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Hurricanes and Space

The United States had a rough hurricane season this year. Scientists collect information before and during hurricanes to understand the storms and help people stay safe. However, collecting information during a violent storm is very difficult. Hurricanes are constantly changing. This means that we need a lot of really precise data about the storm. It’s pretty hard to learn about hurricanes while inside the storm, and instruments on the ground can be broken by high winds and flooding. One solution is to study hurricanes from above. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationcan use satellites to keep an eye on storms that are difficult to study on the ground. In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria was so strong that it knocked out radar before it even hit land. Radar can be used to predict a storm’s path and intensity – and without radar, it is difficult to tell how intense a storm will be. Luckily, scientists were able to use information from a weather satellite called GOES-16, short for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16. The “G” in GOES-16 stands for geostationary. This means that the satellite is always above the same place on Earth, so during Hurricane Maria, it never lost sight of the storm. GOES-16’s job as a weather satellite hasn’t officially started yet, but it was collecting information and was able to help. From 22,000 miles above Earth, GOES-16 watched Hurricane Maria, and kept scientists on the ground up to date. Knowing where a storm is – and what it’s doing – can help keep people safe and get help to the people that need it. Hurricanes can also have a huge impact on the environment – even after they’re gone. To learn about how Hurricane Irma affected the Florida coast, scientists used images from an environmental satellite called Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi-NPP. One of the instruments on this satellite, called VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), took pictures of Florida before and after the hurricane. Hurricane Irma was so big and powerful that it moved massive amounts of dirt, water and pollution. The information captured by VIIRS can tell scientists how and where these particles are moving in the water. This can help with recovery efforts and help us design better ways to prepare for hurricanes in the future. By using satellites like GOES-16 and Suomi-NPP to observe severe storms, researchers and experts stay up to date in a safe and fast way. The more we know about hurricanes, the more effectively we can protect people and the environment from them in the future. To learn more about hurricanes, check out NASA Space Place: spaceplace.nasa.gov

Space Place

Spooky in Space: NASA Images

Have you ever seen a cloud that looks sort of like a rabbit? Or maybe a rock formation that looks a bit like an elephant? Although you know that a cloud isn’t really a giant rabbit in the sky, it’s still fun to look for patterns in images from nature. Can you spot some familiar spooky sites in the space images below? This might look like the grinning face of a jack-o’-lantern, but it’s actually a picture of our sun! In this image, taken by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, the glowing eyes, nose and mouth are some of the sun’s active regions. These regions give off lots of light and energy, which causes them to appear brighter against the rest of the sun. Active regions are constantly changing locations on the sun. On the day this image was captured, they just happened to look like a face! This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of Jupiter. Do you notice something that looks like a big eye peeking back at you? That’s the shadow of Jupiter’s moon Ganymede as it passed in front of the planet’s Great Red Spot. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a gigantic, oval-shaped storm that is larger than Earth and is shrinking. It has been on Jupiter for several hundred years, and its winds can swirl up to 400 miles per hour! Can you see the profile of a witch in this image? This image from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer shows the Witch Head nebula. The nebula is made up of clouds of dust heated by starlight. These dust clouds are where new stars are born. Here, the dust clouds happen to be in the shape of an open mouth, long nose and pointy chin. The Black Widow Nebula looks like a giant spider in space. It is a huge cloud of gas and dust containing massive young stars. Radiation and winds from these stars push the dust and gas around, creating a spider-like shape. This image is from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. To learn some fun planet facts and make a planet mask, check out NASA Space Place!: spaceplace.nasa.gov/planet-masks

