The private Inspiration4 astronauts set to ride a SpaceX rocket head to Florida for Sept. 14 launch

The four-person crew of SpaceX’s all-civilian Inspiration4 mission is on the way to Florida to prep for an historic liftoff next week. “Our #Inspiration4 crew has completed astronaut training at @SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA and is en route to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final preparations and launch!” the mission team said today (Sept. 9) via the Inspiration4 Twitter account. Inspiration4 is a private mission to Earth orbit purchased by billionaire Jared Isaacman, the founder of Shift4 Payments. Isaacman will serve as commander; he’ll be joined on the…

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Watch the first full trailer for ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2

[embedded content] LOS ANGELES — The first full trailer for season 2 of “Star Trek: Picard” warped online during Paramount+’s Star Trek Day celebration and we can see that time travel does indeed play a major part in the plot.  Time travel is something that just about every show in the “Star Trek” franchise has done at some point, so it’ll be interesting to see how well this storyline stands up today. Paramount+ unveiled the new trailer and footage Wednesday (Sept. 8) in a celebration of Trek’s phenomenal 55-year run…

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How to Reduce Noise in Astrophotography

The bane of an astrophotographer’s life is noise. Appearing as little grains all over the frame, noise can be a nuisance at best. At worst though, noise can pair itself with low dynamic range and poor image detail to render some photos unusable. But what can we do to reduce noise in astrophotography? The first step is choosing the right kind of camera equipment. Decent kit that can handle low light photography is a must for astrophotography. Image editing software like Photoshop and Lightroom is equally useful for removing any…

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SpaceX, NASA targeting April 15 for launch of Crew-4 mission to space station

Here’s something to make the next Tax Day a little more bearable. SpaceX and NASA are targeting April 15, 2022, for the launch of the Crew-4 mission to the International Space Station, agency officials announced yesterday (Sept. 7). If all goes according to plan, a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule will launch that day atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Crew Dragon will be carrying NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Robert Hines and the European Space Agency’s Samantha Cristoforetti, as well as a…

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