Earthrise

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the Moon. Photo: NASA.

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Scott Joseph Kelly (@StationCDRKelly)

Space exploration

New Horizons may be millions of miles past Pluto by now, but that doesn’t mean the party’s over. Data is being received and analyzed every day as the probe continues to transmit – and meanwhile, it’s getting close to its next destination, which NASA has just decided on. First, though, watch this amazing animation of the flyby from the perspective of New Horizons, made by NASA’s Stuart Robbins from real-life imagery mapped onto a 3-D simulation of the Pluto system. [Read more].

• Devin Coldewey, NASA Shows Pluto Flyby Video and Picks Next Destination for New Horizons, NBC News, August 28, 2015

Another Earth

NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed the first near-Earth-size planet in the “habitable zone” around a sun-like star. This discovery and the introduction of 11 other new small habitable zone candidate planets mark another milestone in the journey to finding another “Earth”. The newly discovered Kepler-452b is the smallest planet to date discovered orbiting in the habitable zone – the area around a star where liquid water could pool on the surface of an orbiting planet – of a G2-type star, like our sun. The confirmation of Kepler-452b brings the total number of confirmed planets to 1,030. “On the 20th anniversary year of the discovery that proved other suns host planets, the Kepler exoplanet explorer has discovered a planet and star which most closely resemble the Earth and our Sun”, said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “This exciting result brings us one step closer to finding an Earth 2.0”. [Read more].

• Michele Johnson, NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth, NASA Press Release, July 23, 2015

This artist’s concept depicts one possible appearance of the planet Kepler-452b, the first near-Earth-size world to be found in the habitable zone of star that is similar to our sun. Image credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle.

Hey World!

• Philae, Europe’s comet lander, wakes up after seven months, The Thelegraph, June 14, 2015

Europe’s comet lander Philae has woken up overnight after seven months of hibernation. Photo: AFP.

Philae Lander (@Philae2014)

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

• Alberto Flores d’Arcais, Houston, 45 anni dopo il comandante Lovell celebra la missione fallita: “Così persi la Luna”, R.it, 18 maggio 2015

Artwork: pyorrhoeico

Mars Attacks!

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of the sun setting at the close of the mission’s 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover’s location in Gale Crater. [Read more].

Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity)

• Sunset in Mars’ Gale Crater, nasa.gov, May 8, 2015
• Sunset Sequence in Mars’ Gale Crater, nasa.gov, May 9, 2015