Smart SPHERES are about to get a whole lot smarter

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Smart devices -- such as tablets and phones -- increasingly are an essential part of everyday life on Earth. The same can be said for life off-planet aboard the International Space Station. Our reliance on these mobile and social technologies means equipment and software upgrades are an everyday occurrence -- like buying a new pair of shoes to replace a pair of well-worn ones. That's why the Intelligent Robotics Group at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. is working to upgrade the smartphones currently equipped on a trio of volleyball-sized free-flying satellites on the space station called Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES).

via Science Daily

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Orion testing provides lessons and data for splashdown recovery operations

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The first full joint testing between NASA and the U.S. Navy of Orion recovery procedures off the coast of California was suspended after the team experienced issues with handling lines securing a test version of Orion inside the well deck of the USS San Diego.

via Science Daily

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NASA's IRIS spots its largest solar flare

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On Jan. 28, 2014, NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS, witnessed its strongest solar flare since it launched in the summer of 2013. Solar flares are bursts of x-rays and light that stream out into space, but scientists don't yet know the fine details of what sets them off.

via Science Daily

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Curiosity Mars rover adds reverse driving for wheel protection

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Terrain that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is now crossing is as smooth as team members had anticipated based on earlier images from orbit. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the rover covered 329 feet (100.3 meters), the mission's first long trek that used reverse driving and its farthest one-day advance of any kind in more than three months.

via Science Daily

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NASA Mars Orbiter views Opportunity Rover on ridge

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A new image from a telescopic camera orbiting Mars shows NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at work on "Murray Ridge," without any new impact craters nearby.

via Science Daily

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Shocking behavior of a runaway star: High-speed encounter creates arc

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Roguish runaway stars can have a big impact on their surroundings as they plunge through the Milky Way galaxy. Their high-speed encounters shock the galaxy, creating arcs, as seen in a newly released image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

via Science Daily

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Jupiter will be at its highest point in the sky for many years to come

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In just over a week, Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, will be at its highest point in the sky for many years to come. Near their closest to Earth, Jupiter and its moons will appear obvious in the sky, offering fantastic opportunities to view the giant planet through a telescope.

via Science Daily

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Chaotic Sun Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

could this be the design you've been looking for? It features the creativeness of yarddawg, another talented creative from the Zazzle community!

Chaotic Sun Poster

tagged with: sun, solar, star, space, science, astronomy, geek, nerd, solar system

The boiling chaos that is our sun, developed from SOHO imagery. Makes a nice addition to a collection of solar system posters.

»visit the yarddawg store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place

M44: The Beehive Cluster

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A mere 600 light-years away, M44 is one of the closest star clusters to our solar system. Also known as the Praesepe or the Beehive cluster its stars are young though, about 600 million years old compared to our Sun's 4.5 billion years. Based on similar ages and motion through space, M44 and the even closer Hyades star cluster in Taurus are thought to have been born together in the same large molecular cloud. An open cluster spanning some 15 light-years, M44 holds 1,000 stars or so and covers about 3 full moons (1.5 degrees) on the sky in the constellation Cancer. Visible to the unaided eye, M44 has been recognized since antiquity. Described as a faint cloud or celestial mist long before being included as the 44th entry in Charles Messier's 18th century catalog, the cluster was not resolved into its individual stars until telescopes were available. A popular target for modern, binocular-equiped sky gazers, the cluster's few yellowish tinted, cool, red giants are scattered through the field of its brighter hot blue main sequence stars in this colorful stellar group snapshot.

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Vintage Astronomy Celestial Renaissance Moon Stars Poster

Here's a great poster featuring a beautiful image from deep space

so many products with fantastic designs on Zazzle... which to choose today? How about this one from YesterdayCafe, another talented creative from the Zazzle community!

Vintage Astronomy Celestial Renaissance Moon Stars Poster

tagged with: landscape, antique, constellations, stars, retro, moon, americana, nostalgic, celestial, vintage illustration

Vintage illustration astronomy and celestial black and white Renaissance drawing of a landscape and the moon (lune) in the night sky with stars and constellations. People are standing next to a river, bridge and buildings. Created in 1683 by Allain Manesson Mallet (1630 – 1706), a French cartographer and engineer.

»visit the YesterdayCafe store for more designs and products like this
Click to customize with size, paper type etc.
via Zazzle Astronomy market place