Author: NeRD

Hubble Spots a Spiral in the Celestial River

NeRD

Hubble Space Telescope Home Hubble Spots a Spiral in the… Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs…

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NASA to Test Technology for X-59’s Unique Shock Wave Measurements

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A close-up of NASA’s shock-sensing probe highlights its pressure ports, designed to measure air pressure changes during supersonic flight. The probe will be mounted on NASA’s F-15B Aeronautics Research Test Bed for calibration flights, validating its ability to measure shock waves generated by the X 59 as part of NASA’s Quesst mission to provide data on quiet supersonic flight. NASA/Lauren Hughes NASA’s F-15B Aeronautics Research Test Bed performs a calibration flight of the shock-sensing probe over Edwards, California, on…

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Matt Dominick’s X Account: A Visual Journey from Space

NeRD

3 Min Read Matt Dominick’s X Account: A Visual Journey from Space We are lucky to have had the opportunity to fly in space and feel a responsibility to share with humanity the incredible views of the Earth and the cosmos. Matt dominick NASA Astronaut NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick launched to the International Space Station on March 3, 2024 as the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission. As a flight engineer aboard the orbiting laboratory, Dominick conducted scientific research while capturing breathtaking views of Earth…

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NASA Astronauts Compete in ISS “Olympics”

NeRD

2 Min Read NASA Astronauts Compete in ISS “Olympics” To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The International Space Station Olympics. NASA See the Content Online: Olympics Instagram | Olympics X | Olympics Website | NASA HQ YouTube | NASA Facebook | FLOTUS Instagram “Over the past few days on the International Space Station, we’ve had an absolute blast pretending to be Olympic athletes,” astronaut Matt Dominick started off in a crew message. “We, of course, have had the…

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‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ season 5 episode 8 flips the script and visits the ‘Upper Decks’

NeRD

The latest “Lower Decks” episode, “Upper Decks”, reveals what the command crew gets up to when Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and T’Lyn aren’t hogging all that main character energy. So, as the lead quintet gets busy “mutilating gourds” for Halloween — everyone but T’Lyn would describe it as carving pumpkins — “Upper Decks” shows that the bridge crew doesn’t just “fade into the background” when the junior officers are elsewhere. It turns out that alien invasions, potential engineering disasters, and metaphysical crises are all in an average day’s work, in…

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How ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ uses Spielberg magic to capture the spirit of the original trilogy

NeRD

All those spaceships, droids, lightsabers, and scoundrels had a big part to play in capturing the imaginations of a generation back in 1977. Even so, there’s a much subtler moment that arguably defines the original ‘Star Wars’ movie better than any other. Young farmer Luke Skywalker, told by his uncle that he needs to stay on Tatooine for one more harvest, steps outside the homestead to stare at a gorgeous binary sunset. It’s a moment that captures the feeling that your current humdrum existence is preventing you from experiencing the…

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Trump may cancel NASA’s powerful SLS moon rocket – here’s what that would mean for Elon Musk and the future of space travel

NeRD

Since Donald Trump’s recent electoral victory, rumors and speculation have circulated that NASA’s giant moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), could be under threat. The rocket is one of several key elements needed for the US space agency’s Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since 1972. For the first lunar landing mission, called Artemis III, the SLS will launch four astronauts on NASA’s Orion crew capsule. Orion will then travel to the moon. Once in lunar orbit, Orion will dock with…

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NASA Flips Efficient Wing Concept for Testing

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA/Quincy Eggert Upside down can be right side up. That’s what NASA researchers determined for tests of an efficient wing concept that could be part of the agency’s answer to making future aircraft sustainable. Research from NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology project involving a 10-foot model could help NASA engineers validate the concept of the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW),  an aircraft using long, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts. The TTBW concept’s efficient wings add lift and could result…

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Why we can’t just name a quasi-moon ‘Moony McMoonface’

NeRD

During the summer of 2022, just after the James Webb Space Telescope started sending us a steady stream of deep-space postcards, astronomer Stephen Finkelstein and his team found a mysterious red splotch in one of those data deliveries. They’d spotted one of the earliest galaxies humans have ever laid eyes on — a realm that represented a distant pocket of the universe our species once couldn’t dream of seeing. And, importantly, they found it on Finkelstein’s daughter’s birthday, a serendipity that blessed this blob with a name: Maisie’s Galaxy. But…

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Lagniappe for December 2024

NeRD

4 Min Read Lagniappe for December 2024 Explore the December 2024 issue, highlighting the Clean Energy Project, Powering Space Dreams, and more! Credits: NASA/Stennis Explore Lagniappe for December 2024 featuring: NASA Stennis Secures Grant for Clean Energy Project Powering Space Dreams NASA Builds Bridges at Bayou Classic Gator Speaks Gator Speaks NASA/Stennis Do you have time for a quick story? Recently, your ol‘ friend Gator had the chance to help his family move. This move was not the same as going to the Moon or Mars like NASA’s planned Artemis…

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