Space Place

Nasa Space Place | Cassini Says Goodbye

Cassini Says Goodbye Teagan Wall On Sept. 15, the Cassini spacecraft began its final mission. It started its dive into the planet Saturn, where it will gather information and send it back to Earth for as long as possible. During the dive, it will eventually burn up in the atmosphere, much like a meteor. Cassini’s original mission was supposed to last four years, but it has now been orbiting Saturn for more than 13 years! The spacecraft has seen and discovered so many things in that time. In 2010, Cassini saw a massive storm in Saturn’s northern hemisphere. During this storm, scientists learned that Saturn’s atmosphere has water vapor, which rose to the surface. Cassini also looked at the giant storm at Saturn’s north pole. This storm is shaped like a hexagon. NASA used pictures and other data from Cassini to learn how the storm got its six-sided shape. Cassini also looked at some of Saturn’s moons, such as Titan and Enceladus. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon. Cassini carried a lander to Titan. The lander, called Huygens, parachuted from Cassini down to the surface of the moon. It turns out, Titan is quite an exciting place! It has seas, rivers, lakes and rain. This means that in some ways, Titan’s landscape looks a bit like Earth. However, its seas and rivers aren’t made of water — they’re made of a chemical called methane. Cassini also helped us learn that Saturn’s moon Enceladus is covered in ice. Underneath the ice is a giant liquid ocean that covers the whole moon. Tall geysers from this ocean spray out of cracks in the ice and into space, like a giant sneeze. Cassini flew through one of these geysers. We learned that Enceladus’ ocean is made of very salty water, along with some of the chemicals that living things need. If there is life on Enceladus, NASA scientists don’t want life from Earth getting mixed in. Tiny living things may have hitched a ride on Cassini when it left Earth. If these germs are still alive and they land on Enceladus, they could grow and spread. We want to protect Enceladus so that if we find life, we can be sure it didn’t come from Earth. This idea is called planetary protection. Scientists worry that when Cassini runs out of fuel, it could crash into Titan or Enceladus. So years ago, they came up with a plan to prevent that from happening. Cassini will complete its exploration by diving into Saturn — on purpose. The spacecraft will burn up and become part of the planet it explored. During its final plunge, Cassini will tell us more about Saturn’s atmosphere and protect the moons at the same time. What an exciting way to say goodbye! To learn more about Saturn, check out NASA Space Place.

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Space Place October 2020

On Aug. 21, the sky darkened, the temperature dropped and all 50 United States were able to see the moon pass — at least partially — in front of the sun. It’s a solar eclipse! A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, casting its shadow on Earth. Sometimes the moon only covers up part of the sun. That is called a partial solar eclipse. When the moon covers up the sun completely, it’s called a total solar eclipse. As our planet rotates, the moon’s shadow moves across Earth’s surface. The path of the inner part of this shadow, where the moon totally covers the Sun, is called the path of totality. NASA scientists used this eclipse to study our sun. During a total solar eclipse, we can see the sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. Usually the sun is so bright that we can’t see the corona. However, when the moon blocks out most of the sun’s light, we can get a glimpse of the corona. The surface of the sun is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but the corona is much hotter. It’s about 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. The eclipse gives NASA researchers the chance to learn more about why the corona is so hot. In fact, while the eclipse only lasted about two to three minutes in one place, scientists have found a way to have more time to study it. NASA used two research jets to chase the eclipse as it crossed the country. The jets flew very high and spent seven minutes in the shadow of the moon. Researchers used jets to help look for small explosions called nanoflares on the sun. These nanoflares may help to explain the corona’s extreme heat. The eclipse was a fun reminder of our place in the solar system, and how much we still have to learn. This article is provided by NASA Space Place. With articles, activities, crafts, games and lesson plans, NASA Space Place encourages everyone to get excited about science and technology. Visit spaceplace.nasa.gov to explore space and Earth science!

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Space Place September 2020

On July 4, 1997, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder landed on the surface of Mars. It landed in an ancient flood plain that is now dry and covered with rocks. Pathfinder’s mission was to study the Martian climate, atmosphere and geology. At the same time, the mission also tested lots of new technologies. For example, the Pathfinder mission tried a brand-new way of landing on Mars. After speeding into the Martian atmosphere, Pathfinder used a parachute to slow down and drift toward the surface of the Red Planet. Before landing, Pathfinder inflated huge airbags around itself. The spacecraft released its parachute and dropped to the ground, bouncing on its airbags about 15 times. After Pathfinder came to a stop, the airbags deflated. Before Pathfinder, spacecraft had to use lots of fuel to slow down for a safe landing on another planet. Pathfinder’s airbags allowed engineers to use and store less fuel for the landing. This made the mission less expensive. After seeing the successful Pathfinder landing, future missions used this airbag technique, too! Pathfinder had two parts: a lander that stayed in one place, and a wheeled rover that could move around. The Pathfinder lander had special instruments to study Martian weather. These instruments measured air temperature, pressure and winds. The measurements helped us better understand the climate of Mars. The lander also had a camera for taking images of the Martian landscape. The lander sent back more than 16,000 pictures of Mars. Its last signal was sent to Earth on Sept. 27, 1997. The Pathfinder lander was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Carl Sagan was a well-known astronomer and science educator. Pathfinder also carried the very first rover to Mars. This remotely-controlled rover was about the size of a microwave oven and was called Sojourner. It was named to honor Sojourner Truth, who fought for African-American and women’s rights. Two days after Pathfinder landed, Sojourner rolled onto the surface of Mars. Sojourner gathered data on Martian rocks and soil. The rover also carried cameras. In the three months that Sojourner operated on Mars, the rover took more than 550 photos! Pathfinder helped us learn how to better design missions to Mars. It gave us valuable new information on the Martian climate and surface. Together, these things helped lay the groundwork for future missions to Mars.

