Serene Enceladus

Serenity of Saturn

Serenity, a 3U CubeSat, awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Friday, June 7, 2024. Serenity, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

From a distance Saturn seems to exude an aura of serenity and peace. In spite of this appearance, Saturn is an active and dynamic world. Its atmosphere is a fast-moving and turbulent place with wind speeds in excess of 1,100 miles per hour (1,800 km per hour) in places. The lack of a solid surface to create drag means that there are fewer features to slow down the wind than on a planet like Earth. Mimas, to the upper-right of Saturn, has been brightened by a factor of 2 for visibility. In this view, Cassini was at a subspacecraft latitude of 19 degrees North. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 4, 2015 using a spectral filter centered at 752 nanometers, in the near-infrared portion of the spectrum. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.6 million miles (2.5 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 96 miles (150 kilometers) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia18314

Scientists from NASA's New Horizons mission have spotted signs of long run-out landslides on Pluto's largest moon, Charon. This image of Charon's informally named "Serenity Chasma" was taken by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 48,912 miles (78,717 kilometers). An annotated image shows arrows in the annotated figure mark indications of landslide activity at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21128

perspective view of Charon's informally named "Serenity Chasm" consists of topography generated from stereo reconstruction of images taken by New Horizons' Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) and Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC), supplemented by a "shape-from-shading" algorithm. The topography is then overlain with the PIA21128 image mosaic and the perspective view is rendered. The MVIC image was taken from a distance of 45,458 miles (73,159 kilometers) while the LORRI picture was taken from 19,511 miles (31,401 kilometers) away, both on July 14, 2015. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21129

Looking cool and serene, Saturn shares its soft glow with NASA Cassini Orbiter.

AS16-121-19438 (April 1972) --- An oblique view of a portion of the lunar nearside as photographed from the Apollo 16 spacecraft in lunar orbit, looking across the Sea of Crises southwesterly into the Sea of Tranquility. The conspicuous, bright-rayed crater is Proclus. The crater Taruntius in the northeasterly portion of the Sea of Fertility is near the left center edge. A portion of the Sea of Serenity is visible on the horizon at upper right.

AS15-91-12366 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- The crater Posidonius at the northeastern edge of the Sea of Serenity, was photographed with a 70mm handheld Hasselblad from the Command and Service Module (CSM) by astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot, in lunar orbit. While Worden remained with the CSM in lunar orbit, astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Falcon" to explore the lunar surface.

iss073e0982346 (Oct. 25, 2025) --- This serene image of the Moon (upper right) glinting off the Southern Pacific Ocean—beneath a yellow-green airglow and a starry night sky—was taken at approximately 8:59 p.m. local time from the International Space Station as it orbited 263 miles above Earth, southwest of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France comprising more than 100 islands.

iss073e0830977 (Sept. 27, 2025) --- Stars fill the sky above a serene, blue-green airglow blanketing Earth's horizon in this photograph taken from the International Space Station at approximately 1:05 a.m. local time while orbiting 263 miles above the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

A serene orb of ice is set against the gentle pastel clouds of giant Saturn. Rhea transits the face of the gas giant, whose darkened rings and their planet-hugging shadows appear near upper right

Saturn moon Enceladus orbits serenely before a backdrop of clouds roiling the atmosphere the planet in this image taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane.

This image, which at first appears to show a serene scene, in fact reveals dramatic disturbances created in Saturn A ring by its moon Daphnis as seen by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

Two moons orbit serenely before Saturn while large storms churn through the planet southern hemisphere in this image taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft. The moon Mimas is on the right. Dione is on the left.

Even in a peaceful looking scene such as this one of Saturn and its moon Tethys, NASA Cassini spacecraft reveals clues about how Saturn is ever-changing; scars are seen here of the huge storm that raged through much of 2011.

ISS042E311037 (03/02/2015) --- A waning sun, splayed its light across the planet and created this serene scene. US astronauts aboard the International Space Station snapped this Earth Observation on Mar 2, 2015.

