CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-25 17:23:00 (18 comments, 44 reshares, 487 +1s)

One year ago today, the crew of the International Space Station grappled and attached the first +SpaceX #Dragon spacecraft to visit the orbiting laboratory, marking a new era of commercial spaceflight. Take a look back at the mission: http://go.nasa.gov/KRak7H. Learn more about commercial space: www.nasa.gov/commercial.

2013-05-24 20:00:39 (77 comments, 106 reshares, 1206 +1s)

What's our new cover photo?

In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 36/37 Flight Engineer Karen Nyberg of NASA (left), Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin (center) and Flight Engineer Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency (right) pose for a picture during a suited dress rehearsal "fit check" exercise May 17, 2013. The trio will launch May 28, 2013, in their Soyuz TMA-09M spacecraft to begin a 5 ½ month mission on the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Victor Zelentsov

2013-05-24 19:26:17 (26 comments, 51 reshares, 425 +1s)

Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws!

2013-05-24 16:22:43 (3 comments, 13 reshares, 155 +1s)

NASA Administrator Bolden visited JPL yesterday to talk about asteroids! Read more: http://go.nasa.gov/11dXTW4. 

2013-05-23 18:02:51 (40 comments, 74 reshares, 479 +1s)

The latest research from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory shows that magnetars may be more common than previously thought!

2013-05-23 17:56:48 (5 comments, 12 reshares, 116 +1s)

Today marks one year since the release of the Digital Government Strategy as part of President Obama's directive to build a 21st Century Government that delivers better services to the American people – and NASA has been a key partner in this effort.

As NASA continues to embrace technologies, it can now provide the means for the agency to take these openness practices to the next level and into the 21st century.

Read more from Steve VanRoekel, U.S. Chief Information Officer, and Todd Park, U.S. Chief Technology Officer, on the role that NASA and other agencies have played in making information more available to the public: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/05/23/digital-strategy-delivering-better-results-public

2013-05-23 16:12:23 (30 comments, 71 reshares, 470 +1s)

It's 2,000 light years away and almost a light year wide. Take a look at the latest Ring Nebula image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope!

2013-05-23 15:11:49 (47 comments, 75 reshares, 363 +1s)

3D Food for Thought -- can you "print" meals in space using "additive manufacturing," also known as 3D printing? NASA's funding a feasibility study to see what the future might hold for deep space menu options

2013-05-23 12:36:10 (84 comments, 254 reshares, 1498 +1s)

Amazing views from the International Space Station of Pavlof Volcano erupting in Alaska. http://go.nasa.gov/13Lrkkq

2013-05-23 11:28:16 (9 comments, 9 reshares, 186 +1s)

Find links to +NASA information about the ISS, Mars, and other hidden fun facts! RT +Angry Birds Celebrating Angry Birds Space as the #FreeAppOfTheWeek at @AppStore! http://t.co/O2Z2Tfw1ZA  http://t.co/iEbeg4nTRU

2013-05-22 19:45:38 (42 comments, 50 reshares, 494 +1s)

The latest ESA / NASA Herschel science findings are helping to explain a mystery in astronomy!

2013-05-25 18:00:09 (500 comments, 226 reshares, 449 +1s)

Want to ask an astronaut a question? Hangout with Kevin Ford, Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield at 3 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 23. They recently returned to Earth from the International Space Station.

The astronauts will answer questions and provide insights about living and working on the space station as part of a multi-national crew. As the culmination of the work of 16 different partner countries, supported by five different mission control centers and crew members from the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe and Russia, the station is widely regarded as a model example of international cooperation.  
 
Students from the United Nations Association of the USA’s Global Classrooms Model UN and the National Model United Nations organization will be participating in the hangout.

Ask a question before or during the event by posting a comment here or on Twitter using the#as... more »

2013-05-22 17:16:15 (10 comments, 37 reshares, 323 +1s)

Today NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden flew his own simulation during a tour of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems' Dream Chaser spacecraft NASA's Dryden Flight Research.  

