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Keldura Daily · Science & Space

Science & Space: Mission results, research deadlines, and a new Mars aurora insight

NASA published multiple substantive science and exploration updates: ESCAPADE returned calibration images ahead of its Mars journey, Hubble showed how cluster forces can distort a spiral galaxy, MAVEN helped explain Martian auroras through a Dungey-like process, and NASA opened an updated solicitation deadline for heliophysics research. Other items in the evidence were mission-log or non-substantive pages and are omitted.

The field note

1 source · 2 items
  1. The spacecraft was 363,250 miles from Earth and 115,600 miles from the Moon when it took the images, which is w…
  2. NASA says the visible image had only about 8% of each body sunlit, but thermal infrared showed Earth glowing fr…
  3. The cameras were provided by Northern Arizona University and are meant to search for visible Martian aurora and…
Story 011 source

ESCAPADE snaps Earth-Moon images on the way to Mars

NASA says one of the two Mars-bound ESCAPADE spacecraft captured visible-light and thermal-infrared images of Earth and the Moon on July 3 while the probe was still far from home. The images showed both bodies as crescents in visible light, while thermal infrared revealed Earth’s warm atmosphere and surface and the Moon’s much colder far side.[1]

Why it matters

The photos are not just a visual milestone; NASA says they serve as an important calibration check for the spacecraft’s cameras before ESCAPADE uses an Earth flyby in November 2026 to head toward Mars.[1] The mission is part of NASA’s plan to study how solar wind interacts with Mars and drives atmospheric loss when it arrives in September 2027.[1]

Key insights

  • The spacecraft was 363,250 miles from Earth and 115,600 miles from the Moon when it took the images, which is why the Moon appeared relatively large.[1]
  • NASA says the visible image had only about 8% of each body sunlit, but thermal infrared showed Earth glowing from its own heat while the Moon stayed far colder.[1]
  • The cameras were provided by Northern Arizona University and are meant to search for visible Martian aurora and study Martian thermal properties, with Earth-Moon imaging used to validate them.[1]
  • ESCAPADE is in loiter orbit around Lagrange point 2 and was built by Rocket Lab under a NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program.[1]
Story 021 source

Hubble reveals a lopsided spiral galaxy shaped by cluster forces

A new NASA/ESA Hubble image shows NGC 4654, a spiral galaxy 72 million light-years away in Virgo, with a rounded edge on one side and a long gas tail on the other. NASA says the asymmetry is tied to ram pressure stripping in the Virgo Cluster, along with an older fly-by interaction with nearby galaxy NGC 4639 about 500 million years ago.[2]

Why it matters

The image is a concrete example of how gas dynamics and gravitational encounters reshape galaxies and influence where stars can form. NASA says the data are helping researchers connect gas flows, star formation, and the effects of new stars on galactic gas in nearby galaxies.[2]

Key insights

  • NGC 4654 is classified as an intermediate spiral because it sits between barred and unbarred spiral types.[2]
  • NASA says ram pressure from the intracluster medium compresses the galaxy’s leading edge and drags gas into an elongated tail.[2]
  • Unlike many stripped galaxies, NGC 4654 is still forming nearly two Suns’ worth of stars per year, and Hubble’s red-light data show bright pink star-forming regions across the disk.[2]
  • The image draws on observing programs #15654 and #17502, which aim to link gas in galaxies with star formation.[2]

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