Whiffs of cloud dance in Saturn atmosphere, while the dim crescent of Rhea 1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across hangs in the distance. The dark ringplane cuts a diagonal across the top left corner of this view

NASA’s TechEdSat-11 (TES-11) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Serenity, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

NASA’s TechEdSat-11 (TES-11) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Saturday, June 8, 2024. Serenity, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

KSC volunteers with Days of Caring '99 share tasks while getting ready to paint at Baxley Manor, an apartment building for senior citizens on Merritt Island. Coordinated by the KSC Community Relations Council, Days of Caring provides an opportunity for employees to volunteer their services in projects such as painting, planting flowers, reading to school children, and more. Organizations accepting volunteers include The Embers, Yellow Umbrella, Serene Harbor, Domestic Violence Program, the YMCA of Brevard County, and others

Volunteers for Days of Caring '99 set up the paint trays for painting at Baxley Manor, an apartment building for senior citizens on Merritt Island. Coordinated by the KSC Community Relations Council, Days of Caring provides an opportunity for employees to volunteer their services in projects such as painting, planting flowers, reading to school children, and more. Organizations accepting volunteers include The Embers, Yellow Umbrella, Serene Harbor, Domestic Violence Program, the YMCA of Brevard County, and others

A volunteer for Days of Caring '99 prepares a light fixture before painting the walls in the hallway at Baxley Manor, an apartment building for senior citizens on Merritt Island. Coordinated by the KSC Community Relations Council, Days of Caring provides an opportunity for employees to volunteer their services in projects such as painting, planting flowers, reading to school children, and more. Organizations accepting volunteers include The Embers, Yellow Umbrella, Serene Harbor, Domestic Violence Program, the YMCA of Brevard County, and others

KSC volunteers at Miracle City Mall, Titusville, help unload containers for Meals on Wheels delivery as part of their '99 Days of Caring participation. The volunteers will also help deliver the meals. Coordinated by the KSC Community Relations Council, Days of Caring provides an opportunity for employees to volunteer their services in projects such as painting, planting flowers, reading to school children, and more. Organizations accepting volunteers include The Embers, Yellow Umbrella, Serene Harbor, Domestic Violence Program, the YMCA of Brevard County, and others

KSC volunteers for Days of Caring '99 unfold protective materials before getting ready to paint at Baxley Manor, an apartment building for senior citizens on Merritt Island. Coordinated by the KSC Community Relations Council, Days of Caring provides an opportunity for employees to volunteer their services in projects such as painting, planting flowers, reading to school children, and more. Organizations accepting volunteers include The Embers, Yellow Umbrella, Serene Harbor, Domestic Violence Program, the YMCA of Brevard County, and others

S72-01718 (July 1972) --- A photographic illustration of a full moon showing the location of the Apollo 17 landing site on the lunar nearside. The black dot pinpointing the landing site is in the Taurus-Littrow area at the southeastern edge of the Sea of Serenity. The coordinates of the landing point are 30 degrees 44 minutes 58 seconds east longitude and 20 degrees 9 minutes 50 seconds north latitude.

iss073e0831259 (Sept. 27, 2025) --- A green and red aurora australis shimmers beneath a starry sky and above Earth's airglow, creating a pinkish hue above the serene Indian Ocean southwest of Perth, Australia. The International Space Station was orbiting 268 miles above Earth at approximately 1:14 a.m. local time when this photograph was taken.

AS13-60-8703 (11-17 April 1970) --- This outstanding view of a near full moon was photographed from the Apollo 13 spacecraft during its trans-Earth journey homeward. Though the explosion of the oxygen tank in the Service Module (SM) forced the cancellation of the scheduled lunar landing, Apollo 13 made a pass around the moon prior to returning to Earth. Some of the conspicuous lunar features include the Sea of Crisis, the Sea of Fertility, the Sea of Tranquility, the Sea of Serenity, the Sea of Nectar, the Sea of Vapors, the Border Sea, Smyth's Sea, the crater Langrenus, and the crater Tsiolkovsky.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The turbulent weather common to a Florida afternoon in the summer subsides into a serene canopy of cornflower blue, and a manmade "bird" takes flight. The Space Shuttle Discovery soars skyward from Launch Pad 39B on Mission STS-64 at 6:22:35 p.m. EDT, Sept. 9. On board are a crew of six: Commander Richard N. Richards; Pilot L. Blaine Hammond Jr.; and Mission Specialists Mark C. Lee, Carl J. Meade, Susan J. Helms and Dr. J.M. Linenger. Payloads for the flight include the Lidar In-Space Technology Experiment (LITE), the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy-201 (SPARTAN-201) and the Robot Operated Material Processing System (ROMPS). Mission Specialists Lee and Meade also are scheduled to perform an extravehicular activity during the 64th Shuttle mission.

