Two black-bellied whistling ducks walk through a field of wildflowers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 19, 2023.
Read MoreMonth: May 2023
NASA, Department of Education Partnership Strengthens STEM Education
NASA and the U.S. Department of Education signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies, including efforts to increase access to high-quality STEM and space education to students and schools across the nation.
Read MoreA spaceport startup launched the 1st rocket from a floating launch pad in US waters
The first-ever rocket launches from U.S. territorial waters were announced on Tuesday (May 23). The Spaceport Company conducted multiple demonstration suborbital rocket launches on a modified ship located in the Gulf of Mexico, the company announced. Their goal is to reduce the load on busy rocket ranges and get satellites into space quicker. “This demonstration provided numerous lessons which will be incorporated into our next project: Building a sea-based spaceport capable of orbital operations,” CEO and founder Tom Marotta said in a statement. Related: The history of rockets The launches…
Read MoreSpaceX Dragon Crew Ship Approaches the International Space Station
The SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft, named Freedom, is seen as it approaches the International Space Station with four Axiom Mission 2 private astronauts aboard on Monday, May 22, 2023.
Read MoreSpaceX joining FAA to fight environmental groups’ Starship lawsuit: report
SpaceX is joining the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to fight a lawsuit brought by environmental groups, according to media reports. That suit, which was filed on May 1, claims that the FAA didn’t properly assess the damage that SpaceX‘s giant Starship rocket could cause to the environmentally sensitive lands surrounding its South Texas launch site. The FAA approved 20 Starship launches annually for the next five years from Starbase, SpaceX’s facility near Boca Chica Beach on Texas’ Gulf Coast. The first of those flights lifted off on April 20,…
Read MoreSpace pictures! See our image of the day
Space can be a wondrous place, and we’ve got the pictures to prove it! Take a look at our favorite pictures from space here, and if you’re wondering what happened today in space history don’t miss our On This Day in Space video show here! Hubble may have found a rare medium-sized black hole (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA) Tuesday, May 23, 2023: The Hubble Space Telescope may have found a rare medium-sized black hole. Although scientists are not sure yet. The black hole may be lurking at the heart…
Read MoreSee Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io glow red-hot in incredible images from NASA’s Juno probe
NASA’s Juno mission has made its 51st close flyby of Jupiter, catching stunning images of its moon Io, in the process. Juno flew past Io on Tuesday, May 16, on a flyby that brought it closer to the volcanic moon of Jupiter than ever before. The spacecraft passed with just 22,060 miles (35,500 kilometers) of the Jovian moon’s surface. If this Jovian moon appears tranquil in these images, then appearances can be deceptive. Io isn’t just the most volcanic moon orbiting the gas giant; it also happens to be the…
Read MoreHow would we decode a message from ET? New project will give us a trial run
A new project aims to help prepare humanity for the day — should it ever come — that we make contact with intelligent aliens. At 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Wednesday (May 24), Europe’s Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Mars probe will send a coded message that will be received by three big radio telescopes here on Earth. Scientists around the world — and interested members of the public — will then attempt to decode the missive, as part of an ambitious, multiweek project called A Sign in Space. “This experiment…
Read MoreRelive SpaceX launch of Ax-2 private astronaut mission with these stunning photos
The launch of the historic Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) was a photogenic one. Incredible new images show the successful launch and landing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that carried the Axiom Space Ax-2 crew to space. Just as the mission set a number of firsts for spaceflight, the landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9 LZ-1 was its own first for SpaceX. The Falcon 9 blasted off at 5:37 p.m. EDT (2137 GMT) on Sunday (May 21) from the historic Launch Pad 39A…
Read MoreNASA Mission to Study Ice Clouds, Help Observe Our Dynamic Atmosphere
NASA has selected a new mission to help humanity better understand Earth’s dynamic atmosphere – specifically, ice clouds that form at high altitudes throughout tropical and sub-tropical regions. The PolSIR instrument – short for Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer – will study such ice clouds to determine how and why they change throughout
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