Space Missions

 

The spinning vortex of <a href="https://www.windows2universe.org/saturn/saturn.html">Saturn</a>'s north polar storm resembles a giant deep red rose surrounded by green foliage in this false-color <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/multimedia/pia14944.html">image</a> from NASA's <a href="https://www.windows2universe.org/missions/cassini.html">Cassini spacecraft</a>. The eye is 2,000 kilometers across with cloud speeds as fast as 150 meters per second. It is not known how long this newly discovered north-polar <a href="https://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/hurricane/hurricane.html">hurricane</a> has been active. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 419,000 kilometers from Saturn.<p><small><em>NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI</em></small></p>According to <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-277">NASA scientists</a>, the Voyager 1 spacecraft entered interstellar space in August 2012, becoming the first spacecraft to leave the <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&edu=elem">solar system</a>. The space probe is about 19 billion km from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=elem">Sun</a>. <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=elem">Voyager 1 and 2</a> were launched in 1977 on a <a href="/space_missions/voyager.html&edu=elem">mission</a> that flew them both by <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&edu=elem">Jupiter</a> and <a href="/saturn/saturn.html&edu=elem">Saturn</a>, with Voyager 2 continuing to <a href="/uranus/uranus.html&edu=elem">Uranus</a> and <a href="/neptune/neptune.html&edu=elem">Neptune</a>. Voyager 2 is the longest continuously operated spacecraft. It is about 15 billion km away from the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=elem">Sun</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA</em></small></p>

Explore Space Missions

Space Exploration

For as long as there have been people on Earth, we have looked up at the sky and wondered ...Read more

Human Spaceflight

It was not long after the first space satellites were launched that we succeeded in getting ...Read more

Satellites and Robotic Spacecraft

Satellites and robot spacecraft are important to space exploration. They let us explore space ...Read more

Space Missions Links

These are links to other great web sites about Space Missions. But beware: you don't want ...Read more

Tours

Take off on an Exploratour! Click on one of the many tours listed below to follow a guided ...Read more

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Did you know?

Did you know that different cultures imagined different constellations, based on their own cultural context?

Did you know that we have discovered planets around other stars – called exoplanets?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Orographic lift
xOrographic lift : Occurs when an air mass is forced to rise over geographic relief from a lower elevation. As the air mass rises it expands and cools adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100%, create clouds and precipitation.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Scientists Find Signs of “Snowball Earth” Amidst Early Animal Evolution

Near the Earth’s equator is where you could find some of the warmest places on Earth. But it wasn’t always like that. It used to be cold at the equator, so cold that ice formed on land and in the ocean....Read more


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