NICER Payload Animations

Quick link to canned interview in Spanish with Diego Altamirano: Principal Research Fellow, University of Southampton.Quick link to associated B-ROLL for live shots. || NASA Telescope Unlocks Clues to One of the Strangest Objects in the UniverseHave you ever wondered what it might be like inside a star that s NICER telescope on the International Space Station, which they use to study neutron stars, objects on the threshold of collapsing into black holes. Joining us today is NICER team member *NAME* to tell us more.Suggested questions:What is the difference between a black hole and a neutron star?Why do we study neutron stars? How do we study neutron stars?Which do you think is cooler, black holes or neutron stars?Where can our viewers go to learn more about neutron stars and NICER?Questions for longer interviews:What does matter look like inside a neutron star?Why is NICER on the International Space Station?What’s next for NICER?Will our Sun become a neutron star?Can we see any neutron stars in the night sky? || Canned interview in Spanish with Diego Altamirano: Principal Research Fellow, University of Southampton. TRT 7:40:20 || B-Roll for NICER Live shots.

Live shot b-rollFor more information see: NASA Missions Catch First Light From A Gravitational-Wave-Event || An exciting discovery out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center! The bling in your ring is a product of the most violent kind of explosion in the universe. Suggested Anchor Intro:Yesterday scientists announced another giant discovery in the physics world. This time, it involves the most powerful explosion in the universe, head-banging stars and a cosmic gold rush. We have NASA scientist *NAME* here to give us a bite-sized astrophysics lesson. While observing a galaxy 130 million light-years away, NASA scientists became the first to see a gamma-ray burst caused by two neutron stars smashing into each other. Join some of these brilliant minds from 6:00-11:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 17, for a bite-sized astrophysics lesson about an exciting discovery: many precious metals on Earth are remnants of these stellar collisions. This particular explosion produced 500 times the mass of Earth in platinum and 200 times the mass of Earth in gold. Gamma-ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the cosmos. Most occur when a massive star collapses under its own weight as it nears the end of its life. For decades scientists have suspected these bursts might also come from something else: collisions between neutron stars, the smallest and densest stars known to exist — they were right. Black holes merge darkly, but neutron stars do so with a splash. Matter is packed so tightly in neutron stars that a sugar cube-sized amount of material would weigh as much as Mount Everest. So, as it turns out, a neutron star merger can fuel the creation of precious metals and scatter them across the universe — precisely how gold, platinum and dozens of other elements arrived at Earth. We now know that a neutron star merger is powerful enough to cause ripples in space-time, just as a rock thrown into a pond creates ripples in the water. The discovery of these gravitational waves earned three physicists a 2017 Nobel Prize. This neutron star collision marks the first time scientists have been able to pinpoint exactly where gravitational waves originated. This discovery brings remarkable new insights into the physics behind the most powerful explosions in the universe — and a reminder that we s Goddard Space Flight Center/Greenbelt, Maryland Scientists:Dr. Brad Cenko / NASA Astrophysicist, Goddard Space Flight CenterDr. Paul Hertz / Director, Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Headquarters Dr. Julie McEnery / NASA Astrophysicist, Goddard Space Flight Center To book a window contact: Micheala Sosby / micheala.m.sosby@nasa.gov / 301-286-8199 || Canned interview with Dr. Paul Hertz with no graphics. || Canned interview with Dr. Paul Hertz with graphics || Canned interview with Dr. Julie McEnery looking off camera. Location: NASA Astrophysicist, Goddard Space Flight Center. Includes full transcript. SOTS are separated by slates. TRT 2:17 || Canned interview with Dr. Brad Cenko || Canned interview with Dr. Julie McEnery

Music Credit: KillerTracks, Strange Reality (KOK2310-11) || Several cameras on the International Space Station (ISS) have eyes on NICER. Since arriving to the space station on June 5 – aboard SpaceX’s eleventh cargo resupply mission – NICER underwent robotic installation on ExPRESS Logistics Carrier 2, initial deployment, precise point tests and more. This video shows segments of NICER’s time in space. Scientists and engineers will continue to watch NICER, using these cameras, throughout the mission’s science operations. || This GIF shows NICER being extracted from the SpaceX Dragon trunk on June 11, 2017.

