ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/04/2021

 

Payloads: Sally Ride Earth Knowledge Acquired by Middle Schools (EarthKAM):  A crewmember performed a lens configuration to the 180mm lens on the EarthKAM camera. EarthKAM allows thousands of students to photograph and examine Earth from a space crew’s perspective. Using the Internet, the students control a special digital camera mounted on-board the ISS. This enables … ...

November 04, 2021 at 12:00PM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2021/11/04/iss-daily-summary-report-11-04-2021/

The Dark Seahorse in Cepheus

Light-years across, this suggestive shape known as the Seahorse Nebula appears in silhouette against a rich, luminous background of stars. Seen toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus, the dusty, obscuring clouds are part of a Milky Way molecular cloud some 1,200 light-years distant. It is also listed as Barnard 150 (B150), one of 182 dark markings of the sky cataloged in the early 20th century by astronomer E. E. Barnard. Packs of low mass stars are forming within, but their collapsing cores are only visible at long infrared wavelengths. Still, the colorful stars of Cepheus add to this pretty, galactic skyscape.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211105.html ( November 05, 2021)

ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/03/2021

 

Payloads: ACME (Advanced Combustion via Microgravity Experiments):  A crewmember performed the second part of configuration for Flame Design part 2 by replacing two ACME controllers and setting the CIR Valve Timers to limit oxygen flow.  The ACME project is a set of six independent studies of gaseous flames to be conducted in the Combustion Integrated … ...

November 03, 2021 at 12:00PM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2021/11/03/iss-daily-summary-report-11-03-2021/

Hubble Images Colorful Planetary Nebula Ringed by Hazy Halo

The colorful planetary nebula, NGC 2438, formed after the death of a Sun-like star. It appears to lie on the outskirts of the open star cluster, M46 (NGC 2437), when in fact it is in the foreground between us and the star cluster.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-images-colorful-planetary-nebula-ringed-by-hazy-halo
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NGC 147 and NGC 185

Dwarf galaxies NGC 147 (left) and NGC 185 stand side by side in this sharp telescopic portrait. The two are not-often-imaged satellites of M31, the great spiral Andromeda Galaxy, some 2.5 million light-years away. Their separation on the sky, less than one degree across a pretty field of view, translates to only about 35 thousand light-years at Andromeda's distance, but Andromeda itself is found well outside this frame. Brighter and more famous satellite galaxies of Andromeda, M32 and M110, are seen closer to the great spiral. NGC 147 and NGC 185 have been identified as binary galaxies, forming a gravitationally stable binary system. But recently discovered faint dwarf galaxy Cassiopeia II also seems to be part of their system, forming a gravitationally bound group within Andromeda's intriguing population of small satellite galaxies.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211104.html ( November 04, 2021)

Mariner 10: First Mission to Use an Interplanetary Gravity Assist

​An artists' impression of the Mariner 10 mission, the first mission to perform an interplanetary gravity assist.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/mariner-10-first-mission-to-use-an-interplanetary-gravity-assist
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The Horsehead and Flame Nebulas

The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the orange emission nebula at the far right of the featured picture. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. The emission nebula's orange color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. Toward the lower left of the image is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains intricate filaments of dark dust. Two prominent reflection nebulas are visible: round IC 432 on the far left, and blue NGC 2023 just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula. Each glows primarily by reflecting the light of their central star.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211103.html ( November 03, 2021)

ISS Daily Summary Report – 11/01/2021

 

Payloads: Exploration ECLSS-TOILET:  A crewmember completed a weekly survey on the Toilet System to provide feedback on system functionality and crew observations. The Toilet ЕДВ was also changed out and the crewmember checked the Toilet System for adequate Pretreat dosing from the Dose Pump.  The Toilet System is an Exploration Tech Demo that has evolved … ...

November 01, 2021 at 12:00PM
From NASA: https://blogs.nasa.gov/stationreport/2021/11/01/iss-daily-summary-report-11-01-2021/

An Aurora Seen From Space

An aurora dimly intersected with Earth's airglow as the International Space Station flew into an orbital sunrise 264 miles above the Pacific Ocean.

from NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/an-aurora-seen-from-space
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SN Requiem: A Supernova Seen Three Times So Far

We've seen this same supernova three times -- when will we see it a fourth? When a distant star explodes in a supernova, we're lucky if we see it even once. In the case of AT 2016jka ("SN Requiem"), because the exploding star happened to be lined up behind the center of a galaxy cluster (MACS J0138 in this case), a comparison of Hubble Space Telescope images demonstrate that we saw it three times. These three supernova images are highlighted in circles near the bottom of the left frame taken in 2016. On the right frame, taken in 2019, the circles are empty because all three images of the single supernova had faded. Computer modeling of the cluster lens, however, indicates that a fourth image of the same supernova should eventually appear in the upper circle on the right image. But when? The best models predict this will happen in 2037, but this date is uncertain by about two years because of ambiguities in the mass distribution of the cluster lens and the brightness history of the stellar explosion. With refined predictions and vigilant monitoring, Earthlings living 16 years from now may be able to catch this fourth image -- and perhaps learn more about both galaxy clusters and supernovas at once.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211102.html ( November 02, 2021)