Forty miles west of downtown Chicago, the Fox River meanders its way through what has become the westernmost reaches of metropolitan Chicago, where the sprawling metropolis meets the hinterlands. While Chicago itself has seen a seven percent population decline during the last decade, the population of its metropolitan region, "Chicagoland," has steadily increased. These two natural-color Landsat 5 images acquired a quarter-century apart (on May 2, 1985, and May 23, 2010), stand witness to the soaring growth of this region. Aurora, Illinois’ second largest city, is the silvery-green region to the left hugging the Fox River, just south of the I-88 (North is to the right in this image); Carpentersville is found on the rightmost side, north of the I-90. From 1985 to 2010 a development explosion can been seen as the browns of pasture lands give way to silvery-green suburban areas and large white-colored business districts spring up along and east of the river. A major expansion of Dupage Airport appears in the middle of the 2010 image, and the circular-shaped region north of the I-88 and east of the Fox River, visible on both images, is the Department of Energy’s Fermilab. ---- NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) jointly manage Landsat, and the USGS preserves a 40-year archive of Landsat images that is freely available over the Internet. The next Landsat satellite, now known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) and later to be called Landsat 8, is scheduled for launch in 2013. In honor of Landsat’s 40th anniversary in July 2012, the USGS released the LandsatLook viewer – a quick, simple way to go forward and backward in time, pulling images of anywhere in the world out of the Landsat archive. <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/NASA_GoddardPix" 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>
In this late winter scene of Chicago, Illinois, USA (41.5N, 87.0W) the light dusting of snow has actually enhanced the determination of the cities street pattern, parks and other cultural features. Sited at the south end of Lake Michigan, Chicago has long served as an industrial, transportation and communications center for the midwest. The obvious snowline on the ground enables meteorologists to trace the regional groundtracks of winter storms.
STS060-103-089 (3-11 Feb. 1994) --- The Chicago, Illinois area is in this northeast looking low oblique view obtained in February, 1994. Lake Michigan, a good portion covered with ice due to the very cold winter weather that has plagued this region since early December, 1993, can be seen to the east of the city. The Des Plaines river is visible traversing northeast to southwest through the center of the city. O'Hare International Airport and the Glenview Naval Air Station can be seen to the north of the Des Plaines River. Midway Airport is visible just to the south of the river. Chicago is a port of entry; a major Great Lakes port located at the junction of the St. Lawrence Seaway with the Mississippi River system; the busiest air center in the United States; and an important rail and highway transportation hub. Chicago is known for large grain mills and elevators, iron and steel works, steel fabrication plants, stockyards, meat-packing establishments, and printing and publishing houses. In the early days of settlement, the narrow watershed between Lake Michigan and the Des Plaines River (draining the Mississippi River through the Illinois River), offered an easy portage that led explorers like Father Marquette and Louis Joliet and others to the Great Central Plains. Fort Dearborn, a military post was established in 1803. By 1860, the railroad connected Chicago to the rest of the country and the city became a great mid-continent shipping and receiving center. In 1871, the city built of wood, was almost entirely destroyed by a great fire. After the fire, Chicago was built as a city of steel and stone. During the World's Colombian Exposition held in Chicago in 1893, the city became a leading architectural center. It was here during the Exposition that the skyscraper came into being. Chicago continues to lead the way in this type of architectural structure as is evidenced with the completion of the Sears Tower in 1974.
SL3-88-222 (18 Sept. 1973) --- The metropolitan area of Chicago is encompassed in this Skylab 3 Earth Resources Experiments Package (EREP) S190-B photograph taken on Sept. 18, 1973 from the Skylab space station cluster in Earth orbit. The surrounding major cities of Aurora and Joliet, Illinois; Hammond, Gary and East Chicago, Indiana, are easily delineated. The photograph reveals the following: (1) Cultural differentiation of commercial, industrial and residential areas for use in population and social studies in micro-macro community planning and in cultural pattern studies in the improvement of urban areas. (Aurora is one of 27 census cities of interest to Robert Alexander, a principal investigator. Alexander is with the U.S. Geological Survey). (2) The transportation network with major corridors and their interchanges, primary and feeder streets for use in network analysis and in the development of models for population movement and land use projection. (3) The agricultural lands for land use identification on crop inventory analysis; airports for use in delineation of service and infringement of major man-made features that affect ecosystem balance (support to environmental impact studies). (4) Air and water plumes for use in case studies, natural and man-made differentiation of pollution sources, in support of model development and in ecosystem research studies on the effects of pollution. (5) Recreational centers for use in relating recreational centers to population centers, establishing possible demands and in development of possible future recreational centers to support the demand. All EREP photography is available to the public through the Department of Interior?s Earth Resources Observations Systems Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 57198. Photo credit: NASA
iss073e0080182 (May 15, 2025) --- Chicago, Illinois, with a metropolitan population of 9.6 million near the southern tip of Lake Michigan, is pictured at approximately 1:32 a.m. local time from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above.
