Beam up our breakdown of the ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ season 4 and ‘Lower Decks’ season 2 teaser trailers

The Paramount+ streaming platform’s First Contact Day last month was a non-stop, thrill-a-minute “Star Trek” spectacle, a veritable piñata packed with news and nostalgia that certainly gave us a lot to absorb and unpack. In addition to season two of “Star Trek: Picard,” we got tantalizing glimpses of season 4 of “Star Trek: Discovery” and the sophomore season of the animated comedy “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” to boot! We’ve scrutinized and analyzed every conceivable detail to make sure you don’t miss a thing.  Star Trek: Discovery, Season 4  [embedded content]…

Read More

NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars has found some mysterious rocks (photos)

NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance is starting to take the measure of its new Red Planet home. For the past five weeks, Perseverance has been focused primarily on supporting and documenting the pioneering flights of its little cousin, NASA’s 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) Mars helicopter Ingenuity. But the car-sized rover has been doing science work of its own in the background as well. For example, Perseverance has extensively photographed its surroundings — the boulder-studded floor of Mars’ 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, where the rover and chopper touched down on Feb. 18…

Read More

China’s Yutu 2 rover about to ‘wake up’ on the far side of the moon

China’s plucky Yutu 2 rover is about to wake up and continue to explore the far side of the moon as the nation works to land a rover on Mars this May.  The rover, which launched with the Chang’e 4 mission, landed on the far side of the moon in January 2019 and recently completed its 29th lunar day of activities, the China Lunar Exploration Project (CLEP) said on April 23. The mission’s solar-powered lander and rover entered a dormant state on April 19 Beijing time, just ahead of sunset.…

Read More

SpaceX will launch a moon mission funded by Dogecoin in 2022

SpaceX books a mission to the moon funded entirely by Dogecoin just days after SpaceX founder Elon Musk joked on Saturday Night Live about his role in spreading memes about the cryptocurrency. Geometric Energy Corp. has planned a rideshare mission to the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which usually costs about $62 million to book, or about 129 million Dogecoin (at the cryptocurrency’s $0.48 value as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday (May 10)). How much money or crypto will actually change hands, however, has not yet been revealed,…

Read More

The commander pulls an April Fools’ Day prank on the crew – Commander’s Report: lunar day 2

Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. Currently, she is in command of the two-week Selene V lunar mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Commander’s report for the Selene V moon mission at HI-SEAS Lunar day 2 (April 1, 2021) “April Fools!” I exclaimed to my crew, who were shocked, but not impressed. I had just…

Read More

Stunning new images of Jupiter reveal atmosphere details in different light (video)

Newly processed images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North observatory in Hawaii reveal details of the turbulent atmosphere of Jupiter in different wavelengths, helping scientists to figure out what drives the formation of the gas giant’s massive storms.  Scientists have processed the images — captured in infrared, visible and ultraviolet wavelengths — to allow interactive side-by-side comparison of the different views of the clouds above the gas giant.  The changing appearance of the planet in different wavelengths allows astronomers to gain new insights into the behavior…

Read More

The great lunar ‘bake off’ of knots and moon rocks — Commander’s report: lunar day 13

Selene IV crewmembers explore a lava cave near the HI-SEAS habitat for habitability and astrobiology research. (Image credit: Courtesy of Cameron Crowell) Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. Currently, she is in command of the two-week Selene IV lunar mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Commander’s report for the Selene IV moon mission at HI-SEAS…

Read More