September 2022 – NeRDs Moonbase

Hurricane Ian pushes Artemis 1 moon launch to mid-November

September 30, 2022 NeRD

NASA’s historic Artemis 1 moon mission will now lift off in mid-November, if all goes according to plan. The space agency had aimed to launch the uncrewed Artemis 1 on Tuesday (Sept. 27), but Hurricane Ian nixed that plan. The powerful storm forced NASA to roll Artemis 1 off Pad 39B at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and back into the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) early this week. Ian hit KSC on Thursday (Sept. 29) as a tropical storm, and the sprawling center seems to have weathered…

Coverage Set for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Events, Broadcast, Launch

September 30, 2022 NeRD

NASA will provide coverage of the upcoming prelaunch and launch activities for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission with astronauts to the International Space Station.

New evidence for liquid water on Mars suggests the planet is geothermally active

September 30, 2022 NeRD

Scientists have uncovered further evidence that liquid water exists beneath the ice cap at the southern pole of Mars and it may mean that the planet is geothermally active. In 2018, the European Mars Express orbiter found that the surface of the ice cap covering the south pole of Mars dips and rises, suggesting liquid water may be lurking underneath. But not all scientists were convinced at that time. Mars is extremely cold, and for subglacial water to exist on the planet in the liquid form, there would have to…

What are wormholes? An astrophysicist explains these shortcuts through space-time

September 30, 2022 NeRD

This article was originally published at The Conversation. (opens in new tab) The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Dejan Stojkovic (opens in new tab), Professor of Physics, University at Buffalo Curious Kids (opens in new tab) is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. What are wormholes and do they exist? — Chinglembi D., age 12, Silchar, Assam, India Imagine two towns on two opposite sides of a mountain. People from these towns would…

NASA, USGS Map Minerals to Understand Earth Makeup, Climate Change

September 30, 2022 NeRD

NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will map portions of the southwest United States for critical minerals using advanced airborne imaging.

Space Station Science Highlights: Week of September 26, 2022

September 30, 2022 NeRD

Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of Sept. 26 that included analyzing vascular changes in astronauts, assessing bone and muscle loss in space, and improving the amount of potable water recovered from wastewater.

NASA Updates Crew Assignments for First Starliner Crew Rotation Flight

September 30, 2022 NeRD

NASA has added two astronauts to the agency’s Boeing Starliner-1 launch to the International Space Station, the spacecraft’s first mission following completion of its flight tests and certification.

NASA Awards Contract for Acquisition of Gaseous, Liquid Helium

September 29, 2022 NeRD

NASA has selected three companies to supply 1.4 million liters of liquid helium and 87.7 million standard cubic feet of gaseous helium for use at facilities across the agency.

Ingenuity Mars helicopter notches 33rd Red Planet flight

September 29, 2022 NeRD

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has taken flight again, staying aloft for nearly a minute this past weekend on its 33rd extraterrestrial sortie. Ingenuity, which is a part of NASA’s life-seeking Perseverance rover mission, took to the skies of Mars on Saturday (Sept. 24), achieving a flight of just over 55 seconds. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) rotorcraft soared roughly 33 feet (10 meters) in the air and moved about 365 ft (111 meters) before alighting in a new location, according to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, which manages…

DART asteroid crash seen by James Webb, Hubble space telescopes (photos)

September 29, 2022 NeRD

The James Webb Space Telescope and its older counterpart Hubble photographed the impact of NASA’s asteroid-smashing DART probe into the space rock Dimorphos on Monday (Sept. 26). The observations were the first job the two space telescopes performed in sync, according to NASA, and their collaboration will reveal new information about the battered asteroid. The James Webb Space Telescope observes the universe in the infrared (heat-emitting wavelengths), while the Hubble Space Telescope is a specialist in detecting optical light, the kind that is visible to the human eye. By combining…