VAN HORN, Texas — Blue Origin successfully launched its first six-person crew into space on Saturday (Dec. 11), and in the process, set six new space records. From the tallest person to fly into space to the first parent-child pair to lift off together, the six newly-qualified astronauts made history on board Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. The crew included former football star-turned-TV anchor Michael Strahan and Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut to fly into space and the namesake for Blue Origin’s suborbital…
Read MoreMonth: December 2021
Michael Strahan taking football to space on Blue Origin flight Saturday
Good Morning America co-host Michael Strahan will be taking a small piece of his former life to space on Saturday (Dec. 11). Strahan, who played in the NFL from 1993 to 2007, will tote a football on his suborbital jaunt with Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin, which is scheduled to lift off from West Texas Saturday at 9:45 a.m. EST (1445 GMT). Bezos and Strahan made the announcement during an interview that aired yesterday (Dec. 9) on Fox Sports’ Thursday Night Football. During that chat, Bezos also revealed that…
Read MoreFAA ending commercial astronaut wings program as more people reach space
After a record-breaking number of commercial spaceflyers in 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to end its commercial astronaut wings program. The FAA made the decision to do this after noting “the number of people launching to space [will] increase dramatically in the coming years,” the agency said in a statement Friday (Dec. 10). Starting in 2022, all future commercial spaceflyers will instead receive a listing on the FAA website. “The Astronaut Wings program … served its original purpose to bring additional attention to this exciting endeavor. Now it’s…
Read MoreAstronaut Alan Shepard’s daughter says she’s excited to follow him to space
“An original Shepard will fly on the New Shepard.” Laura Shepard Churchley, the daughter of the first American in space, will embark on her own journey to space on board #NewShepard on December 9. pic.twitter.com/vQfzTKo1zeNovember 23, 2021 See more The daughter of NASA astronaut Alan Shepard can’t wait to go to space, just like her father, she said. Laura Shepard Churchley, now 74, is set to fly into space for the first time on Blue Origin’s NS-19 flight this Saturday (Dec. 11). She will launch to the skies and back…
Read MoreSpace Station Science Highlights: Week of December 6, 2021
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of Dec. 6 that included testing operational support from artificial intelligence, monitoring changes in the vascular system, and demonstrating a heat transfer system.
Read MoreThis Week’s Sky at a Glance, December 10 – 18
Comet Leonard switches from low in the dawn to low in the dusk this week; you’ll need those binocs. The Venus-Saturn-Jupiter line slides westward. And the high full moon of December rides across the sky in Taurus, at the top of the ecliptic. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 10 – 18 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreSnoopy to Fly Aboard Artemis I
Snoopy, the Zero G Indicator for the Artemis I mission, was delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 2 2021.
Read More‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 4, Episode 4 ends with a surprise you won’t see coming
“Star Trek: Discovery” constantly comes under discussion and decisions made in the writers’ room continue to divide fans, more so — it’s safe to say — than any other incarnation of the longest-running science fiction franchise in history. And some on social media claim that “Discovery” isn’t true “Trek” (whatever that means). However, I recently had reason to go back and rewatch some of Season 1 and the difference between what we watched back in October 2017 and what we’re watching now is stark. Despite the disruption and revolving door of…
Read MoreNASA Selects Education Projects to Help Broaden STEM Participation
NASA has selected a diverse group of projects from museums, science centers, library systems, and other informal education organizations across the country as NASA Informal Education Community Anchors.
Read MoreAstronomers spy record-breaking eruption on young sunlike star
Astronomers may have, for the first time, detected a sunlike star erupting with a giant outburst 10 times larger than anything similar ever seen from our sun, a new study finds. The new results may shed light on the effects such powerful outbursts may have had on the early Earth when life was born, and could have on modern Earth and our societies, researchers said. Our sun often unleashes flares that can each pack as much energy as millions of hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time. Solar flares are…
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