How Will The Audio Feed From Perseverance Make Its Way Back To Earth?

In Roman mythology, the god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief. It was only Jupiter’s wife, the goddess Juno, who could peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter’s true nature. ⁣ ⁣ Our @NASAJuno spacecraft is looking beneath the clouds of the massive gas giant, not seeking signs of misbehavior, but helping us to understand the planet’s structure and history…⁣ ⁣ Now, @NASAJuno just published its first findings on the amount of water in the gas giant’s atmosphere. The Juno results estimate that at the equator, water makes up about 0.25% of the molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere — almost three times that of the Sun. An accurate total estimate of this water is critical to solving the mystery of how our solar system formed. 

The JunoCam imager aboard Juno captured this image of Jupiter’s southern equatorial region on Sept. 1, 2017. The bottom image is oriented so Jupiter’s poles (not visible) run left-to-right of frame.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill ⁣ ⁣

Carina Nebula

During my book writing this NaNoWriMo, I came up with my own "humans are weird" concept!

You know, within a lot of stories, aliens are more advanced than us (technology). Have more senses than us (heat vision). Maybe have stronger senses than us (like hearing). But what if we have an advantage somewhere? Like maybe... We see more colors than they can?

In my book, one of my aliens cannot see the color red like the human can. I'd say she was "color blind", except this is just how all of her species see, so it's not a disability.

It's not as if she can't see red altogether, it just is a much duller color than what the human sees. Nearly brown. But it also happens to be the main color of her planet's environment.

This poses as a problem. See, her ship is red, and many of her outfits are red. These items are meant to blend in with the environment while moving across the planet.

A human visitor crashed on said planet, and our alien needs to go out to spy on then, see if they are friend or foe.

But the human, well, they sees her no matter where our alien protagonist moves. Incredibly well. Flying in over the mountains to come check on our human visitor? Human is already staring at the ship before it lands. Hiding behind a bush to observe the visitor? Human sees them immediately.

Once proper contact is made, our alien then asks about this. "Why were you always able to see me?" And the human seems confused.

"With all that bright red? I'd see you from a mile away!"

With proper research and observation, our alien comes to learn that the human sees basically a bright beacon against a dull background. But to our alien's eyes? It's all the same color.

Perseverance Rover’s Descent and Touchdown on Mars (Official NASA Video)

This is beyond amazing.

Hubble Hooks a One-Arm Galaxy via NASA https://ift.tt/3bGuO2f

Milky Way at Dowerin, Western Australia

Nikon d5500 - 35mm - ISO 4000 - f/2.5 - Foreground: 5 x 20 seconds - Sky: 11 x 30 seconds - iOptron SkyTracker

Cathedral to Massive Stars by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Who Was Mary W. Jackson?

On June 24, 2020, NASA announced the agency’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C., was to be named after Mary W. Jackson, the first African American female engineer at NASA.

Jackson’s story — along with those of her colleagues Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Christine Darden — was popularized with the release of the “Hidden Figures” movie, based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book by the same name.

Today, as the accomplishments of these women are brought to light, we celebrate them as Modern Figures — hidden no longer. Despite their recent recognition, we cannot forget the challenges that women and BIPOC faced and continue to face in the STEM fields.

Background

Jackson showed talent for math and science at an early age. She was born in 1921 in Hampton, Virginia, and attended the all-Black George P. Phenix Training School where she graduated with honors. She graduated from Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in 1942 with a bachelor of science degree in both mathematics and physical sciences.

Jackson worked several jobs before arriving at the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor organization to NASA. She was a teacher, a receptionist, and a bookkeeper — in addition to becoming a mother — before accepting a position with the NACA Langley Aeronautical Laboratory’s segregated West Area Computers in 1951, where her supervisor was Dorothy Vaughan.

Accomplishments 

After two years in West Computing, Jackson was offered a computing position to work in the 4-foot by 4-foot Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. She was also encouraged to enter a training program that would put her on track to become an engineer — however, she needed special permission from the City of Hampton to take classes in math and physics at then-segregated Hampton High School.

She completed the courses, earned the promotion, and in 1958 became NASA’s first African-American female engineer. That same year, she co-authored her first report, “Effects of Nose Angle and Mach Number on Transition on Cones at Supersonic Speeds.” By 1975, she had authored or co-authored 12 NACA and NASA technical publications — most focused on the behavior of the boundary layer of air around an airplane.

Legacy

Jackson eventually became frustrated with the lack of management opportunities for women in her field. In 1979, she left engineering to become NASA Langley’s Federal Women’s Program Manager to increase the hiring and promotion of NASA’s female mathematicians, engineers, and scientists.

Not only was she devoted to her career, Jackson was also committed to the advancement of her community. In the 1970s, she helped the students in the Hampton King Street Community Center build their own wind tunnel and run experiments. She and her husband Levi took in young professionals in need of guidance. She was also a Girl Scout troop leader for more than three decades.  

Jackson retired from Langley in 1985. Never accepting the status quo, she dedicated her life to breaking barriers for minorities in her field. Her legacy reminds us that inclusion and diversity are needed to live up to NASA’s core values of teamwork and excellence.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.