Photograph by NASA [NASA April 21, 2010] Perhaps the most impressive of cloud formations, cumulonimbus (from the Latin for “pile” and “rain cloud”) clouds form due to vigorous convection (rising and overturning) of warm, moist, and unstable air. Surface air is warmed by the Sun-heated ground surface and rises; if sufficient atmospheric moisture is…
Photograph by Buzz Aldrin In a tweet last month, astronaut Buzz Aldrin informed the world that he was responsible for taking the first ever selfie in space during the Gemini 12 mission in 1966. The mission took place from November 11-15 lasting 3 days, 22 hours and 34 minutes. The two-man crew included Aldrin…
Photograph by NASA [12 December 2006] Backdropped by a colorful Earth, astronaut Robert L. Curbeam, Jr. (left) and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Christer Fuglesang, both STS-116 mission specialists, participate in the mission’s first of three planned sessions of extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction resumes on the International Space Station. The landmasses depicted are…
Fifteen years ago, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Since its deployment on July 23, 1999, Chandra has helped revolutionize our understanding of the universe through its unrivaled X-ray vision. Chandra, one of NASA’s current “Great Observatories,” along with the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope,…
Photograph by NASA [Taken 20 July 1969] Earth Rise as Seen From Lunar Surface: This incredible image of the Earth rise was taken during lunar orbit by the Apollo 11 mission crew in July of 1969. The first manned lunar mission, Apollo 11 launched aboard a Saturn V launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space…
THE FIRST IMAGE OF EARTH FROM ANOTHER PLANET Photograph by NASA/JPL/Cornell/Texas A&M This is the first image ever taken of Earth from the surface of a planet beyond the Moon. It was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit one hour before sunrise on the 63rd Martian day, or sol, of its…
MOUNT FUJI FROM SPACE Photograph by NASA In this amazing capture, we see Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji from space. The photo was taken by an astronaut onboard the International Space Station on 27 May 2010 using a Kodak DCS460 Electronic Still Camera with a 800 mm lens. Mount Fuji, located on Honshu…
Photograph by NASA Pre-Winter Storm, Southwestern Australia (NASA, International Space Station, 03/29/14) One of the Expedition 39 crew members aboard the International Space Station on March 29 used a 14mm lens on a digital still camera to photograph this pre-winter storm located just off the coast of southwestern Australia. A solar array panel on…
COSMIC FAIRY LIGHTS Photograph by ESA/NASA [Cosmic Fairy Lights] This sparkling jumble is Messier 5 — a globular cluster consisting of hundreds of thousands of stars bound together by their collective gravity. But Messier 5 is no normal globular cluster. At 13 billion years old it dates back to close to the…
THE MULTIPLE EXPOSURE BLOOD MOON Photograph by NASA/JSC From open prairie land on the 1625-acre Johnson Space Center site, a Johnson Space Center photographer took this multi-frame composite image of the so-called “Blood Moon” lunar eclipse in the early hours of April 15. The eclipse is a phenomenon that occurs when the…
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