Music credit: Killer Tracks, Shifting Reality || The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) payload, destined for the exterior of the space station, will study the physics of neutron stars, providing new insight into their nature and behavior. These stars are called “pulsars” because of the unique way they emit light – in a beam similar to a lighthouse beacon. As the star spins, the light sweeps past us, making it appear as if the star is pulsing. Neutron stars emit X-ray radiation, enabling the NICER technology to observe and record information about their structure, dynamics and energetics. The payload also includes a technology demonstration called the Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology (SEXTANT) which will help researchers to develop a pulsar-based space navigation system. Pulsar navigation could work similarly to GPS on Earth, providing precise position and time for spacecraft throughout the solar system.The 2-in-1 mission launched on June 3, 2017 aboard SpaceX s eleventh contracted cargo resupply mission with NASA to the International Space Station. The payload arrived at the space station in the Dragon spacecraft, along with other cargo, on June 5, 2017.

This video is a teaser for the NICER mission.Music: Killer Tracks, Stuva (PKT017); Sound Design Whoosh 4 (KT260); Drone Ambient (KT202) || This video previews the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER). NICER is an Astrophysics Mission of Opportunity within NASA’s Explorer program, which provides frequent flight opportunities for world-class scientific investigations from space utilizing innovative, streamlined and efficient management approaches within the heliophysics and astrophysics science areas. NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate supports the SEXTANT component of the mission, demonstrating pulsar-based spacecraft navigation. NICER is an upcoming International Space Station payload scheduled to launch in June 2017. Learn more about the mission at nasa.gov/nicer.

This video explains some of what s just some of what we already know about neutron stars. An upcoming NASA mission will further investigate these unusual objects from the International Space Station. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer mission, or NICER, will study the extraordinary environments — strong gravity, ultra-dense matter, and the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe — embodied by neutron stars. NICER is a two-in-one mission. The embedded Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT, demonstration will use NICER data to validate, for the first time in space, pulsar-based navigation.NICER is planned for launch aboard the SpaceX CRS-11, currently scheduled for June 1, 2017. Learn more about the mission at nasa.gov/nicer.

A neutron star begins its life as a star between about 7 and 20 times the mass of the sun. When this type of star runs out of fuel, it collapses under its own weight, crushing its core and triggering a supernova explosion. What remains is an ultra-dense sphere only about the size of a city across, but with up to twice the mass of the sun squeezed inside. || The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission will study neutron stars, the densest known objects in the cosmos. These neutron star animations and graphics highlight some of their unique characteristics.For more information about NICER visit: nasa.gov/nicer. || This animation shows the size and scale of a neutron star over San Francisco. Neutron stars squeeze up to two solar masses into a city-size volume, giving rise to the highest stable densities known anywhere. The nature of matter under these conditions is a decades-old unsolved problem. || This stylized animation shows the structure of a neutron star. The states of matter at neutron stars inner cores remains a mystery.NICER will confront nuclear physics theory with unique measurements, exploring the exotic states of matter within neutron stars through rotation-resolved X-ray spectroscopy. || Animation of a spinning neutron star in space. Neutron stars are directly observable, usually as “pulsars” – the lighthouses of the cosmos.

Please put caption here. || The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission will study neutron stars, the densest known objects in the cosmos. These neutron star animations and graphics highlight some of their unique characteristics.For more information about NICER visit: nasa.gov/nicer. || NICER observes X-ray light from the surfaces of neutron stars. In these strong-gravity environments, light paths are distorted so that NICER can see emission from the star so that a distant observer (to the right, in this animation) can see more of the otherwise invisible far side of the star.