NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

November 7, 2024

Shell Galaxies in Pisces

This spectacular intergalactic skyscape features Arp 227, a curious system of galaxies from the 1966 Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. Some 100 million light-years distant within the boundaries of the constellation Pisces, Arp 227 consists of the two galaxies prominent above and left of center, the shell galaxy NGC 474 and its blue, spiral-armed neighbor NGC 470. The readily apparent shells and star streams of NGC 474 are likely tidal features originating from the accretion of another smaller galaxy during close gravitational encounters that began over a billion years ago. The large galaxy on the bottom righthand side of the deep image, NGC 467, appears to be surrounded by faint shells and streams too, evidence of another merging galaxy system. Intriguing background galaxies are scattered around the field that also includes spiky foreground stars. Of course, those stars lie well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. The telescopic field of view spans 25 arc minutes or just under 1/2 degree on the sky.

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

>>21933701

>Goodlander

Nobody wanted that rich hooker

U.S. Navy Fleet Training Launch to be Conducted at NASA Wallops

Nov 05, 2024

A rocket-propelled target is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia during a window Thursday, Nov. 7 to Friday, Nov. 8 between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. EST both days as part of a U.S. Navy Fleet Training exercise.

No real-time launch status updates will be available.

The launch will not be livestreamed nor will launch status updates be provided during the countdown.

The rocket launch may be visible from the Chesapeake Bay region.

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/wallops/us-navy-fleet-training-launch-to-be-conducted-at-nasa-wallops/

X-59 Fires Up its Engine for First Time on its Way to Takeoff

November 6, 2024

NASA’s Quesst mission marked a major milestone with the start of tests on the engine that will power the quiet supersonic X-59 experimental aircraft.

These engine-run tests, which began Oct. 30, allow the X-59 team to verify the aircraft’s systems are working together while powered by its own engine.

In previous tests, the X-59 used external sources for power. The engine-run tests set the stage for the next phase of the experimental aircraft’s progress toward flight.

The X-59 team is conducting the engine-run tests in phases. In this first phase, the engine rotated at a relatively low speed without ignition to check for leaks and ensure all systems are communicating properly.

The team then fueled the aircraft and began testing the engine at low power, with the goal of verifying that it and other aircraft systems operate without anomalies or leaks while on engine power.

“The first phase of the engine tests was really a warmup to make sure that everything looked good prior to running the engine,” said Jay Brandon, NASA’s X-59 chief engineer.

“Then we moved to the actual first engine start. That took the engine out of the preservation mode that it had been in since installation on the aircraft.

It was the first check to see that it was operating properly and that all the systems it impacted – hydraulics, electrical system, environmental control systems, etc. – seemed to be working.”

The X-59 will generate a quieter thump rather than a loud boom while flying faster than the speed of sound.

The aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which will gather data on how people perceive these thumps, providing regulators with information that could help lift current bans on commercial supersonic flight over land.

The engine, a modified F414-GE-100, packs 22,000 pounds of thrust, which will enable the X-59 to achieve the desired cruising speed of Mach 1.4 (925 miles per hour) at an altitude of approximately 55,000 feet.

It sits in a nontraditional spot – atop the aircraft — to aid in making the X-59 quieter.

Engine runs are part of a series of integrated ground tests needed to ensure safe flight and successful achievement of mission goals.

Because of the challenges involved with reaching this critical phase of testing, the X-59’s first flight is now expected in early 2025.

The team will continue progressing through critical ground tests and address any technical issues discovered with this one-of-a-kind, experimental aircraft.

The X-59 team will have a more specific first flight date as these tests are successfully completed.

The testing is taking place at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California.

During later phases, the team will test the aircraft at high power with rapid throttle changes, followed by simulating the conditions of an actual flight.

“The success of these runs will be the start of the culmination of the last eight years of my career,” said Paul Dees, NASA’s deputy propulsion lead for the X-59.

“This isn’t the end of the excitement but a small steppingstone to the beginning.

It’s like the first note of a symphony, where years of teamwork behind the scenes are now being put to the test to prove our efforts have been effective, and the notes will continue to play a harmonious song to flight.”

After the engine runs, the X-59 team will move to aluminum bird testing, where data will be fed to the aircraft under both normal and failure conditions.