SNC is preparing the vehicle for tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests later this year as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) initiatives to develop safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.

Last week, several NASA astronauts took Dream Chaser out for a spin during a simulation at Langley Research Center to test the spacecraft's subsonic handling. 

Read more about Sierra Nevada Corporation and NASA's Commercial Crew Program: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/snc-dryden-langley.html

2013-05-22 14:33:44 (17 comments, 18 reshares, 267 +1s)

NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot visited Marshall Space Flight Center today to check out progress an adapter that will connect the Orion spacecraft to the Delta IV rocket that will launch the Exploration Flight Test-1, the first un-crewed Orion test flight which will test out the spacecraft’s systems before it launches on SLS journeys. This same design will be used on the SLS launch vehicle too.

2013-05-22 12:58:14 (7 comments, 15 reshares, 223 +1s)

A team of scientists launched 20 balloons during a Jan. 2013 campaign in Antarctica to study space weather!

2013-05-22 00:58:36 (96 comments, 150 reshares, 1154 +1s)

Several Sierra Nevada Corporation employees recently unwrapped the Dream Chaser flight test vehicle following its five-state journey from Colorado to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern California. The prototype space access vehicle will undergo ground and approach-and-landing flight tests in the coming months at Dryden as part of NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) development work. SNC is one of three companies working with CCP during the agency's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers. For more information about CCP, visit: www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

2013-05-21 22:56:56 (8 comments, 23 reshares, 306 +1s)

NASA X explores a new composite cryotank and a revolutionary Exoskeleton, called X1. Both of these game changing technologies will help not only NASA, but people here on Earth. http://www.youtube.com/NASAXrocks

2013-05-21 18:44:54 (13 comments, 54 reshares, 351 +1s)

Image gallery and video of the Moore, Oklahoma, tornado as seen from weather & science satellites. http://go.nasa.gov/13FvZnQ

2013-05-20 22:39:36 (34 comments, 134 reshares, 634 +1s)

Did you miss the NASA/Star Trek Google+ Hangout Thursday? Here's a shortened, 5-minute version: http://youtu.be/n8a6g_ur9go

2013-05-20 17:32:23 (64 comments, 30 reshares, 387 +1s)

What’s our future in space? Ask questions to NASA's Chief Technologist Mason Peck during a Reddit AMA now: http://redd.it/1epdv7

2013-05-20 15:46:45 (30 comments, 70 reshares, 723 +1s)

What's our new cover photo?

On June 18, 1983, a young physicist from California took her seat aboard the space shuttle and launched into history. On that date, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as a mission specialist on STS-7. In this image, Ride monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the Flight Deck of the Space Shuttle. 

Sally Ride Science will host "Sally Ride: A Lifetime of Accomplishment, A Champion of Science Literacy," an educational tribute to America's first woman in space on Monday, May 20. The special event will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  

The celebration will highlight Ride's contributions and her legacies. These include her long-time focus on education, and her passion for inspiring girls and under-represented minority students to becomes... more »

2013-05-21 20:43:07 (114 comments, 271 reshares, 1207 +1s)

Next month, NASA begins to explore the sun in a brand new way with the IRIS mission. http://www.nasa.gov/iris

2013-05-17 18:09:40 (39 comments, 66 reshares, 624 +1s)

[WATCH] SpaceX’s 5.2m satellite fairing is tested in the world’s largest vacuum chamber: http://youtu.be/LtI1V624vWM  
The fairing protects a satellite during launch, and separates when the rocket is traveling over 4x faster than a speeding bullet – nearly 10x the speed of sound.

