Spitzer Stares into the Heart of New Supernova in M82

NASA - Spitzer Space Telescope patch.

February 26, 2014

Image above: The closest supernova of its kind to be observed in the last few decades has sparked a global observing campaign involving legions of instruments on the ground and in space, including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Carnegie Institution for Science.

The closest supernova of its kind to be observed in the last few decades has sparked a global observing campaign involving legions of instruments on the ground and in space, including NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. With its dust-piercing infrared vision, Spitzer brings an important perspective to this effort by peering directly into the heart of the aftermath of the stellar explosion.

Dust in the supernova's host galaxy M82, also called the "Cigar galaxy," partially obscures observations in optical and high-energy forms of light. Spitzer can, therefore, complement all the other observatories taking part in painting a complete portrait of a once-in-a-generation supernova, which was first spotted in M82 on Jan. 21, 2014. A supernova is a tremendous explosion that marks the end of life for some stars.

"At this point in the supernova's evolution, observations in infrared let us look the deepest into the event," said Mansi Kasliwal, Hubble Fellow and Carnegie-Princeton Fellow at the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science and the principal investigator for the Spitzer observations. "Spitzer is really good for bypassing the dust and nailing down what's going on in and around the star system that spawned this supernova."

Image above: A mosaic image taken by the Hubble Telescope of Messier 82. Image Credit: NASA/ESA.

Supernovas are among the most powerful events in the universe, releasing so much energy that a single outburst can outshine an entire galaxy. The new supernova, dubbed SN 2014J, is of a particular kind known as a Type Ia. This type of supernova results in the complete destruction of a white dwarf star—the small, dense, aged remnant of a typical star like our sun. Two scenarios are theorized to give rise to Type Ia supernovas. First, in a binary star system, a white dwarf gravitationally pulls in matter from its companion star, accruing mass until the white dwarf crosses a critical threshold and blows up. In the second, two white dwarfs in a binary system spiral inward toward each other and eventually collide explosively.

Type Ia supernovas serve a critically important role in gauging the expansion of the universe because they explode with almost exactly the same amount of energy, shining with a near-uniform peak brightness. The fainter a Type Ia supernova looks from our vantage point, the farther away it must be. Accordingly, Type Ia supernovas are referred to as "standard candles," which allow astronomers to pin down the distances to nearby galaxies. Studying SN 2014J will help with understanding the processes behind Type Ia detonations to further refine theoretical models.

Fortuitously, Spitzer had already been scheduled to observe M82 on January 28, a week after students and staff from University College London first spotted SN 2014J on Jan. 21. Subsequent observations, also part of Kasliwal's SPIRITS (SPitzer InfraRed Intensive Transients Survey) program, took place on Feb. 7, 12, 19 and 24 and are slated for March 3.

The supernova is glowing very brightly in the infrared light that Spitzer sees. The telescope was able to observe the supernova before and after it reached its peak brightness. Such early observations with an infrared telescope have only been obtained for a few Type Ia supernovas in the past. Researchers are currently using the data to learn more about how these explosions occur.

Spitzer Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA

Among the other major space-based observatories used in the M82 viewing campaign are NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer. In addition to Spitzer, key infrared observations are being collected by the airplane-borne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Spacecraft operations are based at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Littleton, Colo. Data are archived at the Infrared Science Archive housed at the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center at Caltech. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Spitzer Space Telescope, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/main/ and http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / Whitney Clavin.


Cheers, Orbiter.ch

Ice on the Great Lakes in False Color Infrared

NASA - Aqua Mission logo.

Feb. 26, 2014

On February 19, 2014 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over the Great Lakes and captured this striking false-colored image of the heavily frozen Great Lakes – one of the hardest freeze-ups in four decades.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), ice cover on North America’s Great Lakes peaked at 88.42% on February 12-13 – a percentage not recorded since 1994. The ice extent has surpassed 80% just five times in four decades. The average maximum ice extent since 1973 is just over 50%.

Unusually cold temperatures in the first two months of the year, especially in January, are responsible for the high ice coverage. Very cold air blowing over the surface of the water removes heat from the water at the surface. When the surface temperature drops to freezing, a thin layer of surface ice begins to form. Once ice formation begins, persistently cold temperatures, with or without wind, is the major factor in thickening ice.

