Month: April 2023

NASA Voyager 2 spacecraft extends its interstellar science mission for 3 more years

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Voyager 2 can keep sending science back from interstellar space a little longer. NASA’s long-running Voyager 2 mission will postpone an instrument shutdown three years to 2026 thanks to a technical feat by engineers. The change will allow the mission, which launched in 1977, to gather valuable science in deep space.  “We are definitely interested in keeping as many science instruments operating as long as possible,” Linda Spilker, Voyager’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California, said of the decision in a statement (opens in new tab)…

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Martian dust likely preventing Chinese rover from waking up

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The chief designer of China’s Mars exploration program has provided a long-awaited comment on the status of the country’s Zhurong Mars rover. The solar-powered Zhurong rover, which is part of China’s Tianwen 1 Mars mission, had been hibernating during winter in the planet’s northern hemisphere since May 2022. It was expected to wake up autonomously in December, once lighting conditions and temperature had improved.  However, China remained silent regarding Zhurong as December came and went. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed in February that the rover has remained stationary for months.…

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New tabletop game ‘Death in Space’ lets you mine for precious gems in the ravaged Tenebris system

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Award-winning Swedish gaming studio Free League Publishing is well-known around the globe as a producer of prestige-quality tabletop games across the entire spectrum of sci-fi, horror and fantasy.   Those acquainted with the acclaimed firm should be well aware of their sterling reputation for delivering engaging RPGs like “The One Ring,” “Blade Runner,” “Alien,” “Tales From the Loop,” “Coriolis,” “Vaesen,” “Symbaroum,” and the upcoming “Dragonbane” and “The Walking Dead Universe.” Now, Free League and Stockholm Kartell have partnered to venture into the cold abyss of the cosmos for a haunting…

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Rocket Lab to launch 2 missions for NASA hurricane-watching constellation

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Rocket Lab is preparing to launch four tiny NASA hurricane-studying satellites across two missions next month from the company’s Launch Complex 1 (LC-1) in New Zealand. The two TROPICS (“Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of Small Sats”) missions were originally slated to fly a bit later from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  But the desire for the fleet to be operational for this year’s Northern Hemisphere stormy season led mission managers to pick an earlier launch date, Rocket…

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SpaceX Starship launch under FAA investigation after raining potentially hazardous debris on homes and beaches

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SpaceX’s Starship has been grounded by the U.S. government following claims that the rocket’s explosive first launch spread plumes of potentially hazardous debris over homes and the habitats of endangered animals. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — the U.S. civil aviation regulator — has stopped SpaceX from conducting any further launches until it has concluded a “mishap investigation” into Starship’s April 20 test launch. The massive rocket’s dramatic flight began by punching a crater into the concrete beneath the launchpad and ended when the giant rocket exploded in mid-air around…

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