Space Place

Space Place – August 2020

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM LIGHT? By Teagan Wall When you look up at the night sky and see stars, what you’re seeing is light produced by those stars many years ago. Because this is how we study the stars, it helps to know a few cool things about light. For example, light always travels at a constant speed, called the speed of light. It doesn’t matter if the star giving off light is moving towards us or away from us. This is different than most things. Think of riding a skateboard while throwing a baseball. If the skateboard is moving toward the target when you throw the ball, the speed of the skateboard and the speed of the thrown ball combine. This means that the ball travels faster than it would have if you just threw the ball while standing still. But, if the skateboard is traveling away from the target when you throw the ball, the ball travels slower than it would have if you threw it while standing still. With light, though, it doesn’t matter how fast the skateboard is moving; the light will always travel at the same speed. Another fun fact about light is that it is made out of waves kind of like the waves in the ocean — and those waves can come in different frequencies. The frequency measures how many peaks of a wave pass a certain point within a set amount of time. To understand how this works, think of a beach. If only one wave washes up on shore every minute, that’s pretty slow, or a low frequency. If one wave washes up every second, that’s more frequent. We’d say that those waves have a higher frequency. With light, the frequency determines the color or type of light. We can see the colors of the rainbow: red through violet. Red is low frequency light and violet is higher frequency. There are also types of light that we can’t see that have a higher or lower frequency than the waves of visual light. We can use special telescopes to “see” these types of light coming from space, too! And these telescopes help N

Space Place

Space Place – July 2020

GETTING A BOOST FROM GRAVITY By Linda Hermans-Killiam It takes a lot of fuel to escape Earth’s gravity. The more a spacecraft weighs, the more fuel rockets need to launch them. Spacecraft also have to carry fuel to help them travel through space. Every bit of fuel adds weight and cost to space missions. Fortunately, there is a way to help spacecraft travel around the solar system without using much fuel. How is this done? Through a clever maneuver called a gravity assist! With gravity assist, a spacecraft aimed at a faraway destination first flies close to a nearby planet. When the spacecraft gets close, the planet’s gravity causes it to fall faster and faster until it reaches its closest point to the planet. After that, it keeps going and slows down because of the planet’s gravity. However, the planet’s own motion and its gravity have changed the spacecraft’s speed and direction. In this way, gravity assist can help a spacecraft speed up or slow down by thousands of miles per hour! In 1974, Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to use gravity assist to reach another planet. It flew by Venus to reduce its speed so it could go on to Mercury. The Voyager 2 spacecraft used a gravity assist from Jupiter to propel it towards Saturn. It then used gravity from Saturn to get to Uranus and then used Uranus to get to Neptune. More recently, New Horizons used a gravity assist from Jupiter to reach Pluto in much less time than a direct flight from Earth. By using gravity assist, spacecraft can also visit asteroids and comets. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will fly by Earth in September 2020. It will get a gravity assist from Earth to propel it towards asteroid Bennu. It will gather a sample from the asteroid in 2020 and return it to Earth. Large moons can also help with gravity assists. NASA’s Galileo spacecraft used gravity assists from Jupiter’s large moons to visit other moons. The Cassini probe used gravity assists from Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. This helped it travel among the other moons and rings of Saturn. These are just a few examples of missions that have used gravity assist. Future missions will continue to use this clever method for traveling through space. We may have to fight gravity to get into space, but we can work with it to explore the solar system. Learn more about gravity! Visit the NASA Space Place: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-isgravity

Space Place

Orbiting Earth From Pole To Pole

Did you know that when you check the weather on your phone or watch your local weather forecaster on TV, you’re actually looking at information from a faraway satellite? In 2020, a new satellite will be launched that will give us a better understanding of Earth’s climate and environment. It is part of a mission called the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). JPSS is a collaboration between NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). JPSS actually includes five satellites that will be placed in polar orbits around Earth. These satellites will use the latest advanced instruments to observe our Earth. The JPSS satellites will also collect information about Earth’s weather, the oceans and our atmosphere. When a satellite orbits over the North and South Poles, we say it’s in a polar orbit. As the satellite orbits the Earth from pole to pole, Earth spins below. This allows the satellite to view different parts of the earth. The polar orbits of the JPSS satellites will let them observe the entire earth twice each day. The five JPSS satellites will be launched at di erent times. The first one, called Suomi-NPP, was launched in 2011. It is about the size of a mini-van, and it orbits Earth about 14 times each day. It will soon be joined by JPSS-1 in 2020. JPSS- 2, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 are planned to launch in 2020, 2026 and 2031. That way, when one stops working, we have another one ready to take over and get data! The JPSS satellites will measure land and sea surface temperatures. They will also monitor storms, sea and land ice, cloud cover, rainfall, snow, ozone and water vapor. The satellites will also observe the health of vegetation, and they can even monitor ship traffic! JPSS will increase the accuracy of weather forecasting. This will help people better prepare for severe weather. These satellites will also monitor fires, droughts, floods and volcanic eruptions. Data from JPSS will give us information which will help protect people’s lives and property. JPSS will continue to provide these important observations of Earth through 2038, giving us a better understanding of our planet.

