The Geminid meteor shower stunned in its first of two peak nights in 2023. Photos from around the world showed Geminid meteors streaking through the sky overnight on Wednesday (Dec. 13), and more “shooting stars” are expected on Thursday (Dec. 14). The new moon, only two days old, should allow for peaks of as much as 100 meteors per hour this year, according to SpaceWeather.com. Webcasts are also available to check out the show if you can’t get outside or you’re clouded out. Both the the Slooh telescope network and…
Read MoreMonth: December 2023
Sun unleashes monster X-class solar flare, most powerful since 2017 (video)
The sun just gave us a reminder of its immense might. Our star unleashed an X-class solar flare today (Dec. 14), blasting out an immense pulse of high-energy radiation that was captured on video by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. (Solar physicists classify strong flares into three categories, with C being the weakest, M the middling group and X the most potent.) The outburst, which occurred at 12:02 p.m. EST (1702 GMT), registered as an X2.8, making it the most powerful solar flare since September 2017, according to SpaceWeather.com. Related:…
Read MoreNASA Awards Turbofan Engine Core Technology Demonstration Contract
Credits: NASA NASA has selected GE Aerospace of Cincinnati to work with the agency’s Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC) project, which is aiming to develop more fuel efficient engines for single-aisle aircraft. The HyTEC’s Phase 2 Integrated Core Technology Demonstration is a cost-sharing contract with a maximum value of approximately $68.1 million and a five-year performance period that begins Feb. 15. The contract is awarded with a 50% minimum GE Aerospace cost share during the contract period. Part of NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles program, HyTEC was established to accelerate the…
Read MoreInventor of Air Conditioning Helped Chill NASA Wind Tunnels
4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) When constructed in the early 1940s, NASA Glenn Research Center’s Altitude Wind Tunnel was the nation’s only wind tunnel capable of studying full-scale aircraft engines under realistic flight conditions. NASA/William Bowles Global tensions were high in the fall of 1941 as U-boats harassed ships in the Atlantic and German forces pushed deep into the Soviet Union. There was a critical need for the United States to get the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA)’s new engine laboratory (today, NASA’s…
Read MoreNASA: Let’s Ketchup on International Space Station Tomato Research
Two rogue tomatoes have been recovered nearly a year after astronaut Frank Rubio accidentally lost track of them while harvesting for the XROOTS experiment. NASA NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is photographed performing fluid management and seed cartridge/plant inspections for the XROOTS experiment. Growing food aboard the International Space Station is one of the many research investigations ripe for long duration spaceflight missions to the Moon and Mars. NASA astronaut Frank Rubio recently shared the saucy story of two rogue tomatoes, which he had accidentally lost track of while harvesting for…
Read MoreNASA Facility Builds on Space Station Legacy at Kennedy
Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida pose inside the Space Station Processing Facility’s high bay to celebrate 25 years of supporting the International Space Station. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Built to be the last stop for components of the International Space Station, the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, has been given a new name that honors this legacy while embracing its role as a multi-tenant processing facility. Agency officials have updated the name of the 457,000 square foot, three-story building to “Space Systems…
Read MoreLead Space Launch System Avionics Engineer Ales-Cia Winsley
“Once the rocket launched, [I saw] how it illuminated such a dark space. So even when you’re in a dark space, you can let your light shine. And it won’t just shine for you and those that are immediately around you, but even people that you don’t know will notice it, even people that you will never see will notice your light shining and be inspired.” — Ales-Cia Winsley, Lead Space Launch System Avionics Engineer, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Read MoreThe Marshall Star for December 13, 2023
16 Min Read The Marshall Star for December 13, 2023 Marshall Team Members Celebrate Holiday Season By Jessica Barnett Marshall team members gather at the center’s holiday reception Dec. 7 in Activities Building 4316. From left are Cory Brown, Leigh Martin, Lisa Watkins, Shaun Baek, and Randy Silver. NASA/Alex Russell For hundreds of team members at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, “eat, drink, and be merry” was the afternoon theme for Dec. 7. Marshall team members sign up for door prizes while Marshall Acting Center Director Joseph Pelfrey offers welcoming…
Read MoreMars’ atmosphere swelled like a balloon when solar wind stopped blowing. Scientists are thrilled
Mars’ atmosphere, once as thick as if not thicker than Earth’s today, is leaking into space. About 0.25 lbs of Mars’ atmosphere (0.11 kg) is pushed away every second by the incessant solar wind, the speedy stream of charged particles routinely blasted from the sun which pervade the solar system and even reach beyond Pluto. But for a rare two days last December, some of that wind went away. Its sudden and dramatic disappearance, causing the atmosphere on Mars’ sun-facing side to swell by nearly four times its usual size…
Read MoreNASA’s NEOWISE Celebrates 10 Years, Plans End of Mission
NEOWISE is depicted in an artist’s concept in front of an image of the infrared sky that the mission captured. The string of red dots moving across the sky near the center of the image is Holda, the first asteroid the space telescope detected shortly after being reactivated in 2013. NASA/JPL-Caltech The asteroid and comet-hunting infrared space telescope has gathered an impressive haul of observations, but it’s now at the mercy of the Sun, which is accelerating its demise. NASA’s NEOWISE has had a busy decade. Since its reactivated mission…
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