In July 2015, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent home the first close-up pictures of Pluto and its moons. Using actual New Horizons data and digital elevation models of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, mission scientists created flyover movies that offer spectacular new perspectives of the many unusual features that were discovered and which have reshaped our views of the Pluto system -- from a vantage point even closer than a ride on New Horizons itself. The flight over Charon begins high over the hemisphere New Horizons saw on its closest approach, then descends over the deep, wide canyon of Serenity Chasma. The view moves north, passing over Dorothy Gale crater and the dark polar hood of Mordor Macula. The flight then turns back south, covering the northern terrain of Oz Terra before ending over the relatively flat equatorial plains of Vulcan Planum and the "moated mountains" of Clarke Montes. (Note that all feature names are informal.) The topographic relief is exaggerated by a factor of 2 to 3 in these movies to emphasize topography; the surface colors have also been enhanced to bring out detail. Digital mapping and rendering were performed by Paul Schenk and John Blackwell of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. A video is available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21864

Saturn appears serene and majestic in the first color composite made of images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its approach to the ringed planet, with arrival still 20 months away. The planet was 285 million kilometers (177 million miles) away from the spacecraft, nearly twice the distance between the Sun and Earth, when Cassini took images of it in various filters as an engineering test on Oct. 21, 2002. It is summer in Saturn's southern hemisphere. The Sun is a lofty 27 degrees below the equator and casts a semi-circular shadow of the planet on the rings. The shadow extends partway across the rings, leaving the outer A ring in sunlight. The last Saturn-bound spacecraft, Voyager 2, arrived in early northern spring. Many features seen in Voyager images -- spoke-like markings on the rings, clouds and eddies in the hazy atmosphere, ring-shepherding moons -- are not yet visible to Cassini. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, appears in the upper left. It is the only moon resolved from this distance. This composite uses a threefold enhancement in the brightness of Titan relative to the brightness of Saturn. Titan is a major attraction for scientists of the Cassini-Huygens mission. They will study its haze-enshrouded atmosphere and peer down, with special instrumentation, to its surface to look for evidence of organic processes similar to those that might have occurred on the early Earth, prior to the emergence of life. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02884

Saturn appears as a serene globe amid tranquil rings in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. In reality, the planet's atmosphere is an ever-changing scene of high-speed winds and evolving weather patterns, punctuated by occasional large storms (see PIA14901). The rings, consist of countless icy particles, which are continually colliding. Such collisions play a key role in the rings' numerous waves and wakes, which are the manifestation of the subtle influence of Saturn's moons and, indeed, the planet itself. The long duration of the Cassini mission has allowed scientists to study how the atmosphere and rings of Saturn change over time, providing much-needed insights into this active planetary system. The view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 41 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 16, 2016 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1 million miles (2 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 68 miles (110 kilometers) per pixel. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 752,000 miles (1.21 million kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 6 degrees. Image scale is 45 miles (72 kilometers) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20502

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A serene scene surrounds Space Shuttle Atlantis as it begins rolling off Launch Pad 39B to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building. First motion off the pad was at 10:04 a.m. EDT. The crawler is 131 feet long, 113 feet wide and 20 feet high. It weights 5.5 million pounds unloaded. The combined weight of crawler, mobile launcher platform and a space shuttle is 12 million pounds. Unloaded, the crawler moves at 2 mph. Loaded, the snail's pace slows to 1 mph. The rollback is a safety precaution as the area waits for the arrival of Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm is forecast to be bringing 58-mph to 70-mph winds in the next 24 hours. The shuttle will be moved into high bay 2, on the southwest side of the VAB, for protection from the storm. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley

ISS017-E-013842 (19 Aug. 2008) --- A serene view of a portion of the Greater Antilles islands in the Caribbean Sea. The island of Hispaniola is in the foreground, comprised of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (in the sunglint). Looking toward the horizon, the eastern tip of Cuba is seen through the clouds and thunderstorms that are scattered over the islands. The light blue shallower areas, to the right or north of Hispaniola and extending toward the Earths limb, are the Turks and Caicos islands and the Acklins Islands. The Great Inagua island is off the coast of Haiti. These islands are located along the geological border of the North American Plate (to the right) and the Caribbean Plate (to the left). The photo was taken by the Expedition 17 crew onboard the International Space Station on Aug 19, 2008 with a 28 mm lens.