The team will then proceed with a series of taxi tests, where the aircraft will be put in motion on the ground. These tests will be followed by final preparations for first flight.

https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/x-59-fires-up-its-engine-for-first-time-on-its-way-to-takeoff/

Nicole Shanahan: Calculated Chaos: The Legacy of MKULTRA, feat. Tom O’Neill

Nov 7, 2024

Tom O'Neill dedicated 20 years to uncovering the truths behind the CIA, MKUltra, and the violence of the 1960s.

What he uncovered is both chilling and revealing, exposing a convoluted network of government sponsored experiments studying behavioral modification and mind control.

O’Neil’s investigation ends in 1975 but many of us question whether the legacy of these programs still impact us today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmBvnbpGSxc

NASA gives health update on astronauts mysteriously hospitalized after space mission

Updated: 19:48 EST, 6 November 2024

NASA today insisted stranded astronaut Sunita Williams is safe and healthy amid growing public concern for her health.

But the space agency again refused to give any details about four astronauts who were mysteriously hospitalized late last month after returning from a separate space mission.

A doctor raised concerns about Williams this week after a photo showed her looking 'gaunt', suggesting she had lost a significant amount of weight after spending more than 150 days stuck on the International Space Station.

But NASA holds firm that Williams and the rest of the astronauts aboard the ISS are doing fine.

'All NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station undergo routine medical evaluations, have dedicated flight surgeons monitoring them, and are in good health,' NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell told DailyMail.com.

Concern over Williams came less than two weeks after the hospitalization of four NASA/SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts, who splashed down off the coast of Florida on October 25. The crew had spent 232 days aboard the ISS.

One of them was hospitalized overnight due to a 'medical issue', while the other three were discharged that same day after undergoing medical evaluations.

NASA refused to provide any details about why the crew was hospitalized, which astronaut had to complete an overnight stay, or whether the medical issues were related to their return to Earth.

The agency instead deferred DailyMail.com to a blog post from October 26.

The statement said that one of the astronauts stayed overnight at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola in Florida, but was 'in good health and will resume normal post-flight reconditioning with other crew members' after being discharged.

NASA's decision not to disclose who that astronaut was or reveal details about his or her condition was made 'to protect the crew member's medical privacy.'

While the agency has repeatedly expressed confidence in the wellbeing of its astronauts, studies have shown that living in space takes a toll on human health.

This is especially true of long-term ISS missions, which typically last six months.

Space is a harsh environment that causes astronauts to lose body fat, muscle mass, bone density, and endure high doses of radiation.

This can lead to a range of health issues, including vision problems, kidney stones and even causing astronauts to become more vulnerable to infections on the ISS.

Williams and her crewmate, Barry Wilmore, have been aboard the ISS for six months as of today, and will remain there until February 2025 at the earliest.

By then, they will be able to catch a ride back to Earth on SpaceX's Crew-9 mission Dragon Capsule.

The photo of Williams, taken on September 24, shows her tucking into a pepperoni pizza and chips while surrounded by condiments and other treats.

'Her cheeks appear a bit sunken - and usually it happens when you've had sort of total body weight loss,' Dr Vinay Gupta, a pulmonologist in Seattle, told DailyMail.com.

'I think what I can discern by her face and her cheeks being sunken in is that [she] has probably been at a significant [calorie] deficit for a while.'

Weight loss is not uncommon among astronauts during extended ISS missions. In fact, most lose about five percent of their bodyweight during a four to six month stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, according to the Lunar and Planetary Institute.

Dr Gupta told DailyMail.com: 'What you're seeing there in that picture is somebody that I think is experiencing the natural stresses of living at a very high altitude, even in a pressurized cabin, for extended periods.'

'Based on what I'm at least seeing in the photo, I don't think she's quite at a… place where I say her life's in danger,' he added.

'But I don't think you can look at that photo and say she has sort of healthy body weight.

As for Crew-9, which included NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, it's possible that their health suffered during their ISS stay as well.

The four astronauts spent 232 days - or nearly eight months - aboard the ISS. It's reasonable to believe that the stress their bodies endured during that time may have resulted in the need for medical attention upon their return to Earth.

Alternatively, some have speculated that something went awry during the crew's descent, despite NASA's statement that the crew 'safely splashed down aboard their SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.'

The fact that all four astronauts received some form of medical attention does suggest that the health issues were somehow related to their return flight.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14050621/nasa-astronauts-hospitalized-space-health-update-suni-williams-butch-wiltmore.html

>>21933899