Members of the public met with NASA Mars team members and saw the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter models up close during a "Roving With Perseverance" tour stop at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25640
C-141 KAO: University of Chicago Polarimeter Experiment
C-141 KAO: Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, FAR-IR Camera
C-141 KAO Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago (FAR-IR Camera)
C-141 KAO Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago (FAR-IR Camera)
C-141 KAO experimenters package with Dr. Ted Hilgeman University of Chicago
C-141 KAO Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago (FAR-IR Camera)
C-141 KAO: Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, FAR-IR Camera
C-141 KAO: Yerkes Observatory, University of Chicago, FAR-IR Camera - experimenters team
C-141 KAO experimenter Dr. Ted Hilgeman, University of Chicago package installed on telescope
iss065e074473 (May 26, 2021) --- O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above western Michigan.
iss069e037725 (July 27, 2023) ---O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 261 miles above.
iss065e086284 (June 3, 2021) --- Chicago, Illinois, is pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 262 miles above Lake Michigan.
iss070e099645 (Feb., 23, 2024) --- Chicago, Illinois, was pictured at night by Expedition 70 Flight Engineer Jasmin Moghbeli as the International Space Station orbited 261 miles above Lake Michigan.
iss056e085102 (July 8, 2018) --- An Expedition 56 crew member photographed downtown Chicago, Illinois as the International Space Station was beginning its orbit over Lake Michigan.
ISS047e043884 (04/05/2016) --- Expedition 47 crewmembers on board the International Space Station captured this brightly lit night image of the largest city along Lake Michigan in the US Midwest state of Illinois: Chicago.
iss066e146455 (Feb. 18, 2022) --- The southern tip of Lake Michigan and a snow-covered Chicago, Illinois, are pictured from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above.
iss061e067911 (Dec. 6, 2019) --- Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is centered in this photograph with the Windy City's downtown at the top right corner on the coast of Lake Michigan. The International Space Station was orbiting 259 miles above the state of Illinois when this picture was taken.
ISS037-E-006132 (5 Oct. 2013) --- One of the Expedition 37 crew members aboard the International Space Station recorded this nearly vertical night image featuring the southwest coast of Lake Michigan, including the greater metropolitan area of Chicago, IL, on Oct. 5, 2013.
ISS026-E-012284 (23 Dec. 2010) --- From 220 miles above Earth, one of the Expedition 26 crew members aboard the International Space Station recorded this night image of the Chicago metropolitan area and part of Lake Michigan, using a still camera equipped with a 180-mm lens.
ISS008-E-06565 (30 November 2003) --- This view featuring the Lake Michigan area was photographed by an Expedition 8 crewmember on the International Space Station (ISS). The photo also shows Chicago area; Illinois River; Mississippi and Missouri Rivers meeting at St. Louis. Aircraft contrails are also visible.
