Month: April 2022

Telescope deal: get $85 off the Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ on Amazon

NeRD

If you’re looking for a good deal on a reliable, powerful and user-friendly telescope, then $85 off the Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ is the deal for you.  A saving of 45% is a pretty good deal, especially as prices seem to be rising everywhere you turn. It’s a great telescope for more inexperienced astronomers due to its easy-to-use nature and setup. You’ll have to act fast as (at the time of writing) there are only two left in stock.  Of course, buying a telescope can be a big deal so you…

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61st anniversary of human spaceflight marred by Russian invasion of Ukraine

NeRD

Humanity took a giant leap 61 years ago today (April 12), but marking the milestone is far more complicated than usual this year.  Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin launched to Earth orbit aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, becoming the first person ever to reach space. The landmark moment continued a string of space firsts for the Soviet Union, which kicked off the space age with the launch of the satellite Sputnik 1 in October 1957. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, Russia picked up the reins of…

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Artemis moon program will boost science and private spaceflight, NASA says

NeRD

Sending astronauts back to the moon will have considerable benefits both scientifically and economically, NASA officials stressed. That message came through during a discussion of NASA’s Artemis program of lunar exploration that was held April 5 at the 37th annual National Space Symposium in Colorado. The discussion, called “Artemis and the Industry: Building the Space Economy,” included panelists Kenneth Bowersox, NASA deputy associate administrator for space operations; James Free, NASA associate administrator for exploration systems development; James Reuter, NASA associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate; and Thomas Zurbuchen,…

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NASA scaling back Artemis 1 moon mission test due to faulty valve

NeRD

The crucial “wet dress rehearsal” for NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission won’t cover as much ground as the agency had originally hoped. The wet dress rehearsal is a practice run for Artemis 1, which will use a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket to send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a roughly month-long journey around the moon. The test goes through many of Artemis 1’s most important prelaunch activities, including fueling of the SLS. The wet dress began on April 1 at Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in…

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