S71-44667 (31 July-2 Aug. 1971) --- An oblique view of the Hadley-Apennine area, looking north, as photographed by the Fairchild metric camera in the Scientific Instrumentation Module (SIM) bay of the Apollo 15 Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit. Hadley Rille meanders through the lower center of the picture. The Apennine Mountains are at lower right. The Apollo 15 Lunar Module (LM) touchdown point is on the east side of the "chicken beak" of Hadley Rille. The Caucasus Mountains are at upper right. The dark mare area at the extreme upper right is a portion of the Sea of Serenity. The Marsh of Decay is at lower left. The large crater near the horizon is Aristillus, which is about 55 kilometers (34.18 statute miles) in diameter. The crater just to the south of Aristillus is Autolycus, which is about 40 kilometers (25 statute miles) in diameter. The crater Cassini is barely visible on the horizon at upper right. The three-inch mapping camera was one of eight lunar orbital science experiments mounted in the SIM bay.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The massive crawler-transporter that carried space shuttle Atlantis to Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida sits serenely on the crawlerway once its transport duties were completed. Meanwhile, Atlantis' crew members are at the pad to participate in a launch countdown simulation exercise. As part of the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT), the crew members are strapped into their seats on Atlantis to practice the steps that will be taken on launch day. Shuttle Atlantis and its crew are targeted to lift off July 8, taking with them the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

As Cassini coasts into the final month of its nearly seven-year trek, the serene majesty of its destination looms ahead. The spacecraft's cameras are functioning beautifully and continue to return stunning views from Cassini's position, 1.2 billion kilometers (750 million miles) from Earth and now 15.7 million kilometers (9.8 million miles) from Saturn. In this narrow angle camera image from May 21, 2004, the ringed planet displays subtle, multi-hued atmospheric bands, colored by yet undetermined compounds. Cassini mission scientists hope to determine the exact composition of this material. This image also offers a preview of the detailed survey Cassini will conduct on the planet's dazzling rings. Slight differences in color denote both differences in ring particle composition and light scattering properties. Images taken through blue, green and red filters were combined to create this natural color view. The image scale is 132 kilometers (82 miles) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06060

AS17-153-23572 (15 Dec. 1972) --- An oblique view of the Sulpicius Gallus region on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Serenity looking westward across the Haemus Mountains, as photographed from the Apollo 17 Command and Service Modules during its 65th revolution of the moon. This photograph shows the slight orange cast which was identified by astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot. The region shown in the picture is about 600 kilometers (360 statute miles) west across Mare Serentatis from the Taurus-Littrow landing site where scientist-astronaut Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt, lunar module pilot, discovered an orange soil sample composed of fine glass particles rich in iron and titanium. North is toward the right. Rima Sulpicius Gallus is the lunar trench or valley (right foreground) that crosses the edge of the Mare and divides into three branches as it runs to the northwest. The crater Sulpicius Gallus is just off the photograph at the bottom right. Note that several small craters in the dark portion of the picture (east) show a more distinct orange cast. The coordinates of the center of this photograph are about 8.4 degrees east longitude and 19.8 degrees north latitude.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Launch Control Center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Firing Room 3 is serene as launch team members gather at their consoles in Firing Room 4 preparing for space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission to the International Space Station. Atlantis and its crew of four are scheduled to lift off at 11:26 a.m. EDT on July 8 to deliver the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module packed with supplies and spare parts to the station. The STS-135 mission also will fly a system to investigate the potential for robotically refueling existing satellites and return a failed ammonia pump module to help NASA better understand the failure mechanism and improve pump designs for future systems. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Frankie Martin

