Category: The Moon

Our moon

Blue Origin launches 1st Black astronaut candidate, age 90, and 5 space tourists on New Shepard rocket (video)

NeRD

Blue Origin’s nearly two-year human spaceflight drought is over. Jeff Bezos‘ aerospace company launched its NS-25 mission today (May 19), sending six people — including the United States’ first-ever Black astronaut candidate — on a brief trip to suborbital space aboard its New Shepard rocket-capsule combo. It was Blue Origin‘s first space tourism launch since August 2022. That previous mission went well, but the company’s next flight, an uncrewed research jaunt that launched a month later, did not: New Shepard suffered a serious anomaly, causing the destruction of the first-stage…

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‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ at 25: Who are the angels on the moons of Iego?

NeRD

Yippee! “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” blows out the candles on its 25th anniversary birthday cake today.  After taking in a screening during its short return to theaters for Star Wars Day week, we can honestly say that this polarizing film still has its problems but honestly elicits enough thrills to warrant a repeat viewing, if only to hear John Williams sweeping musical score and see Ray Park’s acrobatic Darth Maul twirl his double-bladed lightsaber while seething with palpable hatred toward the gallant Jedi Knights.  “Episode 1” landed on May…

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NASA-funded pulsed plasma rocket concept aims to send astronauts to Mars in 2 months

NeRD

An innovative rocket system could revolutionize future deep space missions to Mars, reducing travel time to the Red Planet to just a few months.  The goal of landing humans on Mars has presented a myriad of challenges, including the need to quickly transport large payloads to and from the distant planet, which, depending on the positions of Earth and Mars, would take almost two years for a round trip using current propulsion technology. The Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR), under development by Howe Industries, is a propulsion system designed to be…

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NASA’s PREFIRE mission is ready to unlock the mysteries of Earth’s poles

NeRD

NASA is preparing to launch its latest climate science mission, the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE), which aims to capture brand new data on how heat is lost to space from Earth’s polar regions. PREFIRE consists of a pair of cubesats that will launch separately into near-polar orbits. The first, “Ready, Aim, PREFIRE,” is set to launch no earlier than (NET) May 22, on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Pad B at the company’s Launch Complex 1, in Māhia, New Zealand. The second cubesat, “PREFIRE and…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 111 —The Big Glass Wars

NeRD

On Episode 111 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq talk with Dr. John Mulchaey, Director of the Carnegie Observatories, about the threat to completing two new giant astronomical observatories. Welcome to the Big Glass Wars! That’s right, just when you thought you’d heard it all, turns out there’s hot competition among a few countries to stay on the cutting edge of optical astronomy, and to do that, you need a great big hunk of glass to gather light from distant galaxies and stellar systems. Enter the Carnegie Observatories…

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James Webb Space Telescope sees Orion Nebula in a stunning new light (images)

NeRD

The Orion Nebula may be a familiar and well-studied celestial object, but new images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show this star-forming cloud of gas and dust in an incredibly new and vibrant light. The Orion Nebula, also known as “Messier 42” (M42), is located around 1,500 light years from Earth toward the constellation of Orion. This makes it the closest large star-forming and stellar nursery to our solar system.  Visible to the naked eye under dark skies, the Orion Nebula has been studied throughout human history, but…

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NASA astronauts practice ‘moonwalking’ in the Arizona desert (photos)

NeRD

Moonwalking in the Arizona desert? No, it’s not a remake of Michael Jackson’s signature move; it’s a training exercise for NASA astronauts that will be part of the future Artemis Program of missions to the lunar surface. The week-long expedition across the San Francisco Volcanic Field near Flagstaff, AZ, will give NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Andre Douglas the opportunity to enact moonwalk scenarios in replica spacesuits on a landscape that’s similar to the moon.  Throughout the training, the team will rehearse lunar operations from start to finish and will…

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Who is the ‘Doctor Who’ villain Maestro? And what’s their relationship with the Toymaker?

NeRD

There’s a bum note at London’s Abbey Road Studios. The Beatles are recording their 1963 debut LP as planned, but their music is nothing to (twist and) shout about, and they can’t wait to finish the album and get back to Liverpool. It’s not the Fab Four’s fault, however. In “Doctor Who” episode “The Devil’s Chord”, the malevolent Maestro is sucking all the music out of the world, and even the Doctor may be powerless to stop them. (Need a guide on how to watch Doctor Who? Check out our…

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Autel EVO Max 4T drone review

NeRD

Key specs Weight: 3.57 lbs / 1620 g Dimensions: Folded 10.1 x 5.71 x 5.16 in / 257 x 145 x 131 mm / unfolded 12.52 x 15.75 x 5.79 in / 318 x 400 x 147 mm (excluding propellers) Battery: 8070 mAh / up to 42 minutes Charger type: AC/DC charger Modes: Slow, Smooth, Standard, Ludicrous Video transmission range: Up to 12.4 miles/20km (FCC), 4.9 miles/8km (CE) Video resolution: 4000×3000 px Frame rates: 30 fps These days, drones are aimed at a wide range of uses with specific features…

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NASA’s Mars sample return mission is in trouble. Could a single SLS megarocket be the answer?

NeRD

Boeing has put forward its own idea to help NASA get its Mars Sample Return project back on track and on budget. NASA issued a solicitation for new ideas to get scientifically invaluable Martian material to Earth after being told the current plan is too expensive (about $11 billion), while also being too complex and facing scheduling issues.  Former NASA Chief Scientist Jim Green presented Boeing’s vision for a rejiggered Mars sample return mission concept at the annual Humans to Mars Summit last week.  Related: NASA’s Mars Sample Return in jeopardy…

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