The new Disney documentary “Beyond Infinity” showcases the back story of the loveable astronaut known for falling with style: Buzz Lightyear, star of the “Toy Story” franchise. Filmmakers, storytellers, artists and actors who helped produce the new Disney movie “Lightyear,” which debuts Friday (June 15) in theaters, all feature in the new documentary “Beyond Infinity.” The documentary is available now (opens in new tab) on Disney Plus (opens in new tab), along with all four “Toy Story movies” and the extra shorts. “Delving into the cultural impact of the galaxy’s…
Read MoreMonth: June 2022
VP Hosts NASA for Family STEM Event, Disney Pixar’s Lightyear Viewing
Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff hosted an evening of NASA STEM activities Friday at the Naval Observatory for military families and local students and their families, which included a special screening of Disney Pixar’s Lightyear.
Read MoreWatch SpaceX launch German military satellite, land rocket Saturday
SpaceX plans to launch a German military satellite and land the returning rocket on Saturday morning (June 18), and you can watch the action live. A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday at 10:19 a.m. EDT (1419 GMT; 7:19 a.m. local California time). You can watch the action here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly via the company (opens in new tab). Coverage is expected to begin about 10 minutes before launch. The Falcon 9’s first…
Read MoreArizona wildfire reaches some of famed Kitt Peak’s telescopes
A large wildfire in Arizona is seriously threatening a key site for astronomy. Kitt Peak National Observatory, in the southern part of the state, includes more than two dozen telescopes and has hosted astronomers for more than six decades. But now the site is facing the Contreras Fire, which began on June 11 and has been steadily growing due to high winds and lots of dry vegetation. The fire reached the observatory early on Friday (June 17), according to a statement (opens in new tab) released later in the day…
Read MoreStratolaunch’s huge Roc carrier plane flies higher than ever on 7th test flight
Stratolaunch’s enormous Roc carrier aircraft aced its seventh test flight yesterday (June 16), flying higher than it ever has before. Roc, which will eventually carry into the sky hypersonic vehicles developed by Stratolaunch, reached a maximum altitude of 27,000 feet (8,200 meters) yesterday during a flight over the Mojave Desert in California that lasted three hours and one minute . “The seventh flight focused on continuing Roc’s flight envelope expansion with the recent addition of the pylon on the aircraft’s center wing,” Stratolaunch representatives said in a statement yesterday (opens…
Read MoreSpace Station Science Highlights: Week of June 13, 2022
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of June 13 that included autonomous monitoring of equipment acoustics, analyzing sloshing and turbulence in liquids, and testing a fiber optic radiation dosimeter.
Read MoreGalveston and the Beginning of Juneteenth
General Order No. 3 by Union troops on June 19, 1865, marked the official end of slavery in Texas and the U.S.
Read MoreThis Week’s Sky at a Glance, June 17 – 25
The five naked-eye planets form a diagonal line in the dawn this week — in order of their distance from the Sun, no less. And the waning Moon visits each one in turn, day by day. The planetless evening sky features the Big Dipper hanging down, the Little Dipper floating up, Leo walking away, and the two brightest summer stars nearly straddling the zenith. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 17 – 25 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 3 rockets from 3 pads in 3 days this weekend
SpaceX is counting down to what may be a rocket launch hat trick this weekend. The private spaceflight company aims to launch three rockets from three different launch pads in three days starting on Friday (June 17), when SpaceX will loft 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Pad 39A of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base will follow on Saturday morning to orbit a radar satellite for the German military, with the third mission returning to Florida to launch a commercial…
Read MoreRare 5-planet alignment comes into better view this week. Here’s what to expect.
A diagram showing the locations of five bright planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in the predawn sky on June 17, 2022. (Image credit: Starry Night) A rare parade of planets is coming into better view in the second half of June, and even the moon will join the show. The current early-evening sky is completely devoid of any of the five bright planets you can see with the naked eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). You have to wait until the second half of the night to…
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