Category: The Moon

Our moon

Watch the sun set over the moon in epic video from private Blue Ghost lunar lander

NeRD

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander made the most of its last few hours of life on the moon. The solar-powered Blue Ghost shut down on Sunday evening (March 16), shortly after the sun set over its lunar locale. The lander watched our star’s descent and disappearance over the cratered horizon, capturing the oncoming, killing darkness in a poignant video that Firefly shared with the world today (March 18). “These are the first high-definition images taken of the sun going down and then going into darkness at the horizon [on…

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Feel the burn with this amazing video of a Varda space capsule’s plunge through Earth’s atmosphere

NeRD

A small space private capsule has captured stunning onboard scenes from its high-velocity atmospheric reentry. Varda Space’s W-2 mission came to a successful and spectacular end on Feb. 27 when the capsule reentered the atmosphere and landed at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia. The 265-pound (120 kilograms) capsule spent six weeks in space after launching atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter 12 mission. (Image credit: Varda Space via YouTube) The company has now released a video capturing dramatic images from its final moments…

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World’s largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a ‘time-lapse record of the universe’ (video)

NeRD

A major milestone with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has been reached with the installation of the telescope’s enormous LSST Camera — the last optical component required before the last phase of testing can begin. The car-sized Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Camera that was recently installed on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is the largest digital camera ever built and will be used to capture detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky over a decade. “The installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope is a triumph of science…

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Farewell, Blue Ghost! Private moon lander goes dark to end record-breaking commercial lunar mission

NeRD

The historic mission of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander is over. The solar-powered Blue Ghost went dark on Sunday evening (March 16) after the sun set on its lunar locale, bringing an end to a highly successful two weeks of surface operations on the moon. “We battle-tested every system on the lander and simulated every mission scenario we could think of to get to this point,” Blue Ghost Chief Engineer Will Coogan said in a Firefly statement today (March 17) that announced the end of the mission. “But what…

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This butterfly-shaped nebula owes its structure to 2 chaotic young stars

NeRD

A huge bipolar outflow of gas and dust, grown from the tumultuous birth of a double-star system, has formed a cosmic hourglass — and the James Webb Space Telescope imaged the scene in splendiferous detail. Referred to as Lynds 483, or LBN 483,, this nebulous outflow is located about 650 light years away. It provides an ideal opportunity for the James Webb Space Telescope to learn more about the process of star formation. (Beverly Lynds was an astronomer who catalogued both bright nebulas – BN – and dark nebulas –…

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The 1st private mission to Venus comes together ahead of possible 2026 launch (photos)

NeRD

Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley report progress in installing a heat shield on the first private spacecraft targeted for Venus. Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, is leading the effort, along with their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. NASA’s Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) was invented at the NASA Ames center. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program, part of the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, supported the development of the heat shield for Rocket Lab’s Venus mission. You…

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You can buy Chewbacca’s Bowcaster or Luke’s medal at a ‘Star Wars’ auction, but it could cost you half a million dollars

NeRD

Poor Chewbacca never got his golden bravery medal for helping to destroy the Death Star during “Star Wars”‘ climactic Battle of Yavin, but you might be lucky enough to score Luke’s if you’re the high bidder in Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction that returns to Los Angeles on March 26–28, 2025. London-based Propstore is one of the world’s premier entertainment memorabilia auction houses and this spring they’re presenting a remarkable selection of priceless film-used “Star Wars” collectibles. Two of the showcase lots that should have fans and collectors salivating are…

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This Week In Space podcast: Episode 152 — Atomic Rockets II: Nuclear Electric Boogaloo

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Atomic Rockets II: Nuclear Electric Boogaloo – Pathways to the Solar System – YouTube Watch On On Episode 152 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik host Dr. Robert O’Brien, Director of the Universities Space Research Association’s Center for Space Nuclear Research, for a fascinating deep dive into nuclear propulsion technology for space exploration. They discuss the history, current developments, and future potential of nuclear electric and nuclear thermal propulsion systems, which could revolutionize our ability to explore Mars and beyond — both robotically and with human…

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SpaceX aces 3rd launch in 13 hours, sending 23 Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

NeRD

SpaceX just pulled off a spaceflight tripleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 15) at 7:35 a.m. EDT (1135 GMT). It was SpaceX‘s third launch in a 13-hour span, as the company noted via X this morning. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 15, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX) The rocket flurry began at 7:03 p.m.…

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Where will the partial solar eclipse be visible in March 2025?

NeRD

Although it won’t be as spectacular as North America’s April 2024 total solar eclipse, the first solar eclipse since the “ring of fire” eclipse in October 2024 is set to bring stunning views to some lucky eclipse chasers. Just two weeks after a stunning total lunar eclipse on March 13-14, 2025, skywatchers across the western Northern Hemisphere will see at least a partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025. For some observers, an eclipsed sun will appear on the eastern horizon at sunrise — if skies are clear — as…

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