NASA "Image of the Day" April 19th....[ 2246 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Hurricane Earl: The Astronaut View
 

The relatively placid view from the International Space Station belied the potent forces at work in Hurricane Earl as it hovered northeast of Puerto Rico on Aug. 30, 2010. With maximum sustained winds of 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour, the storm was classified as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale as it passed north of the Virgin Islands. 

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In this photograph captured with a digital SLR camera by NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, Earl had a distinct eye that spanned about 17 miles (28 kilometers). 

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Most of the storm had a seemingly uniform top, though the bottom edge of the image gives some sense of the towering thunderheads forming over the ocean. The solar panels of the ISS remind us that the sun is still shining, at least on ISS Expedition 24. 

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"Hurricane Earl is gathering some serious strength," Wheelock wrote from his perch on ISS. "It is incredible what a difference a day makes when you’re dealing with this force of nature. Please keep a watchful eye on this one...not sure if Earl will go quietly into the night like Danielle." 

 

Image Credit: NASA

Τρίτη, 19 Απριλίου 2011 7:00:00 πμ

Libyan forces pound Misrata ..[ 2245 ]

Libyan forces pound Misrata as 1,000 evacuated by sea

By Michael Georgy

BENGHAZI, Libya | Mon Apr 18, 2011 10:48am EDT
 

(Reuters) - A chartered ship evacuated nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from Misrata on Monday as government artillery bombarded the besieged city that has come to symbolize the struggle against Muammar Gaddafi's rule.
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"We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible," said Jeremy Haslam, who led the International Organization for Migration (IOM) rescue mission.

"Although the exchange of fire subsided while we were boarding ... we had a very limited time to get the migrants and Libyans on board the ship and then leave."

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A rebel spokesman said bombardments pounded Misrata for a fifth day on Monday after shelling killed 17 people and wounded about 100, mostly civilians, on Sunday.

Libya's third-largest city, Misrata is the rebels' main stronghold in the west and has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi forces for the past seven weeks. Evacuees say conditions there are becoming increasingly desperate and hundreds of civilians are believed to have been killed.

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"The Gaddafi forces are shelling Misrata now. They are firing rockets and artillery rounds on the eastern side -- the Nakl el Theqeel (road) and the residential areas around it," Abdubasset Abu Mzeireq said on Monday morning.

The Ionian Spirit steamed out of Misrata carrying 971 people, most of them weak and dehydrated migrants mainly from Ghana, the Philippines and Ukraine, heading for the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in eastern Libya.

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It was second vessel chartered by the IOM, which took out nearly 1,200 migrants from Misrata last Friday.

Among the rescued group were 100 Libyans, including a child shot in the face, the IOM said in a statement.

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"We have a very, very small window to get everyone out. We do not have the luxury of having days, but hours," said IOM Middle East representative, Pasquale Lupoli.

"Every hour counts and the migrants still in Misrata cannot survive much longer like this."

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Pro-Gaddafi forces have also kept up an offensive on the rebels' eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah, which rebels want to use as a staging post to retake the oil port of Brega, 50 miles to the west.

One witness said he saw around a dozen rockets land near the western entrance to Ajdabiyah on Sunday and many fighters fled as explosions boomed across the town.

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Sunday marked a month since the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution authorizing force to protect civilians in Libya, leading to an international air campaign.

But despite NATO air strikes against Gaddafi's armor, rebels have been unable to hold gains in weeks of back-and-forth fighting over the coastal towns in eastern Libya

NASA Image of the Day,,[ 2244 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Next Generation Space Telescope

NASA engineer Ernie Wright looks on as the first six flight ready James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments are prepped to begin final cryogenic testing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. 

 

This represents the first six of 18 segments that will form NASA's James Webb Space Telescope’s primary mirror for space observations. 

 

Engineers began final round-the-clock cryogenic testing to confirm that the mirrors will respond as expected to the extreme temperatures of space prior to integration into the telescope's permanent housing structure. 

 

Image Credit: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham

Παρασκευή, 15 Απριλίου 2011 7:00:00 πμ

NASA Image of the Day,,[ 2243 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Topping Out

With the placement of the test cell dome atop NASA's new A-3 Test Stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center, the project met another milestone on April 13, 2011. 

Placement of the dome also is known as 'topping out.' NASA broke ground in 2007 for the new stand, which is being built to provide simulated high-altitude testing for next-generation rocket engines that will carry humans into deep space. 

The stand will use a series of chemical steam generators to create a vacuum that allows operators to test full-scale engines at simulated altitudes up to 100,000 feet.

The A-3 stand is the first large test structure to be built at Stennis since the facility was established to test the Saturn V rocket stages that helped carry Apollo astronauts to the moon and is scheduled for activation in 2013. 

Image Credit: NASA/Danny Nowlin

Πέμπτη, 14 Απρίλιος 2011 7:00:00 πμ

NASA Image of the Day, Apr 13th, ..[ 2242 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Northwest Greenland Canyons

On March 29, 2011, Operation IceBridge flew between deep canyons and over glaciers along the northwest coast of Greenland.

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IceBridge, now in its third year, makes annual campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctic where science flights monitor glaciers, ice sheets and sea ice. 

Image Credit: NASA/Michael Studinger

Τετάρτη, 13 Απρίλιος 2011 7:00:00 πμ