Day: January 15, 2025

Space Mountain at 50: Five nods to NASA from the Walt Disney World ride

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“We astronauts are here today to salute all those who made our trip into space possible. They have permitted us to see the Earth as a precious blue jewel in the blackness of space. Now all of us may enjoy this sense of wonder because of Walt Disney.” With those words 50 years ago today (Jan. 15), Apollo 15 moonwalker Jim Irwin opened Space Mountain at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida. Later to be reproduced at other Disney theme parks, this was the original — the first roller…

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Battlestar Galactica at 20: the show that reinvented space opera

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If you wanted to assemble a time capsule of late 1970s pop culture, the original “Battlestar Galactica” would be a good place to start. Not only was it an unashamed attempt to cash in on the record-breaking success of “Star Wars” — to the extent that George Lucas’s lawyers wrote some very angry letters — the disco stylings of Glen A. Larson’s big-budget TV space opera tie it to a very specific time in history. The show’s wholesome family values, robot dogs, and kitschy, “Saturday Night Fever”-esque fashions always jarred…

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NASA Solar Observatory Sees Coronal Loops Flicker Before Big Flares

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3 min read NASA Solar Observatory Sees Coronal Loops Flicker Before Big Flares For decades, scientists have tried in vain to accurately predict solar flares — intense bursts of light on the Sun that can send a flurry of charged particles into the solar system. Now, using NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, one team has identified flickering loops in the solar atmosphere, or corona, that seem to signal when the Sun is about to unleash a large flare. These warning signs could help NASA and other stakeholders protect astronauts as well…

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Langley’s Propeller Research Tunnel

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NASA Elton W. Miller, chief of aerodynamics at what is now NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, stands in the entrance cone of the Propeller Research Tunnel in this Sept. 9, 1926, photo. In front of the entrance is the Sperry M-1 Messenger, the first full-scale airplane tested in the tunnel. The Propeller Research Tunnel, or PRT as it came to be known, was only the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ third wind tunnel and the largest one built. The PRT was in fact the largest tunnel built at…

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The 7 best total solar eclipses of the next 10 years

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Eclipse-watchers have plenty to look forward to in the next decade. Over the next ten years, Earth will experience seven total solar eclipses that will see skywatchers in Australia, Egypt, Spain and Sudan peer up at the central shadow of the moon. The first of these eclipses will take place on Aug. 12, 2026, and the final one will be on March 20, 2034, with the maximum durations of totality of each total solar eclipse ranging from 1 minute, 8 seconds to 6 minutes, 23 seconds. Here are the important…

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NASA Seeks Proposals for Space Biology and Physical Sciences Research 

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On Dec. 19, 2024, NASA released two amendments to the NASA Research Announcement Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) 2024 (NNH24ZDA001N) to announce the E.9 Space Biology: Research Studies and E.12 Physical Sciences Research Studies program elements.   Space Biology Proposals  The research emphases of E.9 Space Biology: Research Studies fall under two broad categories: Precision Health and Space Crops   For Precision Health-focused studies, investigators may propose to use any non-primate animal model system and any appropriate cell/tissue culture/microphysiological system/organoid or microbial models that are supported by the chosen…

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