The extreme freezing of the lakes is an unusual sight for residents, and has brought tourists flocking to certain locations, such as the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, where Lake Superior’s thick ice has thousands trekking about 1 mile across the lake to visit spectacular frozen ice caves. Frozen lakes also means an end to lake-effect snow – snow that forms when cold, dry air passes over a lake, gaining moisture, then is dumped on the far side. However, ice interferes with marine commerce, pleasure boating and fishing, all of which depend on navigable waterways. It also closes the lakes to migratory birds which flock here in the winter time. Some species, such as White-winged Scoter and Red-necked Grebe, have shifted away, and are being seen in great numbers as far away as Maryland.

In this false-color image, which uses a combination of shortwave infrared, near infrared and red (MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help distinguish ice from snow, water and clouds. Open, unfrozen water appears inky blue-black. Ice is pale blue, with thicker ice appearing brighter and thin, melting ice appearing a darker true-blue. Snow appears blue-green. Clouds are white to blue-green, with the colder or icy clouds appearing blue-green to blue.

NASA’s Aqua satellite

On the day this image was captured, according to NOAA GLERL, the ice concentration covering the great lakes were as follows: Superior, 91.76%; Michigan, 60.35%, Huron 94.63%, Erie, 92.79%, Ontario 20.78% and Lake Saint Claire, 98.78%, making for a total ice concentration of 80.29%. This is less than peak, suggesting that the warmer temperatures in mid-February have allowed some thawing. Temperatures are once again expected to plummet, however, thanks to another “polar vortex” bringing arctic air to the region. NOAA predicts that Friday, February 28 will be the peak of the next arctic outbreak, with lows dropping below 0°F across Michigan.

For more information about NASA’s Aqua satellite mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aqua/

Images, Text,  Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Radar Images of near-Earth Asteroid 2006 DP14

Asteroid & Comet Watch / NASA - Deep Space Network 40th Anniversary logo.

February 25, 2014

Radar Movie Highlights Asteroid 2006 DP14 - YouTube

Video above: Radar data of asteroid 2006 DP14 were obtained on Feb. 11, 2014. The asteroid is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) long, 660 feet (200 meters) wide. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR.

A collage of radar images of near-Earth asteroid 2006 DP14 was generated by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, Calif., on the night of Feb. 11, 2014.

Delay-Doppler radar imaging revealed that the asteroid is about 1,300 feet (400 meters) long, 660 feet (200 meters) wide, and shaped somewhat like a big peanut. The asteroid's period of rotation is about six hours. The asteroid is of a type known as a "contact binary" because it has two large lobes on either end that appear to be in contact. Previous radar data from Goldstone and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has shown that at least 10 percent of near-Earth asteroids larger than about 650 feet (200 meters) have contact binary shapes like that of 2006 DP14. The data were obtained over an interval of 2.5 hours as the asteroid completed about half a revolution. The resolution is about 60 feet (19 meters) per pixel.

Goldstone Radar Images of 2006 DP14. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR

The data were obtained on Feb. 11 between 9:03 a.m. and 11:27 p.m. PST (12:03 a.m. to 2:27 a.m. EST on Feb. 12). At the time of the observations, the asteroid's distance was about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) from Earth. That is about 11 times the average distance between Earth and its moon. The asteroid's closest approach to Earth occurred on Feb. 10, at a distance of about 1.5 million miles (2.4 million kilometers).

Radar is a powerful technique for studying an asteroid's size, shape, rotation state, surface features and surface roughness, and for improving the calculation of asteroid orbits. Radar measurements of asteroid distances and velocities often enable computation of asteroid orbits much further into the future than if radar observations weren't available.

NASA places a high priority on tracking asteroids and protecting our home planet from them. In fact, the United States has the most robust and productive survey and detection program for discovering near-Earth objects. To date, U.S. assets have discovered more than 98 percent of the known near-Earth objects.

Goldstone GSSR Solar System RADAR. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR

In addition to the resources NASA puts into understanding asteroids, it also partners with other U.S. government agencies, university-based astronomers, and space science institutes across the country that are working to track and understand these objects better, often with grants, interagency transfers and other contracts from NASA.

NASA's Near-Earth Object Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, manages and funds the search, study and monitoring of asteroids and comets whose orbits periodically bring them close to Earth. JPL manages the Near-Earth Object Program Office for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

More information about asteroids and near-Earth objects is available at: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ , http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch and via Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/asteroidwatch.

