It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. - Neil Armstrong
A 6.3cm-long Clovis point found in Pike County (Illinois). It is 13,000 years old.
Each side of the base has a longitudinal groove, or “flute”, chipped out of it. This actually allows the base to act as a “shock absorber”, increasing the point’s ability to withstand stress. Upon impact, the more brittle base crumples and absorbs some of the energy, preventing breaks elsewhere on the point that would make it unable to be reused.
In this image, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, Expedition 32 flight engineer, appears to touch the bright Sun during the mission’s third spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Aki Hoshide is visible in the reflection of Williams’ helmet visor.
Today, April 12, is the International Day of Human Space Flight—marking Yuri Gagarin’s first flight in 1961, and the first space shuttle launch in 1981.
As we honor global collaboration in exploration, we’re moving forward to the Moon & Mars under the Artemis Accords.
It’s always good to have some help – especially when you’re going into space. Today, CIMON, a mobile astronaut assistance system, is going to be launched into space to accompany German astronaut Alexander Gerst on his second 6-month mission to the International Space Station. Developed by Airbus and IBM for the German Aerospace Center, CIMON (which stands for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion) is enabled by Watson. Using IBM’s Watson technology, CIMON will help Gerst perform certain tasks and experiments. CIMON can also potentially serve as an early warning system for any technical issues on board. The duo is one more example of what man + machine can do.
Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft carrying NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy & Roscosmos Cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin & Ivan Vagner safely rendezvoused & docked with the ISS.
A long exposure of the Atlas 5 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It was taking supplies to the International Space Station.
Lake Michigan in foreground from the International Space Station, February 2, 2012
This nighttime image, photographed by one of the members of the Expedition 30 crew from the International Space Station, features the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area strung along the southwest shore of Lake Michigan. The region is partially covered by clouds, probably low-hanging, or even fog. Meteorologists say there is a fine line between low thin clouds and fog. Fog is not common in the Great Lakes area this time of the year (usually too windy), but this has been an exceptionally mild winter. The faint gold line of airglow—caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting the gas molecules in the upper atmosphere—parallels the horizon or Earth limb. Minor auroral activity (Borealis) is visible in upper right.
Dragonship Endeavour is seen docked to the International Space Station in this stunning ground-based view taken by the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing laboratory June 15. The AMOS telescopes are some of the most powerful instruments available for ground-based observations of orbiting satellites.
Jeanette Epps will board the International Space Station in May 2018 as the first African-American crew member.
During her six-month space mission, the aerospace engineer from Syracuse, New York, will conduct research and perform experiments that will build toward NASA’s journey to Mars.
Epps said she is looking forward to working in zero gravity: “Once you take [gravity] away, you can see the real nature of things,” she said. She said that scientists have already learned about genetics and cell structure from experiments in zero-gravity.
It will be her first spaceflight.
Epps never imagined going to space. But when she was 9 years old, her older brother glanced at her report card. “You can be an aerospace engineer, a doctor, maybe even an astronaut — they’ve selected women,” he told her. NASA had just announced Sally Ride would be America’s first woman in space.
Epps laughed and said she thought it would be impractical. “But I can definitely become an aerospace engineer,” she said. That she did, completing her doctorate degree at the University of Maryland in 2000. After a stint as a researcher at Ford Motor Company, and work with the government, Epps felt she had what it takes to go to space.
Out of nearly 3,500 applicants, Epps was selected as one of 14 candidates in NASA’s 2009 class of astronauts.
Epps’ arrival at the International Space Station will build on a legacy of black women astronauts. In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space, flying a mission on the space shuttle Endeavour. Joan Higginbotham and Stephanie Wilson flew missions to help construct the International Space Station. A new film, Hidden Figures, explores NASA’s pioneering African-American mathematicians, who helped the space agency achieve some of its greatest milestones.
Before her 2018 flight, Epps will train continuously. She has already completed training in spacewalks, robotics, jet flight, geology and Russian language.She said she hopes to help young people discover their potential in science and mathematics like she did.
“Anything that you don’t know is going to be hard at first,” she said. “But if you stay the course and put the time and effort in, it will become seamless eventually.”
