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 Photo Credit: NASA / Retro Space Images First Steps — Astronaut Alan Shepard is accompanied by fellow astronaut Gus Grissom at Pad 5 as he moves toward the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961. Like what you see? Then check out: Retro Space Images Want to keep up-to-date with all things space? Be sure to “Like” AmericaSpace on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @AmericaSpace
 The Saturn V, which would carry the Apollo 16 crew to the Moon, surrounded by lightning. Photo Credit: NASA / Retro Space Images Light and Sound — Lightning dances around Apollo 15 on the eve of launch, July 25, 1971. Like what you see? Then check out: Retro Space Images Want to keep up-to-date with all things space? Be sure to “Like” AmericaSpace on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: @AmericaSpace  Construction of the crucial “backbone” of the James Webb Telescope has now been completed. Image Credit: NASA. The James Webb Space Telescope, a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency, is planned to be launched in 2018 on an ESA Ariane 5 rocket. The Northrop Grumman Corporation and its partner ATK have announced that the final component of the Primary Mirror Backplane Assembly (PMBA), called the backplane support frame, is now complete. The PMBA is the backbone that will support the telescope’s 6.5-meter segmented primary mirror and ensure the exact alignment of each of the gold-coated beryllium mirror segments. Continue reading Key Milestone Passed in Construction of the James Webb Space Telescope  Image Credit: Retro Space Images Retro Space Images is your source for archival NASA images spanning from Mercury through STS-26. There are 59 discs with more than 41,000 images for ardent space collectors. Continue reading Retro Space Images: Your Source for Mission Photos  Image Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington This image of Mercury, acquired by the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) aboard NASA’s MESSENGER mission on April 23, 2013, allows us to take a step back to view the planet. Prior to the MESSENGER mission, Mercury’s surface was often compared to the surface of Earth’s moon, when in fact, Mercury and the moon are very different. This image in particular highlights many basins near Mercury’s terminator, including Bach crater. Many craters with central peaks and the nearby bright rays of Han Kan crater are also evident. Continue reading A View of Mercury From Afar  Image Credit: NASA / WFF A NASA Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket carrying experiments developed by students from across the nation is scheduled for launch June 20 from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Continue reading NASA Rocket Launch Scheduled June 20 from Wallops  NASA is currently working to prepare the A-1 Test Stand at the space agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for testing the RS-25 rocket engine seen in the inset. Photo Credit: NASA (Inset Alan Walters / AmericaSpace) In the latter half of 2014 NASA plans to launch the first of its Orion spacecraft and to begin testing the RS-25 engines which will be used on the space agency’s new heavy-lift booster, the Space Launch System, or “SLS.” Testing of these engines will take place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center located in Mississippi. Continue reading Test Stand Readied to Test RS-25 Rocket Engine for SLS  NASA’s 2013 Astronaut Candidate Class. Top left to right: Josh A. Cassada, Ph. D.; Victor J. Glover, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy; Tyler N. Hague (Nick), Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force; Christina M. Hammock, NOAA Station Chief. Bottom left to right: Nicole Aunapu Mann, Major, U.S. Marine Corps; Anne C. McClain, Major, U.S. Army; Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D.; Andrew R. Morgan, M.D., Major, U.S. Army. Photo Credit: NASA. NASA announced that after an exhaustive year-and-a-half search, the space agency has selected eight new astronaut candidates. The eight were whittled down from a pool of 6,100 applicants, the second-largest number ever to apply to NASA’s astronaut corps. Continue reading NASA Announces Eight New Astronaut Candidates  Image Credit: NASA/SDO/LRO/GSFC Two or three times a year, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory observes the Moon traveling across the Sun, blocking its view. While this obscures solar observations for a short while, it offers the chance for an interesting view of the shadow of the Moon. The Moon’s crisp horizon can be seen up against the Sun, because the Moon does not have an atmosphere. (At other times of the year, when Earth blocks SDO’s view, the Earth’s horizon looks fuzzy due to its atmosphere.) Continue reading The Moon and Sun |
 
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Rare Clear View of Alaska
 On most days, relentless rivers of clouds wash over Alaska, obscuring most of the state's 6,640 miles (10,690 kilometers) of coastline and 586,000 square miles (1,518,000 square kilometers) of land. The south coast of Alaska even has the dubious distinction of being the cloudiest region of the United States, with some locations averaging more than 340 cloudy days per year. That was certainly not the case on June 17, 2013, the date that the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this rare, nearly cloud-free view of the state. The absence of clouds exposed a striking tapestry of water, ice, land, forests, and even wildfires. Snow-covered mountains such as the Alaska Range and Chugach Mountains were visible in southern Alaska, while the arc of mountains that make up the Brooks Range dominated the northern part of the state. The Yukon River -- the longest in Alaska and the third longest in the United States -- wound its way through the green boreal forests that inhabit the interior of the state. Plumes of sediment and glacial dust poured into the Gulf of Alaska from the Copper River. And Iliamna Lake, the largest in Alaska, was ice free. The same ridge of high pressure that cleared Alaska's skies also brought stifling temperatures to many areas accustomed to chilly June days. Talkeetna, a town about 100 miles north of Anchorage, saw temperatures reach 96°F (36°C) on June 17. Other towns in southern Alaska set all-time record highs, including Cordova, Valez, and Seward. The high temperatures also helped fuel wildfires and hastened the breakup of sea ice in the Chukchi Sea.Image Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFCCaption: Adam Voiland Read More |
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