Author: NeRD

Blue Origin stacks huge New Glenn rocket ahead of 1st launch (photo)

NeRD

Blue Origin’s massive new rocket is getting closer to being ready to fly. The company shared a new photo of the two stages of its New Glenn rocket being joined together for the first time in the company’s facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. “GS-1 meets GS-2,” the company wrote on X (formerly Twitter) in a post accompanying the photo, in reference to the first (GS-1) and second (GS-2) stages of the new rocket. New Glenn is expected to make its maiden flight sometime in November, taking…

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Could a supernova ever destroy Earth?

NeRD

When the bright star Betelgeuse explodes, it will be an impressive sight. The stellar explosion, known as a supernova, will be brighter than any planet and almost as bright as the full moon. It will be visible during the day, and you could read a book to its light at midnight. It will last a few months before fading away, as all supernovas do. But it won’t be dangerous. For that, it would have to be much, much closer; Betelgeuse is roughly 650 light-years away. So are there any stars…

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SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on 2nd leg of spaceflight doubleheader

NeRD

SpaceX launched 24 of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida early this morning (Nov. 14) in the second half of a spaceflight doubleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 24 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 8:21 a.m. EST (1321 GMT.) The four-hour launch window opened at 5:33 a.m. EST (0933 GMT) just five hours after another Falcon 9 launched 20 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff…

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NASA Administrator to Visit, Sign Agreement with Peru’s Space Agency

NeRD

Continuing his engagement to deepen international collaboration and promote the peaceful use of space, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will travel to Lima on Wednesday. Nelson will meet with Maj. Gen. Roberto Melgar Sheen, director of Peru’s National Commission for Aerospace Research and Development (CONIDA) Thursday, Nov. 14, and sign a non-binding memorandum of understanding to enhance space cooperation. The memorandum of understanding between NASA and CONIDA will include safety training, a joint feasibility study for a potential sounding rockets campaign, and technical assistance for CONIDA on sounding rocket launches.  Nelson will…

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A Caribbean Spacewalk

NeRD

NASA In this photo taken on Sept. 16, 1993, NASA astronauts James H. Newman (left), and Carl E. Walz evaluate procedures and gear for an upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission with the Caribbean Sea and part of the Bahama Islands chain in view. Newman and Walz’s spacewalk, part of the STS-51 mission, lasted seven hours, five minutes and 28 seconds. Image credit: NASA

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Entrevista con Instructor de OCEANOS Samuel Suleiman

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Samuel Suleiman, instructor de la pasantía OCEANOS, enseña a los estudiantes sobre el sargazo y la ecología costera en la Isla Culebra, Puerto Rico, durante la sección de trabajo de campo del proyecto. Suleiman también es el Director Ejecutivo de Sociedad Ambiente Marino: una ONG puertorriqueña que trabaja en la conservación y restauración de arrecifes de coral. NASA ARC/Milan Loiacono Read this interview in English here ¿Cuál es tu nombre y tu rol en OCEANOS? Mi nombre es Samuel…

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Wearable Tech for Space Station Research

NeRD

5 Min Read Wearable Tech for Space Station Research A wearable monitoring device is visible on the left wrist of NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps. Credits: NASA Science in Space Nov 2024 Many of us wear devices that count our steps, measure our heart rate, track sleep patterns, and more. This information can help us make healthy decisions – research shows the devices encourage people to move more, for example – and could flag possible problems, such as an irregular heartbeat. Wearable monitors also have become common tools for research on…

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NASA dealing with aging ISS and spacewalk hardware: ‘None of our spacesuits are spring chickens’

NeRD

The commander of SpaceX’s Crew-8 astronaut mission says that NASA continues to prioritize safety while co-managing an aging space station. The International Space Station (ISS) and the spacesuit that spacewalking NASA astronauts wear, known as the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU), are both decades old. And it’s the age of this hardware that has led to issues with both recently, NASA astronaut and Crew-8 commander Matthew Dominick told reporters on Friday (Nov. 8). “None of our spacesuits are spring chickens, as we would say, and so we will expect to see…

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Sols 4362-4363: Plates and Polygons

NeRD

Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 2 min read Sols 4362-4363: Plates and Polygons NASA’s Mars rover…

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The Next Full Moon Will Be the Last of Four Consecutive Supermoons

NeRD

Skywatching Skywatching Home Eclipses What’s Up Explore the Night Sky Night Sky Network More Tips and Guides FAQ 24 Min Read The Next Full Moon Will Be the Last of Four Consecutive Supermoons Guardians of Traffic statue in Cleveland, Ohio, in front of the supermoon that was visible on Sept. 17, 2024. On this day, the full moon was a partial lunar eclipse; a supermoon; and a harvest moon. Credits: NASA/GRC/Sara Lowthian-Hanna The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Beaver, Frost, Frosty, or Snow Moon; Kartik Purnima; Loy Krathong;…

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