HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Friday, Jan. 21 at 10 a.m. EST, engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., confirmed that the NanoSail-D nanosatellite deployed its 100-square-foot polymer sail in low-Earth orbit and is operating as planned.
Actual deployment occurred on Jan. 20 at 10 p.m. EST and was confirmed today with beacon packets data received from NanoSail-D and additional ground-based satellite tracking assets. In addition, the NanoSail-D orbital parameter data set shows an appropriate change which is consistent with sail deployment. "This is tremendous news and the first time NASA has deployed a solar sail in low-Earth orbit," said Dean Alhorn, NanoSail-D principal investigator and aerospace engineer at the Marshall Center.
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On January 4, the Hinode satellite captured these breathtaking images of an annular solar eclipse.
An annular eclipse occurs when the moon, slightly more distant from Earth than on average, moves directly between Earth and the sun, thus appearing slightly smaller to observers' eyes; the effect is a bright ring, or annulus of sunlight, around the silhouette of the moon. Hinode, a Japanese mission in partnership with NASA, NAOJ, STFC, ESA, and NSC, currently in Earth orbit, is studying the Sun to improve our understanding of the mechanisms that power the solar atmosphere and drive solar eruptions.
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This year we’re in for a real treat! The citizens of planet Earth will be treated to not one but four partial solar eclipses and the first will begin on January 4. Ready to find out where and when? Then step inside
The first partial solar eclipse 2011 is scheduled for January 4th, 2011, and will be seen in Europe, Africa and Central Asia. This eclipse will begin at 06:40:11 UT (Universal Time)) and culminates at 11:00:54 UT. The greatest eclipse – the point of time when the distance between the Moon’s shadow axis and Earth’s center is the minimum – will happen at 08:50:35 UT over northern Sweden. If you live in northern Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, you will be able to witness this eclipse.
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