March 2022 – NeRDs Moonbase

Rocket Lab, SpaceX launching missions Friday: Watch them live

March 31, 2022 NeRD

Rocket Lab and SpaceX both plan to launch missions on Friday (April 1), and you can watch the space doubleheader live. A Rocket Lab Electron vehicle is scheduled to loft two Earth-observing satellites for the American company BlackSky on Friday at 8:35 a.m. EDT (1235 GMT) from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site. Nearly four hours later, at 12:24 p.m. EDT (1624 GMT), a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying to orbit 40 satellites for a variety of customers, weather permitting. Forecasts…

Blue Origin space tourist carries Ukrainian flag to final frontier

March 31, 2022 NeRD

Blue Origin’s latest spaceflight featured a tribute to the people of Ukraine. Six people flew to suborbital space Thursday (March 31) on the fourth crewed flight of Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle. One of the passengers, professor and entrepreneur Jim Kitchen, carried with him a symbol of support and solidarity for Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24. “So in my passport, I brought both the Ukrainian and American flags, and I released them, just paying my respects to the situation that’s occurring there now and just to let them…

Ax-1 private mission to space station: Live updates

March 31, 2022 NeRD

Refresh 2022-03-31T22:04:34.634Z Ax-1 crew conference Friday! Axiom Space’s private Ax-1 crew will ride a SpaceX spacecraft to the International Space Station in April 2022. They are (from left): pilot Larry Connor; Mark Pathy, mission specialist; López-Alegría , commander; and Eytan Stibbe, mission specialist. (Image credit: Axiom Space) This Friday (April 1), the astronauts launching with Axiom’s Ax-1 mission as well as company representatives will be participating in a live crew press conference, which you can watch live here at Space.com or directly at axiomspace.com. All four astronauts who are set…

Explore Science in the City of Astronomy

March 31, 2022 NeRD

Join us in Pasadena 12-16 June for exceptional science at the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, and delight in the clear skies and comfortable weather, the welcoming array of restaurants and attractions, and the opportunity to safely reconnect with friends and colleagues in a stimulating environment. The post Explore Science in the City of Astronomy appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

What You Need to Know about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 Mission

March 31, 2022 NeRD

NASA and SpaceX once again are gearing up to launch astronauts on an American rocket and spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Pilot Bob Hines in Training for Crew-4

March 31, 2022 NeRD

NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew-4 pilot Bob Hines is pictured during a training session inside a mockup of the Crew Dragon vehicle at SpaceX Headquarters.

Coverage Set for Axiom Mission 1 Briefings, Events, Broadcast

March 31, 2022 NeRD

NASA and Axiom Space will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1), the first private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.

How to watch Blue Origin’s NS-20 space tourist launch on Thursday

March 30, 2022 NeRD

Jeff Bezos’ spaceflight company Blue Origin will launch six people to the final frontier Thursday morning (March 31), and you can watch the action live. Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle is scheduled to lift off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas Thursday at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local time in Texas). Watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of Blue Origin, or directly via the company, starting at 8:20 a.m. EDT (1220 GMT). The mission is known as NS-20, because it will be the…

Food lines in besieged Ukrainian city Mariupol visible from space (satellite photos)

March 30, 2022 NeRD

Satellites continue to provide glimpses of the toll that Russia’s ongoing invasion is taking on the people of Ukraine. On Tuesday (March 29), for example, Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 satellite captured a photo showing hundreds of people queued up outside a grocery store in Mariupol, a port city in southern Ukraine. They were waiting to receive food and other supplies, a public relations company that represents Virginia-based Maxar said in an emailed description of that and other new satellite images. Related: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as seen in satellite photosLive updates:…

A hyperactive sunspot just hurled a huge X-class solar flare into space

March 30, 2022 NeRD

A fast-erupting sunspot just hurled out a huge flare. The hotbed of sun activity, known officially as AR2975, sent out a powerful X-class flare that has already created a temporary blackout in shortwave radio signals in the Americas, according to SpaceWeather.com. (AR2975 has already burped more than 17 moderate-sized flares in recent days, but this outburst is a bit more powerful.) “Aviators, mariners, and ham radio operators may have noticed unusual propagation effects at frequencies below 30 MHz [megahertz],” the website reported Wednesday (March 30) in the hours after the…