Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Winking at the Moon in Memory of Neil Armstrong

“Moon Through apple trees in Nova Scotia. The genesis and the destination.” Credit: Murdo Messer

In the statement released by the family of Neil Armstrong following his death, they said, “For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the Moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”

In the spirit of that request, we asked our readers to send in any pictures they took of the Moon last night while they thought of Neil and gave him a wink

“Moon, August 25, 2012. I had to shoot the Moon tonight to honour Neil Armstrong, who died today. Neil may be gone but his footprints will remain for millions of years.” Credit: Andrew Symes

Fly me to the Moon, on August 25, 2012 from Sydney, Australia. Credit: Carlos Orue.

“If I live until the day when mankind sow their footprints on Mars or beyond, I’ll remember that today, August 25, 2012, we said goodbye to the first of us to put his plan into another world. Farewell, Colonel Armstrong, now you’re in home.” Credit: Eduardo Marino.

The Moon on August 25, 2012. Credit: JM Rozada

The Moon on the evening of Neil Armstrong’s death. Credit: Mark Zaugg

“A wink for Neil,” writes Mike O’Shea from Methuen, Massachusetts. “Unfortunately not high calibre photo taken last night by my iPhone.
But the thought is still there.”

A church steeple in North London on August 26, 2012, with the Moon as a backdrop. Credit: Sculptor Lil on Flickr

Where Neil Armstrong’s footsteps lie. Taken August 25th, 2012 in Wauseon, Ohio. 20 exposures aligned and combined in Nebulosity 3 using my TEC 140 and QSI 583 WSG with Astrodon 3nm Ha Filter. Credit: Bill Schlosser.

The Moon as seen in Croatia on August 26, 2012, with a Meade etx-70, 5x Barlow and Nikon d5100. Stacked with 50 frames in Registax.

Neil Armstrong 1930-2012. Sic itur ad astra – thus one goes to the stars
Credit: Dalibor Grubacevic

A red Moon setting over the periphery of Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, taken on 27 July 2012, at 22.30 GMT. Credit: Pavel Gregoric

We’ll add more images as they come in. Join our Flickr group or send us your images by email

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Reactions to the Death of Neil Armstrong

We now have generations of people who have grown up with the knowledge that humans have walked on the Moon. Neil Armstrong, the man who took that first small step on another world passed away today after complications from heart surgery. It’s a tremendous loss for everyone involved with or interested in space exploration, and messages of condolences and remembrances are pouring in.

We’ll post many here, and feel free to add your thoughts or remembrances of Neil Armstrong in the comments section.

Neil Armstrong’s crew mate and fellow Moonwalker on Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin posted this on Twitter:

“On behalf of the Aldrin family we extend our deepest condolences to Carol & the entire Armstrong family on Neil’s passing-He will be missed. Neil & I trained together but were also good friends who will always be connected thru our participation in the Apollo 11 mission I know I am joined by millions of others in mourning Neil’s passing – a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew.”

From NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden:

“On behalf of the entire NASA family, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Carol and the rest of Armstrong family on the passing of Neil Armstrong. As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind’s first small step on a world beyond our own.

“Besides being one of America’s greatest explorers, Neil carried himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all. When President Kennedy challenged the nation to send a human to the moon, Neil Armstrong accepted without reservation.

“As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero.”

Astronaut Mae Jemison via Twitter:

“As young girl watching #NeilArmstrong step on the Moon, the stars came a little bit closer, and my world and expectations quite a bit larger.”

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin examine film taken of their mission. Credit: NASA

NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana:

“Neil Armstrong was a true American hero, and one of the nicest gentlemen around. He was the epitome of what an engineering test pilot should be, and a role model for everyone who aspired to be an astronaut. He always took the time to share his thoughts on technical issues and his experiences from the past. I feel very privileged to have known him. He will be missed.”

President Barack Obama said he was deeply saddened, and hailed Armstrong as one of the nation’s greatest ever heroes, for having inspired a generation to reach for the stars.

