Guinness World Records officially designated NASA’s Crawler Transporter 2 as the heaviest self-powered vehicle, weighing approximately 6.65 million pounds—equivalent to about 15 Statues of Liberty or 1,000 pickup trucks.
Read MoreMonth: March 2023
New Program Office Leads NASA’s Path Forward for Moon, Mars
NASA has established the new Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters in Washington to carry out the agency’s human exploration activities at the Moon and Mars for the benefit of humanity. Amit Kshatriya will serve as the agency’s first head of the office, effective immediately.
Read MoreUS Space Force seeks $60 million for ‘tactically responsive space’ program
The U.S. Space Force (USSF) wants to accelerate the rate at which it puts satellites and other assets into orbit. Budget documents sent to Congress earlier this month show that the Space Force is requesting $60 million dollars for its “tactically responsive space” program, according to a SpaceNews report (opens in new tab). The program has already launched one successful demonstration mission, and has a second mission expected no earlier than May. The funding is the first direct budget request for the tactically responsive space program, which has already flown…
Read MoreBoeing delays 1st Starliner astronaut mission again, targets July 21 liftoff
The first crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner astronaut taxi has been pushed back several additional months, with liftoff now targeted for July 21 at the earliest. Last month, Boeing and NASA said that Starliner‘s astronaut debut, a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) called Crew Flight Test (CFT), was on track to launch in April. That timeline was pushed back a bit last week, when NASA officials said that CFT will lift off after Ax-2, a private flight to the orbiting lab operated by Houston company Axiom Space that’s…
Read MoreNASA Awards Snow and Ice Distributed Active Archive Center Contract
NASA has awarded a contract to the University of Colorado-Boulder, for the management and operations of the Snow and Ice Distributed Active Archive Center, part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System.
Read MoreThe largest black hole ever discovered can fit 30 billion suns. We found it with gravity and bent light.
Astronomers have just discovered what may be the largest black hole known to date. The giant black hole has a mass of 30 billion suns and sits at the center of a galaxy located hundreds of millions of light-years from Earth. Astronomers call the cosmic monster an ultramassive black hole, as opposed to the usual galactic supermassive black holes that weigh anywhere between a few million to a few billion solar masses. Astronomers discovered the black hole during observations of a galaxy located farther away from Earth than the one…
Read MoreCrew-4’s Museum Field Trip
NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, left, Jessica Watkins, center, and Bob Hines, right, take in the view from the interactive recreation of the International Space Station’s cupola in the One World Connected gallery at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum on March 28, 2023.
Read MoreNASA Receives Top Honor of Best Place to Work in Federal Government
NASA is taking home the honor of the Best Place to Work in the Federal Government among large agencies for 11 years in a row, as ranked by the Partnership for Public Service.
Read MoreBrightest gamma-ray burst ever seen a 1-in-10,000-years event that’s ‘absolutely monstrous,’ scientists say
The Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 revealed the infrared afterglow (circled) of the BOAT GRB and its host galaxy, seen nearly edge-on as a sliver of light extending to the burst’s upper right. This composite incorporates images taken on Nov. 8 and Dec. 4, 2022, one and two months after the eruption. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, A. Levan (Radboud University); Image Processing: Gladys Kober) An extragalactic outburst whose light hurtled through the inner solar system last fall was 70 times brighter than any other such eruption…
Read MoreWilliam Shatner documentary ‘You Can Call Me Bill’ will help expand access to space
“Star Trek” royalty William Shatner just celebrated his 92nd trip around the sun this week on Wednesday, March 22, and fans, loved ones and admirers across the planet have flooded the legendary star with a constellation of heartfelt birthday wishes. His candid new life-spanning documentary,”You Can Call Me Bill,” had its world premiere at the SXSW Film and TV Festival on March 16 in Austin, Texas. To help salute its success, executive producer CCG Guardian Entertainment has generously agreed to donate 25% of their share of the film’s gross producer…
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