Day: March 16, 2025

NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Crew-9 Return, Splashdown

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for a portrait inside the vestibule between the International Space Station and the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. Clockwise from left, are NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Nick Hague, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. NASA NASA will provide live coverage of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 return to Earth from the International Space Station, beginning with Dragon spacecraft hatch closure preparations at 10:45 p.m. EDT Monday, March 17. NASA and SpaceX met on Sunday to assess weather and splashdown conditions off Florida’s coast for…

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This butterfly-shaped nebula owes its structure to 2 chaotic young stars

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A huge bipolar outflow of gas and dust, grown from the tumultuous birth of a double-star system, has formed a cosmic hourglass — and the James Webb Space Telescope imaged the scene in splendiferous detail. Referred to as Lynds 483, or LBN 483,, this nebulous outflow is located about 650 light years away. It provides an ideal opportunity for the James Webb Space Telescope to learn more about the process of star formation. (Beverly Lynds was an astronomer who catalogued both bright nebulas – BN – and dark nebulas –…

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The 1st private mission to Venus comes together ahead of possible 2026 launch (photos)

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Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley report progress in installing a heat shield on the first private spacecraft targeted for Venus. Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, is leading the effort, along with their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. NASA’s Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) was invented at the NASA Ames center. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, supported the development of the heat shield for Rocket Lab’s Venus mission. You…

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You can buy Chewbacca’s Bowcaster or Luke’s medal at a ‘Star Wars’ auction, but it could cost you half a million dollars

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Poor Chewbacca never got his golden bravery medal for helping to destroy the Death Star during “Star Wars”‘ climactic Battle of Yavin, but you might be lucky enough to score Luke’s if you’re the high bidder in Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction that returns to Los Angeles on March 26–28, 2025. London-based Propstore is one of the world’s premier entertainment memorabilia auction houses and this spring they’re presenting a remarkable selection of priceless film-used “Star Wars” collectibles. Two of the showcase lots that should have fans and collectors salivating are…

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