“When he and his fellow crew members lifted off aboard Apollo 11 in 1969, they carried with them the aspirations of an entire nation,” Obama said in a statement. “They set out to show the world that the American spirit can see beyond what seems unimaginable — that with enough drive and ingenuity, anything is possible. And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first time, he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten.”

Republican challenger for the White House, Mitt Romney, said Armstrong now “takes his place in the hall of heroes. With courage unmeasured and unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before,” Romney said. “The moon will miss its first son of Earth.”

Lon Rains, Chairman, Coalition for Space Exploration:

“Today we mourn the loss of Neil Armstrong, a true hero for all mankind. Neil was a humble man who devoted his life and his career to serving a greater cause. From the children who strive to explore the stars to those who devote their lives to reaching beyond the bonds of earth, one can only hope to follow in his footsteps. We are deeply saddened by the loss of this great man. We will forever celebrate his life, his accomplishments and his spirit.”

NASA has more information about Neil Armstrong on their homepage,

as well as this website:
http://www.neilarmstronginfo.com

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Watch Neil Armstrong’s First Steps on the Moon

The iconic footage of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk is a must-watch, especially today when we remember Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the Moon. He passed away today at the age of 82. His enduring legacy will continue to spur us on to reach for the stars and take more first steps on other worlds.

Below is footage from Apollo 11’s landing on the Moon on July 20, 1969, and Armstrong’s famous words, “Houston, Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed.”
Continue reading “Watch Neil Armstrong’s First Steps on the Moon”

Posted on by Jason Major

Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies at 82

Former NASA astronaut Neil A. Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930

Today we mourn the loss of a true hero and icon of a generation, if not an entire century: Neil Alden Armstrong, former NASA astronaut and first person to set foot on the Moon, has passed away due to complications from cardiovascular surgery. Armstrong had recently turned 82 years old on August 5.

His family has issued the following statement:

We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.

Neil was our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother and friend.

Neil Armstrong was also a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job. He served his Nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut. He also found success back home in his native Ohio in business and academia, and became a community leader in Cincinnati.

He remained an advocate of aviation and exploration throughout his life and never lost his boyhood wonder of these pursuits.

As much as Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of good will from people around the world and from all walks of life.

While we mourn the loss of a very good man, we also celebrate his remarkable life and hope that it serves as an example to young people around the world to work hard to make their dreams come true, to be willing to explore and push the limits, and to selflessly serve a cause greater than themselves.

For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request. Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.

His death was reported at 2:45 p.m. ET.

Armstrong commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon on July 20, 1969, and he radioed back to Earth the historic news: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

In a statement issued by the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama said “Today, Neil’s spirit of discovery lives on in all the men and women who have devoted their lives to exploring the unknown – including those who are ensuring that we reach higher and go further in space. That legacy will endure — sparked by a man who taught us the enormous power of one small step.”

Neil Armstrong, along with fellow astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and John Glenn, were honored with the Congressional Gold Medal on November 16, 2011.

Godspeed, Mr. Armstrong. You were — and will always be — a true inspiration to so many. You’ll be missed.

“In my own view, the important achievement of Apollo was a demonstration that humanity is not forever chained to this planet, and our visions go rather further than that, and our opportunities are unlimited.”

— Neil A. Armstrong

Top image: NASA. Inset images: Armstrong leads the crew from the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building to the transfer van on July 16, 1969 and a portrait of Armstrong taken inside the LM after the first lunar EVA. Via the Project Apollo Archive.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Curiosity Rover Report from JPL

This week, Torsten Zorn, MSL Tacticle Downlink Lead, provides an video update on the Curiosity rover’s activities. It’s been a week of firsts — flexing the rover’s robotic arm, zapping with its laser and giving the roving wheels their first workout. The video provides a great look at the rover’s landing site, named for author Ray Bradbury on the day that would have been his 92nd birthday.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Bradbury Landing in Stunning Color and 3-D

Bradbury Landing color panorama. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems. with image editing by James Canvin.

