Page 11 - All About Space 68 - 2017 UK

A new day

on Saturn

Light illuminating Saturn’s wavy cloud
patterns and the vast rings marks a new
day at the ringed planet. This sunlight,
which has travelled for about 80
minutes, is quite feeble compared to
the light Earth receives – it’s 100 times
weaker since the ringed giant is about
ten times further from our nearest
star. However, compared to the deep
blackness of space, Saturn is still bright
in the sunlight, be it direct or reflected.
Captured by the Cassini spacecraft,
the view looks towards the sunlit side
of the rings from about 10 degrees © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
above their plane, and at a distance of
approximately 1.23 million kilometres
(762,000 miles) from the gas giant.

NASA’s Global Hawk

prepares for flight

It’s the hot summer days in Southern California’s Antelope
Valley that forces many aircraft operations to start early in
the morning. The Sun's rise above the horizon can cause the
onboard computers to become too hot to operate. On a back
ramp at Armstrong Flight Research Center on Edwards Air
Force Base, a NASA Global Hawk goes through the testing of its
communication components and satellite connection links in
preparation for take off.
The Global Hawk is unmanned and is used for high-altitude,
long-duration Earth science missions. The aircraft is able to fly
long distances, and remain aloft for extended periods of time,
while carrying large payloads.

© NASA/Michael Bereda

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