SpaceX to launch Intuitive Machines lander Feb. 14 on 2nd try for NASA’s commercial moon program

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Early Wednesday morning (Feb. 14), Intuitive Machines will kick off its quest to become the first private company to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. The Houston-based company is launching its Nova-C lander, named “Odysseus,” to the moon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 12:57 a.m. EST (0557 GMT) on Wednesday, Valentine’s Day. The mission was originally slated to launch in January, but bad weather pushed it to this month. SpaceX has a three-day window in…

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Astronauts may accidentally threaten Mars missions with their gut bacteria, scientists warn

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As space agencies plan for future crewed missions to Mars, with NASA hoping to have humans step foot on the Red Planet as soon as the 2030s, scientists warn that astronauts themselves could be carrying a threat to these missions.  This threat may very well live within their bodies. New research using simulated Mars conditions — such as the planet’s lack of water, harsh ultraviolet radiation and exposure to toxic salts — suggests four strains of bacteria that can be carried in the human gut may not only survive in…

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SpaceX to launch Starship again ‘in about 3 weeks,’ Elon Musk says

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The third test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket could be just around the corner, according to Elon Musk. “Starship were meant to fly and our next one launches in about 3 weeks, but I recommend waiting for a few more test flights before hopping on board,” Musk said Monday (Feb. 12) in a post on X . The billionaire entrepreneur was replying to a post from the rapper Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), who had asked Musk, “Where my rocket ship?” The two moguls have known each other…

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NGC 4254 (Webb Image)

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It’s oh-so-easy to be mesmerized by this spiral galaxy. Follow its clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to its center, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope delivered highly detailed scenes of this and other nearby spiral galaxies in a combination of near- and mid-infrared light.

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Spiral Galaxy NGC 4254’s Dazzling Swirls

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It’s oh-so-easy to be mesmerized by this spiral galaxy. Follow its clearly defined arms, which are brimming with stars, to its center, where there may be old star clusters and – sometimes – active supermassive black holes. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope delivered highly detailed scenes of this and other nearby spiral galaxies in a combination of near- and mid-infrared light. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), and the PHANGS team NGC 4254, a spiral galaxy, is resplendent in orange and blue in this Jan. 29,…

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Into the Belly of the Rover: VIPER’s Final Science Instrument Installed 

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A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER – short for the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover. NASA/Bill Stafford A team of engineers prepares to integrate TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – into the belly of NASA’s first robotic Moon rover, VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover).  TRIDENT, designed and developed by engineers at Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, is the fourth and…

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Team Assessing SHERLOC Instrument on NASA’s Perseverance Rover

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3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Perseverance puts its robotic arm to work around a rocky outcrop called “Skinner Ridge” in a set of images captured in June and July 2022 by the rover’s Mastcam-Z camera system. SHERLOC is mounted on the end of the arm. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS Engineers are working to stabilize a dust cover on one of the science instrument’s cameras. Data and imagery from NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover indicate one of two covers that keep dust from accumulating on the optics of…

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NASA Invites Media to SpaceX’s 30th Resupply Launch to Space Station

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company’s Dragon spacecraft atop, is raised to a vertical position at NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on March 13, 2023, in preparation for the 27th commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station. SpaceX Media accreditation is open at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for SpaceX’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-30) mission to the International Space Station for the agency. Liftoff of the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket is targeted no earlier than mid-March…

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Career Journey: Building Strength as an Astronaut Fitness Trainer

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NASA astronauts must prepare their bodies for the physical stresses of living and working in microgravity before they launch on a spaceflight. Fortunately, they get customized training programs and plenty of help from astronaut fitness trainer Corey Twine, who shares decades of strength and conditioning expertise with astronauts every day at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Twine’s official title is “astronaut strength, conditioning, and rehabilitation specialist.” He works with a team dedicated to ensuring NASA’s space explorers are in top shape before launch day and know how to stay…

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