Curiosity Blog, Sols 4954–4960: Celebrating Our Rover Engineers Past and Present

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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions Mars Home 3 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4954–4960: Celebrating Our Rover Engineers Past and Present In this image acquired by NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity, the relatively light-toned bedrock in the foreground gives way to darker-toned rocks in the middle of the image, along…

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Vulcan Centaur swapped out again: NASA goes with SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for launch of space weather mission

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NASA is shaking things up for its next mission to research the sun. The six satellites of NASA’s Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment (SunRISE) mission are poised to launch to Earth orbit soon, to serve as an early warning system for incoming solar storms. They were originally slated to lift off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket but have now been assigned a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, according to a NASA mission update. SunRISE will fly to space as part of a rideshare mission sponsored by the U.S.…

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 4: Release date & how to watch Paramount+’s sensational sci-fi series

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2026 is the 60th anniversary of “Star Trek”. To help celebrate the show that creator Gene Roddenberry described as “Wagon Train to the Stars,””Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” returns to Paramount+ for its penultimate season. From teasers and trailers that first dropped last summer and fall, we’re anticipating a rollicking batch of dynamic episodes that draw on diverse subgenres, with everything from classic film noir crime stories and time travel to spooky ghost stories and sword-clashing swashbucklers. But the end is nigh for this colorful modern interpretation of “Trek”. Next…

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Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of the sun’s missing silver

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For several years now, astronomers who study the sun have faced a little mystery — our star seemed to hold too little silver. Whenever scientists examined the sun’s outer layers, they’ve seen significantly less silver than they’ve expected to find. Where, then, did the missing silver go? As it turns out, this mystery may finally be solved. Newly published research suggests that the sun‘s missing silver may have been hiding in plain sight all along. At first, the real mystery might seem to be why you’d seek silver in the…

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Look for NASA+ Now Streaming on Amazon Fire TV

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Credit: NASA Continuing agency efforts to bring space closer to home, NASA+ is heading to more streaming platforms. On Thursday, NASA announced its programming is on Fire TV Channels. Fire TV customers can easily access this content by asking Alexa+ on compatible devices. Future programming on Fire TV may include science mission launches, a test flight for rendezvous and docking with human landing systems, robotic lunar deliveries, the first crewed mission to the Moon under Artemis, and more. As always, NASA+ also remains available for free, with no ads, through…

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Crews Move Artemis IV Liquid Hydrogen Tank

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NASA/Michael DeMocker Crews at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans transport the 130-foot-tall Artemis IV liquid hydrogen tank out of a production cell inside the main factory building into a detached test building on a separate portion of the 829-acre site on May 15, 2026. The liquid hydrogen tank will form part of the core stage for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, providing thousands of gallons of super-cold propellant to one of four RS-25 engines. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

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NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Closes Out Space Station Mission

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5 Min Read NASA Astronaut Chris Williams Closes Out Space Station Mission After eight months aboard the International Space Station for his first mission, NASA astronaut Chris Williams is preparing to return to Earth. During his assignment, Williams contributed to research for new cancer treatments, advanced the production of materials to improve computers and electronics, ventured into the vacuum of space to complete two spacewalks, and much more. Williams’ work aboard the space station helped to improve life on Earth and prepare for future missions to the Moon and Mars.…

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China’s record-breaking Gravity-1 rocket launches 9 satellites from a ship at sea (video)

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The world’s most powerful solid-fuel rocket just aced its third-ever mission. Gravity-1, a distinctively squat and stubby rocket, launched Tuesday night (July 21) from the deck of a ship stationed off the coast of Shanghai. Liftoff occurred at 10:54 p.m. EDT (0254 GMT and 10:54 a.m. Beijing time on July 22), according to the state-run Chinese outlet Xinhua, which further reported that all nine satellites reached “their designated orbits.” Details about those satellites were not provided. Orienspace’s Gravity-1 rocket launches nine satellites to orbit from a ship at sea on…

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5 disturbing things we saw after digging into the recent ‘Dune: Part 3’ trailer

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The latest “Dune: Part 3” trailer arrived back on July 8, and it was a sumptuous banquet of startling set pieces, intergalactic political unrest, close-quarter combat, and a whole lot of sand and ash. A fine follow-up tothe initial March teaser, to be sure. After letting it marinate in our minds for a while, let’s break down five items of particular interest in this newest preview of the Denis Villeneuve-directed conclusion to his trilogy of far-future sci-fi epics adapted from author Frank Herbert’s novels, “Dune” and “Dune: Messiah.” Set 17…

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After nearly 30 years, NASA realized this near-Earth asteroid is actually a comet. The discovery may help us defend the planet some day

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A near-Earth object that astronomers believed was an asteroid for nearly three decades has been unmasked as a faint, active comet, revealing a case of cosmic mistaken identity that could help improve planetary defense. The object, known since its discovery in 1998 as 1998 SH2, appeared to be an ordinary asteroid. It follows a 4.5-year orbit around the sun and showed no obvious signs of cometary activity, such as the glowing coma or tail produced when sunlight vaporizes surface ice. However, during a close pass about 2 million miles (3…

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