More information about asteroid radar research is at: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/.

More information about the Deep Space Network is at: http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn.

Images (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA / JPL / DC Agle.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Bullying black holes force galaxies to stay red and dead

ESA - Herschel Exploring the Cold Universe patch.

25 February 2014

Herschel has discovered massive elliptical galaxies in the nearby Universe containing plenty of cold gas, even though the galaxies fail to produce new stars. Comparison with other data suggests that, while hot gas cools down in these galaxies, stars do not form because jets from the central supermassive black hole heat or stir up the gas and prevent it from turning into stars.

Giant elliptical galaxies are the most puzzling type of galaxy in the Universe. Since they mysteriously shut down their star-forming activity and remain home only to the longest-lived of their stars – which are low-mass ones and appear red – astronomers often call these galaxies 'red and dead'.

Up until now, it was thought that red-and-dead galaxies were poor in cold gas – the vital raw material from which stars are born. While cold gas is abundant in spiral galaxies with lively star formation, the lack of it in giant ellipticals seemed to explain the absence of new stars.

Multi-wavelength view of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5044

Image above: Multi-wavelength view of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5044. Credit: Digitised Sky Survey/NASA Chandra/Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research/Very Large Array (Robert Dunn et al. 2010).

Astronomers have long been debating the physical processes leading to the end of their star formation. They speculated that these galaxies somehow expelled the cold gas, or that they had simply used it all to form stars in the past. Although the reason was uncertain, one thing seemed to have been established: these galaxies are red and dead because they no longer possess the means to sustain the production of stars.

This view is being challenged by a new study based on data from ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. The results are published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"We looked at eight giant elliptical galaxies that nobody had looked at with Herschel before and we were delighted to find that, contrary to previous belief, six out of eight abound with cold gas", explains Norbert Werner from Stanford University in California, USA, who led the study.

This is the first time that astronomers have seen large amounts of cold gas in red-and-dead galaxies that are not located at the centre of a massive galaxy cluster.

The cold gas manifested itself through far-infrared emissions from carbon ions and oxygen atoms. Herschel's sensitivity at these wavelengths was instrumental to the discovery.

"While we see cold gas, there is no sign of ongoing star formation," says co-author Raymond Oonk from ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy.

"This is bizarre: with plenty of cold gas at their disposal, why aren't these galaxies forming stars?"

The astronomers proceeded to investigate their sample of galaxies across the electromagnetic spectrum, since gas at different temperatures shines brightly at different wavelengths. They used optical images to probe the warm gas – at slightly higher temperatures than the cold one detected with Herschel, and X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to trace the hot gas, up to tens of millions of K.

"In the six galaxies that are rich in cold gas, the X-ray data show tell-tale signs that the hot gas is cooling," says Werner.

This is consistent with theoretical expectations: once cooled, the hot gas would become the warm and cold gas that are observed at longer wavelengths. However, in these galaxies the cooling process somehow stopped, and the cold gas failed to condense and form stars.

Multi-wavelength view of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1399

Image above: Multi-wavelength view of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1399 and its powerful jets. Credit: Digitised Sky Survey/NASA Chandra/Very Large Array (Robert Dunn et al. 2010).

In the other two galaxies of the sample – the ones without cold gas – the hot gas does not appear to be cooling at all.

"The contrasting behaviour of these galaxies may have a common explanation: the central supermassive black hole," adds Oonk.

In some theoretical models, the level of a black hole's activity could explain why gas in a galaxy is able – or not able – to cool and form stars. And this seems to apply for the galaxies studied by Werner and his colleagues, too.

While the six galaxies with plenty of cold gas harbour moderately active black holes at their centres, the other two show a marked difference. In the two galaxies without cold gas, the central black holes are accreting matter at frenzied pace, as confirmed by radio observations showing powerful jets of highly energetic particles that stem from their cores.

Herschel spectrum of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5044

Graphic above: Herschel spectrum of the elliptical galaxy NGC 5044. A strong emission line from ionised carbon (red fitted line) reveals the galaxy contains large amounts of cold gas. Credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS. Acknowledgments: Norbert Werner, Stanford University, CA, USA.

The jets could be an effect of the hot gas cooling down, and flowing towards the centre of the galaxies. This inflow of cold gas can boost the black hole's accretion rate, launching the jets that are observed at radio wavelengths.