The image editing wizards at UnmannedSpaceflight are having a field day with all the sensational views being sent back by the Curiosity rover. Above is a beautiful color 360-degree panoramic view edited by James Canvin of the newly named “Bradbury Landing,” Curiosity’s landing place. The view of Aeolis Mons (Mount Sharp) is simply stunning, along with parts of (and shadows of) the rover itself. Click on the image to have access to larger views. James said he added the latest downloads from Curiosity in order to show the top of Aeolis Mons, and extended the sky to make the view complete.

See more views, below:

Aeolis Mons/Mount Sharp. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

Here’s a view focusing on just Aeolis Mons by Stuart Atkinson at his wonderful Gale Gazette website, which highlights Curiosity’s latest explorations. He said he “boosted” the colors “just a bit, to bring out some detail.” Click on any of these images to see larger versions from Stu to see more detail — one could spend hours looking at the all the features! And presumably, the MSL science team is doing just that!

And there’s more detail from another image enhanced by Stu, a closeup of one part of the huge mountain in the center of Gale Crater, Curiosity’s ultimate destination for exploration:

The “Promised Land” at the base of Aeolis Mons. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

Just look at this intriguing area of mesas and buttes that Curiosity will one day, hopefully be able to explore!

A view of Curiosity and the first tracks left by this rover on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Now it’s time to grab your 3-D glasses to appreciate a the great view from Curiosity!

3-D view of Curiosity’s tracks. NASA/JPL-Caltech/image editing by Stuart Atkinson

3-D view of wheel tracks left by the Curiosity rover on Mars, as captured by the rover’s hazard avoidance cameras. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Stuart Atkinson

Thanks to Stuart and James and all the UnmannedSpaceflight image editing wizards for providing us all a better appreciation of the location and views from Curiosity’s new science spot. We look forward to more images as they become available! You can see all the raw images straight from Curiosity here.

Posted on by Andy Tomaswick

NASA Looking at Dozens of Advanced Technology Concepts

The Contour Crafting Simulation Plan for Lunar Settlement Infrastructure Build-Up, a NIAC-supported concept.
Rendering courtesy of Behnaz Farahi and Connor Wingfield

All the media focus surrounding the recent landing of NASA’S rover Curiosity has brought increased attention to space technology. Just in time to bask in the limelight, NASA has delivered a tech enthusiast’s dream in terms of astounding new concepts that have recently been funded. They range in scope from nanosatellite technology to the exploration under the ice of Europa.

NASA’s Innovative and Advanced Concepts program announced on August 1st that it has funded 28 studies for the upcoming year. Eighteen of the studies are considered “Phase 1” projects, while ten are considered “Phase 2.”

Phase 1 projects are the new, innovative ideas that NASA received during its call for proposals. Some other conepts include an air purification system with no moving parts, and a system that could use in situ lunar regolith to autonomously build concrete structures on the Moon, as pictured above. Each of the winning proposals, from a pool of hundreds, will receive $100,000 to pursue the idea further. Each team will report back to NIAC at the end of the year with a report on their progress toward the goals of the project that were laid out in the proposal.

Phase 2 projects are pulled from the successful proposals from last year that reapplied for another grant. These projects have already made it through their Phase 1 development and will receive $500,000 for continuing research into the concept. These projects include such technologies as fusion-driven rockets and printable space-craft, and could move on to commercial or mission development if they successfully complete their Phase 2 goals. Other parts of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist will help support those goals, as the NIAC only supports project up through the completion of Phase 2.

The NIAC ties nicely into NASA’s new focus on the commercial side of space flight. Many of the concepts funded by the program could serve as the basis for viable commercial businesses, such as asteroid mining and robotic construction. But most importantly, NASA is still funding the risky, game-changing projects that could drastically transform the way people live their every-day lives. Tech enthusiasts everywhere should be happy with that concept.

