Google Translate Does Not Concur, But It Wouldn't Surprise Me

It’s Friday...Come Space Out with Us

It’s Friday…which seems like a great excuse to take a look at some awesome images from space.

First, let’s start with our home planet: Earth.

This view of the entire sunlit side of Earth was taken from one million miles away…yes, one MILLION! Our EPIC camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory captured this image in July 2015 and the picture was generated by combining three separate images to create a photographic-quality image.

Next, let’s venture out 4,000 light-years from Earth.

This image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, is not only stunning…but shows the colorful “last hurrah” of a star like our sun. This star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, which formed a cocoon around the star’s remaining core. Our sun will eventually burn out and shroud itself with stellar debris…but not for another 5 billion years.

The material expelled by the star glows with different colors depending on its composition, its density and how close it is to the hot central star. Blue samples helium; blue-green oxygen, and red nitrogen and hydrogen.

Want to see some rocks on Mars?

Here’s an image of the layered geologic past of Mars revealed in stunning detail. This color image was returned by our Curiosity Mars rover, which is currently “roving” around the Red Planet, exploring the “Murray Buttes” region.

In this region, Curiosity is investigating how and when the habitable ancient conditions known from the mission’s earlier findings evolved into conditions drier and less favorable for life.

Did you know there are people currently living and working in space?

Right now, three people from three different countries are living and working 250 miles above Earth on the International Space Station. While there, they are performing important experiments that will help us back here on Earth, and with future exploration to deep space.

This image, taken by NASA astronaut Kate Rubins shows the stunning moonrise over Earth from the perspective of the space station.

Lastly, let’s venture over to someplace REALLY hot…our sun.

The sun is the center of our solar system, and makes up 99.8% of the mass of the entire solar system…so it’s pretty huge. Since the sun is a star, it does not have a solid surface, but is a ball of gas held together by its own gravity. The temperature at the sun’s core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius)…so HOT!

This awesome visualization appears to show the sun spinning, as if stuck on a pinwheel. It is actually the spacecraft, SDO, that did the spinning though. Engineers instructed our Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to roll 360 degrees on one axis, during this seven-hour maneuver, the spacecraft took an image every 12 seconds.

This maneuver happens twice a year to help SDO’s imager instrument to take precise measurements of the solar limb (the outer edge of the sun as seen by SDO).

Thanks for spacing out with us…you may now resume your Friday. 

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

More Than Just Drawings

Artist and graphic designer Mike Okuda may not be a household name, but you’re more familiar with his work than you know. Okuda’s artistic vision has left a mark here at NASA and on Star Trek. The series debuted 50 years ago in September 1966 and the distinctive lines and shapes of logos and ships that he created have etched their way into the minds of fans and inspired many.  

Flight Ops

The Flight Operations patch has a lengthy history, the original version of which dates to the early 1970s. Having designed a version of the patch, Okuda had some insights about the evolution of the design.

“The original version of that emblem was designed around 1972 by Robert McCall and represented Mission Control. It later changed to Mission Operations. I did the 2004 version, incorporating the space station, and reflecting the long-term goals of returning to the Moon, then on to Mars and beyond. I later did a version intended to reflect the new generation of spacecraft that are succeeding the shuttle, and most recently the 2014 version reflecting the merger of Mission Operations with the Astronaut Office under the new banner Flight Operations.”

“The NASA logos and patches are an important part of NASA culture,” Okuda said. “They create a team identity and they focus pride on a mission.”

In July 2009, Okuda received the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, which is awarded to those who are not government employees, but have made exceptional contributions to NASA’s mission. Above, Okuda holds one of the mission patches he designed, this one for STS-125, the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Orion

Among the other patches that Okuda has designed for us, it one for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion is an integral of our Journey to Mars and is an advanced spacecraft that will take our astronauts deeper into the solar system than ever before. 

Okuda’s vision of space can be seen in the Star Trek series through his futuristic set designs, a vision that came from his childhood fascination with the space program. 

Learn more about Star Trek and NASA.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com 

Surgeon Al-Zahrawi (936–1013 CE) from Cordoba in the Muslim kingdom of al-Andalus, was one of the most famous physicians of the middle ages. He invented many medical instruments, and wrote the first surgical textbook which included illustrations like the one above. It was not just a textbook, however. The Kitab al-Tasrif is a 30-chapter treatise on multiple areas of medicine, including surgery, dentistry, and childbirth.

The wood siding could age badly unless it's well-treated, but otherwise cool.

OMG, so pretty

Stunning Bionic Insects Built From Computer Circuit Boards

UK-based artist Julie Alice Chappell (previously featured here) constructs stunning sculptures of insects with parts of vintage computers and video game systems for her taxonomic collection, called “Computer Component Bugs”. Using parts of Nintendo’s and DVD players, Chappell hopes to raise awareness of environmental waste. 

Chappell’s goal is to create an aesthetically beautiful creation, which also offers a socio-political discourse on the reclaimed waste and the destruction of the natural world with art. Chappell’s bionic insects can be found on Etsy shop!

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This is an art project I made in seventh grade, and to this day is the coolest thing I’ve ever made. It can be a wall decoration or a costume peice or whatever you want to do with it short of stopping an actual sword. If anybody is curious as to how one makes something like this, you need: - a big ass piece of cardboard - a big ass piece of foil - a shitload of Elmer’s liquid glue - a box cutter or super strong scissors - masking tape - a sponge - shoe polish - steel wool - a pencil and eraser if you like - (a straightedge and/or yardstick?) - (protractor?) Take the bigass piece of cardboard and draw your design in pencil. You’ll be raising lines or areas with the glue, so keep that in mind with your design. The raised will be the lighter parts. If you like, you can use a straightedge or something to make it look neater. Put a layer of glue over every line you want raised. Do the edges of every large area, but don’t fill it in yet. Let it dry, then repeat until you have a sizable bump. Fill in any raised areas you want with more glue (you will need a ton). Try to not let the glue run over the raised edges of the planes. It’ll take a while to dry after that. Once your design is glued to your satisfaction, let it dry. Trim the edges using the box cutter to get it to the shape you want. Then spread a layer of glue over the top of your project and carefully lay down the big ass piece of foil over the top. Be very careful not to wrinkle it too much, but spread it down as close to the surface as possible without ripping it. Fold the excess foil around the back and secure it with glue and masking tape. Take a sponge and shoe polish and apply liberally over the top of your project. Let it dry. Take the steel wool and rub the shoe polish off of the areas that are raised and supposed to be silver as opposed to black. Voila! A beautiful shield of your own design. Depending on how you want to use it, you can either attach a handle or something to the back or a method of hanging it from the wall. Enjoy!

There’s only one way to clean the inside of your hood. Here we see our rotation student, Cam, demonstrating the effectiveness of the technique;)

All the vampire superstitions! Except sunlight

Nice, old-timey church in a sleepy town in Slovakia. What could possibly be interesting about this place?

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