NASA has spoiled us with some stunning images this month. Having released the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope (opens in a new tab) it also revealed the winners of its fourth annual Photographer of the Year competition.
This competition is not open to the public, but instead celebrates photographers who actually work at the space agency. The results are diverse and impressive, including several black-and-white portraits of astronauts, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and even some ongoing lunar field geology tasks.
The Blue Angels team tours the entrance to NFAC’s 80ft by 120ft wind tunnel test section in building N221 (Image credit: NASA/Dominic Hart)
(Image credit: BILL STAFFORD NASA-JSC HOUSTON T)
xEMU antenna test running in anechoic chamber B14 to inspect MLI blackout zones for antennas. The xEMU test article is named xGUS, the successor to the EMU test article also named GUS (named after Gus Grissom and his signature silver spacesuit). Image taken from where the “horn” is located which sends out radio frequency signals for the test (Image credit: Norah Moran)
NASA astronaut Jonny Kim wearing a high altitude pressure suit worn in the WB-57 aircraft, capable of flying at altitudes over 60,000 feet (Image credit: Norah Moran – NASA – Johnson)
Official NASA portrait of astronaut Tom Marshburn wearing the Extravehicular Mobility Unit space suit in the Building 8 photo studio at Johnson Space Center, July 19, 2021 (Image credit: NASA/Josh Valcarcel)
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, spacecraft on board, is seen at sunrise, Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Space Launch Complex 4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. DART is the world’s first large-scale planetary defense test, demonstrating a method of asteroid deflection technology. The mission was built and is operated by APL Johns Hopkins for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)
Test subjects Kelsey Young and Tess Caswell evaluate lunar field geology tasks as part of the Nighttime Extravehicular Exploration (xEVA) Operations Development Tests conducted at Johnson Space Center’s Rock Yard (Image credit: Norah Moran – NASA – Johnson)
Engineering Technician Ryan Fischer tightens the force gauge ring on the shake table in preparation for PACE spacecraft bus vibration testing at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland on June 16, 2021 (Image credit: NASA/Denny Henry)
Remember that you may also see a Astronomy photo of the day (that’s 35 years of amazing NASA images) courtesy of the NASA Archives.
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