May 15, 2025 – NeRDs Moonbase

Launch of Australia’s 1st homegrown orbital rocket delayed indefinitely due to payload fairing issue

May 15, 2025 NeRD

We’ll have to wait a bit longer for the first-ever launch of an Australian orbital rocket. Queensland-based company Gilmour Space had aimed to debut its Eris rocket today (May 15), but a problem with the vehicle’s payload fairing scuttled that plan. “Last night, during final checks, an unexpected issue triggered the rocket’s payload fairing. No fuel was loaded, no one was hurt, and early inspections show no damage to the rocket or pad,” Gilmour Space said via X this afternoon. You may like “We’ll send a replacement fairing from our…

Top Prize Awarded in Lunar Autonomy Challenge to Virtually Map Moon’s Surface

May 15, 2025 NeRD

NASA named Stanford University of California winner of the Lunar Autonomy Challenge, a six-month competition for U.S. college and university student teams to virtually map and explore using a digital twin of NASA’s In-Situ Resource Utilization Pilot Excavator (IPEx). The winning team successfully demonstrated the design and functionality of their autonomous agent, or software that performs specified actions without human intervention. Their agent autonomously navigated the IPEx digital twin in the virtual lunar environment, while accurately mapping the surface, correctly identifying obstacles, and effectively managing available power. Lunar simulation developed by…

NASA Welcomes Norway as 55th Nation to Sign Artemis Accords

May 15, 2025 NeRD

Credit: NASA Following an international signing ceremony Thursday, NASA congratulated Norway on becoming the latest country to join the Artemis Accords, committing to the peaceful, transparent, and responsible exploration of space. “We’re grateful for the strong and meaningful collaboration we’ve already had with the Norwegian Space Agency,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “Now, by signing the Artemis Accords, Norway is not only supporting the future of exploration, but also helping us define it with all our partners for the Moon, Mars, and beyond.” Norway’s Minster of Trade and Industry…

NASA Satellite Images Could Provide Early Volcano Warnings

May 15, 2025 NeRD

5 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Chaitén Volcano in southern Chile erupted on May 2, 2008 for the first time inn 9,000 years. NASA satellites that monitor changes in vegetation near volcanoes could aid in earlier eruption warnings. Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Scientists know that changing tree leaves can indicate when a nearby volcano is becoming more active and might erupt. In a new collaboration between NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, scientists now believe they can detect these changes…

Let’s Bake a Cosmic Cake!

May 15, 2025 NeRD

6 min read Let’s Bake a Cosmic Cake! To celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of Dr. Nancy Grace Roman — NASA’s first chief astronomer and the namesake for the agency’s nearly complete Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope — we’re baking a birthday cake! This isn’t your ordinary birthday treat — this cosmic cake represents the contents of our universe and everything the Roman telescope will uncover. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Cosmic Cake NASA The outside of our cosmic cake depicts the sky as we see it…

NASA Selects Student Teams for Drone Hurricane Response and Cybersecurity Research

May 15, 2025 NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Getty Images NASA has selected two more university student teams to help address real-world aviation challenges, through projects aimed at using drones for hurricane relief and improved protection of air traffic systems from cyber threats. The research awards were made through NASA’s University Student Research Challenge (USRC), which provides student-led teams with opportunities to contribute their novel ideas to advance NASA’s Aeronautics research priorities. As part of USRC, students participate in real-world aspects of innovative aeronautics research both in…

Deimos Before Dawn

May 15, 2025 NeRD

NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this view of Deimos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons, shining in the sky at 4:27 a.m. local time on March 1, 2025, the 1,433rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Spacewalk Research and Technology

May 15, 2025 NeRD

4 Min Read Spacewalk Research and Technology NASA astronaut Anne McClain prepares spacesuits ahead of the May 2025 spacewalk. Credits: NASA Science in Space: May Crew members on the International Space Station periodically conduct spacewalks to perform a variety of tasks such as installing, upgrading, and repairing equipment. During a spacewalk on May 1, astronauts installed hardware to support the planned addition of a seventh roll-out solar array on the exterior of the space station. Each of these arrays produces more than 20 kilowatts of electricity and together they will…

The latest ‘Superman’ trailer looks fantastic, but beware if spoilers are your kryptonite (video)

May 15, 2025 NeRD

Superman | Official Trailer – YouTube Watch On Warner Bros has revealed another Superman trailer that shows off more about the movie’s main players and what David Corenswet’s Kal-El stands for with the lengthier second trailer… as long as you don’t mind some mild spoilers. July 2025 is looking remarkably busy when it comes to huge blockbusters, with Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Fantastic Four: First Steps making waves online for the last few months. James Gunn’s Superman is generating a lot of excitement because of how pure and old-fashioned…

NASA’s PUNCH spacecraft see a cosmic rainbow in the zodiacal light

May 15, 2025 NeRD

NASA’s newest spacecraft aimed at studying the sun have captured a colorful “rainbow” in the warm glow of zodiacal light observed above Earth. The PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which launched on March 11, consists of four small satellites working in unison in low Earth orbit to provide a comprehensive view of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, and study the constant stream of charged particles emitted by the sun known as solar wind. The mission delivered its first set of images, including a vivid, rainbow-colored…