Rosetta's influence: How has it inspired you?
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42It's been ten years since the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission reached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In the past decade, the mission's scientific achievements have significantly contributed to unraveling the mysteries of comets and deepened our understanding of the Solar System's origins. However, the mission has also impacted people beyond the realm of science. To mark thi
NASA recreates Mars' Spider formations in lab for the first time
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42NASA scientists have successfully recreated the mysterious spider-shaped formations found on Mars, providing new insights into how these unique geologic features form. The laboratory experiments were conducted under simulated Martian conditions, helping to confirm a theory that these "spiders" are carved by processes involving carbon dioxide ice. First discovered in 2003 through orbiter im
JunoCam identifies new volcanic feature on Io
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42NASA's Juno mission has detected a new volcanic feature on Jupiter's moon Io, known for being the most geologically active body in the Solar System. Close-up images captured by JunoCam, marking the first such views of Io in over 25 years, show a fresh volcano with extensive lava flows and volcanic deposits across a 180-kilometre by 180-kilometre region. These findings were presented at the Europ
Inouye Solar Telescope maps magnetic fields in the Sun's corona
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42The U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, operated by the NSF's National Solar Observatory (NSO), has successfully mapped the magnetic fields in the solar corona for the first time. The solar corona, visible during a total solar eclipse, is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere. This achievement is expected to significantly improve our ability to unders
Astronomers capture detailed motion of gas bubbles on a star's surface
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42For the first time, astronomers have captured highly detailed images of a star, other than our Sun, that reveal the movement of bubbling gas on its surface. These observations were made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in July and August 2023. The star, R Doradus, is located around 180 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado. The images show enormous,
Satellogic chosen for NASA's SmallSat Data Acquisition Program
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL), a provider of sub-meter resolution Earth observation data, has been selected as one of eight companies awarded a contract in NASA's Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. The On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract, which holds a cumulative maximum value of $476 million, was announced on September 6, 2024. This selection reflects Satellogic's dedication to
NASA conducts key telemedicine and health research with Polaris Dawn Crew
Sunday, 15 September 2024 16:42NASA is set to gain significant new insights through a range of experiments aboard a commercial spaceflight, reinforcing the agency's scientific efforts as it aims for deeper space exploration to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. These experiments are part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched earlier today aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. The Polaris Dawn crew
Tech billionaire returns to Earth after first private spacewalk
Sunday, 15 September 2024 07:32A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA's moonwalkers.
SpaceX's capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope.
Catch a partial lunar eclipse during September's supermoon
Sunday, 15 September 2024 07:32Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one.
The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning.
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and moon, casting a shadow that darkens a sliver of the moon and appears to take a bite out of it.
Since the moon will inch closer to Earth than usual, it'll appear a bit larger in the sky. The supermoon is one of three remaining this year.
"A little bit of the sun's light is being blocked so the moon will be slightly dimmer," said Valerie Rapson, an astronomer at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
The Earth, moon and sun line up to produce a solar or lunar eclipse anywhere from four to seven times a year, according to NASA.
Crew Dragon splashes down to conclude Polaris Dawn mission
Sunday, 15 September 2024 07:03Boeing 'ran out of time' on Starliner: astronaut stuck on ISS
Saturday, 14 September 2024 07:30A US astronaut stuck on the International Space Station said Friday he believed Boeing's Starliner could have carried him home, if more time had been available to work through the beleaguered spacecraft's issues.
Last week, Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams watched the Boeing Starliner they rode to the ISS three months prior head back to Earth without them.
"We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time," Wilmore said Friday in a video press conference.
On June 5, Wilmore and Williams took off aboard the Starliner as part of the vessel's first crewed mission, in what was originally meant to be eight days in orbit.
United Airlines bumps GEO operators off fleet for Starlink Wi-Fi
Friday, 13 September 2024 21:48Mars mission: Wurzburg researchers orchestrate swarm of robots
Friday, 13 September 2024 21:32An enormous canyon stretches across Mars: Valles Marineris is 3,000 kilometres long, 600 kilometres wide and on average eight kilometres deep. Its Latin name goes back to the Mars orbiter "Mariner", which discovered the valley in the early 1970s. Since 2012, this largest known canyon in the solar system has received special attention from the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Cen
Lunar Trailblazer completes environmental testing
Friday, 13 September 2024 21:32NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft has successfully finished the rigorous series of environmental tests designed to ensure it can withstand the challenges of launch and space. With these tests complete, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, is now conducting software tests simulating key phases of the mission, including launch, orbital maneuvers, and its science o
What time is it on the moon? NASA's trying to figure that out
Friday, 13 September 2024 21:32NASA said Thursday its Space Communication and Navigation program is taking the lead on an effort to establish a Coordinated Lunar Time standard as humans prepare to return to the moon. The program, also known as SCaN, will coordinate with various stakeholders on a timekeeping effort to "enable a future lunar ecosystem" that could also be extended to Mars and other locations in solar sy