TOPIC> Artemis II

2026 April 2

Liftoff!
Returning to the Moon
* Image Credit & Copyright: NASA/Bill Ingalls
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/liftoff-nasa-launches-astronauts-on-historic-artemis-moon-mission/
* Text: Ogetay Kayali (MTU)
https://www.ogetay.com/

Explanation:
We are one small step closer to returning to the Moon. A new chapter in human exploration began yesterday when NASA's Artemis II launched aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) from Kennedy Space Center. Carrying four astronauts, the Orion spacecraft's planned lunar flyby will be the first in over half a century. This historic test flight, echoing the legacy of Apollo while pushing beyond it, will carry its crew farther from Earth than any humans since 1972, looping around the Moon before returning home. During the approximately ten-day journey, Orion's systems--from life support to navigation--will be tested in deep space, while astronauts observe the lunar surface, including shadowed regions of the far side rarely seen with such perspective. After looping around the Moon, the astronauts will return to Earth, ending their journey with a Pacific Ocean splashdown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_small_step
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/
https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/space-launch-system/
https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/our-artemis-crew/
https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Cernan
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/apollo-12-splashdown/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260402.html

#space #moon #artemis2 #astrophotography #photography #science #physics #future #nature #NASA #ESA #apod

#Liftoff! Returning to the #Moon
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260402.html

#APOD #Artemis2 #ArtemisII

The #Claw and #Bubble #Nebulae
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260401.html

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Uranus's Largest Moon: Titania
Image Credit: NASA, Voyager 2; Processing & License: zelario12

Explanation: Titania's tortured terrain is a mix of canyons, cliffs, and craters. NASA's interplanetary robot spacecraft Voyager 2 passed the largest moon of Uranus in 1986 and took the feature picture. That the trenches of Titania resemble those on another moon of Uranus, Ariel, indicate that Titania underwent some violent surface event possibly related to water freezing and expanding in its distant past. Although Titania is Uranus's largest moon, it is only about half the radius of Triton - the largest moon of Uranus's sister planet Neptune, which itself is slightly smaller than Earth's Moon. Titania, discovered by William Herschel in 1787, is essentially a large dirty iceball that is composed of about half water-ice and half rock. There is recent speculation that radioactive heating melts some underground ice into oceans.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260331.html #apod