NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

May 31, 2024

The Nebulous Realm of WR 134

Made with narrowband filters, this cosmic snapshot covers a field of view over twice as wide as the full Moon within the boundaries of the constellation Cygnus. It highlights the bright edge of a ring-like nebula traced by the glow of ionized hydrogen and oxygen gas. Embedded in the region's expanse of interstellar clouds, the complex, glowing arcs are sections of shells of material swept up by the wind from Wolf-Rayet star WR 134, brightest star near the center of the frame. Distance estimates put WR 134 about 6,000 light-years away, making the frame over 100 light-years across. Shedding their outer envelopes in powerful stellar winds, massive Wolf-Rayet stars have burned through their nuclear fuel at a prodigious rate and end this final phase of massive star evolution in a spectacular supernova explosion. The stellar winds and final supernova enrich the interstellar material with heavy elements to be incorporated in future generations of stars.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?

NASA Welcomes Peru as 41st Artemis Accords Signatory

MAY 30, 2024

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson welcomed Peru as the newest nation to sign the Artemis Accords Thursday during a ceremony with the U.S. State Department at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Peru joins 40 other countries in a commitment to advancing principles for the safe, transparent, and responsible exploration of the Moon, Mars and beyond.

“NASA is proud to welcome Peru to the Artemis Accords family,” said Nelson. “This giant leap forward for our countries is a result of decades of work Peru has done to further its reach in the cosmos. We live in the golden era of space exploration. Together, we will continue to explore the cosmos openly, responsibly, as partners, for all.”

Javier González-Olaechea, foreign minister, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Peru. Alfredo Ferrero Diez Canseco, ambassador of Peru to the U.S. and Jennifer R. Littlejohn, acting assistant secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State, also participated in the signing ceremony.

“Peru, by joining the Artemis Accords, seeks not only to express a common vision with the other member countries but also to establish cooperation mechanisms with these countries, especially with the United States, to participate in activities of exploration and sustainable use of resources found in space, as well as to promote aerospace scientific development in our country,” said González-Olaechea.

The United States and seven other nations were the first to sign the Artemis Accords in 2020, which identified an early set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for all humanity. The accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data. More countries are expected to sign the Artemis Accords in the months and years to come.

The commitments of the Artemis Accords, and efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles, support NASA’s Artemis campaign with its partners, as well as for the success of the safe and sustainable exploration activities of the other accords signatories.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-peru-as-41st-artemis-accords-signatory/

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NASA Welcomes Slovakia as New Artemis Accords Signatory

MAY 30, 2024

Slovakia signed the Artemis Accords Thursday during a ceremony hosted by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, becoming the 42nd nation to join an international community in a commitment to peaceful, transparent, and responsible exploration of space for the benefit of all.

“NASA welcomes Slovakia as the newest signatory of the Artemis Accords,” said Nelson. “The United States and Slovakia share a deep understanding of the power of exploration. Through this new chapter in our nations’ partnership, we will further this global coalition to explore the cosmos openly, responsibly, in peace.”

Tomáš Drucker, Minister of Education, Research, Development, and Youth signed the Accords on behalf of Slovakia. Sonata Coulter, deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. State Department, and Radovan Javorcik, ambassador of the Slovak Republic to the U.S., also participated in the signing ceremony.

“Slovakia perceives the Artemis Accords as a great opportunity for this generation to positively define guidelines and principles for the responsible and sustainable exploration and use of outer space,” said Drucker.

Earlier Thursday, Peru became the 41st country to sign the Artemis Accords. The United States and seven other nations were the first to sign the Artemis Accords in 2020, which identified an early set of principles promoting the beneficial use of space for all humanity. The accords are grounded in the Outer Space Treaty and other agreements including the Registration Convention, the Rescue and Return Agreement, as well as best practices and norms of responsible behavior that NASA and its partners have supported, including the public release of scientific data.

Several accords signatories also met face-to-face for a workshop in May to continue implementing the principles. The commitments of the Artemis Accords, and the efforts by the signatories to advance implementation of these principles, support NASA’s Artemis campaign with its partners, as well as for the success of the safe and sustainable exploration activities of the other Accords signatories.

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-slovakia-as-new-artemis-accords-signatory/

NASA Updates Coverage for Boeing’s Starliner Launch, Docking

MAY 30, 2024

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, which will carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to and from the International Space Station.

Launch of the ULA (United Launch Alliance) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft is targeted for 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Starliner will dock to the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at approximately 1:50 p.m., Sunday, June 2.

Wilmore and Williams will remain at the space station for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA works to complete final certification of the transportation system for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

NASA, Boeing, and ULA scrubbed the previous launch opportunity on May 6 due to a suspect oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur second stage.

Since, teams have removed and replaced the valve, and completed an assessment of Starliner’s performance and redundancy after discovering a small helium leak in the spacecraft’s service module.

As part of the helium leak investigation, NASA and Boeing conducted a follow-on propulsion system assessment to understand potential helium system impacts to some Starliner return scenarios.

NASA also completed a Delta-Agency Flight Test Readiness Review on May 29 to evaluate all work performed and flight rationale before proceeding toward launch.

