May 1, 2017 - Aqua Spies Ocean Life
Aqua Spies Ocean Life Aqua, the second satellite in NASA’s Earth Observation System, was launched fifteen years ago this week. Aqua studies Earth’s water cycle, including evaporation from the oceans, water vapor in the atmosphere, clouds, precipitation, dissolved organic matter in the oceans, and more. This Aqua image shows the Kamchatka Peninsula of far eastern Russia surrounded by massive blooms of microscopic, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton, which appear green in the nearby waters. Phytoplankton often support an abundance of other fish and marine life. Looking toward the North Pole from the southern end of the peninsula, blooms of chlorophyll-rich cells appear off both the west coast—in the Sea of Okhotsk—and to the east in the North Pacific Ocean.
Image credit: Norman Kuring, NASA Ocean Color Group
Weekly Calendar
May 1-7, 2017
Holidays - Sky Events - Space History
Monday 1
1949: Gerard Kuiper discovers Nereid, moon of Neptune
1996: Comet Hyakutake closest approach to Sun
Tuesday 2
Mercury appears stationary
First Qtr Moon 10:47 PM ET
Wednesday 3
2003: ISS Expedition Six crew returns to Earth after 161 days in orbit
Thursday 4
Regulus 0.5° north of Moon
1967: Lunar Orbiter IV launched
1989: STS-30 Atlantis launched, releases Magellan spacecraft
2002: Aqua satellite launched
Friday 5
Eta Aquarid meteor shower
1961: Freedom 7 suborbital flight; Alan Shepard is first American in space
Saturday 6
Eta Aquarid meteor shower
1968: Neil Armstrong ejects safely from Lunar Landing Research Vehicle before it crashes
1975: NASA announces that Canada will build the Shuttle robot arm
Sunday 7
Mars 6° N of Aldebaran
Jupiter 2° S of Moon
Mercury 2° S of Uranus