ISS007-E-16525 (7 October 2003) --- This image of Chicago, Illinois at night, taken by an Expedition 7 crewmember onboard the International Space Station (ISS), shows patterns of the city center and major roads along the coast of Lake Michigan.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers prepare to load the payload shipping container that holds the Space Test Program-Houston 4 STP H-4 experiments on a transport that will also carry containers with the unpressurized Orbital Replacement Units ORU for the International Space Station's Main Bus Switching Unit MBSU and Utility Transfer Assembly UTA. The payloads were processed at Kennedy and will be trucked to Chicago. From Chicago, they will be moved by air freight to Narita, Japan, where a complicated combination of ground and ocean ferry transfers will be used to deliver them to the Tanegashima Space Center. At Tanegashima the payloads will be turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA in preparation for launch on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 HTV-4 mission this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers prepare to load the payload shipping containers that hold the unpressurized Orbital Replacement Units ORU for the International Space Station's Main Bus Switching Unit MBSU and Utility Transfer Assembly UTA, as well as the Space Test Program-Houston 4 STP H-4 experiments, on a transport. The payloads were processed at Kennedy and will be trucked to Chicago. From Chicago, they will be moved by air freight to Narita, Japan, where a complicated combination of ground and ocean ferry transfers will be used to deliver them to the Tanegashima Space Center. At Tanegashima the payloads will be turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA in preparation for launch on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 HTV-4 mission this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Payload shipping containers that hold the unpressurized Orbital Replacement Units ORU for the International Space Station's Main Bus Switching Unit MBSU and Utility Transfer Assembly UTA, as well as the Space Test Program-Houston 4 STP H-4 experiments, are loaded on a transport. The payloads were processed at Kennedy and will be trucked to Chicago. From Chicago, they will be moved by air freight to Narita, Japan, where a complicated combination of ground and ocean ferry transfers will be used to deliver them to the Tanegashima Space Center. At Tanegashima the payloads will be turned over to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency JAXA in preparation for launch on the H-II Transfer Vehicle 4 HTV-4 mission this summer. Photo credit: NASA_Jim Grossmann
Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer, addresses the audience during the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on March 8, 2023. Muir, 75, was the speaker at the Florida spaceport function titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
iss070e022671 (Nov. 10, 2023) --- The sun's first rays begin illuminating Earth's atmosphere in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above the central United States. At far left, the city lights of Chicago, Illinois, are outlined by Lake Michigan. At far right, the city lights of the Dallas/Forth Worth metropolitan area shine through the clouds.
Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer, addresses the audience during the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on March 8, 2023. Muir, 75, was the speaker at the Florida spaceport function titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer, delivers his presentation during the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on March 8, 2023. Muir, 75, was the speaker at the Florida spaceport function titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
ISS006-E-29393 (21 February 2003) --- A number of large pieces of ice collected along and just off the shoreline southwest of Benton Harbor, Michigan and smaller pieces trailing northward offshore from Chicago, Illinois were captured with a digital still camera by one of the Expedition Six crewmembers on board the International Space Station (ISS). Note the ice accumulation along the entire eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan as well as the wind-drive lake-effect snow cover over the western half of the Lower Michigan Peninsula.
ISS046e005404 (01/05/2016) --- The glittering lights of the American Midwest illuminate the Earth in this captivating image taken by the International Space Station Expedition 46 crew on Jan. 5, 2016. The picture, which was taken while the station was flying above Alabama, shows numerous major cities, including the major city of Chicago (middle-left) situated on the Lake Michigan coastline. Also in view are three of the American Great Lakes, including Lake Michigan (left), Lake Huron (middle) and Lake Erie (right).
Jimmy Grisham of the Microgravity Program Plarning Integration Office at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, demonstrates the classroom-size Microgravity Drop Tower Demonstrator. The apparatus provides 1/6 second of microgravity for small experiments. A video camera helps teachers observe what happens inside the package. This demonstration was at the April 2000 conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Don Gillies, a materials scientist at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), demonstrates the classroom-size Microgravity Drop Tower Demonstrator. The apparatus provides 1/6 second of microgravity for small experiments. A video camera helps teachers observe what happens inside the package. This demonstration was at the April 2000 conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
An audience member asks a question during the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on March 8, 2023. Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer, was the speaker at the Florida spaceport function titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
ISS028-E-044831 (7 Sept. 2011) --- While many of the Great Lakes and their surrounding areas are covered by the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee and upper level low over Michigan and southeastern Canada, Lake Michigan and Chicago are mostly clear and can be easily delineated (lower left center) in this image. The view was photographed by one of the Expedition 28 crew members aboard the International Space Station on Sept. 7, 2011.
Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer, attends the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility on March 8, 2023. Muir, 75, was the speaker at the Florida spaceport function titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
iss070e022666 (Nov. 10, 2023) --- Earth's airglow outlines the planet's horizon with the Moon above in this photograph from the International Space Station as it orbited 260 miles above the midwestern United States. At lower right, the city lights of Denver. Colorado, and its suburbs shine, including the city lights all the way to Chicago, Illinois (at top), and surrounding metropolitan areas.
Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
Pat Doty (right) of NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) demonstrates the greater bounce to the ounce of metal made from a supercooled bulk metallic glass alloy that NASA is studying in space experiments. The metal plates at the bottom of the plexiglass tubes are made of three different types of metal. Bulk metallic glass is more resilient and, as a result, the dropped ball bearing bounces higher. Experiments in space allow scientists to study fundamental properties that carnot be observed on Earth. This demonstration was at the April 200 conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in Chicago. photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Pat Doty (right) of NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) demonstrates the greater bounce to the ounce of metal made from a supercooled bulk metallic glass alloy that NASA is studying in space expepriments. The metal plates at the bottom of plexiglass tubes are made of three different types of metal. Bulk mettalic glass is more resilient and, as a result, the dropped ball bearing bounces higher. Experiments in space allow scientists to study fundamental properties that carnot be observed on Earth. This demonstration was at the April 2000 conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Students from the University of Illinois at Chicago prepare their robotic miner for its turn to dig in the mining arena during NASA’s LUNABOTICS competition on May 26, 2022, at the Center for Space Education near the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. More than 35 teams from around the U.S. have designed and built remote-controlled robots for the mining competition. Teams use their autonomous or remote-controlled robots to maneuver and dig in a supersized sandbox filled with rocks and simulated lunar soil, or regolith. The objective of the challenge is to see which team’s robot can collect and deposit the most rocky regolith within a specified amount of time.
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Manager Shawn Quinn, right, moderates the inaugural Cross-Program Connection event at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Space Station Processing Facility in Florida on March 8, 2023. Other participants, from left, are: Stacie Turner, Kennedy’s Deep Space Logistics; Dana Hutcherson, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program deputy program manager; and Arthur Muir, a retired Chicago attorney and America’s oldest Mt. Everest summiteer. Muir, 75, was the speaker at the event titled “Explorers Doing the Impossible.” He toured Kennedy before sharing his experiences in overcoming incredible challenges during his journey to the top of Earth’s highest mountain.
Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell, left, Andrew Johnston, Vice President for Astronomy and Collections at Chicago's Adler Planetarium, center, and Ellen Stofan, Director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, right, look at Lovell's Apollo 8 flight plan during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Spirit of Apollo event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Apollo 8 was humanity's first journey to another world, taking astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders to the Moon and back in December of 1968. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
Ellen Stofan, Director of Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, left, and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine look at Jim Lovell's Apollo 8 flight plan with Andrew Johnston, Vice President for Astronomy and Collections at Chicago's Adler Planetarium, during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Spirit of Apollo event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Apollo 8 was humanity's first journey to another world, taking astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders to the Moon and back in December of 1968. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
Pat Doty (right) of NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) demonstrates the greater bounce to the ounce of metal made from a supercooled bulk metallic glass alloy that NASA is studying in space experiments. The metal plates at the bottom of the plexiglass tubes are made of three different types of metal. Bulk metallic glass is more resilient and, as a result, the dropped ball bearing bounces higher. Experiments in space allow scientists to study fundamental properties that carnot be observed on Earth. This demonstration was at the April 2000 conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Chicago. Photo credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
Receptionist Mary Louise Gosney enjoys the new Administration Building at the NACA’s Aircraft Engine Research Laboratory. The Administration Building, which was located near the front entrance to the laboratory, opened in December 1942. The staff, which had spent the previous year working in temporary offices inside the hangar, quickly occupied the new building. Lab director Raymond Sharp, the upper management team, and administrative staff had offices in the Administration Building. The structure also contained the lab’s library and auditorium. Gosney was a Chicago native who started at the lab in November 1941. Gosney’s services included welcoming visitors, arranging tours, and arranging interviews with staff members. Gosney’s “Lobby Lines” column in the lab’s newsletter Wing Tips noted the coming and goings of notable visitors and staff members. In addition to her role as receptionist, Gosney also served as the clearance officer. She would later head the entire Administrative Services Division.
