Items tagged with space
After two delayed launches, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 finally launched four crew members to the International Space Station aboard the Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket carried the Dragon spacecraft into orbit with astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael...
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A team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever detected. The measurements stem from archival data collected from NOIRLab’s Gemini North telescope on Manunakea in Hawaii.
Supermassive black holes have captured the imagination of astronomers and scientists since their initial...
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As people prepare to view the upcoming solar eclipse, hotels are preparing to make more money off those wanting to stay near the spectacle. New reports indicate hotels along the “zone of totality” are looking to cash in on people’s desire to have the best seat in the house come April’s total solar eclipse, with one...
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NASA confirmed a near miss between its own TIMED satellite and Russia’s defunct Cosmos 2221 satellite. If the two had collided, it could have generated considerable debris at about 373 miles (600km) above Earth’s surface.
The Department of Defense was closely monitoring the situation between the two satellites...
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A new study has found that NASA’s DART mission that slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid may not have had the impact once thought. The impact simulation study suggested that DART did not leave an impact crater; rather, it reshaped the entire body of the asteroid.
In September 2022, NASA’s DART spacecraft crashed...
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Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile spotted an indelible mark on the surface of a white dwarf star that has an appetite for destruction. Researchers believe the scar left on white dwarf WD 0816-310 is a concentration of metals imprinted on the star’s...
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Japanese space agency JAXA reported it had received a response from its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) lunar lander from the surface of the moon. The unexpected response came nearly a month after SLIM made a “pinpoint” landing on the lunar surface.
SLIM successfully landed on the Moon on January 19...
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Blue Origin’s New Glenn, named after the first American astronaut to orbit the Moon, John Glenn, is upright on a launch pad for the first time. The advanced heavy-lift vehicle will support both customer missions and Blue Origin programs, including returning to the Moon as part of NASA’s historic Artemis...
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NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory, or SDO, detected three strong solar flares with the potential to disrupt radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and could even pose a risk to spacecraft and astronauts. The first flare detected was an X1.8 flare, the second flare being classified as an X1.7...
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Intuitive Machines, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, is readying to attempt the first successful lunar landing of a spacecraft by the US since Apollo 17 in 1972. An attempt by Astrobotics to land on the moon last month was thwarted following an anomaly shortly after launch, which...
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It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s a satellite falling from space! A 2.5-ton European Space Agency (ESA) satellite that launched in 1995 is about to make a grand return to Earth today. During its service life, the ERS-2 satellite collected data on Earth’s land surfaces, oceans, and polar caps and monitored natural...
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Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected an extremely bright quasar that is being powered by a supermassive black hole with an insatiable appetite for destruction. The supermassive black is believed to be growing in mass every day by devouring the equivalent of one Sun every 24 hours, making it...
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Privately owned Intuitive Machines just shared some incredible selfies of its lunar lander, Odysseus, shortly after separation from SpaceX’s second stage rocket. As of right now, the Moon lander is on schedule for an attempt at landing on the lunar surface on February 22, 2024.
Following a delay in launch that...
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NASA is seeking applicants to take part in its second simulated one-year Mars surface mission. The mission, called Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA), is designed to help the agency plan for human exploration of the Red Planet.
The first CHAPEA mission is scheduled for completion on July 6...
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Researchers using two of NASA’s X-ray telescopes may be well on their way to possibly cracking a cosmic puzzle surrounding mysterious bursts of radio waves. The observations used for the new study were from a dead star’s “erratic” behavior as it produced a “bright, brief burst of radio waves.”
NASA says that while...
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The House Intelligence Committee chairman issued a warning this week of a “national security threat” in light of intel suggesting Russia is seeking to put a nuclear weapon in space. Lawmakers quickly tried to ease the public’s mind on the situation, even though one source remarked it was “very concerning” and a big...
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SpaceX has delayed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket carrying Intuitive Machines IM-1 lunar mission that will attempt to soft land on the Moon’s surface. The mission aims to be the first to successfully land a US vehicle on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C class lunar lander, named...
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Collins Aerospace is putting NASA’s latest space station suit to the test in a weightless environment on Earth. The test marked what NASA called “an important step” toward developing a suit that can be used for continuing operations and advancing scientific discovery in low Earth orbit (LEO).
NASA awarded Collins...
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While the Super Bowl provided fans with a tantalizing overtime win for the Chiefs, two astronauts onboard ISS showed off their own football skills. The space agency also shared just how much of its technology is at play during the big game, as well as some interesting facts in football terms.
NASA astronauts were...
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NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been busy this month, snapping images of both Jupiter and its moon lo. Juno was first launched in 2011. It reached Jupiter in 2016, and has since been gathering data on the giant gas planet and its moons.
The Juno spacecraft has been fascinating NASA scientists and astronomers back on...
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed engineers are still working to resolve a data issue on Voyager 1. Back in December, NASA reported it was working to resolve an issue that is preventing the spacecraft’s flight data system (FDS) from properly communicating with one of the probe’s subsystems, called the...
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A group of French researchers have sensed a disturbance in the force when it comes to Saturn’s moon, Mimas. Mimas bears a stark resemblance to the Empire’s Death Star in the iconic Star Wars franchise, hence why some astronomers have given it that nickname.
The research team, led by French astronomer Valery Lainey...
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