Category: Solar System

Our solar system

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 140 —University Rocketeers

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University Rocketeers – USC’s Rocket Lab Smash the Amateur Altitude Record – YouTube Watch On On Episode 140 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Dr. Dan Erwin and student Ryan Kraemer about amateur rocketry. Many of us flew model rockets as young people, but USC Rocket Propulsion Lab takes amateur rocketry to a whole new level–in this case, 470,000 feet!  Meet Erwin and Kraemer, who, along with a very talented team of other undergrads, built and flew Aftershock II, a 14-foot, 330-pound “amateur” rocket…

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86 years after infamous ‘War of the Worlds’ broadcast, visitors in the sky have New Jersey panicking again

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The panic in New Jersey and across the nation is very real as there is still no explanation for the multiple drone sightings over the state. Reports of these drones have poured in nightly after the first sighting on Nov. 18, 2024, and the source of the drones is still a mystery. The drones have been seen over reservoirs, the U.S. military’s Picatinny Arsenal facility, President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course, and were even reported following a U.S. Coast Guard vessel. Almost 100 years ago on Oct. 30, 1938, many of…

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SpaceX launching 22 Starlink internet satellites from California today

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SpaceX plans to launch yet another batch of its Starlink broadband satellites today (Dec. 13). A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 22 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today during a 3.5-hour window that opens at 2:28 p.m. EDT (1928 GMT; 11:28 a.m. local time in California). SpaceX will webcast the action via X, beginning about five minutes before launch. If all goes to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back to Earth for a vertical touchdown on the drone ship…

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How to watch the Geminid meteor shower 2024 live online tonight (Dec. 13)

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2024 Geminid Meteor shower: online observation – 13 Dec. 2024 – YouTube Watch On The Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight (Dec. 13) but if you’re unable to catch the prolific shower in person, you can still enjoy this spectacular event from the comfort of your home. Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project is offering a free livestream of the Geminid meteor shower on Dec. 13, starting at 6:00 p.m. EST (2300 GMT), weather permitting. You can watch all the action unfold here on Space.com courtesy of the Virtual…

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NASA’s Mars exploration plans need ‘paradigm shifts’ to succeed, report finds

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NASA has released a new document that highlights planned programmatic paradigm shifts in Mars exploration over the next 20 years. This plan was prepared for the NASA Science Mission Directorate’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP). The report is titled “Expanding the Horizons of Mars Science: A Plan for a Sustainable Science Program at Mars — Mars Exploration Program 2024-2044.” Core questions Highlighted in the document are several “paradigm shift” prospects to further address several core questions, which include: You may like How has the habitability of Mars evolved over the history…

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‘SALLY’ at Sundance: NatGeo film to reveal ‘hidden love’ of 1st US woman in space

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A new documentary about the life and love of America’s first woman in space will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. “SALLY,” from National Geographic and director Cristina Costantini, reveals the legacy of NASA astronaut Sally Ride. Featuring archival footage filmed both on the ground and in space, along with new interviews with Ride’s close friends and colleagues, the documentary allows access to the “real Ride,” who struggled with the “limits and sacrifices true heroism demands.” “‘SALLY’ is the story of pioneering astronaut Sally Ride, who was the first…

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‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ brings back fan-favorite characters for ‘Multiverse of Madness’-style hijinks in latest episode

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Ever wondered what happened to Bradward Boimler’s transporter duplicate? We already knew his death was faked by Section 31 and now we know the reason why: he’s leaping between multiverses as if he’s Doctor Strange, trying to stop whatever — or whoever — is tearing rifts between dimensions. And who else to accompany him on this mission but a crack team of operatives plucked from previous “Star Trek”s, alternative universe duplicates who bring their own unique set of skills to the job in hand. “Fissure Quest” is the latest super-smart…

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What causes volcanic eruptions on Jupiter’s moon Io? Scientists aren’t so sure anymore

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Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io doesn’t appear to have a subsurface ocean of magma, resolving some issues about how Io’s volcanoes erupt and raising broader questions about similar magma oceans within other moons and planets. Data from previous missions had made planetary scientists wonder whether, rather than just pockets of melt, Io contained a 31-mile (50-kilometer) deep layer of magma: a moon-wide ocean of molten rock. In the 1990s, NASA’s Galileo mission performed magnetic induction measurements that suggested there was such a layer, while more recently, the distribution of volcanoes on…

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‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ episode 3: What’s Jod Na Nawood’s true identity?

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Skeleton Crew, the latest live-action Star Wars show on Disney Plus, debuted last week with a pretty fun and uncomplicated two-episode premiere. In its third chapter, we get to venture further into a swashbuckling adventure full of scallywags and alien locales. But, more surprisingly, we also obtain more answers than we’d expected this early on. Some might take this as a sign of co-creators and writers Jon Watts and Christopher Ford not really knowing what to do with the mysteries they’d set up, but it’s quite obvious they’re toying with…

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2 huge asteroid strikes 36 million years ago didn’t change Earth’s climate over the long haul, study finds

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Two enormous asteroids that struck Earth about 36 million years ago did not cause any long-lasting shifts to our planet’s climate, according to new research. The space rocks, both estimated to be no larger than 5 miles (8 kilometers) wide, impacted Earth within 25,000 years of each other. Geologically speaking, that’s a relatively short period of time, offering scientists a unique opportunity to study how our planet’s climate responded to such an onslaught. Isotopes in the fossils of tiny marine organisms that lived at the time suggest that Earth’s climate…

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