Watch astronauts hold their own Summer Olympics in space with zero-g synchronized swimming and more

Astronauts on the International Space Station held their own summer Olympics in orbit over the weekend with a cosmic closing ceremony that capped days of weightless synchronized swimming, sharpshooting and even a new sport: “no-handball.” The Expedition 65 astronauts celebrated the close of the Tokyo Olympics and the next summer Olympics in France in 2024 with a unique handover between Akihiko Hoshide (representing his home country of Japan) and Thomas Pesquet (representing France). As shown on Pesquet’s Twitter feed over the last few days, Hoshide first handed over a small…

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Jupiter’s huge moon Ganymede stuns in new infrared image from NASA’s Juno probe

A new  infrared view of Ganymede from NASA’s Juno spacecraft.  (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM) Scientists are using infrared to better explore Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, the largest moon in our solar system.  As we mark 10 years since NASA’s Juno mission launched from Earth, the craft has delivered stunning images from its orbit around Jupiter, including new infrared views of Ganymede captured during its latest flyby of the Jovian moon on July 20.  Using Juno’s Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) instrument, which detects in infrared light that is not visible to the…

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Playmobil unveils epic Star Trek USS Enterprise NCC-1701 playset

Playmobil is going boldly where it’s never gone before. In a first for the German playset maker, Playmobil is launching an epic new replica of the USS Enterprise from “Star Trek” on Sept. 8 to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the sci-fi franchise’s TV debut. The massive Playmobil Star Trek USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (it’s over 3 feet long) is available for preorder at Amazon now and will cost $499.99 and is packed with details from the iconic original series Trek ship from 1966. Playmobil’s announcement Monday (Aug. 9) confirms a…

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Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi Just Blew its Top!

The recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi just went into outburst — its first burst in 15 years — and it’s bright enough to see with the naked eye The post Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi Just Blew its Top! appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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