Just another lovely day at the office.
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day
June 13, 2024
Messier 66 Close Up
Big, beautiful spiral galaxy Messier 66 lies a mere 35 million light-years away. The gorgeous island universe is about 100 thousand light-years across, similar in size to the Milky Way. This Hubble Space Telescope close-up view spans a region about 30,000 light-years wide around the galactic core. It shows the galaxy's disk dramatically inclined to our line-of-sight. Surrounding its bright core, the likely home of a supermassive black hole, obscuring dust lanes and young, blue star clusters sweep along spiral arms dotted with the tell-tale glow of pinkish star forming regions. Messier 66, also known as NGC 3627, is the brightest of the three galaxies in the gravitationally interacting Leo Triplet.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html?
NASA Welcomes Armenia as 43rd Artemis Accords Signatory
JUN 12, 2024
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson welcomed Armenia as the newest nation to sign the Artemis Accords Wednesday during a ceremony with the U.S. State Department at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Armenia joins 42 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 Armenia to the Artemis Accords as we expand the peaceful exploration of space,” said Nelson. “Today’s signing builds on an important foundation. Armenia long has looked to the heavens and helped humanity understand them. As the 10th nation this year to sign the Artemis Accords, we are proving that exploration unites nations like few other things can. We will continue to expand humanity’s reach in the cosmos – together.”
Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, Minister of High-Tech Industry, signed the Artemis Accords on behalf of Armenia. Lilit Makunts, ambassador of Armenia 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 event.
“By signing these accords, Armenia joins a community of nations dedicated to advancing the frontiers of human knowledge and capability in space,” said Hayrapetyan. “Our involvement will not only enhance our technological capabilities, but also inspire a new generation of Armenians to dream big, to innovate and to explore the world and universe.”
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 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-armenia-as-43rd-artemis-accords-signatory/
NASA calls off spacewalk at International Space Station due to 'spacesuit discomfort'
June 13, 2024
The spacewalk scheduled for two NASA astronauts today (June 13) has been postponed.
International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 71 crew members Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick will not be performing an extravehicular activity (EVA) that had been scheduled to begin Thursday (June 13) morning. The pair had already begun adorning their spacesuits when NASA announced the EVA's postponement, according to a space agency blog post this morning.
The call came at about 6:25 a.m. CDT (1025 GMT), approximately one hour before Dyson and Dominick were supposed to be egressing the ISS from the Quest airlock.
NASA had already begun the livestream of today's EVA procedures when the announcement was made. "Spacewalkers Tracy Dyson and Matt Dominick were preparing for US EVA 90 — spacewalk 90 — today, but today's spacewalk will not be proceeding as planned," a NASA commentator said on the stream just after the postponement decision was made, adding, "we're standing by for more information, and we will share as we learn that."
Shortly after, a NASA update indicated the call was made due to a "spacesuit discomfort issue," but did not indicate which astronaut had experienced the problem.
One of the crew members assisting Dyson and Dominick was NASA astronaut Suni Williams, seen in NASA's livestream. Williams recently arrived at the space station aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft as a part of the capsule's Crew Flight Test (CFT). Suni and her CFT crewmate NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore docked with the station a day after their June 5 rocket launch and were scheduled to depart about a week later. However, their return to Earth was pushed to June 18, citing preparations for today's EVA as part of the reason. It is not clear whether the changes to this morning's EVA will affect Wilmore and Williams' departure from the space station.
The spacewalk cancellation comes after audio from an ISS emergency medical drill caused a media stir when it accidentally aired live on NASA livestreams on Wednesday evening. There was no emergency situation on the ISS, NASA said
https://www.space.com/nasa-astronauts-spacewalk-june-13-2024-postponed
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