Month: May 2021

Space junk removal is not going smoothly

NeRD

A Space Age “tragedy of the commons” is unfolding right under our nose — or, really, right over our head — and no consensus yet exists on how to stop it. For more than a half-century, humans have been hurling objects into low Earth orbit in ever growing numbers. And with few meaningful limitations on further launches into that increasingly congested realm, the prevailing attitude has been persistently permissive: in orbit, it seems, there is always room for one more. After so many decades of the buildup of high-speed clutter…

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US Space Command is tracking China’s falling rocket booster, but won’t shoot it down

NeRD

The U.S. Space Command is closely tracking a large Chinese rocket body falling uncontrollably back to Earth that is predicted to hit the atmosphere sometime late Saturday (May 8). Odds are that the 23-ton (21-metric ton) Long March 5B rocket core booster, will strike an uninhabited area since 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in ocean. It’s not the largest piece of debris to ever fall uncontrolled back to Earth; NASA’s Skylab space station reentry in 1979, for example, was much more massive, at 85 tons (77 metric tons). But…

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Where will China’s falling rocket booster crash? Here’s how to track it online.

NeRD

Several websites give regular updates on the Chinese Long March 5B rocket core that’s uncontrollably falling to Earth, with an expected re-entry on Saturday night (May 8). The 23-ton (21 metric tons) core stage likely will fall into an uninhabited area, given that 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by ocean. That said, entities around the world are keeping an eye out just in case — and providing regular updates online. We’ll keep you posted here at Space.com, but here are some of the sources you can look at yourself…

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Perseverance rover captures sounds of Mars helicopter Ingenuity’s flight in awesome first (video)

NeRD

We’ve already seen NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter fly on Mars — and now we can hear it, too. The agency’s Perseverance rover captured the whirring of Ingenuity’s fast-spinning rotors during the little chopper’s fourth Red Planet flight, which took place on April 30, NASA officials announced today (May 7). The newly released recording, which was made using the microphone on Perseverance’s rock-zapping SuperCam instrument, marks the first time one spacecraft has recorded audio of another probe on a world beyond Earth. And it has more than just gee-whiz value, rover team…

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This Week’s Sky at a Glance, May 7 – 15

NeRD

Mercury and low Venus adorn the west after sunset, with the crescent Moon soon to join them. Night brings the big Diamond of Virgo and Summer Triangle. Nova Cassiopeiae rebrightens. And Comet Atlas is in evening view with a 6-inch telescope. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 7 – 15 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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