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SCIENCE
Understanding "Magnetic Reconnection”
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NASA’s newest mission, TRACERS, soon will begin studying how Earth’s magnetic shield protects our planet from the effects of space weather. Short for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, the twin TRACERS spacecraft lifted off at 2:13 p.m. EDT on July 23 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
“NASA is proud to launch TRACERS to demonstrate and expand American preeminence in space science research and technology,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “The TRACERS satellites will move us forward in decoding space weather and further our understanding of the connection between Earth and the Sun. This mission will yield breakthroughs that will advance our pursuit of the Moon and, subsequently, Mars.”
Riding along with TRACERS were the Athena EPIC (Economical Payload Integration Cost), PExT (Polylingual Experimental Terminal), and REAL (Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss) missions—three small satellites to demonstrate new technologies and gather scientific data.
EARTH AND SPACE WEATHER
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SCIENCE
Monitoring Our Home Planet
NASA will provide live coverage of launch activities for NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), which is set to lift off at 8:10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 30, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s
southeastern coast. A collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation, the first-of-its-kind satellite will scan nearly all of Earth’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days.
LIVE COVERAGE SCHEDULE
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HUMANS IN SPACE
Crew Swap
The four NASA SpaceX Crew-10 crewmates aboard the International Space Station are preparing for their return to Earth, while NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission plan their departure to the orbiting laboratory. The crew is due to depart NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday, July 26, and arrive at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin their countdown to launch.
SPACE STATION NEWS
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EARTH
Smarter Satellites
In a recent test, NASA showed how artificial intelligence-based technology could help orbiting spacecraft provide more targeted science data. For the first time, the technology enabled an Earth-observing satellite to look ahead along its orbital path, rapidly process and analyze imagery with onboard AI, and determine where to point an instrument. The whole process took less than 90 seconds, without any human involvement.
LEARN MORE
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THE UNIVERSE
The Space Between Stars
Using data from the Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) spacecraft, astronomers used X-rays from two binary star systems to detect sulfur in the interstellar medium. It’s the first direct measurement of both sulfur’s gas and solid phases, a unique capability of XRISM’s primary method of studying the cosmos.
LEARN MORE
| | | | Earlier this week, Senegal signed the Artemis Accords during a ceremony hosted by NASA at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, becoming the latest nation to commit to the responsible exploration of space for all humanity. | | 20 years ago on July 26, 2005, space shuttle Discovery lifted off for STS-114, NASA’s first mission after the tragic loss of Columbia on Feb. 1, 2003. As part of the flight, commander Eileen Collins had the shuttle do a “backflip” before docking with the International Space Station so that the space station crew could photograph the shuttle’s thermal protection system and survey it for damage. | |
| What was the name of this procedure? | | | | Find out the answer in next week's NASA newsletter! 🤓 | | | |
Last week, we asked what commemorative item the Apollo 11 astronauts did NOT leave on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The answer? A toy car. Among the items that were left behind was a silicon disc with statements from world leaders inscribed in miniscule print. | | |
Do you have a telescope? Would you like to see some of the same night sky objects from the ground that Hubble has seen from space? We invite you to commemorate the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th anniversary by accepting our yearlong stargazing challenge! New challenge objects will be featured weekly.
This week’s object is the globular cluster Messier 62 (M62), located approximately 22,200 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Ophiuchus. M62 is almost 12 billion years old and known for being one of the most irregularly shaped globular clusters in our galaxy. This might be because it is one of the closest globular clusters to the center of our galaxy and is affected by galactic tidal forces, displacing many of the cluster’s stars toward the southeast. Best observed in July, the cluster is easily found using the bright star Antares and is visible as a hazy patch with binoculars. Small telescopes reveal its irregular shape, while telescopes 8 inches or larger will resolve more stars.
JOIN THE CELEBRATION
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