With the end of 2023 comes the end of an endeavor — or rather Endeavour — as the retired NASA space shuttle goes off public view for the next few years. The California Science Center in Los Angeles has exhibited OV-105, better known as the orbiter Endeavour, since Oct. 30, 2012. The 11-year exhibition, which was housed in the center’s specially-built Samuel Oschin Pavilion, offered unmatched access to the spacecraft, as the public could not only walk around Endeavour, but also under it, as the vehicle was displayed in the…
Read MoreMonth: December 2023
Sea of methane sealed beneath Arctic permafrost could trigger climate feedback loop if it escapes
Deep beneath the permafrost that blankets a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean lurks a growing and migrating sea of methane, researchers have discovered. The thick permafrost, or ground that remains frozen for at least two years, forms a tight seal that has so far prevented millions of cubic feet of methane from wafting out — but there’s no guarantee that the potent greenhouse gas won’t eventually escape, according to a study published Dec. 13 in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science. “At present, the leakage from below permafrost…
Read MoreThese eclipse-themed places will experience totality on April 8, 2024
Will you be in Shadowland, Texas, to see the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024? How about watching the lunar disk cross the solar disk from Moon Beach, New York, or glimpsing the sun’s halo from Corona, Missouri? You could visit thousands of locations to experience totality in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada, but make sure you are within the path of totality. Only then will you experience darkness in the middle of the day and be able to see the sun’s corona with your own eyes, at all…
Read MoreSpaceX test fires giant Starship booster — and spaceship — for 3rd test flight (video)
SpaceX closed out 2023 with a fiery double test of its next Starship megarocket booster and spacecraft on Friday (Sept. 29), sharing some stunning videos of both vehicles in the process. The dual test of engines on the giant Starship and Super Heavy rocket stages at SpaceX’s Starbase proving ground in Boca Chica, Texas on Friday comes as the company prepares for its third Starship launch test, which is expected in early 2024. “Just completed static fire of Flight 3 Super Heavy Booster,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wrote on X…
Read More‘For All Mankind’ season 4 episode 8 review: Mars prepares for the heist of the millennium
When Helios boss Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) announced last week that he planned to steal an asteroid, it conjured up images of the sort of interstellar-action you’d usually associate with “Star Wars” or “Star Trek.” This is “For All Mankind”, however, and — even though this season has considerably upped the sci-fi quotient on its more grounded predecessors — his audacious plan has at least one foot in reality (and astrophysics). It’s also an excuse for a fun, old-school heist plot that runs in parallel with the return of Margo…
Read MoreNASA’s Curiosity rover films from dawn to dusk on Mars during downtime (video)
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity had some downtime during November. But rather than resting on its laurels, the robot filmed stunning footage of dawn to dusk on Earth’s neighboring planet. Curiosity filmed two black-and-white videos on Nov. 8 during what was the 4,002nd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. (A sol is a little longer than Earth’s day of 24 hours.) The downtime for Curiosity during its search for life was necessitated by Mars passing around the opposite side of the sun to Earth. During these periods, called Mars solar…
Read MoreNASA can’t wait for its OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft to meet ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid Apophis in 2029
NASA’s asteroid sampling spacecraft OSRIS-APEX will have an exciting new mission in 2029, when it will watch an exciting asteroid encounter like no other in recorded human history. The craft, formerly known as OSIRIS-REx, will bear witness as the asteroid Apophis— named after the ancient Egyptian god of chaos— comes so close to our planet that it could be visible with the naked eye in some parts of the world. After bringing a sample back from asteroid Bennu, the craft was recently rebranded the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security –…
Read MoreNASA’s Juno spacecraft will get its closest look yet at Jupiter’s moon Io on Dec. 30
NASA’s Juno mission will come closer to Jupiter’s moon Io than any spacecraft has in around 20 years on Saturday (Dec. 30). The flyby will bring Juno to around 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Io, the most volcanic body in the solar system. This will allow the spacecraft to take a detailed look at Io as it gathers a treasure trove of hot data. It’s close, but not the closest ever glimpse by a spacecraft: that record belongs to NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which skimmed just 181 kilometers (112 miles) above Io’s…
Read MoreLarge Magellanic Fireworks
NASA, STScI/AURA The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a stellar explosion throwing out sheets of debris in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy on July 7, 2003. Since its 1990 launch, Hubble has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe; with over 1.5 million observations and 20,000+ papers published on its discoveries, Hubble is the most productive science mission in the history of NASA. See more stunning images from Hubble – and experience some of the images through sound. Image Credit: NASA, STScI/AURA
Read MoreMission Manager Update: VIPER Flight Rover Half-Built!
The VIPER team is hard at work building the flight vehicle that will be going to the surface of the Moon this time next year! In fact, we’re about halfway through the build, and you can interactively watch the process and hear from experts on the team, in various livestreams throughout the process. All the science instrument teams have delivered their payloads to the VIPER Systems Integration & Test team, which will install them into the actual flight rover; in fact, all but one is already installed! This was a huge milestone…
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