The jets, in turn, have the potential to reheat the galaxy's reservoir of cold gas – or even to push it beyond the galaxy's reach. This scenario can explain the absence of star formation in all the galaxies observed in this study and, at the same time, the lack of cold gas in those with powerful jets.

Herschel spectrum of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1399

Graphic above: Herschel spectrum of the elliptical galaxy NGC 1399. The absence of the emission line from ionised carbon suggests this galaxy lacks in cold gas. Credit: ESA/Herschel/PACS. Acknowledgments: Norbert Werner, Stanford University, CA, USA.

"These galaxies are red, but with the giant black holes pumping in their hearts, they are definitely not dead," comments Werner.

"Once again, Herschel has detected something that was never seen before: significant amounts of cold gas in nearby red-and-dead galaxies," notes Göran Pilbratt, Herschel Project Scientist at ESA, "nevertheless, these galaxies do not form stars, and the culprit seems to be the black hole."

Background information

The study presented here is based on observations performed with the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) on board ESA's Herschel Space Observatory.

In addition, the astronomers also used optical observations from the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope in Chile and archival X-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.

The PACS instrument contains an imaging photometer (camera) and an imaging spectrometer. The camera operates in three bands centred on 70, 100, and 160 μm, respectively, and the spectrometer covers the wavelength range between 51 and 220 μm. PACS has been developed by a consortium of institutes led by MPE (Germany) and including UVIE (Austria); KU Leuven, CSL, IMEC (Belgium); CEA, LAM (France); MPIA (Germany); INAF-IFSI/OAA/OAP/OAT, LENS, SISSA (Italy); IAC (Spain). This development has been supported by the funding agencies BMVIT (Austria), ESA-PRODEX (Belgium), CEA/CNES (France), DLR (Germany), ASI/INAF (Italy), and CICYT/MCYT (Spain).

Herschel was launched on 14 May 2009 and completed science observations on 29 April 2013.

Related publication:

N. Werner, et al., "The origin of cold gas in giant elliptical galaxies and its role in fuelling radio-mode AGN feedback", 2014, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, doi: 10.1093/mnras/stu006.

For more information about Herschel Mission, visit: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Herschel

Images (mentioned), Text, Credits: ESA / Herschel Project Scientist, Göran Pilbratt / ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy Dwingeloo, J. B. Raymond Oonk / Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and Department of Physics, Stanford University, Norbert Werner.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

ESA debris radar detects first space objects

ESA - Space Situational Awareness logo.

25 February 2014

A prototype radar that will help Europe to develop capabilities in space-debris surveillance is performing above expectations, and is showing its capability to detect objects in low orbits.

The radar, installed in the Madrid region of Spain, was handed over to ESA by industry in November after extensive testing.

This novel sensor contains key technologies for detecting space debris in low orbits and is an important step towards operational radars. Building collision warning capabilities would boost the safety of Europe’s satellites in low and medium orbits.

Test radar in Spain

The testbed is already spotting objects of around a metre in size, depending on their altitude and other factors. While this is less than the performance needed for a fully operational system – where around 10 cm is required – it is already sufficient to test and refine new technologies and techniques, and is an important first step.

The radar is in a fully secure area, and all the test and validation activities are performed according to an agreed ESA data policy – the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Programme Security Instructions – put in place especially for this installation.

During future testing, the radar data will be declassified – filtered against a ‘white list’ of authorised space objects – before being sent to ESA’s SSA system for further processing and cataloguing.

Radar has excellent performance

“During the acceptance tests we realised that the radar was showing excellent performance,” says Gian Maria Pinna, Ground Segment Manager in the SSA programme office.

“Even without a full calibration of the system, which will take several months, we could detect smaller objects and at a longer range than expected.

Landsat 5 followed by radar

“A good example is Landsat-5, which presents a radar diameter of just 3.6 m at the relatively high altitude of 537 km.”

In January, while test tracking the International Space Station – obviously a large target – engineers were puzzled when they detected two objects.

“Then we realised that we had observed the undocking of the much, much smaller Cygnus cargo service craft from the Station.”

Cygnus craft attached to the ISS's robotic arm

The radar has also detected ESA’s GOCE  and Swarm satellites, debris from spent launch stages, and other objects of around a metre.

Orbital debris pose risks

It is estimated that more than 700 000 hazardous debris objects – many just 1–2 cm in size – are in orbit and have the potential to damage or destroy operational satellites.

