Month: April 2022

SpaceX just flew its fastest Dragon astronaut trip to the space station ever

NeRD

SpaceX just set a new record for its fastest Dragon astronaut trip yet.  Elon Musk’s spaceflight company launched four Crew-4 astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA in less than 16 hours on Wednesday (April 27), the shortest flight time since SpaceX began crewed flights in 2020.  “This is the fastest launch to dock that we’ve done,” Steve Stitch, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, told reporters after the launch early Wednesday. “It’s about the same time it takes to go from New York to Singapore, so it’s kind of…

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Rare Black Moon solar eclipse takes bite out of sun over South America

NeRD

Skywatchers across parts of the Southern Hemisphere were treated to the first partial eclipse of the year today.  The partial solar eclipse of April 30, one of two happening in 2022, swept over parts of South America, Antarctica, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The solar eclipse began at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) in the far southeastern Pacific near the coast of Antarctica. It lasted just under four hours, ending at 6:37 p.m. EDT (2237 GMT) over the south Atlantic Ocean, according to TimeandDate.com, although for many observers, the…

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ scores its 1st tie-in book from veteran Trek novelist

NeRD

Electricity is crackling in the sci-fi ether as anticipation mounts for the premiere of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” coming to Paramount Plus on May 5.  This “Star Trek: Discovery” spinoff harkens back to the classic “planet of the week” format seen in the original “Star Trek” series from the 1960s and chronicles the intrepid adventures Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Spock (Ethan Peck) as they go galaxy-hopping in search of exotic new destinations and alien civilizations. To build upon the geeky revelry surrounding the…

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SpaceX’s Crew-4 astronauts thrilled after ‘eye-watering’ space station trip

NeRD

The newly arrived Crew-4 astronauts on the International Space Station are ready to begin a six-month stay in space after a smooth SpaceX trip this week. Pilot and NASA astronaut Robert Hines said the ride to space in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, the debut mission for both him and the Freedom spacecraft, was an “eye-watering” experience that stood out even after a career flying fighter jets. The mission launched into space early Wednesday (April 27) and docked less than 16 hours later. “One of the things we used to…

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Watch the ‘Night Sky’ trailer on Amazon Prime Video and visit a portal to an alien world

NeRD

To quote “Alice in Wonderland’s” titular heroine, paranormal fare found in recent film and TV offerings just keeps getting curiouser and curiouser, with interdimensional portals, time-shifting wormholes, and myriad gateways to the multiverse popping up like tardy white rabbits.  Next in line to dip another toe into the supernatural sandbox is “Night Sky,” a new sci-fi thriller series on Amazon Prime Video, and we’ve got the new trailer for you to digest before the 8-episode series arrives on May 20. The streaming giant already is mid-way into their current dose…

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Dive deep into ‘Starfield’ with these making-of videos for Bethesda’s new space game epic

NeRD

“Starfield” is easily one of the most anticipated video games on the planet and fans are eager to blast into its incredibly detailed realms of remote planets, exotic moons, alien civilizations, swirling galactic vistas, and massive deep space starships.  To keep eager sci-fi gamers in the loop as final preparations are made for its Nov. 11, 2022 release, the folks at Bethesda Softworks has been releasing a series of “Into the Starfield” videos sharing the artistic process that has gone into this ambitious RPG project.  From concept art and worldbuilding,…

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