This Week In Space podcast: Episode 147 — Not As They Seem

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Not As They Seem – Mick West on UFOs, Conspiracy Theories, and Pseudoscience – YouTube Watch On On Episode 147 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik speak with Mick West, a passionate conspiracy debunker who, rather uniquely, proceeds with kindness and empathy as he unravels some of the key pseudoscience of our time. Of particular interest to us is the spate of relatively recent videos of UFOs/UAPs from the US Navy, among other sources. He’s got a lot to say and took a deep dive into…

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Croatia’s 1st satellite captures its first views of home (photo)

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Croatia’s first ever satellite has just beamed to Earth the first image of its homeland. The satellite, called CroCube, is a 1U cubesat 3.3 by 3.3 by 3.3 inches (10 x 10 x 10 centimeters) in size. It launched to space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late December on the company’s Bandwagon-2 rideshare mission. The debut image, released via the mission’s Facebook page on Jan. 31, shows a cloud-covered outline of the Mediterranean country famous for its crystal blue sea and scenic coast. “Although our land is partly…

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Vast Space now aims for 2026 launch of Haven-1 space station after key milestone (photos)

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Vast Space is taking big steps toward putting the first commercial space station in orbit. The California-based startup recently completed a major testing milestone for the qualification vessel of its upcoming Haven-1 station, a benchmark Vast also used to reevaluate the launch date for the company’s first flight-ready module. “With the completion of our primary structure qualification test and a fully assembled team, we now have greater clarity on our build and launch schedule. As a result, we are updating our timeline,” Vast said in a statement. Haven-1 will ride…

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1st supernovas may have flooded the early universe with water — making life possible just 100 million years after the Big Bang

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When the cosmos’ first stars exploded in spectacular supernovas, they may have unleashed enormous amounts of water that flooded the early universe — and potentially made life possible just millions of years after the Big Bang, new simulations suggest. However, this theory clashes with our current understanding of cosmic evolution and will be extremely difficult to prove. Water is one of the most abundant compounds in the universe, according to NASA. Aside from Earth, astronomers have found water in several places throughout the solar system, including scattered above and below…

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‘Marsquakes’ may solve 50-year-old mystery about the Red Planet

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Recordings of Martian earthquakes, or “marsquakes,” collected by a robot on the Red Planet may have finally solved a 50-year-old mystery: why one half of Mars is so drastically different from the other. Since the 1970s, researchers have known that Mars is split into two main areas. The northern lowlands cover around two-thirds of the planet’s northern hemisphere, while the southern highlands cover the rest of the planet and have an average elevation roughly 3 miles (5 kilometers) higher than that of the northern lowlands. Mars’ crust, which sits on…

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February’s Night Sky Notes: How Can You Help Curb Light Pollution?

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5 min read February’s Night Sky Notes: How Can You Help Curb Light Pollution? Light pollution has long troubled astronomers, who generally shy away from deep sky observing under full Moon skies. The natural light from a bright Moon floods the sky and hides views of the Milky Way, dim galaxies and nebula, and shooting stars. In recent years, human-made light pollution has dramatically surpassed the interference of even a bright full Moon, and its effects are now noticeable to a great many people outside of the astronomical community. Harsh,…

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Golden Moon over the Superdome

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NASA/Michael DeMocker The full moon rises over the Superdome and the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on Monday evening, January 13, 2025. New Orleans is home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility where several pieces of hardware for the SLS (Space Launch system) are being built. For more than half a century, NASA Michoud has been “America’s Rocket Factory,” the nation’s premiere site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space structures and systems. See more photos from NASA Michoud. Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker

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NASA Explores Earth Science with New Navigational System

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The G-IV aircraft flies overhead in the Mojave Desert near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Baseline flights like this one occurred in June 2024, and future flights in service of science research will benefit from the installment of the Soxnav navigational system, developed in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in California’s Silicon Valley. This navigational system provides precise, economical aircraft guidance for a variety of…

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Hubble Goes Supernova Hunting

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Explore Hubble Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News…

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Sols 4445–4446: Cloudy Days are Here

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Curiosity Navigation Curiosity Home Mission Overview Where is Curiosity? Mission Updates Science Overview Instruments Highlights Exploration Goals News and Features Multimedia Curiosity Raw Images Images Videos Audio Mosaics More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions 4 min read Sols 4445–4446: Cloudy Days are Here NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image showing its left-front wheel and the large rock it ran into (visible at lower left); another rock blocked its right-front wheel (the wheel is…

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