Author: NeRD

NASA Stennis Achieves Milestone in Preparation for Future Artemis Testing

NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, achieved a key milestone this week for testing a new SLS (Space Launch System) rocket stage to fly on future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Over a two-week period beginning Oct. 10, crews completed a safe lift and installation of the interstage simulator component needed for future testing of NASA’s exploration upper stage (EUS) in the B-2 position of the Thad Cochran Test Stand. The component will function…

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Back on Earth: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 Mission Splashes Down Off Florida

NeRD

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 members, from left to right, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Matthew Dominick, and Jeanette Epps, are seen inside the Dragon spacecraft shortly after having landed off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on Oct. 25, 2024. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission successfully splashed down at 3:29 a.m. EDT Friday, off Pensacola, Florida, concluding a nearly eight-month science mission and the agency’s eighth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station.   After launching March 3 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket…

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Crew-8 astronauts splash down on SpaceX Dragon Endeavour after weather delays

NeRD

Four space station crewmates are safely back on Earth after an extended mission and a long wait for the weather to cooperate. SpaceX Crew-8 astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps all with NASA and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida on Friday (Oct. 25) at 3:29 a.m. EDT (0729 GMT). Their landing after 235 days — including a more than two-week wait on board the International Space Station (ISS) for acceptable conditions — set a record for…

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Sinister Solar System

NeRD

1 Min Read Sinister Solar System A witch appears to be screaming in space in this image from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Credits: NASA/WISE Our universe is full of mysterious sights. Explore some of our most frightful finds from past Halloweens. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Solar System Exploration Europa Clipper Europa Clipper will search for signs of potential habitability on Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa. Europa Jupiter About the Author NASA Science Editorial Team Share Details Last Updated Oct 24, 2024 Related Terms The Solar…

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Sols 4341-4342: A Bumpy Road

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 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 4 min read Sols 4341-4342: A Bumpy Road This image was taken…

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Chinese company Deep Blue Aerospace plans to start launching space tourists in 2027

NeRD

The Chinese company Deep Blue Aerospace is getting into the space tourism business. Deep Blue, which is based in the eastern province of Jiangsu, announced on Wednesday (Oct. 23) that it plans to start launching paying customers to suborbital space in 2027. Tickets will cost 1.5 million RMB apiece — about $210,000 U.S. at current exchange rates. For that price, customers will get “much more than a brief weightlessness experience,” Deep Blue wrote in a statement on Wednesday. (Translation to English by Google.) “They will experience the vastness and mystery…

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Watch sun erupt in 1st images from NOAA’s groundbreaking new satellite (photos)

NeRD

The first images from a new space-based telescope launched into Earth’s orbit to monitor the sun captured a striking solar storm outburst.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared the first images taken by its Compact Coronagraph (CCOR-1), the world’s first operational space-based coronagraph. CCOR-1 is mounted on NOAA’s newest geostationary satellite, GOES-19, which launched into orbit above Earth on June 25.  CCOR-1 began its mission to observe the sun’s corona — the faint outermost layer of the solar atmosphere — on Sept. 19. The powerful solar telescope uses…

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An Orange Blue Moon

NeRD

A super blue moon rises above NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Aug. 18, 2024. Although not actually appearing blue, as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, this is called a “blue” moon.

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Educator Night at the Museum of the North: Activating Science in Fairbanks Classrooms

NeRD

Learn Home Educator Night at the Museum… Heliophysics Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   2 min read Educator Night at the Museum of the North: Activating Science in Fairbanks Classrooms The NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) set out to activate science in Fairbanks classrooms in early October at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North annual Educators’ Night. This free Fall semester event introduces educators and school staff to a variety of resources and connections, connecting attendees…

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NASA Science on Health, Safety to Launch on 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission

NeRD

5 min read NASA Science on Health, Safety to Launch on 31st SpaceX Resupply Mission New science experiments for NASA are set to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 31st commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The six investigations aim to contribute to cutting-edge discoveries by NASA scientists and research teams. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will liftoff aboard the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Science experiments aboard the spacecraft include a test to study smothering fires in space,…

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