Crew-5 Visits NASA Headquarters

On June 5, 2023, Crew-5 astronauts Josh Cassada (left) and Nicole A. Mann (second from left) of NASA, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Koichi Wakata (right) visited NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana (second from right) at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

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1st-ever private Venus mission delayed until at least 2025

The first private mission to Venus won’t launch this year after all. The Rocket Lab mission, which was initially set to launch last month, has been delayed until at least January 2025, TechCrunch reported. “Our focus right now is on delivering customer missions as a priority,” a Rocket Lab spokesperson told the website, without offering a detailed explanation for the delay. January 2025 was the original backup launch window for the Venus probe, according to the MIT Technology Review. Related: Here’s every successful Venus mission humanity has ever launched Rocket…

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Satellites watch floods ravage Ukraine following dam collapse (photos)

Satellites watched as floodwaters ravaged southern Ukraine following the mysterious collapse of a major dam on Tuesday (June 6). Floodwaters have been threatening crops and villages throughout war-torn Ukraine, prompting evacuations and what U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called a “monumental humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe,” according to the Associated Press. Russia and Ukraine are accusing each other of destroying the dam in what both are calling a “terrorist act.”  Satellites orbiting overhead caught shocking views of the destruction on Tuesday, revealing the extent of the flooding and the damage to…

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Gravitational waves may come from ‘cocoons’ of debris around dying stars (video)

The ‘cocoons’ of debris that surround dying stars appear to be able to create tiny ripples in space-time. So far, astronomers have only detected these ripples, known as gravitational waves, when they have been triggered by cataclysmic mergers of pairs of orbiting black holes, neutron stars or a combination of the two. As these very dense objects spiral toward each other in a cosmic dance that spans millions of years, they distort the fabric of space and time, sending out gravitational waves in the process.  Now, new research shows that…

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Watch SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule dock with space station early Tuesday

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule will arrive at the International Space Station early Tuesday morning (June 6), and you can watch the action live. The robotic Dragon launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Monday (June 5) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It’s schedule to dock at the space-facing port of the orbiting lab’s Harmony module on Tuesday at 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 GMT), ending an 18-hour orbital chase. You can watch the off-Earth rendezvous here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. Docking…

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NASA’s new moon car for Artemis astronauts will be inspired by Mars rovers

NASA’s next moon car will be part vehicle, part robot. The new lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) the agency is planning will be required to transport a crew of two astronauts on the surface of the moon, but will also function semi-autonomously to conduct experiments on its own. Similar to how the Perseverance or Curiosity rovers operate on Mars, the LTV will collect samples and perform analyses with remote operators calling the shots. NASA is now calling for private companies to cast their submissions for an LTV services contract for future…

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Giant robots defend Earth against alien attacks in new ‘Robotech’ comic series

Zooming beyond the iconic ’80s space anime series at full afterburner, London-based Titan Comics is fueling up a new “Robotech” miniseries this summer that’s pushing into the danger zone at much more than Mach 2 with its hair on fire. Coming from “Transformers” and “Kamen Rider Zero-One” scribe Brandon Easton, alongside acclaimed “Power Rangers” artist Simone Ragazzoni, “Robotech: Rick Hunter #1” strikes Earth on Aug. 2 as a four-issue creative endeavor. “Robotech” is a beloved sci-fi anime franchise that was imported to U.S. airwaves from Harmony Gold USA starting in…

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