2013-05-17 17:18:54 (55 comments, 38 reshares, 406 +1s)

What’s our future in space? Ask questions to NASA's Chief Technologist Mason Peck during a Reddit AMA at 1:30 p.m. ET, May 20: http://go.nasa.gov/13tbrPf

2013-05-17 17:10:48 (15 comments, 24 reshares, 277 +1s)

The Mars Opportunity rover keeps going and going..... It's off to study another area on the Martian surface! http://go.nasa.gov/15TFyGJ

2013-05-17 15:42:24 (8 comments, 14 reshares, 220 +1s)

Register for a #NASASocial  with lots of robots in action in the Boston area this June at NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge: http://go.nasa.gov/13hHhOY 

Participants will tour of “the pit” area to meet with teams and see the robots, see robotic research facilities, and robotics labs, build simple bots and have a ' #battlebots '  type competition, and visit exhibits, speakers, interactive activities at the Challenge. Registration is open and closes on Monday, May 20, 2013 at noon ET. #Robots  

2013-05-17 15:21:09 (46 comments, 158 reshares, 821 +1s)

The crowdfunded AIA trailer that will play before the Star Trek Movie has been released! Enjoy! http://go.nasa.gov/13sIZ03 #gospace  

2013-05-17 12:25:42 (19 comments, 29 reshares, 292 +1s)

Watch it live at 10:30 a.m. EDT on NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 

2013-05-17 11:55:41 (9 comments, 42 reshares, 282 +1s)

Measuring how much it rains in your backyard can be done with a plastic rain gauge. But if you were to add up all the official meteorological rain gauges throughout the world, they would cover the area of about two basketball courts. Scientists need more data, more frequently, over more of Earth's surface. Enter the Global Precipitation Measurement mission, a joint effort between NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other international partners.
 
Most climate models predict that in a warming world, wet areas will get wetter and dry areas will get drier. But scientists will need comprehensive rain observations going into the future to see what changes are taking place. The GPM mission will ultimately swarm Earth with nine satellites and be able to measure nearly all global rainfall every three hours. The GPM Core satellite, which will unify the measurements into one global... more »

2013-05-16 23:14:04 (23 comments, 60 reshares, 455 +1s)

Take a look at NASA Spitzer's image of Messier 94's burning ring of fire!

2013-05-16 20:36:31 (28 comments, 25 reshares, 331 +1s)

Bruce Jackson, an aerospace engineer at NASA's Langley Research Center, briefs astronauts Rex Walheim and Gregory Johnson during simulated runway landings of the Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems Dream Chaser. The simulations measure how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions and assess its guidance and navigation performance. For more info on Dream Chaser and the NASA Commercial Crew Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/snc-dryden-langley.html Photo Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman

2013-05-16 18:44:49 (5 comments, 15 reshares, 174 +1s)

Register for a #NASASocial  in the Boston area this June at the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/13hHhOY 

2013-05-16 18:11:07 (3 comments, 3 reshares, 110 +1s)

NASA Satellite Data Helps Pinpoint Glaciers' Role in Sea Level Rise
http://go.nasa.gov/15JSmzl

2013-05-16 17:21:17 (36 comments, 129 reshares, 476 +1s)

Missed today's epic Google+ Hangout with the International Space Station and the Star Trek movie cast? Watch it here: http://go.nasa.gov/15Qm99H 

2013-05-16 15:59:46 (24 comments, 44 reshares, 264 +1s)

An asteroid with the same name as a cruise ship will sail far from and safely by Earth on May 31! http://go.nasa.gov/13p03Ef

2013-05-16 14:08:26 (45 comments, 183 reshares, 1068 +1s)

Epic G+ Hangout live with the International Space Station & Star Trek at noon ET today. Join us: http://go.nasa.gov/13i9DII  

2013-05-16 12:26:02 (10 comments, 37 reshares, 274 +1s)

Take a LONG flight from Russia to southern Africa with the newest Landsat satellite in this new data animation. http://go.nasa.gov/13ooPEo

2013-05-15 22:13:38 (21 comments, 24 reshares, 312 +1s)

It's a busy week for the NASA Commercial Crew Program and its partner Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems. On the west coast of the United States, NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., welcomed the Dream Chaser flight vehicle today to begin tests of its flight and runway systems. On the east coast, several NASA astronauts will be at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., this week to fly simulations of a Dream Chaser approach and landing to help evaluate the spacecraft's subsonic handling. http://go.nasa.gov/144iros

2013-05-15 21:22:17 (4 comments, 16 reshares, 201 +1s)

During the semi-weekly contact on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, the Kepler spacecraft was once again in safe mode. As was the case earlier this month, this was a Thruster-Controlled Safe Mode. The root cause is not yet known, however the proximate cause appears to be an attitude error. The spacecraft was oriented with the solar panels facing the sun, slowly spinning about the sun-line.

