Category: Space Stations

Space stations in orbit or planned

Here’s what NASA is sending to the moon on Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander

NeRD

Firefly Aerospace’s first mission to the moon is poised to launch in the early morning hours on Jan. 15. The company’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is sharing a payload bay with another mission to the moon’s surface, the Resilience probe from private Japanese company ispace. The two are launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled to liftoff no earlier than Wednesday, at 1:11 a.m. ET (0611 GMT), from Launch Complex-39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Blue Ghost Mission 1, which Firefly has dubbed Ghost Riders in…

Read More

Rubin Observatory aces 1st image tests, gets ready to use world’s largest digital camera

NeRD

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A giant new telescope in Chile has opened its eyes for the first time — and while the view may not be impressive to some, its scientist parents are thrilled. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, an 8.4-meter telescope built by the National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, successfully passed a series of critical systems tests and even snapped early images of the sky with an engineering camera. The result? A clean bill of health and an early set of images that…

Read More

What’s flying to the moon on ispace’s Resilience lunar lander?

NeRD

Japanese space exploration company ispace is all set to launch its second lunar lander early Wednesday morning (Jan. 15), but what will the spacecraft carry with it to the moon? The ispace Resilience lander will lift off atop of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday at 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT), with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander also on the flight. The dual moon mission is the first of an array of lunar launches planned for 2025. Resilience…

Read More

Scientists turn 3 years’ worth of solar flares into audible sound (video)

NeRD

If you’re more of an auditory learner than a visual one, this timelapse video is for you. (And, well, visual learners will probably love it, too!) The European Space Agency (ESA) has released an audio-visual representation of solar activity over the last three years, pulling data from its Solar Orbiter probe, which it runs with NASA. In the video, we see blue circles popping up across the surface of the sun — and audible tones paired with each of these circles. As time progresses toward the present day, the frequency…

Read More

Total lunar eclipse March 2025: When and where to see the next ‘Blood Moon’ lunar eclipse

NeRD

On the night of March 13-14, 2025, a total lunar eclipse will be visible from Earth, and North America will be in the prime position for the spectacular event, which will also feature a “Blood Moon.” Lunar eclipses happen when Earth is between the sun and a full moon. During the event, the moon moves through Earth’s umbra, the dark center of its shadow. Where will the March 13-14, 2025, total lunar eclipse be visible? The best views will be for those in North and South America. According to Time…

Read More

Station Science Top News: Jan. 10, 2025

NeRD

Measurements from space support wildfire risk predictions Researchers demonstrated that data from the International Space Station’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) instrument played a significant role in the ability of machine learning algorithms to predict wildfire susceptibility. This result could help support development of effective strategies for predicting, preventing, monitoring, and managing wildfires. As the frequency and severity of wildfires increases worldwide, experts need reliable models of fire susceptibility to protect public safety and support natural resource planning and risk management. ECOSTRESS measures evapotranspiration, water use…

Read More

The 2025 ‘Super Bowl of Astronomy’ kicks off this week in Maryland

NeRD

Thousands of scientists from around the world are gathered in Maryland this week to discuss new discoveries about the universe and the latest astronomical advancements during the so-called “Super Bowl of astronomy.” The 245th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, running Jan. 12 to Jan. 16, will feature many of the remarkable findings from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which began observing the cosmos in 2022. The meeting is being held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. The four-day conference will include presentations…

Read More

Astronomers Catch Unprecedented Features at Brink of Active Black Hole

NeRD

International teams of astronomers monitoring a supermassive black hole in the heart of a distant galaxy have detected features never seen before using data from NASA missions and other facilities. The features include the launch of a plasma jet moving at nearly one-third the speed of light and unusual, rapid X-ray fluctuations likely arising from near the very edge of the black hole. Radio images of 1ES 1927+654 reveal emerging structures that appear to be jets of plasma erupting from both sides of the galaxy’s central black hole following a…

Read More

China test-fires 5 new rocket engines in a single day. But what are they for? (video)

NeRD

China’s state-owned main space contractor tested five different rocket engines on one day last week in preparation for future missions and projects. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) tested the engines at two sites in Beijing and Laiyuan County in Hebei Province, north China, on Jan. 2. One test-fired a new hydrogen-oxygen engine for the upper stage of an unspecified rocket for 100 seconds. It was conducted by the 101 Institute of CASC’s Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology. On Jan. 2, 2025, China tested five new rocket engines,…

Read More

SpaceX will launch 2 private lunar landers this week, kicking off busy year for moon missions

NeRD

Two private lunar landers are set to launch this week aboard the same rocket, kicking off a busy year of missions to the moon. A six-day window for the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the missions begins early Wednesday morning (Jan. 15), with liftoff scheduled for 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT) from Launch Complex-39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Falcon 9 will carry both landers to Earth orbit, where each will begin independent trajectories toward the moon. Ghost Riders in the Sky, the mission for Firefly…

Read More