Solar Wx

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• Turning up the heat on Europe’s first Sentinel
• Storm Clouds Over the Atlantic Ocean Near Brazil
• Learning that Maths is Rocket Science in Ireland
• The baseline configuration of Ariane 6
• European Space Agency YouTube Update
• European Space Agency Flickr Update
• REACTing to a crisis
• Thales Alenia Space kicks off Euclid construction
• Spacewalking Luca

Turning up the heat on Europe’s first Sentinel Posted: 09 Jul 2013 08:54 AM PDT Encapsulation in vacuum chamber The first satellite for Europe's new environmental monitoring programme is being put through some pretty harsh treatment to make sure that it can cope with the huge temperature changes as it orbits Earth.  Sentinel-1 Sentinel-1 will supply radar images Inside the chamber Testing team   Original Source

Storm Clouds Over the Atlantic Ocean Near Brazil Posted: 09 Jul 2013 08:50 AM PDT One of the Expedition 36 crew members aboard the International Space Station used a 50mm lens to record this image of a large mass of storm clouds over the Atlantic Ocean near Brazil and the Equator on July 4, 2013. A Russian spacecraft, docked to the orbiting outpost, partially covers a small patch of sunglint on the ocean waters in a break in the clouds. Image Credit: NASA  Original Source

Learning that Maths is Rocket Science in Ireland Posted: 09 Jul 2013 08:48 AM PDT Teachers participating in an astronomy lecture Before they head off on their summer holidays, fifty-one Irish teachers had the opportunity to learn about using space in the classroom. Teacher with constellation and foam rocket Teachers building a foam rocket Irish teachers hands-on-activity Original Source

The baseline configuration of Ariane 6 Posted: 09 Jul 2013 08:42 AM PDT In November 2012, European Ministers responsible for space, meeting in Naples, Italy, approved the start of preparatory activities for Europe's next-generation Ariane 6 launch vehicle.  Original Source

European Space Agency YouTube Update Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:42 PM PDT ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano will venture outside the International Space Station to install equipment and perform maintenance. Luca talks about how he felt when he heard he would go on two spacewalks during the Volare Mission and how he trained underwater for the so-called Extra-Vehicular Activities.

European Space Agency Flickr Update Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:40 PM PDT Integration of MIRI into the James Webb Space Telescope Inside the cleanrooms of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the international James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is beginning to take shape. JWST is a future infrared space observatory with a collecting area more than two and a half times larger than ESA's Herschel – the largest infrared scientific telescope so far flown to space. In this image, the MIRI mid-infrared camera and spectrograph, built by a consortium of European scientists and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is being integrated into the science payload module of JWST. Credit: NASA/C. Gunn Stars that go out with a whimper This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the planetary nebula IC 289, located in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia. Formerly a star like our Sun, it is now just a cloud of ionised gas being pushed out into space by the remnants of the star's core, visible as a small bright dot in the middle of the cloud. Weirdly enough, planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets. Early observers, when looking through small telescopes, could only see undefined, smoky forms that looked like gaseous planets — hence the name.  The term has stuck even though modern telescopes like Hubble have made it clear that these objects are not planets at all, but the outer layers of dying stars being thrown off into space. Stars shine as a result of nuclear fusion reactions in their cores, converting hydrogen to helium. All stars are stable, balancing the inward push caused by their gravity with the outwards thrust from the inner fusion reactions in their cores.  When all the hydrogen is consumed the equilibrium is broken; the gravitational forces become more powerful than the outward pressure from the fusion process and the core starts to collapse, heating up as it does so. When the hot, shrinking core gets hot enough, the helium nuclei begin to fuse into carbon and oxygen and the collapse stops. However, this helium-burning phase is highly unstable and huge pulsations build up, eventually becoming large enough to blow the whole star's atmosphere away. A version of this image was entered into the Hubble's Hidden Treasures image processing competition by contestant Serge Meunier. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA Acknowledgement: Serge Meunier

REACTing to a crisis Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:37 PM PDT Irish Coast Guard took part in the exercise Keeping all lines of communications open during a crisis is critical – and the Dublin Fire Brigade has shown how this can be done using satellite and hybrid technologies.  React Exercise   Incident Command Unit with camera and antenna Inside the ICU Original Source

Thales Alenia Space kicks off Euclid construction Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:33 PM PDT The construction of ESA's Euclid space mission to explore the 'dark Universe' will be led by Italy's Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor, beginning the full industrial phase of the project. Original Source

Spacewalking Luca Posted: 08 Jul 2013 03:31 PM PDT ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, living and working on the International Space Station, will venture out into space on Tuesday 9 July.  Original Source

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