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Space Place – April 2020

Dwarf Planets: What Are They? By the name, you might think that a dwarf planet is just a small planet. But that’s not quite true! Like planets, dwarf planets have a rounded shape and orbit our sun. They don’t orbit anything other than the sun, so they’re not moons. However, there is one major di erence between planets and dwarf planets: dwarf planets have not cleared other objects out of their orbits. This means they share their orbits with other things, such as asteroids. They don’t have enough mass to knock these objects out of the way. So far, there are ve known dwarf planets in our solar system: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris. The smallest and closest to Earth is Ceres. It’s the largest object in the asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter. In 2015, NASA’s Dawn mission went into orbit around Ceres. It took many thousands of photos and mapped the dwarf planet’s surface. Ceres is made up of rock and ice and salt. It is the only known dwarf planet without a moon. Pluto is the largest dwarf planet and has five known moons. However, it is only about two-thirds the diameter of our moon. In 2015, NASA’s New Horizons mission traveled over three billion miles to reach Pluto. It took thousands of images of Pluto’s surface and studied its composition. We discovered that Pluto is a fascinating world, covered with mountains and craters. It also has ice and a huge glacier made of nitrogen. Far beyond Pluto lie the dwarf planets Haumea, Makemake and Eris. They are so far away and were discovered so recently that no spacecraft has visited them yet. Haumea is shaped like an egg and rotates very fast. It spins around once every four hours. Haumea has two known moons. Astronomers think it is made of rock with a covering of ice. It is about 60 percent the size of Pluto. Makemake is close to the size of Haumea, but round in shape. Recently NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope discovered a moon orbiting Makemake. Eris is just a tiny bit smaller than Pluto, but it is more massive. It’s the most massive and farthest of the known dwarf planets. Eris is 68 times as far from the sun as Earth is. It is so far away that it takes 556 Earth years to orbit the sun. Eris has one known moon. There is still very much to learn about these distant worlds. And there probably are many more yet to be discovered! Learn more about dwarf planet Pluto at the NASA Space Place.

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Space Place- March 2020

Visiting an Asteroid Our solar system is a busy place. We have the sun, eight planets, at least ve dwarf planets, and more than 170 moons. But we also have millions of comets and asteroids. One of these asteroids is named Bennu. Bennu is large, and it orbits the sun near the Earth’s orbit. is asteroid is also very old. Scientists want to study Bennu to learn about the early solar system. NASA scientists will study Bennu with a spacecraft named OSIRIS-REx. OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer. That long name means the mission will do several important things. For example, OSIRIS-REx will perform experiments to see what Bennu is made of. This is cool because the materials in an asteroid could one day be useful resources here on Earth! OSIRIS-REx will also explore the asteroid’s surface and learn about the size and shape of Bennu. This and other information will help scientists understand what might happen if an asteroid collides with Earth. All of this exciting work will take a long time — almost seven years — to complete. OSIRIS-REx launched on September 8, 2016. However, Bennu is really far away. OSIRIS-REx won’t arrive there until 2018. When it finally arrives, OSIRIS-REx will begin mapping the asteroid’s surface. It will take a whopping 505 days for OSIRIS-REx to complete this map! Later, in July 2020, OSIRIS-REx will y very close to Bennu. It will use a robotic arm to collect some rocks and dust from the asteroid’s surface. OSIRIS-REx will send that sample back to Earth. But since Bennu is so far away, the sample won’t arrive on Earth until sometime in 2023. In its long seven-year journey, OSIRIS-REx will be trying to answer one main question: Where did we come from? On Bennu, maybe we’ll nd the building blocks for life and learn more about the chemistry that started life on Earth. No matter what we discover on Bennu, we are sure to learn more about the history of our vast and busy solar system! Learn more about asteroids at the NASA Space Place: http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/asteroid

Category - Space Place

Hurricanes and Space

Spooky in Space: NASA Images

Nasa Space Place | Cassini Says Goodbye

Space Place October 2020

Space Place September 2020

Space Place – August 2020

Space Place – July 2020

Orbiting Earth From Pole To Pole

Space Place – April 2020

Space Place- March 2020

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