Category: Solar System

Our solar system

Nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea runs at 100 million degrees C for a record-breaking 48 seconds

NeRD

South Korea’s “artificial sun” has set a new fusion record after superheating a plasma loop to 180 million degrees Fahrenheit (100 million degrees Celsius) for 48 seconds, scientists have announced.  The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) reactor broke the previous world record of 31 seconds, which was set by the same reactor in 2021.The breakthrough is a small but impressive step on the long road to a source of near-unlimited clean energy.  Scientists have been trying to harness the power of nuclear fusion — the process by which stars…

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1st female ISS program manager looks ahead to new spaceships, space stations (exclusive)

NeRD

Dana Weigel, the first woman to helm the International Space Station program manager, says she’s excited to oversee so much commercial space activity on the orbiting complex. Weigel officially took helm of the International Space Station (ISS) program manager position on Sunday (April 7), succeeding Joel Montalbano. She was previously deputy ISS program manager and has 20 years of experience in numerous high-profile NASA roles. Working directly alongside Montalbano in management since 2021, she said, “I’ve gotten a lot of experience with the challenges that are there,” Weigel told Space.com…

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This little robot can hop in zero-gravity to explore asteroids

NeRD

A three-legged robot named SpaceHopper could help combat the challenges of exploring low-gravity environments, such as those found on asteroids or moons.  The SpaceHopper program was first launched two and a half years ago as a student research project at ETH Zurich university in Switzerland. And recently, researchers tested the hopping robot in a simulated zero-gravity environment during a European Space Agency parabolic flight, according to a statement from the university. The robot consists of a triangular body with an articulated leg at each corner. Each of these three legs…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 106 — Space Potpourri!

NeRD

On Episode 106 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq take you on a tour of the coolest space places on Earth. Most you can visit; some are more problematic, but many are must-sees for we, the True Believers! They will tell you where they are, what’s there to see, and — where possible — how to get inside without getting arrested. Rod and Tariq also do a solar eclipse recap from our varied — and somewhat frustrating — experiences earlier this week. Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space. Get episodes ad-free…

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Tiny black holes left over from the Big Bang may be prime dark matter suspects

NeRD

When it comes to primordial black holes being dark matter suspects, their alibi may be falling apart. Tiny black holes, created seconds after the birth of the universe, may survive longer than expected, reigniting a suspicion that primordial black holes could account for dark matter, the universe’s most mysterious stuff. Dark matter currently represents one of the most pressing problems in physics. That is because, despite making up an estimated 85% of the matter in the cosmos, dark matter remains effectively invisible to our eyes because it doesn’t interact with…

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‘You could feel the energy and wonder’: Despite clouds, totality wows crowds during solar eclipse in Syracuse

NeRD

Syracuse, N.Y. — On Monday morning (April 8), a crowd began gathering on the lawn of the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST), hoping to witness a total solar eclipse. “I’ve seen a number of partial [solar] eclipses, but this is my first total eclipse,” said Lindsay Hays, a program scientist in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters. “So I’m very excited for it.” Hays answered questions from eclipse viewers as a part of the museum’s Solar Eclipse Festival, which lasted from 12 p.m. to 4…

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ULA chronicles the rise of Vulcan rocket in new employee-drawn comic book

NeRD

Vulcan, United Launch Alliance‘s (ULA) new heavy-lift rocket, was not the result of having to flee an exploding planet, being exposed to gamma rays or even surviving the bite of a radioactive spider, but it does have an origin story compelling enough to warrant it having its own comic book. Or so struck Cory Wood, ULA’s senior graphic designer, who led the creation of “Ignition! The Origin Story of the Vulcan Centaur Rocket,” the first (and perhaps only) issue of the aerospace company’s new celebratory graphic novel. Related: ULA’s 1st…

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Watch an exclusive clip from the CNN’ ‘Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight’ finale (video)

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Other than the national tragedy of the Apollo 1 command capsule fire that took the lives of astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee on Jan. 27, 1967 during a launch rehearsal at Cape Kennedy, NASA’s darkest hour up to that point occurred 19 years later when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after launch on Jan. 28, 1986, causing the deaths of all seven astronaut aboard.  Then on Feb. 1, 2003 disaster struck once again after the space shuttle Columbia broke apart during its reentry flight over…

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‘Fly Me to the Moon’ trailer mixes real-life Apollo history with moon landing hoax

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If you are even a casual space history enthusiast, watching the new trailer for the upcoming movie “Fly Me to the Moon” might leave you thinking that it is an entire work of fiction. And for the most part, you would be correct. As the trailer reveals and Columbia Pictures and Apple Original Films’ synopsis reads, “Fly Me to the Moon” is a “comedy-drama set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing.” Scarlett Johansson plays the fictional Kelly Jones, a marketing maven who is brought in…

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My formal 2024 solar eclipse apology

NeRD

Since April 8, when I witnessed a total eclipse of the sun, I’ve been feeling progressively more melancholy. It isn’t because I was underwhelmed, or because my vantage point wasn’t ideal, or because of some depressing epiphany I had while watching the moon turn our planet’s star into a wispy white halo. I’ve actually been struggling to find the right words to explain my sullenness all week. I’ve been scribbling random thoughts in my iPhone notes app as they’ve emerged. They’ve come up as I sat in a Lyft, ate…

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