Spitzer Space Telescope Captures Galactic Snack

This image of the Andromeda galaxy uses data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope. Multiple wavelengths are shown, revealing stars (in blue and cyan), dust (red), and areas of star formation. via NASA https://ift.tt/Qd9Kqju

Sulaiman Mountain Haze

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this oblique photograph of the Sulaiman Mountains in central Pakistan. The range resulted from the slow-motion collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates that began about 60 million years ago. Peaks rise to more than 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) above sea level in the northern portion of the mountain range, shown in this photograph. via NASA https://ift.tt/kxbB6ae

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

This image of Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot and surrounding turbulent zones was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The color-enhanced image is a combination of three separate images taken on April 1, 2018, as Juno performed its 12th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft was 15,379 miles (24,749 kilometers) to 30,633 miles (49,299 kilometers) from the tops of the clouds of the planet. via NASA https://ift.tt/HLcaE5T

Astronaut Suni Williams Prepares for Crew Flight Test

During a mission dress rehearsal, NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronaut Suni Williams flashes a thumbs up in her Boeing spacesuit inside the crew suit-up room inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, April 26, 2024. As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, Williams and fellow NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore are the first to launch to the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Liftoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 10:34 p.m. ET Monday, May 6. via NASA https://ift.tt/MdoSGq4

A Moonlit Trio

The Moon, left, Jupiter, right, and Saturn, above and to the left of Jupiter, are seen after sunset with the Washington Monument, Thurs. Dec. 17, 2020, in Washington. The two planets drew closer to each other in the sky as they headed towards a “great conjunction” on Dec. 21, where the two giant planets appeared a tenth of a degree apart. via NASA https://ift.tt/O1WerHu

Galaxy Evolution Explorer Searches for Light

NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer was launched on April 28, 2003. Its mission was to study the shape, brightness, size and distance of galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic history. via NASA https://ift.tt/s1mWn3K

By Their Powers Combined

In a historic first, all six radio frequency antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex – part of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) – carried out a test to receive data from the agency's Voyager 1 spacecraft at the same time on April 20, 2024. Known as "arraying," combining the receiving power of several antennas allows the DSN to collect the very faint signals from faraway spacecraft. A five-antenna array is currently needed to downlink science data from the spacecraft's Plasma Wave System instrument. As Voyager gets further way, six antennas will be needed. via NASA https://ift.tt/7DUo968