Students from Oklahoma and Texas will have separate opportunities this week to hear from NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Read MoreMonth: August 2023
NASA to Host Media for Asteroid Capsule Drop Test Briefing in Utah
Media are invited to Utah’s western desert on Wednesday, Aug. 30, to learn about NASA preparations and readiness to receive America’s first asteroid sample collected in space.
Read MorePhoenix’s Red Planet Selfie
NASA’s Mars Phoenix Lander gathered images of itself for this selfie from June 5 through July 12, 2008, with its Surface Stereo Imager.
Read MoreRussian cosmonaut becomes first to ride European robotic arm on ISS spacewalk
A Russian cosmonaut completed the first test flight at the end of a robotic arm as part of a successful spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday (Aug. 9). Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev rode at the end of the European Robotic Arm (ERA) to test the durability and sturdiness of a portable workstation. The arm was added to the International Space Station with the Nauka multi-purpose science module in July 2021, but it did not enter service on the Russian segment until almost a year later in…
Read MoreWhat time is Virgin Galactic’s Galactic-02 space tourist launch on Aug. 10? Here’s how to watch live.
Virgin Galactic is targeting Aug. 10 for the launch of its second commercial spaceflight mission, known as Galactic-02. The mission will ferry three private astronauts on a suborbital spaceflight aboard the Virgin Galactic‘s reusable space plane, VSS Unity. Coverage for the mission begins at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT), according to the company’s website. VSS Unity doesn’t reach orbit, but its trajectory does create several minutes of weightlessness for the passengers, at an altitude high enough for them to see the curvature of Earth against the blackness of space. Related:…
Read MoreScientists are using NASA satellite data to text Bangladeshi farmers water-saving strategies
Tapping into NASA satellite data, a new technology is helping farmers in Bangladesh reduce water waste while irrigating rice crops — an effort that could ultimately mitigate the water and energy footprint of the country’s large-scale rice production. The latest version of the Integrated Rice Advisory System (IRAS), a collaboration between the University of Washington and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Agriculture, uses data from NASA‘s Earth-observing Landsat satellite to estimate the amount of water rice crops have consumed. Researchers can compare that data to how much water the crops really need,…
Read MoreNASA Software Catalog Offers Free Programs for Earth Science, More
Each year, NASA scientists, engineers, and developers create software packages to manage space missions, test spacecraft, and analyze the petabytes of data produced by agency research satellites. As the agency innovates for the benefit of humanity, many of these programs are now downloadable and free of charge through NASA’s Software Catalog.
Read MoreThe chemical contamination of the International Space Station is out of this world (and not in a good way)
Concentrations of potentially harmful chemical contaminants on the International Space Station (ISS) could exceed those found in dust on floors in homes across the United States and Western Europe. That was the conclusion reached in a first-of-its-kind new study that looked at dust collected by the air filtration system on the orbiting space station. One day, this investigation’s results could help engineers design and build spacecraft for long-term human jaunts to space. “Our findings have implications for future space stations and habitats, where it may be possible to exclude many contaminant…
Read MoreCan’t wait for ‘Dune Part 2’? Let your creativity flow with this official ‘Dune’ coloring book
Director Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part 2” returns to the barren desert planet of Arakkis starting on November 3, 2023, with Paul Atreides continuing his messianic journey towards liberating the notorious spice-harvesting world from the vicious Harkonnen invaders for the blue-eyed Fremen natives. As a creative diversion to fill the empty days until “Dune Part 2” strikes theaters this fall, Penguin Random House will thankfully be releasing “The Official Dune Coloring Book” (Berkley/Ace) on September 26, 2023 as the first adult coloring book edition inspired by legendary author Frank Herbert’s seminal…
Read MoreThis ‘Star Wars’ auction could put Han Solo’s blaster or Chewbacca’s bowcaster in your hands
Owning an authentic piece of Hollywood history from one of our favorite sci-fi franchises like “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” is the ultimate dream of any fan, even if the reality of laying down a winning bid during any major movie and TV memorabilia auction is a remote possibility. Nevertheless, it costs nothing to fantasize (unless you’ve just won the lottery) about the chance to take home a coveted screen-used prop, costume, weapon, or accessory worn by some famous star in a favorite geeky film or television series. Julien’s Auctions…
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