There was plenty of exciting space news this week from the announcement of the Artemis II crew to a rare glimpse at the faint rings of an ice giant. Learn more below and see some stunning new images from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Artemis II Crew Announced
The Artemis II crew was announced this week, which includes three Americans: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and one Canadian: Jeremy Hansen. This mission will see a crewed Orion capsule orbit around the Moon and back, doing a full end-to-end check of the system before the Artemis III mission that will see humans set foot back on the Moon. This will also be the first mission for Jeremy, who was selected as an astronaut back in 2009, and will make him the first non-American to leave low Earth orbit. Based on this Stephen Colbert interview – I think this crew is going to be “eh”-okay.
A Rare Glimpse at the Rings of Uranus
A 12-minute exposure from the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed a rarely glimpsed view of the ice giant Uranus. This planet has very faint, dusty rings that have only been glimpsed previously by Voyager 2 as it head out of the solar system and the Keck Observatory. The planet is also unusual in that it orbits on its side, making the rings appear as though they “surround” the planet. Due to this, the planet’s poles experience 42 years of constant sunlight, followed by 42 years of constant darkness in its 84 year orbit around the Sun. Learn more here on the NASA blog.
Supernova Aftermath
This week, NASA also released a detailed image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A taken by JWST, which may hold clues into the origins of cosmic dust and where the building blocks of planets (and us) are created. As Carl Sagan famously said “We are made of star stuff” – like calcium and iron which are created in the heart of stars and then spread out into the universe through supernovas. Science aside – ain’t it beautiful?
