Month: November 2023

Seeing Sagittarius C in a New Light

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The NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s reveals a portion of the Milky Way’s dense core in a new light. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sagittarius C (Sgr C) region, along with some as-yet unidentified features. A large region of ionized hydrogen, shown in cyan, contains intriguing needle-like structures that lack any uniform orientation. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia) A star-forming region, named Sagittarius C (Sgr C), is seen in exceptional detail in this image from…

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NASA’s X-59 ‘quiet’ supersonic jet heads for a new red, white and blue paint job

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NASA’s experimental supersonic jet is ready to rock a red, white and blue color scheme ahead of it’s first flight in which it will quietly shatter the sound barrier over Earth. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) jet moved to the paint barn at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ facility in Palmdale, California, on Nov. 14, 2023. The jet’s color scheme was changed from green to a white body with a sonic blue underside and red wing accents. The patriotic new paint job is more than just aesthetic, however. The paint…

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Fisher Space Pens to fly with Blue Origin crews as ‘official ballpoint’

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Fisher Space Pen has some new Blue ballpoints. The maker of the pressurized-ink writing instruments used by astronauts to scrawl in space has partnered with Blue Origin to become the company’s official pen provider. Fisher Space Pen will be the only brand ballpoint pen used on all of Blue Origin’s upcoming crewed launches. “We can see the future, and Blue Origin is helping fly us there,” Matt Fisher, vice president of Fisher Pen Company, said in a statement. “My grandfather helped build this company with an innovative product that yesterday’s…

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Satellites watch Russia’s tallest volcano spew 1,000-mile-long plume of smoke (photos)

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Eurasia’s tallest volcano has violently erupted, throwing a 1,000-mile-long (1,600 kilometers) cloud of dust and ash into the air, new NASA satellite images show. Klyuchevskoy, sometimes referred to as Klyuchevskaya Sopka, is an active stratovolcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, which is home to more than 300 other volcanos. Klyuchevskoy’s peak stands at 15,584 feet (4,750 meters) above sea level, making it taller than any other volcano in Asia or Europe, according to the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT).  Klyuchevskoy has been continually erupting since mid-June. But on Nov. 1, a massive…

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FAA to oversee investigation of SpaceX’s explosive 2nd Starship flight

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The second-ever test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket has spurred an investigation, just as the first one did. Starship lifted off from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas on Saturday (Nov. 18), kicking off a test mission that aimed to send the vehicle’s upper stage most of the way around Earth. The target was a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii about 90 minutes after launch. But Saturday’s flight ended just eight minutes in, with the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” of Starship’s upper stage. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration…

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SpaceX poised to launch 22 Starlink satellites early Nov. 19

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SpaceX plans to launch 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California early on Sunday morning (Nov. 19). A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday during a four-hour window that opens at 1:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT; 10:55 p.m. on Nov. 18 local California time).  You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X (formerly known as Twitter). Coverage will begin about five minutes before launch. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the…

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Growing Beyond Earth High School Student Wins the American Society of Gravitational Space Research Scholarship

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1 min read Growing Beyond Earth High School Student Wins the American Society of Gravitational Space Research Scholarship Growing Beyond Earth is a 6th-12th grade classroom-based citizen science project developed by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in partnership with scientists at NASA, designed to advance NASA research on growing plants in space. It includes a series of plant experiments conducted by students in a Fairchild-designed plant habitat similar to the Vegetable Production System (Veggie) on the International Space Station. On November 18th, 2023, South Florida High School student, Leonardo Ravelo, was…

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SpaceX’s 2nd Starship launch test looks amazing in these stunning photos and videos

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SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket, the most powerful rocket on Earth, on its second test flight this weekend, and while the vehicle may have met an explosive end, its flight absolutely amazing to behold.  Stunning photos and video by SpaceX, Space.com, news wires and the public show the sheer spectacle of the Starship second test launch, which SpaceX launched early Saturday (Nov. 18) from its Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas.  In a big milestone for SpaceX, the rocket’s two stages separated successfully. The Super Heavy booster…

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Minority Serving Institution Partners

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4 min read Minority Serving Institution Partners Coppin State University Coppin State University (CSU) is a public, historically black university located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. CSU is a model urban, residential liberal arts university located in the northwest section of the City of Baltimore that provides academic programs in the arts and sciences, teacher education, nursing, graduate studies, and continuing education. As an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Coppin has a culturally rich history as an institution providing quality educational programs…

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SaSa Class of 2022

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35 min read SaSa Class of 2022 Annalyse Belton What is your current major and university? My name is Annalyse Belton and I am a 2nd-year Biology major at Coppin State University. What made you decide to apply to SaSa? I applied to SaSa to gain more experience in the scientific field and build on my foundational knowledge. What would you like to accomplish over the summer? Over this summer I would like to gain hands-on experience in innovative research. I also want to collaborate with peers, graduates, and other staff to develop…

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