One space capsule crash propels a scientist to pivot her skills to surviving hordes of aliens. The space horror game genre got a new entry Feb. 28 with the release of Scars Above, which released on Feb. 28 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox X | S and Microsoft Windows. The game features a scientist, Kate, who finds herself dropped onto a strange, alien-filled planet with no weapons and only minimal training. It does branch beyond the first-person shooting genre, in that Kate can pick up some knowledge…
Read MoreMonth: March 2023
Russia’s war on Ukraine has caused lasting damage to international spaceflight cooperation
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions homeless and displaced and billions of dollars of damage in infrastructure. The conflict has also had less immediate but significant impacts on other areas, including on the space industries of Ukraine and Russia, but also globally in terms of the launch market, spaceflight activity and international cooperation. In the wake of the start of the conflict on Feb. 24, 2022, and resulting international backlash against Russia, the then-head of the Russian space agency Dmitry…
Read MoreDon’t miss March’s Full Worm Moon in the sky tonight
March’s full moon reaches its peak in the early hours on Tuesday (March 7) with the so-called Worm Moon rising just after sunset on Monday. According to In the Sky (opens in new tab) from New York City the moon will rise at 5:03 p.m. EST (2203 GMT) and will set at 7:03 EST a.m. (1203 GMT), meaning it will be visible through the night from dusk until dawn. However, the moon will rise again on Tuesday (March 7) at 6:09 p.m. EST (1109 GMT) at over 99% illumination, looking…
Read MoreDeputy Associate Administrator for STEM Engagement Kris Brown
“…Yes, you must be good at math and do the academic work to prepare you to do the kind of work we do. But in the end, it really comes down to unleashing this creativity and bringing minds together to achieve something that hasn’t been done before.” — Kris Brown, Deputy Associate Administrator for STEM Engagement, NASA Headquarters
Read MoreResearch Flies to the Space Station on SpaceX CRS-27
NASA’s 27th SpaceX commercial resupply services (CRS) mission is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in March.
Read MoreThis former NASA astronaut steered a space shuttle to safety after overcoming gender discrimination
As a Navy pilot, NASA astronaut Susan Kilrain used decades of flying experience to face down a space emergency. Kilrain, then known as Susan Still, steered the space shuttle Columbia safely back to Earth after the mission aborted in orbit on April 8, 1997. An erratic fuel cell forced the landing after only four days in space, which was a fraction of the 15 days slotted on the mission manifest. Despite showing her skills under pressure, Kilrain faced decades of discrimination on the road to space. But those catcalls taught…
Read MoreJames Webb Space Telescope ‘sees triple’ with help from Einstein (photos)
A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a supernova hosting galaxy not once, not twice, but three times at different points in time. This seemingly time-defying image by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was possible thanks to the massive gravitational influence of a foreground galactic cluster and a light-bending phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein over a century ago called “gravitational lensing.” In his theory of general relativity, Einstein predicted that mass warps the very fabric of space and time, or “spacetime.” This is analogous to…
Read More‘Star Wars: The High Republic’ gets lavish illustrated guide from Insight Editions (exclusive)
Lucasfilm Publishing’s “The High Republic” publishing initiative for the “Star Wars” expanded universe was initially revealed by Disney in 2020, representing with an ambitious lineup of interconnected young adult books, adult novels, and comic books set 200 years before “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” when the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy far, far away. Starting in January 2021, Phase 1 of the “Star Wars: The High Republic” series of this planned “Star Wars” expansion project rolled out with its A-team of authors Charles…
Read MoreChina and France prepare to launch satellite to hunt for gamma-ray bursts
France is set to send a pair of advanced science instruments to China in preparation for launch of a joint space observatory. The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a collaboration forged in 2014 between the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Centre national d’études spatiales (CNES). The satellite will be on the lookout for short-lived and extremely violent cosmic explosions known as gamma-ray bursts by detecting high-energy electromagnetic radiation in the X-ray and gamma-ray ranges. Related: What Is a Gamma-Ray Burst? The joint mission sees China…
Read MoreNikon Prostaff P7 8×42 binoculars review
The Nikon Prostaff P7 8×42 binoculars are a lightweight and affordable alternative to their P3 binoculars. Often, when asked what the perfect binoculars for stargazing are, astronomers will cite those with a magnification of at least 10×50. This makes perfect sense — the 10x magnification and 50mm aperture is an ideal combination of power and light-gathering ability. However, sometimes the insistence on 10x50s can blind would-be binocular users to the ability of smaller 8×42 instruments: With their 8x magnification and 42mm aperture, this stargazing aid can present wide, star-strewn fields.…
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