Category: Solar System

Our solar system

1st image of our Milky Way’s black hole may be inaccurate, scientists say

NeRD

What does the supermassive black hole lurking at the center of our galaxy look like?It’s a deceptively simple question.  Although our local cosmic abyss, named Sgr A* (short for Sagittarius A*), resides just 26,000 light-years from Earth, it has proven to be a very difficult object to image. This is thanks in part to material whipping around it at near light-speeds. However, after years of trying, scientists with the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project succeeded in 2022.The black hole’s silhouette emerged from the shadows, appearing like a fuzzy orange doughnut.…

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NASA’s Perseverance rover gets stunning view of big Mars crater from slippery slope (video, photos)

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NASA’s Perseverance rover took a break from its Mars mountaineering expedition recently to survey its old stomping grounds. The car-sized Perseverance landed on the floor of the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer-wide) Jezero Crater in February 2021 to hunt for signs of past Mars life and collect dozens of samples for future return to Earth. Perseverance has finished its work in Jezero’s flats and is now scaling the crater’s western rim, on its way to explore new and disparate Mars landscapes. Late last month, however, the rover paused to take in the grand…

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China launches 3 astronauts to Tiangong space station on Shenzhou 19 mission (video)

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China’s next human spaceflight mission is on its way into orbit. A Long March 2F rocket topped with the Shenzhou 19 crew spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center today (Oct. 19) at 4:27 p.m. EDT (2027 GMT; 4:27 a.m. Oct. 30 Beijing time), rising into a night sky above the spaceport. Aboard are commander Cai Xuzhe, 48, who was a member of the Shenzhou 14 mission, and rookie astronauts Song Lingdong, 34, a former air force pilot, and Wang Haoze, also 34, a spaceflight engineer. Shenzhou 19…

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NASA chief says talks between Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin would be ‘concerning’

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NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has expressed concerns over reports that SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nelson was on stage at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Friday (Oct. 25) when he was asked about an Oct. 24 Wall Street Journal article, which reported that Musk has, in secret, been in regular contact with Putin since late 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February that year. The report cites former U.S., European and Russian officials. “[SpaceX] have been phenomenally successful…

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SpaceX launching 20 Starlink internet satellites from California this morning

NeRD

SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from California this morning (Oct. 29). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 20 Starlink spacecraft, including 13 with direct-to-cell (DTC) capability, is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today, during a nearly hour-long window that opens at 7:44 a.m. EDT (1144 GMT; 4:44 a.m. local California time). SpaceX will stream the launch live via X, beginning about five minutes before liftoff. If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth…

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SpaceX’s Starship booster was ‘1 second away’ from aborting epic launch-tower catch

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SpaceX’s historic rocket catch earlier this month was even more dramatic than it looked. That catch occurred on Oct. 13, during the fifth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship megarocket. Starship’s huge first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, came back to Earth about seven minutes after liftoff, nestling next to its launch tower, which secured the rocket with its “chopstick” arms. But that epic moment almost didn’t happen: Super Heavy was just one second away from aborting the launch-tower landing and crashing into a patch of nearby ground, SpaceX engineers told…

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China wants to make its Tiangong space station bigger and better

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China has been operating its completed Tiangong orbital outpost for almost two years now — and is looking to expand its capabilities with new modules and spacecraft. The three-module, T-shaped Tiangong space station was fully assembled in November 2022, with the arrival of the Mengtian science module. The station seems set to grow again, however. “In the future, we will try to upgrade our facilities,” said Li Ming, chairman of the science and technology committee of the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), speaking during a plenary session on human…

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Everything we know about ‘Elio’

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So, what’s the dealio with Elio? Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar’s upcoming movie schedule includes lots of sequels, like Zootopia/Zootropolis 2, Frozen 3, Toy Story 5, and Incredibles 3, but what about their original flicks? Well, they have a few titles lined up, and Elio – a sci-fi comedy which will take us on an extraterrestrial trip – is up next. After Lightyear disappointed at the box office in 2022, a follow-up was instantly scrapped. But that didn’t mean Pixar would stay away from new sci-fi projects, since they’ve…

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New study of Apollo 16 moon samples reveals hidden lunar history

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Scientists continue to piece together the moon’s complex history using lunar samples collected during NASA’s Apollo missions over half a century ago.  A fresh analysis of lunar dust collected by Apollo 16 astronauts in 1972 offers a clearer picture of the effects of asteroid strikes on the moon, allowing scientists to reconstruct billions of years of lunar history. The findings could also help upcoming crewed missions pinpoint precious natural resources for establishing moon bases, scientists say. After landing in the heavily-cratered Descartes region in the lunar highlands, astronauts John Young,…

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SpaceX launches 22 Starlink internet satellites from Florida

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SpaceX launched another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast on Saturday evening (Oct. 26). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:47 p.m. EDT (2147 GMT). The first stage from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X) As to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff. It touched…

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