Earth. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission and carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa's surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth's oceans. More about the mission, visit https://lnkd.in/gKs3hveV #EuropaClipper and hashtag #NASASocial.

As a reminder, print copies of History Office publications are available for free (while supplies last) through the NASA Information Center (info-center@hq.nasa.gov). There is no charge for shipping, though we can only send to U.S. and Canadian addresses. The IC cannot ship overseas. In addition to Susan Niebur's, "NASA's Discovery Program: The First 20 Years of Competitive Planetary Exploration", the currently available titles are : *NACA to NASA to Now *Not Yet Imagined: A Study of Hubble Space Telescope Operations *A History of Near-Earth Objects Research *The Wind and Beyond, vol. III: Other Paths Other Flyways

NASA's Europa Clipper mission has successfully launched to explore Jupiter's moon, Europa, which might have conditions suitable for life. After some delays, the spacecraft is now on its way to study the moon's ocean beneath a thick layer of ice. This mission is important because it could help answer the big question Can Europa support life? With large solar panels and advanced instruments, Europa Clipper will collect information about the moon's ocean, core, and atmosphere, helping us learn more about places beyond Earth. This mission shows the power of curiosity and determination to uncover the unknown.

Perseverance views Phobos transit (2024) | NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture the silhouette of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as it passed in front of the Sun on Feb. 8, 2024. This is one of several transits of Phobos that NASA's Mars rovers have captured. By comparing the various recordings, scientists can refine their understanding of the potato-shaped moon's orbit, learning how it's changing. Eons from now, Phobos' orbit is expected to eventually send the moon toward the Red Planet's surface. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/SSI

February was full of NASA news and celebrations! As neighbors of Johnson Space Center, we love sharing our favorite monthly NASA highlights! NASA February Highlights: Feb. 1 - NASA celebrates and honors Black astronauts throughout February! From Robert H. Lawrence to Jessica A. Watkins, it's important to recognize these contributions to space travel from Black astronauts. Feb 15. - NASA launches a Space X Falcon 9 Rocket to the moon! The rocket was carrying a Nova-C lunar lander which will collect data about everyone's favorite moon! Feb 22. - Intuitive Machines' Odysseus Nova-C landed on the moon successfully! This is the first time the United States has landed on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Feb 28. - From February 28th to April 30th, NASA is hosting a "Dream with Us Design Challenge" for teens between 13 and 18. The design challenge is meant to generate ideas that will help reduce natural disaster risks and assist after they've occurred. Which update was your favorite? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for our next NASA update! #nasa #nasaupdates

NASA Rockets Set to Probe the Moon's Shadow During the Upcoming Eclipse... As the Moon wedges itself between Earth and Sun, temporarily dimming the day’s light over parts of our planet, three rockets will take to the skies to observe how those brief moments of darkness affect Earth’s upper atmosphere. On April 8, NASA will launch three sounding rockets from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study the disturbances in the ionosphere during the solar eclipse. The rockets will launch at three different times; 45 minutes before, during, and 45 minutes after the peak time of the eclipse, according to NASA. #technology#NASA#solarsystem#solareclipse

What was the one mistake that created a lot of problems? The one famous mistake cost the NASA 125$ million in 1999. NASA commissioned (LMA) Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver to design and build the Mars Climate Orbiter. LMA did a good job but furnished the data in English (now Imperial) system of units. NASA followed the metric system. And they forgot to convert the units. The problem apparently remained undetected in the orbiter’s 9-month journey to Mars. However, the errors accumulated when it entered the Martian orbit and it crashed. To be specific, the unit by LMA calculated impulse by thruster in pound-seconds. The software to compute the trajectory was NASA’s and they were expecting the results in newton-seconds and assumed the lbf values as such. Newton (N) and pound force (lbf) are both units of force. Newton is the standard SI unit for force, lbf is an English unit. 1kg mass on the surface of the earth at sea level is = 2.2 lbf = 9.8N Source: https://lnkd.in/dT77PyaY

NASA is set to provide live coverage of the Europa Clipper launch to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, which is expected to take place on Thursday, October 10 at 12:31 p.m. EDT. Europa Clipper is considered one of the solar system's most promising potentially habitable environments beyond Earth. After an approximately 1.8-billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper will enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030, where the spacecraft will conduct a detailed survey of Europa to determine whether the icy world could have conditions suitable for life. Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission and carries a suite of nine instruments along with a gravity experiment that will investigate an ocean beneath Europa's surface, which scientists believe contains twice as much liquid water as Earth's oceans. More about the mission, visit https://lnkd.in/gKs3hveV #EuropaClipper and #NASASocial.

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, headed to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon Europa in October 2024, will carry a laser-etched message that celebrates humanity’s connection to water. The message pays homage to past NASA missions that carried similar messages. As the president of Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence, or METI, International, I helped design the message on Clipper with two fellow members of our board of directors: linguists Sheri Wells-Jensen and Laura Buszard-Welcher. METI International is a scientific organization dedicated to transmitting powerful radio messages to extraterrestrial life. - - - #NASA #Space #spaceze #moon #spaceship #spacex #spacestation #universe #astronomy #astronaut #stars #spaceshuttle #explore