Fortnite launches to the moon in new ‘Lunar Horizons’ simulation game

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With NASA’s return to the moon with Artemis 3 tentatively scheduled to touch down at the lunar south pole sometime in 2026, gamers can get into character as astronauts embarking on an expedition to our lone satellite via a new Fortnite-built  simulation packed with real-life details. The insanely popular free-to-play Fortnite video game franchise and cross-platform sensation was first introduced by Epic Games back in 2017 and has taken on a life of its own with millions of players scattered across the globe engaged in its three main gaming modes:…

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NASA Wins 6 Webby Awards, 8 Webby People’s Voice Awards

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4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s broad reach across digital platforms has been recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), which awarded NASA 6 Webbys in the 28th Annual Webby Awards. Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to add Hubble’s Inside the Image to the list of Webby Award wins. NASA was recognized today by the 28th Annual Webby Awards with six Webby Awards and eight Webby People’s Voice Awards, the latter of which are awarded by the voting public. The Webbys…

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Sols 4164-4165: What’s Around the Ridge-bend?

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2 min read Sols 4164-4165: What’s Around the Ridge-bend? This image was taken by the Left Navigation Camera and looks towards the deposits that make up the bend in Gediz Vallis ridge between “Pinnacle Ridge” and “Fascination Turret”. In the background is the layered stratigraphy that makes up the butte “Texoli”. NASA/JPL-Caltech Earth planning date: Monday, April 22, 2024   Curiosity succeeded on a ~14 m drive along a bend in upper Gediz Vallis ridge (uGVR) to park next to “Pinnacle Ridge,” an outcrop of uGVR to the north. Benefitting from…

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First NASA Mars Analog Crew Nears End of Mission

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The inaugural CHAPEA crew marks 300 days inside the habitat on April 20, 2024 (from left: Anca Selariu, Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell, Kelly Haston). NASA/CHAPEA Crew The first crew to take part in a yearlong NASA Mars analog mission reached the 300-day mark of its mission on April 20. The team of four volunteers entered the CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on June 25, 2023, and is expected to complete the mission on July 6, 2024. During their 300 days…

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Hubble Spots the Little Dumbbell Nebula

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In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers took a snapshot of the Little Dumbbell Nebula, also known as Messier 76, or M76, located 3,400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The name ‘Little Dumbbell’ comes from its shape that is a two-lobed structure of colorful, mottled, glowing gases resembling a balloon that’s been pinched around a middle waist. Like an inflating balloon, the lobes are expanding into space from a dying star seen as a white dot in the center.…

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Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science

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2 min read Sols 4161-4163: Double Contact Science This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4159 (2024-04-18 13:24:29 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Earth planning date: Friday, April 19, 2024 Curiosity has a three-sol weekend plan coming up as it makes progress along the edge of upper Gediz Vallis ridge. We have observations planned to investigate multiple bedrock targets with interesting rippled textures, dark-toned float, and the ridge. With two contact science targets, lots of targeted and untargeted remote observations, and a drive scheduled, Curiosity…

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NASA Astronaut to Inspire Artemis Generation in Boston

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Astronaut Stephen Bowen NASA April 22, 2024  NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, along with representatives from NASA and the International Space Station National Laboratory, will visit Boston on Wednesday, April 24, and Thursday, April 25, as part of the agency’s Destination Station to highlight research opportunities aboard the station. Destination Station was created to educate the public and engage prospective researchers about the benefits, capabilities, and opportunities to use the space station. The space station has been continuously inhabited for more than 23 years, enabling more than 5,000 researchers to conduct…

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NASA Invites Media to Learn About New Tech Mission Powered by the Sun

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A new NASA mission is testing a new way to navigate our solar system by hoisting its sail into space – not to catch the wind, but the propulsive power of sunlight. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is led by the agency’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The microwave oven-sized CubeSat is scheduled to launch aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand. The launch window opens at 3 p.m. PDT on Tuesday, April 23 (10 p.m. UTC). Successful deployment and operation…

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Cosmic fountain is polluting intergalactic space with 50 million suns’ worth of material

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Tremendous explosions in a galaxy close to the Milky Way are pouring material equivalent to around 50 million suns into its surroundings. Astronomers mapped this galactic pollution event in high resolution, obtaining important hints about how the space between galaxies becomes filled with chemical elements that eventually become the building blocks of new stars. The findings came about when the international team studied NGC 4383, a spiral galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation, using a Very Large Telescope (VLT) instrument called the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE).  Located around 62…

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India aims to achieve ‘debris-free’ space missions by 2030

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In late March, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that one of its satellite missions “practically left zero debris in orbit” after a spent rocket stage was lowered to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry.  Similar deorbiting techniques will be used to make future missions “debris-free” by the end of this decade, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said last week. “Over the years, sufficient skill has been developed within ISRO in dealing with topics related to debris management,” Somanath said in a session hosted by the Inter-Agency Space Debris…

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