In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Listening to the presentation is Eugene Parker, front row, far left, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. This is the first NASA mission that has been named for a living individual. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, approaches the raised span of the NASA railroad bridge to continue over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center with two containers on railcars for storage at the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
ISS030-E-062540 (2 Feb. 2012) --- This nighttime image, photographed by one of the members of the Expedition 30 crew from the International Space Station, features the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area strung along the southwest shore of Lake Michigan. The region is partially covered by clouds, probably low-hanging, or even fog. Meteorologists say there is a fine line between low thin clouds and fog. Fog is not common in the Great Lakes area this time of the year (usually too windy), but this has been an exceptionally mild winter. The faint gold line of airglow—caused by ultraviolet radiation exciting the gas molecules in the upper atmosphere—parallels the horizon or Earth limb. Minor auroral activity (Borealis) is visible in upper right.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, travels along the NASA railroad bridge over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center, carrying one of two containers on a railcar for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell points to the lines from Genesis in his flight plan that were read during a television broadcast by him, Frank Borman, and William Anders as they orbited the Moon on Christmas Eve in 1968, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018 at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Lovell's flight plan, which is usually displayed at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, was one of the artifacts from the mission that were on display during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Spirit of Apollo event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 was humanity's first journey to another world, taking astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders to the Moon and back in December of 1968. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, continues along the NASA railroad bridge over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center, carrying one of two containers on a railcar for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, departs from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with two containers on railcars for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the RPSF. Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, departs from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with two containers on railcars for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the RPSF. Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, arrives at the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the second of two containers on a railcar. The first container is at left. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, arrives at the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with two containers on railcars for storage. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
In the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, speaks to members of news and social media in a prelaunch mission briefing about NASA's Parker Solar Probe on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. The spacecraft is designed to provide key observations on his groundbreaking theories about the Sun. This is the first NASA mission named for a living person. Lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will take place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, departs from the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with two containers on railcars for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the RPSF. Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, conracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, travels along the NASA railroad bridge over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center, with two containers on railcars for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Don Mitchell, far left, Cassini spacecraft instrument scientist, IBEX co-Investigator, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., answers questions on findings made by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, IBEX, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2009. Mitchell is joined by IBEX mission colleagues David McComas, far right, IBEX spacecraft principal investigator and senior executive director, Space Science and Engineering Division, Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio; Eric Christian, IBEX deputy mission scientist, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Rosine Lallement, senior scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris; Lindsay Bartolone, second from left, lead of Education and Public Outreach at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, travels along the NASA railroad bridge over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center, carrying one of two containers on a railcar for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard near the center. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
In the Kennedy Space Center’s Operations Support Building II, Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, speaks to members of news and social media in a prelaunch mission briefing about NASA's Parker Solar Probe on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. The spacecraft is designed to provide key observations on his groundbreaking theories about the Sun. This is the first NASA mission named for a living person. Lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will take place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate Thomas Zurbuchen, left, American solar astrophysicist, and professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, Eugene Parker, center, and President and Chief Executive Officer for United Launch Alliance Tory Bruno pose for a group photo in front of the ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Parker Solar onboard, Friday, Aug. 10, 2018, Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. This is the first NASA mission that has been named for a living individual. Parker Solar Probe is humanity’s first-ever mission into a part of the Sun’s atmosphere called the corona. Here it will directly explore solar processes that are key to understanding and forecasting space weather events that can impact life on Earth. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, departs from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with two containers on railcars for transport to the Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Listening to the presentation is Eugene Parker, front row, far left, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. This is the first NASA mission that has been named for a living individual. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
An Iowa Northern locomotive, contracted by Goodloe Transportation of Chicago, travels along the NASA railroad bridge over the Indian River north of Kennedy Space Center, carrying one of two containers on a railcar for transport to the NASA Jay Jay railroad yard. The containers held two pathfinders, or test versions, of solid rocket booster segments for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket that were delivered to the Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility (RPSF). Inside the RPSF, the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program and Jacobs Engineering, on the Test and Operations Support Contract, will conduct a series of lifts, moves and stacking operations using the booster segments, which are inert, to prepare for Exploration Mission-1, deep-space missions and the journey to Mars. The pathfinder booster segments are from Orbital ATK in Utah.
