Category: Space Stations

Space stations in orbit or planned

‘Chappie’ is 10 years old, and Blomkamp’s flawed humanist take on robots and AI is more relevant than ever

NeRD

It’s safe to say Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 (2009) became an instant modern sci-fi classic, which explains why both moviegoers and Hollywood studios had massive expectations for the filmmaker’s follow-up flicks: Elysium (2013) and Chappie (2015). Neither reached the same heights and remain divisive to this day, but we think the latter is worth a quick rewatch a decade later. Most can agree that Blomkamp has a knack for delivering grounded and tangible sci-fi worlds on reasonable production budgets. It’s been the key to his long-term success, despite recent failure…

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Solar eclipse US weather forecast: Best places to see the moon ‘bite’ the sun tomorrow

NeRD

A partial solar eclipse is coming this weekend, but weather could be an issue for many hoping to get a glimpse of the moon “taking a bite” out of the sun. Skywatchers across much of New York State, New England and Atlantic Canada who are hoping to get a view of Saturday morning’s partial solar eclipse are unfortunately going to be at the mercy of a stationary weather system that will likely generate widespread cloudiness as well as a variety of precipitation ranging from rain, sleet and snow. The front…

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US Space Force certifies new Vulcan Centaur rocket to launch national security missions

NeRD

The U.S. Space Force has certified United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket to launch national security missions. The news, which the Space Force announced on Wednesday (March 26), doubles the number of National Security Space Launch (NSSL) providers. ULA joins SpaceX in this select group. “Assured access to space is a core function of the Space Force and a critical element of national security,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, the Space Force’s program executive officer for assured access to space, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “Vulcan certification…

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NASA cancels cargo launch to ISS due to damaged Cygnus spacecraft

NeRD

NASA has called off a planned cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a damaged spacecraft. The spacecraft is a robotic Cygnus freighter, built by the Virginia-based company Northrop Grumman. It had been scheduled to launch several tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the ISS from Florida’s Space Coast this June. On March 5, however, NASA announced that Cygnus’ shipping container sustained damage during the trip to the launch site. The agency had said mission teams would inspect the freighter over the coming days to…

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NASA’s daredevil solar spacecraft survives 2nd close flyby of our sun

NeRD

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its second close flyby of the sun, the space agency announced earlier this week. The car-sized spacecraft swooped within 8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the sun‘s surface at a whopping 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour), matching the historic record it set during its encounter on Christmas Eve last year. During this approach, which occurred on Saturday (March 22), the Parker Solar Probe once again operated autonomously, with its four science instruments programmed to collect science data about solar…

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SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites to orbit from California, lands rocket at sea (video)

NeRD

SpaceX launched a stack of Starlink internet satellites to orbit from California and returned the booster to Earth Friday afternoon (March 26). The Falcon 9 rocket flying the mission, Starlink 11-7, carried a total of 27 satellites to orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The SpaceX rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4E at 6:11:40 p.m. ET (2211 GMT). A little more than eight minutes later, the rocket’s first-stage booster, B1063, touched down on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” stationed in the Pacific Ocean.…

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Hold onto your hats! Is the ‘blaze star’ T Corona Borealis about to go boom?

NeRD

A new set of predictions for the so-called “blaze star,” T Corona Borealis suggests the star might go nova on either March 27, November 10, or June 25, 2026. However, other astronomers are skeptical about these predictions, which are based on an implied pattern in the explosive system’s orbital configuration, “T Corona Borealis [T CrB] is a unique object that has fascinated amateur and professional astronomers for more than a century,” Léa Planquart of the Institut d’Astronomie et d’Astrophysique at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in Belgium, told Space.com. T…

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What will happen during the partial solar eclipse of March 2025?

NeRD

What a difference a year makes! Just a year ago, countless millions across North America were anxiously awaiting the “great North American total eclipse of the sun” on April 8. Now, less than a year later, on Saturday, March 29, another eclipse of the sun will take place, but it’s quite likely that the prospective viewing audience will be considerably smaller. To produce this eclipse, the moon’s shadow falls chiefly on the north polar regions of Earth. Keep up to date with the latest solar eclipse news and events with…

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“The monster will come for us all!” Mon Mothma rouses the rebels in new ‘Andor’ Season 2 trailer

NeRD

Andor | Official Trailer | Final Season Streaming April 22 on Disney+ – YouTube Watch On We’re a mere month away from the climactic second season of Disney+’s “Andor: A Star Wars Story” that will take us straight up to the beginning of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” A fresh Disney-delivered trailer has just dropped, and it makes us want to join those pesky rebels and charge blindly into the fray in defense of galactic freedom. Well, until we see the dreaded Death Star! Arriving on April 22, “Andor”…

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‘Earth to Space’ art festival set to launch at Kennedy Center this week

NeRD

A nearly month-long space mission is ready to lift off, with final preparations being made at the Kennedy Center. To be clear, not NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but rather the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. “Earth to Space: Arts Breaking the Sky” is set to transform the United States’ national cultural hub into a launch pad for three weeks of live performances, films, art, interactive exhibits and discussions, all inspired by spaceflight and the wonders of the universe. The festival will see…

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