Read more: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/keplerm-20130515.html

2013-05-15 19:46:10 (5 comments, 16 reshares, 227 +1s)

Communications from space are not as easy as just picking up a cell phone to reach out and touch someone. An Earth-to-ground chat comes at a premium; so, it's no surprise that two simultaneous chats would be something to celebrate. Payload developers and NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are celebrating this advance, thanks to a communications hardware upgrade to the International Space Station. 

2013-05-15 19:45:22 (14 comments, 24 reshares, 214 +1s)

Scientists have created the first global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan! http://go.nasa.gov/13lSFcs

2013-05-15 19:45:06 (18 comments, 10 reshares, 155 +1s)

Scientists estimate that Mars is bombarded by more than 200 small asteroids or bits of comets per year! http://go.nasa.gov/13lZZ7W

2013-05-15 16:07:11 (3 comments, 14 reshares, 191 +1s)

Want to see robots in action in the Boston area this June? Join us for a #NASASocial  for the NASA-WPI Sample Return Robot Challenge  http://go.nasa.gov/13hHhOY

2013-05-23 19:59:41 (496 comments, 429 reshares, 720 +1s)

To watch on YouTube, visit: NASA Connects Space Station and "Star Trek Into Darkness" Crews in a Google+ Hangout

-----
The director, a writer and some actors in the film "Star Trek Into Darkness" will join NASA astronauts as we host a Google+ Hangout On Air from noon to 12:45 p.m. EDT, May 16, about how work aboard the International Space Station is turning science fiction into reality.

Participating in the hangout will be NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, who currently is living and working aboard the space station; astronauts Michael Fincke and Kjell Lindgren at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston; director J.J. Abrams, screenwriter and producer Damon Lindelof; and stars of the film, Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho. The participants will ask questions of each other and take questions from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City (home... more »

2013-05-14 04:12:56 (224 comments, 247 reshares, 2198 +1s)

Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), left, Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), center, and NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn sit in chairs outside the Soyuz Capsule just minutes after they landed in a remote area outside the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. Hadfield, Romanenko and Marshburn are returning from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

2013-05-14 02:38:45 (39 comments, 46 reshares, 420 +1s)

Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency, Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA landed their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft in Kazakhstan at 10:31 p.m. EDT. The trio arrived at the International Space Station on Dec. 21, 2012. The crew members spent 144 days aboard the space station and a total of 146 days in space. They completed 2,336 orbits around the planet and clocked almost 62 million miles.
 
The station now is occupied by Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Chris Cassidy of NASA. They will remain aboard the station to continue research and maintenance until the remainder of the Expedition 36 crew arrives later this month. NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg, Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and European Space Agency... more »

2013-05-14 01:22:04 (52 comments, 62 reshares, 597 +1s)

Another view as the Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft carrying Tom Marshburn, Chris Hadfield and Roman Romanenko departed the International Space Station this evening. NASA TV coverage is underway ahead of the trio's return to Earth, scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EDT. Watch live at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

2013-05-13 23:14:41 (21 comments, 33 reshares, 355 +1s)

The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft carrying Tom Marshburn, Chris Hadfield and Roman Romanenko undocked from the International Space Station's Rassvet module at 7:08 p.m. EDT. The crew is scheduled to land at 10:30 p.m. southeast of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. The departure of Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko marks the end of Expedition 35. Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Chris Cassidy of NASA will continue research and maintenance aboard the station. NASA Television will air live coverage of the Soyuz TMA-07M deorbit burn and landing beginning at 9:15 p.m.: www.nasa.gov/ntv. The timeline for a typical Soyuz landing event can be found at http://go.nasa.gov/soyuztimeline.