The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. The agency’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

Friday, May 31

1 p.m. – Prelaunch briefing with the following participants:

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free

Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

Dana Weigel, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke

Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing

Gary Wentz, vice president, Government and Commercial Programs, ULA

Mark Burger, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Coverage of the briefing will stream live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the newsroom at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

Saturday, June 1

8:15 a.m. – Launch coverage begins on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

12:25 p.m. – Launch

Launch coverage on NASA+ will end shortly after Starliner orbital insertion. NASA Television will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking and through hatch opening and welcome remarks.

2 p.m. – Postlaunch news conference with the following participants:

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate

Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program

Dana Weigel, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program

Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing

Tory Bruno, president and CEO, ULA

https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-updates-coverage-for-boeings-starliner-launch-docking/

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/launches-and-events/events-calendar/2024/june/rocket-launch-ula-boeing-crewed-flight-test-cft

A Greenhouse Boom in China

May 31, 2024

Greenhouses are having a moment—or rather, a few decades. According to a new analysis of satellite data published in Nature Food, greenhouses now cover more than 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) of land worldwide—an area nearly the size of Connecticut. Four decades ago, they covered just 300 square kilometers. The most expansion occurred in China, now home to 60 percent of the world’s greenhouses.

The structures can be found on farmland in several Chinese provinces and across a range of climates, but they are most concentrated in the North China Plain—a large alluvial plain west of the Yellow and Bohai seas.

The largest cluster of greenhouses in China, and the world, spreads across more than 820 square kilometers of this plain in Weifang, a prefecture-level city in Shandong Province in northeastern China.

The pair of Landsat images above highlights the rapid expansion of greenhouses in Weifang. The image on the left, acquired by the TM (Thematic Mapper) on Landsat 5, shows Weifang in 1987; the image on the right, from the OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8, shows the same area in 2024.

Large expanses of once-open farmland are now covered by a sea of plastic. Many of the greenhouses have opaque or translucent plastics that appear white from a distance, while open farmland is generally brown or green.

Towns appear slightly blue or pink due to the colors of roofs. In this part of China, fruits and vegetables are generally grown in the greenhouses.

“Cucumbers, eggplants, and tomatoes provide off-season vegetables to the whole country,” said Xiaoye Tong, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen and an author of the study.

“Increasingly, farmers in Weifang are also planting high-value fruits, such as strawberries, grapes, kiwi, and dragon fruit.” Farmers use plastic greenhouses because they are an effective and relatively inexpensive way to increase yields.

They can be used to extend the growing season and exert control over temperature and lighting conditions. Innovations such as drip irrigation, the use of artificial soil, and hydroponics have added to the popularity of greenhouse cultivation.

Domestic demand for produce has likely helped stir the greenhouse boom, according to the team of University of Copenhagen researchers.

China’s total production of tomatoes, cucumbers, and gherkins increased sixfold between 1990 and 2020, even though exports stayed roughly the same.

The researchers used high-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Labs and the European Sentinel-2 satellite constellation to map greenhouses in 2019, the most recent year they analyzed.

To track longer-term changes, they relied on imagery from Landsat, a USGS/NASA satellite program that has been operating since the 1970s. As part of the analysis, the researchers used Landsat images to identify the year when greenhouse construction first appeared in each of the 65-largest clusters of greenhouses.

They also tracked changes (between 1985 and 2021) in the largest greenhouse clusters in the five countries with the most greenhouse area: Weifang, China; Almería, Spain; Bari, Italy; Antalya, Türkiye; and Chapala, Mexico.

“The rate of expansion is the most dramatic in China, but the increase is a global phenomenon,” Tong said.

The researchers mapped greenhouses in 119 countries, including Spain (5.6 percent of the total greenhouse area), Italy (4.1 percent), Mexico (3.3 percent), Türkiye (2.4 percent), Morocco (2.3 percent), the Republic of Korea (1.8 percent), Japan (1.7 percent), the Netherlands (1.4 percent) and France (1.3 percent). They also mapped greenhouses in 22 countries in Africa, where they are primarily used for vegetable and cut flower production.

The team’s mapping of greenhouse cultivation is one of the most detailed and comprehensive researchers have conducted to date.

Earlier assessments of the global extent of greenhouses have been based on industry reports and have not included georeferenced information on the exact locations of greenhouses.

“Our hope is that the detailed, georeferenced information we’re providing from satellites will be useful to policymakers, local and international development organizations, industry stakeholders, and farmers,” Tong said, “as they balance the benefits of increases in production made possible by greenhouses along with the environmental impacts of land cover change and plastic pollution.”

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152874/a-greenhouse-boom-in-china

Webb Spots a Starburst

MAY 30, 2024

The James Webb Space Telescope observed “starburst” galaxy NGC 4449, seen in this image released on May 29, 2024. Starbursts are intense periods of star formation usually concentrated at a galaxy’s core, but NGC 4449’s activity is much more widespread — likely due to past interactions with its galactic neighbors. Astronomers can study this galaxy to look into the past: NGC 4449 is similar to early star-forming galaxies, which also grew by merging with other systems.

https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/webb-spots-a-starburst/