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA's Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
NASA image acquired August 28, 2010 Late August 2010 provided a rare satellite view of a cloudless summer day over the entire Great Lakes region. North Americans trying to sneak in a Labor Day weekend getaway on the lakes were hoping for more of the same. The Great Lakes comprise the largest collective body of fresh water on the planet, containing roughly 18 percent of Earth's supply. Only the polar ice caps contain more fresh water. The region around the Great Lakes basin is home to more than 10 percent of the population of the United States and 25 percent of the population of Canada. Many of those people have tried to escape record heat this summer by visiting the lakes. What they found, according to The Hamilton Spectator, was record-breaking water temperatures fueled by record-breaking air temperatures in the spring and summer. By mid-August, the waters of Lake Superior were 6 to 8°C (11 to 14°F) above normal. Lake Michigan set records at about 4°C (7°F) above normal. The other three Great Lakes – Huron, Erie, and Ontario -- were above normal temperatures, though no records were set. The image was gathered by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite at 1:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time (18:30 UTC) on August 28. Open water appears blue or nearly black. The pale blue and green swirls near the coasts are likely caused by algae or phytoplankton blooms, or by calcium carbonate (chalk) from the lake floor. The sweltering summer temperatures have produced an unprecedented bloom of toxic blue-green algae in western Lake Erie, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Mike Carlowicz. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS Click here to see more images from <b><a href="#//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/" rel="nofollow"> NASA Goddard’s Earth Observatory</a></b> <b><a href="http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html" rel="nofollow">NASA Goddard Space Flight Center</a></b> is home to the nation's largest organization of combined scientists, engineers and technologists that build spacecraft, instruments and new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and the universe. <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>
ISS029-E-012564 (29 Sept. 2011) --- The Midwestern United States at night with Aurora Borealis is featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 29 crew member on the International Space Station. The night skies viewed from the space station are illuminated with light from many sources. For example, the Midwestern United States presents a night-time appearance not unlike a patchwork quilt when viewed from orbit. The artificial light from human settlements appears everywhere with a characteristic yellow tinge in this photograph. But green light of the Aurora Borealis also appears strongly in this view (top left)—even seeming to be reflected off Earth’s surface—in Canada—beneath the aurora. A small white patch of light is almost certainly lightning from a storm on the East coast (top right). Part of the International Space Station appears across the top of the image. This photograph highlights the Chicago, IL, metropolitan area as the largest cluster of lights at center, next to the dark patch of Lake Michigan. The other largest metropolitan areas include St. Louis, MO (lower right), Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN (left) and the Omaha–Council Bluffs region on the Nebraska–Iowa border (lower left). City light clusters give an immediate sense of relative city size; demographers have used night time satellite imagery to make estimates of city populations, especially in the developing world where city growth can be very rapid. The U.S. northeast seaboard lies in the most oblique (meaning viewed at an angle) part of the image at top right, just beyond the Appalachian Mts., a dark winding zone without major cities. Scales change significantly in oblique views: Omaha is only 200 kilometers from Des Moines, but appears roughly the same distance from Minneapolis—which is actually 375 kilometers to the north of Des Moines. In addition to the major metropolitan areas, the rectangular NS/EW-oriented pattern of townships is clearly visible in the rural, lower left part of the image. This pattern instantly gives the sense of north orientation (toward the top left corner) and is a distinctive characteristic of the United States, so that ISS crew members can quickly know which continent they are flying over even at night. In contrast to the regular township pattern, interstate highways converge on St. Louis (e.g. Hwy 44), Chicago and other large cities, much like wheel spokes around a central hub. Rivers—major visual features in daylight—become almost invisible at night. The course of the Mississippi River appears as a slightly meandering zone from Minneapolis through St. Louis (dashed line)—the river course continues out of the lower right corner of the image.
