Category: Solar System

Our solar system

Axiom Space’s next astronaut mission to the ISS with SpaceX delayed to spring 2025

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Axiom Space’s next astronaut mission to the International Space Station will be delayed by several months, into 2025, due to required interagency approval processes. Ax-4, the name of that private astronaut effort by Axiom Space, had been targeted to launch no earlier than October of this year. It will now lift off no earlier than spring 2025, NASA officials announced on Friday (Aug. 9) via  X. “The Ax-4 crew members are pending approval to fly to the orbiting lab by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel,” NASA officials wrote in the…

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NASA satellite data adds key pollutant to national environmental justice database

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Scientists harnessed satellite technology to track a key air pollutant previously absent from a national database, NASA announced earlier this week, marking a crucial step forward in monitoring differences in air quality across the U.S. and identifying groups whose health is unfairly affected. Measurements of nitrogen dioxide, which is primarily released into air through the burning of fossil fuels and can lead to respiratory diseases like asthma among other health problems, had been missing from the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, or EJScreen. The database is maintained by the…

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Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ take note. ‘Star Trek’ is now Hollywood’s ultimate shared universe

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Shared universes go back way further than Tony Stark, Steve Rogers and co sitting down for some post-Chitauri shawarma. Superheroes have been moonlighting in each other’s comic books for decades, while Cheers regulars frequently paid Frasier a visit in Seattle. It wasn’t until Marvel Studios launched the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), however, that the concept started to gain serious mainstream traction.  By incorporating the contrasting adventures of Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow into one gigantic, overarching narrative, Marvel successfully blended cinematic spectacle with the “must-watch-every-episode” ethos of…

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Origami-inspired ‘transformer’ robots could help build habitats in space (photo)

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A newly designed “transformer” robot with the ability to change shape could one day be used to build habitats in space. Engineers from North Carolina State University (NC State) have created a plastic cubed structure that can transform into more than 1,000 configurations using only three active motors. In theory, their design — which was largely inspired by the paper-folding art of origami — offers a more efficient way to send assembly structures into space, where the robot could then “transform” to serve various purposes, including carrying a load, according…

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Small black holes could play ‘hide-and-seek’ with elusive supermassive black hole pairs

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Binary pairings of small black holes could be used by astronomers in a cosmic game of “hide-and-seek” to hunt much larger, yet more elusive, supermassive black hole binaries. The technique could, therefore, help solve the mystery of how supermassive black holes grew so fast in the early universe. Detecting black holes is no easy task despite their reputation as fearsome cosmic titans. All black holes are surrounded by a one-way light-trapping boundary called an “event horizon” that ensures they emit no light. Even the supermassive black holes at the hearts…

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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (video, photos)

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SpaceX sent another group of Starlink satellites to space today (Aug. 10) as the company continues to assemble its giant internet constellation. A Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink spacecraft to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT), after a one-day weather delay. As is typical for these missions, the first stage of Falcon 9 made a soft landing back on Earth roughly eight minutes after launch, touching down on the SpaceX droneship Just Read the…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 123 —The Mighty Perseids

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The Mighty Perseids – Meteors are Coming! – YouTube Watch On On Episode 123 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and guest host Isaac Arthur talk with astronomer Steve Fentress about the Perseids meteor shower. Each year, there are a handful of impressive meteor showers, and one of the largest and best this year will be the Perseids. The quarter moon will set just before midnight, when the shower activity peaks, and if you’re in a dark spot expect to see maybe 50-60 shooting stars per hour.  Steve Fentress,…

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10 of Futurama’s smartest science references and gags

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When “Futurama” first beamed onto planet Earth in 1999, it was no surprise that a TV series co-created by “The Simpsons” mastermind Matt Groening was packed with smart references to pop culture and current affairs. But beyond the conveyor belt of gags about “Star Trek” and the state of planet Earth, the show’s team of writers — many of whom are science graduates — have also managed to squeeze in plenty of ingenious references to physics, mathematics and other branches of the sciences. Below we’ve picked out √100 (okay, 10)…

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‘Alien: Romulus’ is just 1 week away. Watch 2 new terrifying clips to get ready (video)

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We only have seven more days to wait until director Fede Alvarez’s highly-anticipated sequel “Alien: Romulus” makes us once again scream in outer space. The film will introduce us to the abandoned outer space slaughterhouse that houses a hive of extraterrestrial biomechanical beasts known as xenomorphs. With just one week to wait, a new pair of sneak peeks help whet our appetites for this seventh entry in the storied sci-fi horror franchise. The first recently-hatched teaser titled “10 Days” attacks your senses with a haunting sonic cue replicated from Ridley…

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Watch an exclusive clip from Hulu’s ‘Solar Opposites’ Season 5 (video)

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With due respect to “Futurama,” one of Hulu’s funniest adult animated shows over the past few years has been “Solar Opposites” and its wacky gang of marooned aliens on our Big Blue Marble adjusting to life amid humans. With four seasons already in the can after a successful 2020 launch, 20th Television Animation’s irreverent sci-fi series from executive producers Mike McMahan (“Star Trek: Lower Decks“) and Josh Bycel (“Happy Endings”) returns on Aug. 12 with a 12-episode fifth season. To reignite fan enthusiasm and bring everyone back up to speed,…

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