This neat little galaxy is known as NGC 4526. Its dark lanes of dust and bright diffuse glow make the galaxy appear to hang like a halo in the emptiness of space in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Although this image paints a picture of serenity, the galaxy is anything but. It is one of the brightest lenticular galaxies known, a category that lies somewhere between spirals and ellipticals. It has hosted two known supernova explosions, one in 1969 and another in 1994, and is known to have a colossal supermassive black hole at its center that has the mass of 450 million suns. NGC 4526 is part of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. Ground-based observations of galaxies in this cluster have revealed that a quarter of these galaxies seem to have rapidly rotating disks of gas at their centers. The most spectacular of these is this galaxy, NGC 4526, and its spinning disk of gas, dust, and stars reaches out uniquely far from its heart, spanning some seven percent of the galaxy's entire radius. This disk is moving incredibly fast, spinning at more than 250 kilometers per second. The dynamics of this quickly whirling region were actually used to infer the mass of NGC 4526’s central black hole — a technique that had not been used before to constrain a galaxy’s central black hole. This image was taken with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt

S72-35010 (April 1972) --- The Apollo Program's final manned landing on the moon will explore a site designated Taurus-Littrow on the southeastern rim of the Sea of Serenity. This photograph from the Apollo 15 Metric Camera gives a vertical view of the Apollo 17 landing site at 20 degrees north latitude and 30 degrees east longitude. The site (white cross) is on a dark-cratered plain at the base of light-colored highland mountains. The major scientific objective is to study the highlands for new knowledge about what is believed to be representative of the most ancient part of the moon. The darker material forms a bay amid steep-sided mountains that rise almost 2 kilometers (1 1/4 miles) above the adjacent plain or basin. Mountain slopes in excess of 25 degrees are common. The individual mountain masses and ridges are believed to represent very old highland crustal blocks structurally separated by various basin-forming events. The basin and parts of the highlands are mantled (covered) with dark deposits that may be fragmented rocks of volcanic origin. The dark mantle, a very low albedo, (low light-reflective) loose material which covers pre-existing terrain, is extensively developed in this region. Sampling of the dark deposits is given a high priority since its age and composition wouls shed light on the thermal history of the moon. Panoramic photography and command module pilot observations on Apollo 15 documented the presence here of a number of cinder cones which may be related to the dark mantle. It might be dust blown out by a volcanic eruption. Radar maps indicate this dark mantle is different because of its scarcity of block material. The photo covers 22 kilometers (13.5 miles) from east to west and 15 kilometers (9 miles) north to south. A ridge-like feature snakes from north to south across the basin and highlands about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) west of the landing point, and is partly covered by a northward debris flow from the base of a mountain southwest

NASA engineer Jacob Nunez-Kearny removes the foreign object debris (FOD) cover from the propulsion system on the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract .

NASA engineer Sam Pedrotty performs final cleaning of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL’s) Extremely Low Resource Optical Identifier (ELROI) on the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

A NASA engineer installs the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) into the dispenser at Firefly Aerospace's Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

From left, Firefly mission manager Marcy Mabry observes NASA engineer James Berck install the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) into the dispenser at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

NASA engineer Jacob Nunez-Kearny removes foreign object debris (FOD) cover from the propulsion system on the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

NASA and Firefly Aerospace engineers review the integration plan for the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

From left, NASA engineer James Berck removes the foreign object debris (FOD) cover from the relative navigation camera on the agency’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) while NASA engineer Jacob Nunez-Kearny observes, at Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. The spacecraft will soon be integrated for launch aboard the company’s Alpha rocket, as part of launch services provided for NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative and Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43 mission in support of the agency ’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

