Hubble Finds Oxygen Atmosphere On Jupiter's Moon Europa . Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have identified the presence of an extremely tenuous atmosphere of molecular oxygen around Jupiter's second moon, Europa . ... Europa's oxygen atmosphere is so tenuous that its surface pressure is barely one hundred billionth that of the Earth," said Principal Investigator Doyle Hall, of Johns Hopkins. ... The oxygen gas slowly leaks into space and must be replenished continuously. ...
. Views of the Solar System Host Site . The primary server for Views of the Solar System is located at The Hawaiian Astronomical Society . Views of the Solar System is mirrored at a number of locations around the world. Please select the site closest to you. The most up-to-date mirror listing can be found on the Hawaiian Astronomical Society server. Views of the Solar System Copyright ї 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton . All rights reserved.
... Launch Date/Time: 1966-10-22 at 08:38:00 UTC . ... Luna 12 was launched towards the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and achieved lunar orbit on October 25, 1966. The spacecraft was equipped with a television system that obtained and transmitted photographs of the lunar surface. ... Pictures of the lunar surface were returned on October 27, 1966. ... Radio transmissions from Luna 12 ceased on January 19, 1967, after 602 lunar orbits and 302 radio transmissions. Space History . ...
... Launch Date: 1959-09-12 . Launch Site/Country: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. Launch Vehicle: Modified SS-6 (Sapwood) with 2nd Generation (Longer) Upper Stage . ... Luna 2 was the second of a series of spacecraft launched in the direction of the Moon. The instrument package reached the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. The first spacecraft to land on the Moon, it impacted the lunar surface east of Mare Serenitatis near the Aristides, Archimedes, and Autolycus craters. ...
. Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Launch Date: 1974-05-29 . Launch Site/Country: Tyuratam (Baikonur Cosmodrome), U.S.S.R. Launch Vehicle: Proton Booster Plus Upper Stage and Escape Stages . On-orbit dry mass: 4000.00 kg. (8,800 lbs.) . The main objectives of the launch were investigations of the Moon and of the circumlunar area. Space History .
Lunar Orbiter to the Moon (1966 - 1967) . ... Five Lunar Orbiter missions were launched in 1966 through 1967 with the purpose of mapping the lunar surface before the Apollo landings. ... The first three missions were dedicated to imaging 20 potential lunar landing sites, selected based on Earth-based observations. ... The Lunar Orbiters had an ingenious imaging system, which consisted of a dual-lens camera, a film processing unit, a readout scanner, and a film handling apparatus. ...
... A NASA research team of scientists at the Johnson Space Center and at Stanford University has found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. ... Video Clip 1 . ... High-resolution scanning electron microscope images of possible microscopic fossils, part of an array of indirect evidence found by NASA research, appear to indicate primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. ...
... Cold upon the dead volcano sleeps the gleam of dying day. ... The Tharsis dome is 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) across and rises to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in height. Located on its northwest flank are three large shield volcanoes : Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons. ... The three volcanoes include Hecates Tholus, Elysium Mons and Albor Tholus. ... This high-resolution image shows the Olympus Mons caldera located 24 kilometers (15 miles) above the surrounding martian plains. ... Mars . ...
... Space Organizations . Image Archives . ... Space Related Software Archives . ... Net Resources . ... National Solar Observatory Public Relations . NASA Historical Space Archive . ... NASA Home Page . NASA/Kennedy Space Center . ... SETI Institute Home Page . ... NASA Image eXchange (NIX) . ... NASA Solar Data Analysis Center . ... Selected Deep Space Images . ... Software from explorer.arc.nasa.gov . ... Space Settlement Home Page . ... Overview of Space Resources at CERN . ...
Lunar Orbiter 2 . ... The Lunar Orbiter 2 spacecraft was designed primarily to photograph smooth areas of the lunar surface for selection and verification of safe landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo missions. ... The spacecraft acquired photographic data from November 18 to 25, 1966, and readout occurred through December 7, 1966. ... The two separate lens, shutter, and platen systems utilized the same film supply and recorded imagery simultaneously in adjacent areas on 70-millimeter film. ...
... Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Originally designated the Pluto Fast Flyby (PFF), the Pluto Express mission is planned to be a two-spacecraft mission designed to make studies of the planet Pluto and its satellite Charon. Its major science objectives are to: (1) characterize the global geology and geomorphology of Pluto and Charon; (2) map the composition of Pluto's surface; and, (3) determine the composition and structure of Pluto's atmosphere. ...
Ranger to the Moon (1964 - 1965) . ... The Ranger spacecraft were designed to fly straight down towards the Moon and send images back until the moment of impact. Ranger 7 impacted in mare terrain modified by crater rays. Ranger 8 also impacted in mare terrain, but this area contained a complex system of ridges. ... Each Ranger spacecraft had 6 cameras on board. ... Launched: 28 July 1964 . ... Ranger 4 was launched on April 23, 1962, and became the first US spacecraft to impact on the moon. ...
Tethys . Saturn III . ... Tethys's icy surface is heavily cratered and contains cracks caused by faults in the ice. ... Tethys' surface temperature is -187њ C (-305њ F). Tethys Statistics . ... Mean density (gm/cm^3) . ... Mean distance from Saturn (km) . ... Orbital period (days) . ... Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) . ... Mean surface temperature . ... Color Rotating Tethys Movie . ... Credit: Calvin J. Hamilton) . Tethys Color Composite . ... Copyright ї 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton . ...
... ESA/NASA Solar Probe . ... Mission Operations . ... Ulysses is a solar probe launched in 1990 that has made the first-ever measurements of the Sun from a polar orbit. ... Formerly called the International Solar-Polar Mission (ISPM), Ulysses is an exploratory mission carried out jointly by ESA and NASA. ... NASA provided the launch aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (together with the upper-stage motor) and the spacecraft power generator, and is responsible for the remaining experiments. ...
Venera 13 Descent Craft . ... Venera 13 landed at 7њ 30 minutes South by 303њ, just east of the eastern extension of an elevated region known as Phoebe Regio. It survived for 2 h 7 min in an environment with a temperature of 457њC and a pressure of 89 earth atmospheres. Venera 13 carried instruments to take chemical and isotopic measurements, monitor the spectrum of scattered sunlight, and record electric discharges during its descent phase through the Venusian atmosphere. ... Space History . ...
Courtesy of NASA's National Space Science Data Center . Launch Date/Time: 1965-07-18 at 14:38:00 UTC . ... Zond 3 was launched from a Tyazheliy Sputnik (65-056B) Earth orbiting platform towards the Moon and interplanetary space. ... On July 20, during lunar flyby, 25 pictures of very good quality were taken of the lunar farside from distances of 11,570 to 9,960 kilometers (7,190 to 6,190 miles). The photos covered 19 million square kilometers (7.3 million square miles) of the lunar surface. ...
... Historical Data . Orbital Data . Physical Data . ... Sun . ... 0.06 . ... 7.77e+17 . ... Key: Name Name of the planet or satellite. ... Distance Distance to the Sun or to the planet center. ...
Galileo Crosses Boundary Into Jupiter's Environment . NASA's Galileo spacecraft radioed confirmation late this week that it has entered Jupiter's environment, crossing over the boundary from interplanetary space into the giant magnetic cocoon around Jupiter called the magnetosphere. ... On Thursday, December 7, Galileo's previously deployed atmospheric probe will plunge into Jupiter's cloud tops at 5:56 p.m. EST and descend into the giant planet on a parachute. ... Space History Galileo . ...
... Launch Date/Time: 1966-12-21 at 10:19:00 UTC . ... The Luna 13 spacecraft was launched toward the Moon from an earth-orbiting platform and accomplished a soft landing on December 24, 1966, in the region of Oceanus Procellarum. ... The spacecraft was equipped with a mechanical soil-measuring penetrometer, a dynamograph, and a radiation densitometer for obtaining data on the mechanical and physical properties and the cosmic-ray reflectivity of the lunar surface. ...
Mathilde . ... On June 27, 1997 the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft flew flew past asteroid 253 Mathilde. ... On June 27, 1997 NEAR made a spectatular 25 minute flyby of Mathilde which resulted in more than 500 images of a dark, crater-battered little world that dates to the beginning of the solar system. ... This first image of asteroid 253 Mathilde, returned by the NEAR spacecraft just before 10:00 AM EDT on June 27, 1997, was taken from a distance of 1800 kilometers (1120 miles). ...