Month: June 2024

How long would it take to reach Planet 9, if we ever find it?

NeRD

Some experts believe that we could be just a few years away from discovering the elusive “Planet Nine” — or ruling out the existence of the hypothetical world for good.  DOES PLANET 9 EXIST? But if we do find it, how long would it take for us to send a spacecraft to the far-flung world? And could humans ever make the trip? Planet Nine is the name given to a proposed planet supposedly lurking near the edge of the solar system. If it exists, Planet Nine is likely a dark,…

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NASA cancels ISS spacewalk due to spacesuit coolant leak (video)

NeRD

NASA cancelled a spacewalk at the International Space Station today (June 24) following a spacesuit coolant leak in the hatch. NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson and Mike Barratt were told by Mission Control at 8:52 a.m. EDT (1252 GMT) to stop the planned 6.5-hour spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS). The pair had already switched over to the internal power in their suits at 8:46 a.m. (1246 GMT), meaning the spacewalk had technically started. Following the cancellation, astronauts opened the hatch into the ISS at 9:51 a.m. EDT (1351 GMT),…

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Planet Nine: Is the search for this elusive world nearly over?

NeRD

Deep in the outer reaches of the solar system — so far away from the known planets that the sun would barely be distinguishable from a nearby star — a massive, icy world may be lurking in the shadows, waiting to be discovered by humanity.  And the day that we finally find this elusive planet may be coming soon, thanks to a state-of-the-art telescope that will begin scanning the sky next year. The solar system has eight official planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. But in…

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New ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ gameplay trailer dives into the galactic underworld (video)

NeRD

Last year’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was easily one of the best Star Wars games of all time, and yet, fans have been itching for a full-blown open-world game set in George Lucas’ universe for more than a decade now. Now, Star Wars Outlaws aims to deliver exactly that, and the latest gameplay demo straight from Ubisoft is quite promising. For those who haven’t been following Massive Entertainment’s AAA behemoth: Star Wars Outlaws follows young scoundrel Kay Vess and her cute little alien pet, Nix, as they try to earn…

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‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ warps into Season 2 with new Netflix trailer (video)

NeRD

Resurrected by Netflix and zooming onto their streaming platform starting on July 1, 2024, the award-winning animated children’s series, “Star Trek: Prodigy,” is cleared for launch and CBS Studios has just revealed the thrilling first trailer and key art for its next 20-episode mission. This highly underrated project was developed by Emmy Award winners Kevin and Dan Hageman (“Trollhunters,” “Ninjago”) in collaboration with Alex Kurtzman to be the first all-ages “Star Trek” show out of spacedock, “Star Trek: Prodigy” premiered on Paramount+ in the fall of 2021 hauling a 20-episode…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 116 —Spreading the Good Word

NeRD

On Episode 116 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with the team behind the Space and Things podcast. In the world of space podcasts, the Space and Things podcast is a keeper (along with ours, of course). The brainchild of Emily Carney, founder of the Space Hipsters on Facebook, and singer/songwriter Dave Giles, Space and Things brings us some premiere guests in the space sector. Subjects are always compelling, and as we well know, that takes work.  We’ll dive into the intricacies of creating–and maintaining–a…

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Sweet Strawberry Moon, first full moon of summer, thrills stargazers around the world (photos)

NeRD

The first full day of summer 2024 ended with the ultimate cherry on top, or, in this case, a strawberry. The Strawberry Moon of 2024, the full moon for the month of June, rose across the world just after sunset last night, delighting stargazers across the world. The Strawberry full moon gets its name from the Algonquin tribe of the northwestern United States, according to Space.com’s list of full moon designations, but has also been recognized by other names, such as the Rose moon, in Europe. This year, the Strawberry Moon…

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James Webb Space Telescope spies never-before-seen star behavior in distant nebula (video, photo)

NeRD

The James Webb Space Telescope has taken another extraordinary photo. The subject is the Serpens Nebula, which lies about 1,300 light-years from Earth. And the new JWST image showcases a very special phenomenon long theorized to exist, but never before observed. In the upper left part of the photo are several “protostellar outflows,” or jets of gas erupting out of newborn stars. While we’ve seen such outflows before, we’ve never seen them line up in the same direction as in the JWST image; NASA likens them to “sleet pouring down during…

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Sols 4222-4224: A Particularly Prickly Power Puzzle

NeRD

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Mars Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions All Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets 3 min read Sols 4222-4224: A Particularly Prickly Power Puzzle This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4219 (2024-06-19 02:22:26 UTC). Earth planning…

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NASA’s SLS Rocket: Block 1 vs. Block 1B Configuration

NeRD

NASA/Kevin O’Brien NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket in the Block 1B cargo configuration will launch for the first time beginning with Artemis IV. This upgraded and more powerful SLS rocket will enable SLS to send over 38 metric tons (83,700 lbs.) to the Moon, including NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its crew, along with heavy payloads for more ambitious missions to deep space. While every SLS rocket retains the core stage, booster, and RS-25 engine designs, the Block 1B features a more powerful exploration upper stage with four RL10 engines…

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