As it sped away from Venus, NASA's Mariner 10 spacecraft captured this seemingly peaceful view of a planet the size of Earth, wrapped in a dense, global cloud layer. But, contrary to its serene appearance, the clouded globe of Venus is a world of intense heat, crushing atmospheric pressure and clouds of corrosive acid. This newly processed image revisits the original data with modern image processing software. A contrast-enhanced version of this view, also provided here, makes features in the planet's thick cloud cover visible in greater detail. The clouds seen here are located about 40 miles (60 kilometers) above the planet's surface, at altitudes where Earth-like atmospheric pressures and temperatures exist. They are comprised of sulfuric acid particles, as opposed to water droplets or ice crystals, as on Earth. These cloud particles are mostly white in appearance; however, patches of red-tinted clouds also can be seen. This is due to the presence of a mysterious material that absorbs light at blue and ultraviolet wavelengths. Many chemicals have been suggested for this mystery component, from sulfur compounds to even biological materials, but a consensus has yet to be reached among researchers. The clouds of Venus whip around the planet at nearly over 200 miles per hour (100 meters per second), circling the globe in about four and a half days. That these hurricane-force winds cover nearly the entire planet is another unexplained mystery, especially given that the solid planet itself rotates at a very slow 4 mph (less than 2 meters per second) — much slower than Earth's rotation rate of about 1,000 mph (450 meters per second). The winds and clouds also blow to the west, not to the east as on the Earth. This is because the planet itself rotates to the west, backward compared to Earth and most of the other planets. As the clouds travel westward, they also typically progress toward the poles; this can be seen in the Mariner 10 view as a curved spiral pattern at mid latitudes. Near the equator, instead of long streaks, areas of more clumpy, discrete clouds can be seen, indicating enhanced upwelling and cloud formation in the equatorial region, spurred on by the enhanced power of sunlight there. This view is a false color composite created by combining images taken using orange and ultraviolet spectral filters on the spacecraft's imaging camera. These were used for the red and blue channels of the color image, respectively, with the green channel synthesized by combining the other two images. Flying past Venus en route to the first-ever flyby of Mercury, Mariner 10 became the first spacecraft to use a gravity assist to change its flight path in order to reach another planet. The images used to create this view were acquired by Mariner 10 on Feb. 7 and 8, 1974, a couple of days after the spacecraft's closest approach to Venus on Feb. 5. Despite their many differences, comparisons between Earth and Venus are valuable for helping to understand their distinct climate histories. Nearly 50 years after this view was obtained, many fundamental questions about Venus remain unanswered. Did Venus have oceans long ago? How has its atmosphere evolved over time, and when did its runaway greenhouse effect begin? How does Venus lose its heat? How volcanically and tectonically active has Venus been over the last billion years? This image was processed from archived Mariner 10 data by JPL engineer Kevin M. Gill. The Mariner 10 mission was managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23791

NASA image release December 14, 2010 A delicate sphere of gas, photographed by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, floats serenely in the depths of space. The pristine shell, or bubble, is the result of gas that is being shocked by the expanding blast wave from a supernova. Called SNR 0509-67.5 (or SNR 0509 for short), the bubble is the visible remnant of a powerful stellar explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small galaxy about 160,000 light-years from Earth. Ripples in the shell's surface may be caused by either subtle variations in the density of the ambient interstellar gas, or possibly driven from the interior by pieces of the ejecta. The bubble-shaped shroud of gas is 23 light-years across and is expanding at more than 11 million miles per hour (5,000 kilometers per second). Astronomers have concluded that the explosion was one of an especially energetic and bright variety of supernovae. Known as Type Ia, such supernova events are thought to result from a white dwarf star in a binary system that robs its partner of material, takes on much more mass than it is able to handle, and eventually explodes. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys observed the supernova remnant on Oct. 28, 2006 with a filter that isolates light from glowing hydrogen seen in the expanding shell. These observations were then combined with visible-light images of the surrounding star field that were imaged with Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 on Nov. 4, 2010. With an age of about 400 years as seen from Earth, the supernova might have been visible to southern hemisphere observers around the year 1600, however, there are no known records of a &quot;new star&quot; in the direction of the LMC near that time. A more recent supernova in the LMC, SN 1987A, did catch the eye of Earth viewers and continues to be studied with ground- and space-based telescopes, including Hubble. For images and more information about SNR 0509, visit: <a href="http://hubblesite.org/news/2010/27" rel="nofollow">hubblesite.org/news/2010/27</a> <a href="http://heritage.stsci.edu/2010/27" rel="nofollow">heritage.stsci.edu/2010/27</a> <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/hubble" rel="nofollow">www.nasa.gov/hubble</a> The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington, D.C. <b>Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Acknowledgment: J. Hughes (Rutgers University)</b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASA_GoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b>

