March 2021 – Page 5 – NeRDs Moonbase

‘For All Mankind’ sneak peek: Watch astronauts test-fire guns on the moon in ‘Best-Laid Plans’

March 25, 2021 NeRD

[embedded content] What can go wrong when somebody fires a gun on the moon? It looks like we’ll find out in this week’s episode of “For All Mankind” airing Friday (March 26) on Apple TV+. An exclusive clip from the episode on YouTube shows various NASA astronauts on the moon doing target practice with brand-new space M16 rifles, painted white because the sun there is so intense that traditional black might melt through an astronaut’s glove (as we learned in last week’s episode “The Weight”). The first shot does not…

NASA Provides $45M Boost to US Small Businesses

March 25, 2021 NeRD

Small businesses are vital to NASA’s mission, helping expand humanity’s presence in space and improve life on Earth.

Frosty Sand Dunes of Mars

March 25, 2021 NeRD

A field of sand dunes occupies this frosty 5-kilometer diameter crater in the high-latitudes of the northern plains of Mars.

Space Station 20th: STS-102 Performs First International Space Station Crew Rotation, Returns Expedition 1 to Earth

March 24, 2021 NeRD

During their final month aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the Expedition 1 crew of NASA astronaut William M. Shepherd and Russian cosmonauts Yuri P. Gidzenko and Sergei K. Krikalev continued to commission the orbiting laboratory, conducted some early research, and contended with a balky treadmill.

Astronomers Detect Strong Magnetic Fields Around M87’s Black Hole

March 24, 2021 NeRD

Event Horizon Telescope data support the idea that magnetic fields control how black holes feed and grow. The post Astronomers Detect Strong Magnetic Fields Around M87’s Black Hole appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Arianespace to launch new fleet of OneWeb internet satellites tonight. Here’s how to watch.

March 24, 2021 NeRD

A Soyuz rocket will launch 36 new satellites into orbit for OneWeb today (March 24), expanding on the company’s growing high-speed internet constellation, and you can watch the action live online. The Soyuz will lift off from Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome, located in eastern Siberia near the Chinese border, at 10:47 p.m. EDT (0247 March 25 GMT). The mission is being operated by the France-based commercial launch company Arianespace. You can watch a livestream of the launch here on Space.com, courtesy of Arianespace, directly via the company’s website or on YouTube.…

Mars helicopter Ingenuity carries piece of Wright brothers’ famous plane

March 24, 2021 NeRD

A tiny piece of the Wright brothers’ history-making plane will take to the skies on Mars a few weeks from now, if all goes according to plan. NASA’s Mars Helicopter Ingenuity, which could lift off on the Red Planet as soon as April 8, bears a tiny swatch of fabric from one wing of Flyer 1, the plane that in December 1903 made the first powered flights on Earth, agency officials announced Tuesday (March 23). The Wright brothers ushered in “aerial mobility as a dimension for us to be able…

First image of a black hole gets a polarizing update that sheds light on magnetic fields

March 24, 2021 NeRD

Following the release of the first image of a black hole in 2019, astronomers have captured a new polarized view of the black hole. (Image credit: EHT Collaboration) Following the mind-boggling release of the first image ever captured of a black hole, astronomers have done it again, revealing a new view of the massive celestial object and shedding light on how magnetic fields behave close to black holes. In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration produced the first-ever image of a black hole, which lies at the center of…

Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Set for Historic Flight

March 24, 2021 NeRD

NASA is getting ready to deploy Ingenuity, the first helicopter mission to take to alien skies. The post Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Set for Historic Flight appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight

March 23, 2021 NeRD

NASA is targeting no earlier than April 8 for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter to make the first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.