Author: NeRD

Sols 4491-4492: Classic Field Geology Pose

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 Mars Home 2 min read Sols 4491-4492: Classic Field Geology Pose NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam), showing the rover’s right-front wheel perched on a small, angular block, where it ended…

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SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California, lands rocket at sea (video)

NeRD

SpaceX launched a stack of Starlink internet satellites to orbit from California and returned the booster to Earth Friday afternoon (March 26). The Falcon 9 rocket flying the mission, Starlink 11-7, carried a total of 27 satellites to orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The SpaceX rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4E at 6:11:40 p.m. ET (2211 GMT). A little more than eight minutes later, the rocket’s first-stage booster, B1063, touched down on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” stationed in the Pacific Ocean.…

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Hold onto your hats! Is the ‘blaze star’ T Corona Borealis about to go boom?

NeRD

A new set of predictions for the so-called “blaze star,” T Corona Borealis suggests the star might go nova on either March 27, November 10, or June 25, 2026. However, other astronomers are skeptical about these predictions, which are based on an implied pattern in the explosive system’s orbital configuration, “T Corona Borealis [T CrB] is a unique object that has fascinated amateur and professional astronomers for more than a century,” Léa Planquart of the Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, told Space.com. T…

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NASA’s X-59 Completes ‘Cruise Control’ Engine Speed Hold Test

NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on a ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, during sunset. The one-of-a-kind aircraft is powered by a General Electric F414 engine, a variant of the engines used on F/A-18 fighter jets. The engine is mounted above the fuselage to reduce the number of shockwaves that reach the ground. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to demonstrate quiet supersonic flight and enable future commercial travel…

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What will happen during the partial solar eclipse of March 2025?

NeRD

What a difference a year makes! Just a year ago, countless millions across North America were anxiously awaiting the “great North American total eclipse of the sun” on April 8. Now, less than a year later, on Saturday, March 29, another eclipse of the sun will take place, but it’s quite likely that the prospective viewing audience will be considerably smaller. To produce this eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls chiefly on the north polar regions of Earth. Keep up to date with the latest solar eclipse news and events with…

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How Can I See the Northern Lights? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 54

NeRD

2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) How can I see the northern lights? To see the northern lights, you need to be in the right place at the right time. Auroras are the result of charged particles and magnetism from the Sun called space weather dancing with the Earth’s magnetic field. And they happen far above the clouds. So you need clear skies, good space weather at your latitude and the higher, more polar you can be, the better. You need a lot of patience…

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NASA Statement on Nomination of Greg Autry for Agency CFO

NeRD

Photo of Greg Autry Credit: University of Central Florida The following is a statement from NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro regarding the nomination by President Donald Trump of Greg Autry on March 24 to serve as the agency’s chief financial officer (CFO): “The NASA CFO is responsible for executing more than $25 billion in agency funding across a variety of missions, including the Moon and Mars, for the benefit of humanity. With his previous experience as the White House liaison during President Trump’s first administration, as well as his extensive…

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“The monster will come for us all!” Mon Mothma rouses the rebels in new ‘Andor’ Season 2 trailer

NeRD

Andor | Official Trailer | Final Season Streaming April 22 on Disney+ – YouTube Watch On We’re a mere month away from the climactic second season of Disney+’s “Andor: A Star Wars Story” that will take us straight up to the beginning of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” A fresh Disney-delivered trailer has just dropped, and it makes us want to join those pesky rebels and charge blindly into the fray in defense of galactic freedom. Well, until we see the dreaded Death Star! Arriving on April 22, “Andor”…

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‘Earth to Space’ art festival set to launch at Kennedy Center this week

NeRD

A nearly month-long space mission is ready to lift off, with final preparations being made at the Kennedy Center. To be clear, not NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but rather the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. “Earth to Space: Arts Breaking the Sky” is set to transform the United States’ national cultural hub into a launch pad for three weeks of live performances, films, art, interactive exhibits and discussions, all inspired by spaceflight and the wonders of the universe. The festival will see…

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