This galaxy has a far more exciting and futuristic classification than most — it hosts a megamaser. Megamasers are intensely bright, around 100 million times brighter than the masers found in galaxies like the Milky Way. The entire galaxy essentially acts as an astronomical laser that beams out microwave emission rather than visible light (hence the ‘m’ replacing the ‘l’). A megamaser is a process that involves some components within the galaxy (like gas) that is in the right physical condition to cause the amplification of light (in this case, microwaves). But there are other parts of the galaxy (like stars for example) that aren’t part of the maser process. This megamaser galaxy is named IRAS 16399-0937 and is located over 370 million light-years from Earth. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image belies the galaxy’s energetic nature, instead painting it as a beautiful and serene cosmic rosebud. The image comprises observations captured across various wavelengths by two of Hubble’s instruments: the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). NICMOS’s superb sensitivity, resolution, and field of view gave astronomers the unique opportunity to observe the structure of IRAS 16399-0937 in detail. They found it hosts a double nucleus — the galaxy’s core is thought to be formed of two separate cores in the process of merging. The two components, named IRAS 16399N and IRAS 16399S for the northern and southern parts respectively, sit over 11,000 light-years apart. However, they are both buried deep within the same swirl of cosmic gas and dust and are interacting, giving the galaxy its peculiar structure. The nuclei are very different. IRAS 16399S appears to be a starburst region, where new stars are forming at an incredible rate. IRAS 16399N, however, is something known as a LINER nucleus (Low Ionization Nuclear Emission Region), which is a region whose emission mostly stems from weakly-ionized or neutral atoms of particular gases. The northern nucleus also hosts a black hole with some 100 million times the mass of the sun! Image credit: ESA/Hubble &amp; NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt (geckzilla) <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelines.html" rel="nofollow">NASA image use policy.</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. <b>Follow us on <a href="http://twitter.com/NASAGoddardPix" rel="nofollow">Twitter</a></b> <b>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbelt-MD/NASA-Goddard/395013845897?ref=tsd" rel="nofollow">Facebook</a></b> <b>Find us on <a href="http://instagrid.me/nasagoddard/?vm=grid" rel="nofollow">Instagram</a></b>

Technicians from the University of Maine prepare CubeSat MESAT-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Monday, April 22, 2024. MESAT-1, along with seven other payloads, will be integrated into a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket for NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

A Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging (SOC-i) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, June 6, 2024. SOC-i, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43 mission rolls out of the company’s Payload Processing Facility to Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Monday, July 1, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

Technicians from the University of Maine prepare CubeSat MESAT-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Monday, April 22, 2024. MESAT-1, along with seven other payloads, will be integrated into a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket for NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Monday, July 1, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43 mission rolls out of the company’s Payload Processing Facility to Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

A Satellite for Optimal Control and Imaging (SOC-i) CubeSat awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, June 6, 2024. SOC-i, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Monday, July 1, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

NASA’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. R5-S4, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) mission stands vertical at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Monday, July 1, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

Technicians with the University of Kansas prepare their KUbeSat-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, April 25, 2024. KUbeSat-1, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

NASA’s CubeSat R5 Spacecraft 4 (R5-S4) awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. R5-S4, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Technicians with the University of Kansas prepare their KUbeSat-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, April 25, 2024. KUbeSat-1, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Technicians with the University of Kansas prepare their KUbeSat-1 for integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, April 25, 2024. KUbeSat-1, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Technicians inside Firefly Aerospace’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, integrate eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43 mission into payload fairings on Sunday, June 30, 2024. The mission will launch on the company’s Alpha rocket from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 2. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43 mission rolls out of the company’s Payload Processing Facility to Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.

A CubeSat named CatSat from the University of Arizona awaits integration at Firefly’s Payload Processing Facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California on Thursday, April 25, 2024. CatSat, along with several other CubeSats, will launch to space on an Alpha rocket during NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites (ELaNa) 43 mission as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative and Firefly’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 contract.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:04 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 3, 2024. The successful launch of the rocket, named “Noise of Summer,” completed the company’s Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract with the agency. The CubeSat missions were designed by universities and NASA centers to conduct climate studies, satellite technology development, and educational outreach to students.

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative’s (CSLI) ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 43 mission rolls out of the company’s Payload Processing Facility to Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. Firefly Aerospace is one of three companies selected to fly small satellites to space under NASA’s Launch Services Program Venture-Class Launch Services Demonstration 2 (VCLS Demo 2) contract awarded in December 2020.