Colorful swirling clouds in Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt practically fill this image from NASA's Juno spacecraft. This is the closest image captured of the Jovian clouds during this recent flyby of the gas giant planet. The color-enhanced image was taken at 2:08 p.m. PDT (5:08 p.m. EDT) on Oct. 29, 2018 as the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) from the planet's cloud tops, at approximately 14 degrees north latitude. In other words, the spacecraft was about as close to Jupiter as San Francisco is to Chicago, which is quite close when racing over a planet that's 11 times wider than Earth. Citizen scientist Björn Jónsson created this image using data from the spacecraft's JunoCam imager. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22695. - Enhanced image by Björn Jónsson (CC-NC-SA) based on images provided courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS
In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the news and social media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Briefing participants from left are: Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. This is the first NASA mission named for a living person. The Parker Solar Probe is designed to provide key observations on his groundbreaking theories about the Sun. Lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will take place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
STS040-77-045 (6 June 1991) --- This image, photographed on June 6, 1991, is an oblique view looking north-northeast and shows most of the Great Lakes region. Part of Columbia's cargo bay and the Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-1) module are in the foreground. In the center of the image is Lake Michigan with Chicago clearly visible along the southwest shore. According to NASA photo experts studying the STS-40 imagery, this image shows several interesting meteorological phenomena. The difference in temperature between the warming land and the cold lake waters is illustrated by the low level clouds. The warming land surface results in rising air and the formation of clouds, while the lake waters are cold and result in the lakes remaining cloud free. Also visible is evidence of lake breezes developing around several of the lakes. This phenomena is also driven by the difference in temperature between the land and the water. Winds blowing off the lakes must travel 25 - 30 miles inland before it warms sufficiently to create clouds.
In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the news and social media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Briefing participants from left are: Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Dr. Eugene Parker, a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. This is the first NASA mission named for a living person. The Parker Solar Probe is designed to provide key observations on his groundbreaking theories about the Sun. Lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will take place from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.
“I’m a big community person. I’m a person who will be like, ‘I think I know someone for you.’ And then I’ll put everyone together. So I’m a big person on lending a helping hand. My platform is for highlighting folks. I’ve highlighted over 50 black junior astronomers for Black History Month, which I will continuously do. I founded the #BlackInAstro Week, which was very successful. I had no clue it was even trending until other people told me. I didn’t even realize until it was the middle of the week, and people were saying, ‘congratulations!’ And I was like, ‘wait, what? Okay, thanks!’ I didn’t realize it was that big. “Community for me and using my platform to promote others — it’s something that really makes me happy. It’s very important to lift others up because for me, I don’t see people who look like me. You never know who’s watching, or who will get inspired. The next generation of scientists will be amazing. This generation of scientists is outstanding — but the next generation will be amazing, so on and so forth. We’re just going to keep lifting each other up and making sure that we all have each other’s backs, because right now is a critical time in our lives. We need each other more than anything.” Ashley Walker, Intern in the Undergraduate Research Associates in Astrobiology program at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is photographed in her home in Chicago, Ill. via video conference, Saturday, July 25, 2020 in Alexandria, Va. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
From June 28 through 30, 2016, the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Promotion and Research Challenge (OPSPARC) gave the contest’s winning students the opportunity to explore NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Three teams of students from elementary, middle and high school won the contest by creating the most popular ideas to use NASA technology in new and innovative ways. The students used an online platform called Glogster to make posters about their ideas, and the general public voted for their favorites. Sophia Sheehan won the elementary school prize for her invention of the “blow coat,” which would be powered by solar panels and blow warm air into winter coats, helping people in her hometown of Chicago stay warm in the winter. Heidi Long, Aubrey Nesti, Katherine Valbuena and Jasmine Wu won in the middle school category for their idea called Tent-cordion, which would use spacesuit and satellite insulation materials in a foldable tent to house refugees and the homeless. Finally, Jake Laddis, Alex Li, Isaac Wecht and Isabel Wecht won in the high school category for their idea to use James Webb Space Telescope sunshield technology to shield houses from summer heat and reduce the need for air conditioning around the world. The high school winners also had the opportunity to compete in the NASA InWorld challenge, sponsored by the James Webb Space Telescope project, and continued developing their idea in a virtual world and gaming environment. During their three-day workshop at Goddard, the students toured the center, met with scientists and engineers, took a look at the James Webb Space Telescope in Goddard’s clean room, and even made their own videos in Goddard’s TV studio. One of the students talked about how the experience inspired her. Read more: <a href="http://go.nasa.gov/298fGdQ" rel="nofollow">go.nasa.gov/298fGdQ</a>