Category: The Moon

Our moon

NASA’s Artemis 2 moon rocket gets 2nd stage even as Trump tries to scrap Space Launch System (photos)

NeRD

The Artemis 2 megarocket set to launch NASA’s next astronauts to the moon in 2026 is almost completely assembled. The giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket continues to grow inside the NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Technicians at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, stacked the rocket’s second stage onto the launch vehicle Thursday (May 1). The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) is responsible for carrying the Orion spacecraft and crew the rest of the way into orbit around the Earth, and then sending them on their way to…

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20 years ago, ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ hit theaters… but 2 weeks earlier, the tie-in game had already spoiled the ending

NeRD

The year is 2005. I’m eagerly awaiting Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars chapter that completes Anakin Skywalker’s journey. I don’t know that Episode VII will happen ten years later, so for me, this could be the final Star Wars movie I’ll get to see in theaters. There’s a twist, though; the tie-in video game adaptation arrives roughly two weeks before Episode III hits theaters, and it ruins the whole plot. What went wrong? Nothing, actually, as George Lucas didn’t care about spoilers getting out well in advance of…

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What time is it on the moon? US House space committee wants a standard lunar clock

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We are one step closer to getting a lunar time zone this week, as a bill passed out of the US House Science, Space and Technology committee directs the administrator of NASA to develop a way to coordinate and measure time on the moon. The bill is titled The Celestial Time Standardization Act (or HR 2313), and was passed out of committee by a voice vote on Tuesday (April 29). It now goes to the full House for a future floor vote. If it passes the House (and then the…

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Scientists chased a falling spacecraft with a plane to understand satellite air pollution

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A dramatic aircraft chase of a falling spacecraft has provided new insights into the fiery processes that accompany the atmospheric demise of retired satellites. The measurements will help scientists better understand how satellite air pollution affects Earth’s atmosphere. In early September last year, a team of European scientists boarded a rented business jet on Easter Island to trace the atmospheric reentry of Salsa, one of the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) four identical Cluster satellites. The aircraft was fitted with 26 cameras to capture the brief occurrence in different wavelengths of…

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10 must-have ‘Star Wars’ books and novels coming soon to your galaxy

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Close down the airlocks and batten all hull hatches for a veritable meteor storm of new “Star Wars” books coming to us over the next year. These magnificent titles were recently announced at the official Lucasfilm Publishing panel “Stories From a Galaxy Far, Far Away” during this past month’s Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025. Physical media is making a major comeback these days, whether it’s remastered premium vinyl soundtracks of your favorite films or special edition 4K UHD Blu-ray releases of indie gems and Hollywood classics. Star Wars fanatics are…

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What would it be like living on Tatooine from ‘Star Wars’? This exoplanet orbiting twin suns could tell us

NeRD

A Tatooine-like world with a key difference from the desert planet in “Star Wars” has been serendipitously discovered orbiting not two stars, but a pair of brown dwarfs. What’s more, this wacky planet doesn’t orbit around the brown dwarfs’ equator, but instead up and down over their poles. In the “Star Wars” universe, Luke Skywalker famously came from the planet of Tatooine, which had two suns and double sunsets. Tatooine is in a circumbinary orbit, which means that it doesn’t orbit one star, but instead orbits both stars of a…

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For Star Wars Day, May the 4th, you’ll have to use all your Jedi powers to grab this Lego set — Jango Fett’s Starship WILL sell out fast

NeRD

For Star Wars Day, May 4th (‘May the 4th be with you’) Lego has dropped what might just become one of the best Lego Star Wars sets of all-time. The incredibly detailed Jango Fett Starship set (75409) is out now at Lego, and is the first new Star Wars UCS sets of 2025. The all-new 2,970-piece Lego set is priced at $299.99 and for a very limited time Lego is gifting buyers of this brilliant new Lego set with three Star Wars Lego themed gifts. Jango Fett’s Starship Key Chain,…

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Get everybody’s favorite droid at its lowest-ever price for Star Wars Day!

NeRD

Today is Star Wars Day and there are loads of deals to be had for Star Wars fans! This Lego Star Wars R2-D2 collectible is at its lowest ever price, down 30% to $168! The 2315-piece set will please classic and new Star Wars fans and is a steal at this limited-time price. Save 30% on Lego R2-D2 when you grab it on Amazon This is one of the biggest Lego Star Wars deals available at the moment, you can grab the display model R2-D2, which comes with an information…

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A whole ‘population’ of minimoons may be lurking near Earth, researchers say

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Earth’s minimoon may be a chip off the old block: New research suggests that 2024 PT5 ​​— a small, rocky body dubbed a “minimoon” during its discovery last year — may have been blown off the moon during a giant impact long ago, making it the second known sample traveling near Earth’s orbit. The discovery hints at a hidden population of lunar fragments traveling near Earth. “If there were only one object, that would be interesting but an outlier,” Teddy Kareta, a planetary scientist at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, said…

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James Webb Space Telescope finds coldest exoplanet ever seen, and it orbits a dead star

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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have detected the first planet seen orbiting a dead star, offering new insights into how planets evolve during the final stages of a star’s life. The James Webb Space Telescope‘s observations of the exoplanet, named WD 1856+534 b, also confirm it is the coldest exoplanet to date, which could pave the way for the first detailed atmospheric studies of gas giant exoplanets and help us contextualize our solar system on a cosmic scale. “We were all a bit surprised — and excited…

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