Official Space is Awesome Thread

[Argonne69]

A 250,000-light-year-long bridge of stars and gas stretches between two member galaxies of the Arp 295 galaxy group. Arp 295 is located ~270 million light-years away in the northeastern corner of the constellation Aquarius.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, J. Dalcanton, R. Windhorst, G. Kober.

[Argonne69]

On January 19, Japan became only the fifth country to successfully execute a soft landing on the Moon. Its lander, SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon), performed a precision targeted landing, coming to within 180' of its intended location. Unfortunately, SLIM didn’t land exactly right, tipping over onto its head, and temporarily rendering its solar panels useless. The lander did manage to come back from the dead a week later, allowing the mission to continue. This image was taken by Sora-Q, one of two tiny robots ejected to the surface during the landing.

 

 

Image: JAXA
 

Edited February 5 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

The Northern Lights above Riisitunturi National Park in Finland.

 

 

Image: U. Larraya
 

[Argonne69]

The Space Shuttle Challenger on its fourth mission making it just the tenth launch in NASA’s Space Shuttle program on February 3, 1984.

 

 

Image: NASA
 

[Argonne69]

The aurora in Tromsø, Norway

 

 

Image: V. Beudez
 

[Argonne69]

A "string of pearls" cluster of newborn stars along the tidal tails formed from the interaction of 2 galaxies (Galaxy AM 1045-325).

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. English

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

Edited February 15 by JungleJimbo

[Argonne69]

The Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) debuted on February 7, 1984. Previously, spacewalkers had relied on tethers to remain connected to the Shuttle, but the MMU offered the capability for crews to venture beyond the cargo bay and conduct tasks away from the spacecraft. Robert Gibson captured this iconic image of McCandless from Challenger’s cabin, and it remains one of NASA’s most requested images. 

 

 

Image: NASA

 

"It may have been one small step for Neil," McCandless quipped in reference to Armstrong’s famous words, "but it’s a heck of a big leap for me."

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Edited February 15 by Argonne69

[rukahs]

On 2/15/2024 at 1:54 AM, JungleJimbo said:

 

 

 

 

 

Thought I was looking at a Pro V1 cut in half then 😄 

[Argonne69]

The aurora borealis over Greenland.

 

 

Image: V. Reglioni
 

[Argonne69]

The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft as it approached the International Space Station on January 20th, located 260 miles (418 kilometers) above China, north of the Himalayas.

 

 

Image: NASA
 

[Argonne69]

The Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (Dextre), a precision robotic built by the Canadian Space Agency, in front of the ISS’s primary solar arrays while the station orbited above the Pacific Ocean.

 

 

Image: NASA
 

[Argonne69]

On the 13th day of its mission, the Artemis Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth: 268,563 miles. No spacecraft built for humans has ever ventured so far from Earth. Odd to see the Moon in the foreground.

 

 

 

Image: NASA
 

Edited February 23 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

A plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy.

 

 

Image: M. Drechsler, X. Strottner, Y. Sainty
 

[Argonne69]

The Lion Nebula (Sh2-132) near the borders of the constellations Cepheus and Lacerta.

 

 

Image: A. Wilhelm

 

[Argonne69]

Aurora over Birdlings Flat, New Zealand.

 

 

Image: C. Hall-Fernandez

 

[Argonne69]

NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli captured this view of the southern lights from the ISS.

 

 

Image: NASA, J. Moghbeli
 

[Argonne69]

The JWST images NGC 1300. The barred spiral galaxy is located 69 million light-years away in the constellation Eridanus.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams, PHANGS Team

 

[Argonne69]

The aurora over Norway’s Lofoten Islands.

 

 

Image: A. Ettl

 

[Argonne69]

SpaceX's Starship upper stage on March 4. Ground crews loaded more than 10 million pounds of super-cooled propellant into the rocket. 

 

 

Image: SpaceX
 

[Argonne69]

Spiral galaxy UGC 11105 is located ~110 million light-years away in the constellation Hercules.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley 
 

[Argonne69]

The Moon’s far side is visible in this image taken just prior to Orion’s second close lunar flyby on the 20th day of the Artemis 1 mission.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

The near side of the Moon just prior to Artemis flying behind it.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

 

Edited March 13 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

While they didn't meet all the test's objectives, it was a fairly successful test of SpaceX's Starship. It reached the edge of space, becoming the largest rocket to ever do so. Starship successfully separated from the booster, and continued on until instrumentation was lost an hour into the mission over the Indian Ocean during reentry. Debris could be seen around the ship, so it's likely it burned up on the way down.

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

Starship during reentry

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

Drone footage above the launch site:

 

https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fill,h_542,q_60,w_965/39f11b8b83e9cfcf447255e74fab1d12.mp4

 

 

[Jeff58]

The first confirmed direct planetary observation.
 

[Argonne69]

A few more photos from Thursday's Starship test.

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

 

Image: SpaceX

 

[Argonne69]

The aurora above Utsjoki, Finland.

 

 

Image: M. Deviat
 

Edited March 17 by Argonne69

[Argonne69]

Barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 lies 56 million light-years away in the southern constellation Fornax. The huge galaxy is ~200,000 light-years in diameter, twice the size of our own Milky Way.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, J. Lee, T. Williams, PHANGS Team

 

[Argonne69]

The Orion spacecraft's view of the Moon and crescent Earth.

 

 

Image: NASA

 

[Argonne69]

The star forming region NGC 604.

 

 

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

 

[Argonne69]

UGC 5829, the Spider Galaxy, is an irregular galaxy that lies ~30 million light-years away in the constellation of Leo Minor.

 

 

Image: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Tully, M. Messa