When Helios boss Dev Ayesa (Edi Gathegi) announced last week that he planned to steal an asteroid, it conjured up images of the sort of interstellar-action you’d usually associate with “Star Wars” or “Star Trek.” This is “For All Mankind”, however, and — even though this season has considerably upped the sci-fi quotient on its more grounded predecessors — his audacious plan has at least one foot in reality (and astrophysics). It’s also an excuse for a fun, old-school heist plot that runs in parallel with the return of Margo…
Read MoreNASA’s Curiosity rover films from dawn to dusk on Mars during downtime (video)
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity had some downtime during November. But rather than resting on its laurels, the robot filmed stunning footage of dawn to dusk on Earth’s neighboring planet. Curiosity filmed two black-and-white videos on Nov. 8 during what was the 4,002nd Martian day, or sol, of its mission. (A sol is a little longer than Earth’s day of 24 hours.) The downtime for Curiosity during its search for life was necessitated by Mars passing around the opposite side of the sun to Earth. During these periods, called Mars solar…
Read MoreNASA can’t wait for its OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft to meet ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid Apophis in 2029
NASA’s asteroid sampling spacecraft OSRIS-APEX will have an exciting new mission in 2029, when it will watch an exciting asteroid encounter like no other in recorded human history. The craft, formerly known as OSIRIS-REx, will bear witness as the asteroid Apophis— named after the ancient Egyptian god of chaos— comes so close to our planet that it could be visible with the naked eye in some parts of the world. After bringing a sample back from asteroid Bennu, the craft was recently rebranded the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security –…
Read MoreNASA’s Juno spacecraft will get its closest look yet at Jupiter’s moon Io on Dec. 30
NASA’s Juno mission will come closer to Jupiter’s moon Io than any spacecraft has in around 20 years on Saturday (Dec. 30). The flyby will bring Juno to around 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of Io, the most volcanic body in the solar system. This will allow the spacecraft to take a detailed look at Io as it gathers a treasure trove of hot data. It’s close, but not the closest ever glimpse by a spacecraft: that record belongs to NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, which skimmed just 181 kilometers (112 miles) above Io’s…
Read MoreLarge Magellanic Fireworks
NASA, STScI/AURA The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a stellar explosion throwing out sheets of debris in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy on July 7, 2003. Since its 1990 launch, Hubble has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe; with over 1.5 million observations and 20,000+ papers published on its discoveries, Hubble is the most productive science mission in the history of NASA. See more stunning images from Hubble – and experience some of the images through sound. Image Credit: NASA, STScI/AURA
Read MoreMission Manager Update: VIPER Flight Rover Half-Built!
The VIPER team is hard at work building the flight vehicle that will be going to the surface of the Moon this time next year! In fact, we’re about halfway through the build, and you can interactively watch the process and hear from experts on the team, in various livestreams throughout the process. All the science instrument teams have delivered their payloads to the VIPER Systems Integration & Test team, which will install them into the actual flight rover; in fact, all but one is already installed! This was a huge milestone…
Read MoreChinese rocket booster falls from space, crashes near house, after satellite launch: report
Rocket debris from China’s recent satellite launch fell to ground near inhabited areas, where bystanders caught the fiery touchdown on tape. The China National Space Administratio launched two satellites into orbit on Monday (Dec. 25) at 10:26 p.m. EST (0326 GMT Dec. 26 or 11:26 a.m. local time in China) from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The Long March 3B rocket carried two satellites for China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System, which is roughly equivalent to the GPS system used in North America. While the satellites were successfully…
Read MoreSpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches mysterious X-37B space plane for US Space Force after delays
The U.S. military’s X-37B space plane has embarked on its latest clandestine mission at last. The robotic X-37B lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida Thursday night (Dec. 28) at 8:07 p.m. EST (0107 GMT on Dec. 29) after weeks of delays. SpaceX first two attempts to launch the secretive X-37-B military space plane earlier this month were delayed by bad weather and a ground equipment issue. Thursday’s launch marked the seventh liftoff for the X-37B to date but its first…
Read MoreMedia Invited to Learn About Moon-bound Langley Technologies
2 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Langley’s Navigation Doppler Lidar is a critical landing system on the Astrobotic Peregrine Mission 1, scheduled to launch to the Moon Jan. 8 from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Image credit: NASA Hampton, Virginia — Media is invited to learn about two technologies developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, that will launch to the Moon in the coming weeks aboard two flights under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. During an event at Langley 9:30 a.m.…
Read MoreJapan’s H3 rocket will launch a 2nd time in February 2024 after explosive failure
The Japanese space agency’s H3 rocket system will return to the launchpad in early 2024 after an explosive failure this year. The H3 will launch from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency‘s (JAXA’s) Tanegashima Space Center as soon as Feb. 14, 2024, officials said in a statement released on Wednesday (Dec. 27). The prime launch window runs between 7:22 p.m. and 11:06 p.m. EST Feb. 14 (0022 and 0406 GMT, or 9:22 a.m. and 1:06 p.m. local time in Japan on Feb. 15.) Backup launch windows for the mission, designated H3…
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