Month: January 2024

NASA Science, Hardware on Northrop Grumman Mission En Route to Station

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NASA science investigations and cargo aboard a Northrop Grumman resupply spacecraft are on the way to the International Space Station. Launch occurred at 12:07 p.m. EST Tuesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Live coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will begin at 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, on the NASA+ streaming service. Coverage also will air live on NASA Television and on the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including…

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International Space Station Welcomes Trio of Experiments Focused on Enhancing Life Beyond Earth

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3 min read International Space Station Welcomes Trio of Experiments Focused on Enhancing Life Beyond Earth NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division is sending three physical sciences and space biology experiments and equipment to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s 20th commercial resupply services mission. These experiments aim to pioneer scientific discovery, enable sustainable deep space exploration, and support transformative engineering. The launch is scheduled to take place no earlier than Tuesday, January 30, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Using Microbes to Improve Plant Growth in…

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Earth’s Atmospheric Glow

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This high exposure photograph revealed Earth’s atmospheric glow against the backdrop of a starry sky in this image taken from the International Space Station on Jan. 21, 2024. At the time, the orbital lab was 258 miles above the Pacific Ocean northeast of Papua New Guinea. The Nauka science module and Prichal docking module are visible at left.

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‘Starfield’ spacesuit contest: ESA and Xbox will build the winner their own custom design (video)

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While working in the most hazardous environments known to humankind, it’s vital that intrepid astronauts and brave galactic voyagers not only have the skills, training and courage to execute their mission objectives in extreme conditions, but they should also look darn good while doing it!   The sci-fi gaming world is well aware of this universal maxim and has always had its fair share of awesome spacesuit designs as seen in popular video game titles like “Starfield,” “Mass Effect,” “Halo,” “Destiny,” “Dead Space,” “Gears of War,” and countless others featuring…

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Endeavour lifted onto space shuttle stack for California Science Center exhibit

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A complete space shuttle is standing upright for the first time in more than a decade. Overnight Monday into the early hours of Tuesday (Jan. 29-30), two large cranes carefully lifted NASA’s retired winged orbiter Endeavour off a Los Angeles side street into the air and then lowered it onto an already-standing external tank with twin solid rocket boosters. The stacking process, which was commonly done to prepare for launches when the space shuttle program was active, was carried out this last time to erect Endeavour’s display in the still…

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BioNutrients: A Five-Year Experiment in Space Nears Completion

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Research scientists Sandra Vu, left, Natalie Ball, center, and Hiromi Kagawa, right, process BioNutrients production packs. NASA/Brandon Torres NASA’s bio-manufacturing experiment called BioNutrients is testing a way to use microorganisms to produce on-demand nutrients that will be critical for human health during future long-duration space missions. Launched to the International Space Station in 2019, the experiment assesses the stability and performance of a hand-held system – dubbed a production pack – to manufacture fresh vitamins and other nutrients in space over a five-year span. About once a year, scientists at NASA’s Ames…

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Station Science 101: Epigenetics Research in Space

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A growing body of research suggests a link between epigenetic mechanisms and a wide variety of illnesses and behaviors, including cancer, cardiovascular and autoimmune illnesses, and cognitive dysfunction. Epigenetics also plays a role in the changes humans and other living things experience in space. This phenomenon has become part of studies in a wide variety of fields, including microgravity research conducted aboard the International Space Station. So just what is epigenetics? According to a paper from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, it includes any process that alters gene…

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Are they exomoons or not? Scientists debate existence of 1st moons seen beyond our solar system

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Astronomers always knew spotting moons around planets outside the solar system would be no mean feat — but a debate currently raging in planetary science circles shows just how tough detecting these so-called exomoons is going to be.  The story begins in 2018, when astronomers including David Kipping, an assistant professor of astronomy at Columbia University, believed they’d made their first detection of an exomoon. The subject was found around exoplanet Kepler-1625b, a Jupiter-like world located around 8,000 light years from Earth. It was initially spotted with the Kepler Space…

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Hubble Spies a Spinning Spiral

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2 min read Hubble Spies a Spinning Spiral This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the face-on spiral and Seyfert galaxy, ESO 420-G013. NASA/ESA/A. Evans (University of Virginia)/Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America) Looking like a baseball lobbed into the depths of the universe, ESO 420-G013 is a face-on spiral galaxy and a Seyfert galaxy. Dark lanes of dust are visible against the background glow of the galaxy’s many stars.  About 10 percent of all the galaxies in the universe are thought to be Seyfert galaxies. They are…

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NASA Space Tech Spinoffs Benefit Earth Medicine, Moon to Mars Tools

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Squishy Robotics’ Tensegrity Sensor Robots help first responders determine their approach to a disaster scene. Firefighters used the robots during a subway attack exercise at the 2021 Unmanned Tactical Application Conference to detect gas leaks and other hazards. Credits: FLYMOTION LLC As NASA innovates for the benefit of all, what the agency develops for exploration has the potential to evolve into other technologies with broader use here on Earth. Many of those examples are highlighted in NASA’s annual Spinoff book including dozens of NASA-enabled medical innovations, as well other advancements.…

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