The aerial prototype of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is seen at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steve F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, in Chantilly, Va. The prototype, which was the first to demonstrate it was possible to fly in a simulated Mars environment at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was donated to the museum on Friday.
Read MoreMonth: January 2024
1st gravitational wave detector in space ‘LISA’ will hunt for ripples in spacetime
Humanity’s first space-based gravitational wave detector has received the go-ahead. The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, which consists of three spacecraft that together form a single gravitational wave detector, is a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). It’s set to launch in the mid-2030s. The adoption of LISA was announced by ESA on Jan. 25, and recognizes that the mission concept and associated technology are sufficiently advanced. Getting the green light means scientists can start building the spacecraft as well as its required instruments; work will…
Read MoreAxiom Space Tests Lunar Spacesuit at NASA’s Johnson Space Center
An Axiom Space engineer wearing the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit) spacesuit kneels to collect simulated lunar samples using a scoop during testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Axiom Space As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency is working to land astronauts on the lunar surface during Artemis III, laying the groundwork for a long-term human presence at the Moon for the benefit of all. When the Artemis astronauts take their first steps near the South Pole of the Moon, they will be wearing a spacesuit developed by Axiom Space. In…
Read MoreNASA’s Webb Depicts Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies
6 Min Read NASA’s Webb Depicts Staggering Structure in 19 Nearby Spiral Galaxies Webb’s set of 19 PHANGS images of face-on spiral galaxies. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team It’s oh-so-easy to be absolutely mesmerized by these spiral galaxies. Follow their clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to their centers, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes. Only NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can deliver highly detailed scenes of nearby galaxies…
Read MorePhotographer snaps extremely rare ‘green flash’ coming from Venus
Venus briefly flashed a shimmering green light in the night sky above Sweden, new footage reveals. The rarely seen phenomenon is almost identical to the ethereal green flashes that are occasionally seen around the sun during sunrises and sunsets. Photographer Peter Rosén captured the colorful flash coming from one of our closest planetary neighbors while he was watching Venus rise above the horizon in Stockholm in the early hours of Jan. 8, Spaceweather.com reported. The bright flash, which lasted for around a second, was an “unexpected bonus” that added to…
Read MoreNASA Marks Halfway Point for Artemis Moon Rocket Engine Certification Series
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA completed a full-duration, 500-second hot fire of an RS-25 certification engine Jan. 27, marking the halfway point in a critical test series to support future SLS (Space Launch System) missions to the Moon and beyond as NASA explores the secrets of the universe for the benefit of all. NASA/Danny Nowlin NASA completed the sixth of 12 scheduled RS-25 engine certification tests in a critical series for future flights of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket as engineers…
Read MoreBest AI movies of all time
AI is a hot topic at the moment, something which a fair few sci-fi works have dabbled with, so we’ve collected the best AI movies you can watch right now. Much is being done and written about AI, but artists have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to these ideas and the discussion surrounding them. It started with literary works, but nowadays we’re used to watching movies and TV shows about artificial intelligence and how it can change (or destroy) our lives. One big issue with media…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 2 rockets 3 hours apart today in Starlink doubleheader
SpaceX plans to launch two more batches of its Starlink internet satellites today (Jan. 28), in doubleheader liftoffs just three hours apart. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida today during a 3.5-hour-long window that opens at 6:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT). Another Falcon 9 will carry 22 more Starlinks skyward from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, during a nearly four-hour window that opens today at 9:16 p.m. EST (6:16 p.m. local time, and 0216…
Read MoreNew ‘Alien: Romulus’ fan trailer reveals a monstrous multi-limbed xenomorph
One of the great mysteries of the universe, especially shifting into 2024, is the future status of the “Alien” franchise after Disney absorbed the iconic sci-fi property into their vast empire following 2019’s $71 billion acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The two dueling projects looking to be most promising were an untitled TV series from creator and director Noah Hawley (“Legion,” “Fargo”) likely destined for Hulu, and a standalone feature film project being helmed by director Fede Álvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) tentatively tiled “Alien: Romulus.” While we’re still waiting…
Read MoreWatch the sun spew out a giant eruption of plasma in incredible footage (video)
[embedded content] Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical “Skyscapes” that connect both Earth and the night sky. On Feb. 22, 2022, a gigantic solar prominence formed on the surface of the sun, blasting a large coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. Solar prominences, or filaments, are large loops of plasma flowing along twisted…
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