Rayos X en el firmamento

NeRD

NASA/NICER Esta imagen de todo el cielo muestra 22 meses de datos de rayos X registrados por la carga útil del Explorador de la Composición Interior de las Estrellas de Neutrones (NICER, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NASA —que viaja a bordo de la Estación Espacial Internacional— durante sus barridos nocturnos entre los diferentes objetivos a los que apunta. Las principales metas de NICER requieren que esté apunte hacia las fuentes de energía cósmica y siga su recorrido, a medida que la estación espacial hace su órbita alrededor de la Tierra…

Read More

China’s space plane releases another mystery object into orbit

NeRD

China’s reusable space plane has released another unknown object into Earth’s orbit.  The experimental orbital plane, named Shenlong, which means “divine dragon” in Chinese, has been in orbit for 168 days. Space activity tracker Jonathan McDowell first spotted the spacecraft’s recent activity on May 24. The new object has since been cataloged as 59884 (International designator 2023-195G) by the U.S. Space Force space domain awareness teams, SpaceNews reported.  “This object could be a subsatellite deployment, or it could be a piece of hardware ejected prior to end of mission and…

Read More

Watch China’s Chang’e 6 probe land on far side of the moon in dramatic video

NeRD

China’s lunar sample collection mission Chang’e 6 has made history by successfully touching down on the far side of the moon, and it even sent back a stunning video of its landing. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) probe arrived at the moon on Sunday (June 2_ at 6:23 a.m. Beijing Time, which was 6:23 p.m. on Saturday (June 1) EDT (2223 UTC). The video footage was filmed by the Chang’e-6 lander’s landing camera. It shows the spacecraft’s close approach to the lunar surface as well as its touchdown. The…

Read More

The secrets of supernovas might be locked in moon dust

NeRD

The secrets of the supernova star explosions could be hidden in dust scattered across the moon — and a team of scientists from the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) has devised a new way of unlocking those stellar death clues. The research could help scientists obtain a clearer picture of how stars die and provide material for the next generation of stars, planets, moons, and sometimes even life — at least, when it comes to Earth.  The technique hinges on the improved detection of a rare iron isotope found…

Read More

NASA’s Hubble Temporarily Pauses Science

NeRD

1 min read NASA’s Hubble Temporarily Pauses Science This image of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope was taken on May 19, 2009 after deployment during Servicing Mission 4. NASA NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope entered safe mode May 24 due to an ongoing gyroscope (gyro) issue, suspending science operations. Hubble’s instruments are stable, and the telescope is in good health. The telescope automatically entered safe mode when one of its three gyroscopes gave faulty telemetry readings. Hubble’s gyros measure the telescope’s slew rates and are part of the system that determines and…

Read More

NASA Awards Advance Technologies for Future Habitable Worlds Mission

NeRD

This artist’s concept features one of multiple initial possible design options for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab NASA announced Friday it selected three industry proposals to help develop technologies for future large space telescopes and plan for the agency’s Habitable Worlds Observatory mission concept, which could be the first space telescope designed to search for life outside our solar system. The mission would directly image Earth-like planets around stars like our Sun and study their atmospheres for the chemical signatures of life,…

Read More

Peru and Slovakia sign the Artemis Accords for peaceful moon exploration

NeRD

This week, two more nations signed the Artemis Accords. NASA held a ceremony at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Thursday (May 30) to host representatives from both Slovakia and Peru. During the event, both countries signed the agency’s Artemis Accords, a set of principles that aims to lay out a framework for peaceful cooperation in space and on the moon.  The addition of these two nations brings the total of signing countries to 42. The Artemis Accords were first launched and signed in October 2020 by eight nations, including…

Read More

Is ‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ already canceled? Breaking down the rumors

NeRD

The Star Wars fandom is a fidgety one to say the least. Following the divisive reception (despite stellar box office performances) to the sequel trilogy of movies and some ups and downs in the quality of the Disney Plus shows, the conversation surrounding any new live-action Star Wars release is a bit tense, and The Acolyte is now on everyone’s mind. Lucasfilm and Disney have yet to comment on the series’ future (creator and writer-director Leslye Headland has season 2 ideas), something that probably won’t happen until the first season,…

Read More

General Law

NeRD

As part of the legal functional management team, the General Law Practice Group provides leadership in the areas of ethics, fiscal law, environmental law, personnel and labor law, civil rights and equal employment law, information disclosure law, safety and security law, alien residence issues, memoranda of understanding and other agreements, and other administrative law matters in furtherance of NASA’s strategic goals. The Practice Group provides staff to the Administrator by providing legal advice, representing the Administrator in litigation and administrative hearings, and performing special projects. Finally, the Practice Group provides…

Read More