You can see here for a list of the proposals. We’ll try to feature some of these in future articles.

Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

JPL’s Adam Steltzner Narrates Curiosity’s Landing Choreography

This video provides a step-by-step explanation of the choreography needed to land NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars. It starts with a computer simulation from NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System program and uses actual images from Curiosity’s Mars Descent Imager. It ends with a high-resolution color image from Curiosity’s Mast Camera. Entry, Descent and Landing team leader Adam Steltzner provides the play-by-play commentary.

Posted on by John Williams

Hubble’s Hidden Treasures Unveiled

A quick check of Hubble’s gallery shows just 1,300 images; however more than raw 700,000 images reside in a vast archive with hundreds of potentially jaw-dropping astronomical scenes just waiting to be uncovered. That was the idea behind the European Space Agency’s international contest called Hubble’s Hidden Treasures. And now with the hard work of amateur astronomers and more than 3,000 submissions, some of Hubble’s incredible celestial treasures are revealed.

“The response was impressive, with almost 3000 submissions,” the ESA said in a press release. “More than a thousand of these images were fully processed: a difficult and time-consuming task. We’ve already started featuring the best of these in our Hubble Picture of the Week series.”

The top 10 images selected in the Hubble Hidden Treasures basic imaging category. Top row: NGC 6300 by Brian Campbell, V* PV Cephei by Alexey Romashin, IRAS 14568-6304 by Luca Limatola, NGC 1579 by Kathlyn Smith, B 1608+656 by Adam Kill Bottom row: NGC 4490 by Kathy van Pelt, NGC 6153 by Ralf Schoofs, NGC 6153 by Matej Novak, NGC 7814 by Gavrila Alexandru, NGC 7026 by Linda Morgan-O’Connor

Credit: NASA & ESA

Judges ranked images from two categories, an image processing category and basic image searching category. Judges sifted through 1189 entries in the image processing category; a painstaking process of finding promising data and creating an attractive image using professional imaging software. But even if contestants didn’t have the technical know-how to create large mosaics and combine color filters, they could find stunning images in the Hubble archive using using simple online tools. The ESA received more than 1600 entries in this category.

“Every week, we search the archive for hidden treasures, process the scientific data into attractive images and publish them as the Hubble Picture of the Week,” says the ESA on their Hidden Treasures website. “But the archive is so vast that nobody really knows the full extent of what Hubble has observed.”

Josh Lake of the United States won with this awesome image of NGC 1763, part of the N11 star-forming region of the Large Magellanic Cloud.

First place in the processed category, which asked contestants to find promising data within the archive and process that scene into an attractive image, went to Josh Lake, from the United States. The image, which won the public vote, narrowly edged out other images. Lake produced a bold two-color image that is not in natural colors but contrasts light from glowing hydrogen and nitrogen. In natural colors, the two glowing gasses produce almost indistinguishable shades of red. Lake’s image separates them out into red and blue offering a dramatic view of the structure.

Messier 77 produced by Andre van der Hoeven, of the Netherlands came in a close second.

Andre van der Hoeven of the Netherlands came in a close second. The jury noted the impressive nature of Messier 77 in the image as well as the processing which combines several datasets from separate instruments to create the amazing image.

“This was my hardest job until now,” van der Hoeven says on the Flickr page. “Combining the different datasets to get equal colors was really hard. M77 was not fully covered by one dataset, so I had to combine channels of the WFPC2 with different wavelengths and tune the colors to get them to fit. But the result is in my opinion quite astonishing.”

We are as surprised as him that this image had not been released before.

Judy Schmidt of the United States entered this image of XZ Tauri, a new star lighting up a nearby cloud of gas and dust. She entered several images into the contest.

Third place went to an interesting image of XZ Tauri, a newborn star spraying gas into its surroundings as well as lighting up a nearby cloud of gas. The panel said it was a challenging dataset to process because Hubble captured only two colors in the region. “Nevertheless, the end result is an attractive image, and an unusual object that we would never have found without her help,” the panel said.