ISS and Cygnus followed by radar

Any shutdown or loss of services from satellites would seriously affect a wide range of commercial and civil activities, including commercial land, air and sea travel, maritime navigation, telecommunications, information technology and networks, broadcasting, climate monitoring and weather forecasting, to name but a few.

Top European technology

ESA’s SSA programme office and Spain’s Indra Espacio signed a €4.7 million contract to build the radar in 2010. Indra Espacio leads a consortium comprising Indra and Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques (FHR).

The test radar has a ‘monostatic’ design, in which the transmitter and receiver are collocated within just a few hundred metres.

It will be complemented by a second test radar using a ‘bistatic’ design – with a geographically separated transmitter and receiver – being developed by a consortium under France’s ONERA, as well as a set of optical and laser-based telescopes for the surveillance and tracking of higher orbits.

ESA's SSA programme illustration

Image above: The Space Situational Awareness program is enabling Europe to detect hazards to critical space infrastructure. This artist's impression illustrates how radars, telescopes and networks on the ground can work in unison to detect space hazards including debris in orbit, harmful space weather and near-Earth objects.

“The acceptance of the first element of such a complex network of sensors marks a significant milestone in ESA’s SSA programme,” says Nicolas Bobrinsky, programme head.

“The technologies being developed within the programme are fundamental for the creation of future operational systems that Europe might deploy to safeguard its satellites against the threats posed by space debris.”

More information:

Indra Espacio: http://www.indracompany.com/

FHR - Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques: http://www.fhr.fraunhofer.de/

France’s ONERA: http://www.onera.fr/en

Space Situational Awareness: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness

SSA Programme overview: http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Space_Situational_Awareness/SSA_Programme_overview

Image, Text, Credit: ESA / NASA / Orbital Sciences Corp Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

First Moments of a Solar Flare in Different Wavelengths of Light

NASA - Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) patch.

25 February 2014

On Feb. 24, 2014, the sun emitted a significant solar flare, peaking at 7:49 p.m. EST. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which keeps a constant watch on the sun, captured images of the event. These SDO images from 7:25 p.m. EST on Feb. 24 show the first moments of this X-class flare in different wavelengths of light -- seen as the bright spot that appears on the left limb of the sun. Hot solar material can be seen hovering above the active region in the sun's atmosphere, the corona.

Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation, appearing as giant flashes of light in the SDO images. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth's atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however -- when intense enough -- they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel.

Channel Eruption

Video above: When a solar filament above the Sun's surface (the darker, slanted line seen before the eruption)) became unstable and erupted, it briefly left an empty channel that was almost immediately followed by a series magnetic loops reconnecting (Feb. 18, 2014) over the channel. The action was caught in this combination of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light (AIA 171 and AIA 304). This kind of channel eruption is not rare, but not usually observed so clearly. Still image was taken at 2:17 UT. Credit: Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA.

For more information about Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/main/ and http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Image, Video, Text, Credits: NASA / SDO.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA Seeks U.S. Industry Feedback on Options for Future Space Station Cargo Services

NASA logo.

February 24, 2014

International Space Station in orbit. Image Credit: NASA

Over the past two years, NASA and its American industry partners have returned International Space Station resupply launches to U.S. soil, established new national space transportation capabilities and helped create jobs right here on Earth. More than 250 miles overhead, hundreds of science experiments not possible on Earth are being conducted by an international team of astronauts, enabled by these new cargo delivery and return services.

In January, the Obama Administration announced plans to extend the life of the space station through at least 2024 – marking another decade of discoveries to come that will benefit Earth while increasing the knowledge NASA needs to send astronauts to an asteroid and Mars.

NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking industry feedback on options to meet the future needs of the International Space Station for cargo delivery of a variety of new science experiments, space station hardware and crew supplies.

View the Request For Information: http://go.nasa.gov/MhfIUl

The International Space Station is a convergence of science, technology and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and makes research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The space station has had crew members continuous on board since November 2000. In that time, it has been visited by more than 200 people and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future missions to an asteroid and Mars.

Obama Administration announce plans to extend the life of the space station through at least 2024: http://blogs.nasa.gov/bolden/2014/01/08/obama-administration-extends-international-space-station-until-at-least-2024/

For more information about International Space Station (ISS), visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Text, Credit: NASA.

Cheers, Orbiter.ch