NASA’s DART mission to smack an asteroid launches this week. Here’s how to watch online.

NASA’s asteroid impact mission is set to launch, and you can watch the event and several science briefings live. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1:20 a.m. EST (0620 GMT) on Wednesday, Nov. 24 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Live launch coverage will run on NASA Television, NASA’s YouTube, the NASA app and agency social media channels starting at 12:30 a.m. EST (0530 GMT). You’ll be able to watch all of the events on this…

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NASA’s DART mission will move an asteroid and change our relationship with the solar system

The dinosaurs didn’t have a space agency; maybe if they did they’d still be here, would-be planetary defenders sometimes quip about their quest to avoid an asteroid impact.  Planetary defense aims to identify any asteroids on track to cause serious damage to Earth and, should such a threat arise, act to deflect the rock. Such an impact is the only natural disaster that we can prevent, planetary defense experts often say.  But planning an asteroid deflection would be difficult today, given several outstanding questions about just how effective a maneuver…

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Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship departs space station to conduct experiment in orbit

The latest Cygnus cargo ship departed the International Space Station Saturday (Nov. 20) after sending a haul of cargo to the orbiting crew. The Northrop Grumman NG-16 resupply vessel was released from the grip of the station’s robotic arm at 11:01 a.m. EST (1601 GMT) by a command from NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston as both spacecraft sailed high over the South Pacific Ocean. The Cygnus spacecraft floated away from the International Space Station under the supervision of Matthias Maurer, an astronaut of the European Space Agency on the…

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Watch the 1st teaser for the live-action ‘Halo’ TV series from Paramount Plus

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Paramount Plus has released the first teaser for the “Halo” TV series, the live-action adaptation of the famous first-person shooter console games. Not much is known about the series yet, but Pablo Schreiber will play the star of the games, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. Among numerous roles in film and TV, Pablo played astronaut James Lovell in “First Man,” has appeared in “Orange is the New Black” and co-starred opposite Heath Ledger in the vastly underrated “Lords of Dogtown” and interestingly, he’s…

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Zap! NASA readies a new laser test to speed up space communications

NASA wants to test out a laser again in space to speed up space communications. Following a two-year delay, the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) is ready for launch no earlier than Dec. 4. It will ride to space on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket aboard the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) mission. The launch of the mission, now expected from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, was delayed due to numerous issues since the mission’s initial target of 2019. But investigators said the…

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Watch Ingenuity Mars helicopter soar in amazing new videos from Perseverance rover

Stunning new videos show NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity soaring through the Red Planet skies like never before. Ingenuity performed its 13th Martian flight on Sept. 4, cruising through the rugged “Séítah” region of the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater on a scouting mission for its robotic companion, NASA’s Perseverance rover. During the 160-second flight, Ingenuity covered about 689 feet (210 meters) of horizontal distance, reached a maximum altitude of 26 feet (8 m) and performed a number of tricky maneuvers. For example, the rotorcraft snapped photos from multiple angles of an…

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Save a whopping 40% the Fortnite Rocket Launcher in this early Black Friday deal from Best Buy

Blast away the competition with an epic early Black Friday Nerf deal on the Nerf Fortnite rocket launcher from best buy, now 40% off.  Best Buy is offering $12 off a certain Victory Royale with the Nerf Fortnite rocket launcher in this awesome early Black Friday deal. The sale brings the toy rocket launcher, normally $29.99, down to $17.99. The set comes with two foam rockets that can be fired one at a time and features artwork as seen in the game.  Of course, this won’t be the only Black…

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Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB tripod review

The Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB tripod has been around for at least the last ten years and is well-loved by those that use it. It’s a good all-around tripod if you dabble in a range of different types of photography but for astro-specific photography, its bulk and weight along with a fiddly connector plate make it something you might think twice about setting out with at night. Given that the most important considerations when choosing a tripod for night sky photography are portability, ease of use and stability, while this…

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