Revealing the challenge of many Hubble mosaics, the jury was impressed with the technical achievement Renaud Houdinet showed in putting together this ambitious view. He called this “The Great Mosaic Disaster in Chamaeleon. “Sometimes, things don’t turn out as they ought,” Houdinet admits on the Flickr description. Chamaeleon 1 is a large nebula near the south celestial pole and was not covered in one single Hubble image.

Robert Gendler took fifth place with an image of spiral galaxy Messier 96. You may know Gendler’s work as his version of Hubble’s image of NGC 3190 is the default image on the desktop of new Apple computers.

Top image caption: Top ten images selected in the Hubble Hidden Treasures image processing competition. Top row: NGC 1763 by Josh Lake, M 77 by Andre van der Hoeven, XZ Tauri by Judy Schmidt, Chamaeleon I by Renaud Houdinet, M 96 by Robert Gendler. Bottom row: SNR 0519-69 by Claude Cornen, PK 111-2.1 by Josh Barrington, NGC 1501 by kyokugaisha1, Abell 68 by Nick Rose, IC 10 by Nikolaus Sulzenauer. Credit: NASA & ESA

Links:

About the Author: John Williams is owner of TerraZoom, a Colorado-based web development shop specializing in web mapping and online image zooms. He also writes the award-winning blog, StarryCritters, an interactive site devoted to looking at images from NASA’s Great Observatories and other sources in a different way. A former contributing editor for Final Frontier, his work has appeared in the Planetary Society Blog, Air & Space Smithsonian, Astronomy, Earth, MX Developer’s Journal, The Kansas City Star and many other newspapers and magazines.

Posted on by Jason Major

Multiple Dinosaur Tracks Confirmed at NASA Center

Fossilized nodosaur footprints discovered at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. (NASA/GSFC/Rebecca Roth)

At NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD, where some of the world’s most advanced research in space technology is being performed on a daily basis, paleontologists have discovered ancient evidence of dinosaurs on the Center’s wooded campus — at least two, possibly a mother and child, crossed that way between 112 and 110 million years ago and left their muddy footprints as proof.

The tracks of two nodosaurs — short, stocky and heavily-armored herbivorous dinosaurs — have been confirmed by dinosaur tracker Ray Stanford and USGS emeritus paleontologist Dr. Robert Weems. The second track is a smaller version of the first.

The first, larger footprint was announced by Stanford on August 17. When Dr. Weems was called in to verify, the smaller print was discovered within the first, evidence that they were made around the same time and leading researchers to suggest it may have been a mother-and-child pair.

Dinosaur tracker Ray Stanford describes the cretaceous-era nodosaur track he found on the Goddard Space Flight Center campus with Dr. Robert Weems, emeritus paleontologist for the USGS who verified his discovery. (NASA/GSFC/Rebecca Roth)

“It looks to be a manus (front foot) print of a much smaller dinosaur than the first one, but it looks to be the same type,” Weems said of the second track. “If the one that came through was a female, it may have had one or more young ones following along. If you’ve seen a dog or cat walking with its young, they kind of sniff around and may not go in the same direction, but they end up in the same place.”

It’s thought that the nodosaurs were moving quickly since the tracks don’t show strong imprints of the animals’ heels. Still, the ruddy Cretaceous-era mud preserved their brief passage well — even as millions of years went by.

“This was a large, armored dinosaur,” Stanford said. “Think of it as a four-footed tank. It was quite heavy, there’s a quite a ridge or push-up here. Subsequently the sand was bound together by iron-oxide or hematite, so it gave us a nice preservation, almost like concrete.”

The next steps will be to have the site analyzed to determine whether further excavation is called for, and possibly to extract and preserve the existing footprints.

“Space scientists may walk along here, and they’re walking exactly where this big, bungling heavy armored dinosaur walked, maybe 110 to 112 million years ago.”

– Ray Stanford

Read more on the GSFC site here.