Can Life Exist on an Icy Moon? NASA’s Europa Clipper Aims to Find Out

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6 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The puzzling surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this reprocessed color view made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. The images were assembled into a realistic color view of the surface that approximates how Europa would appear to the human eye. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute With a spacecraft launching soon, the mission will try to answer the question of whether there are ingredients suitable for life in the ocean below Europa’s icy crust.…

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NASA Activates Resources to Help Assess Impacts from Hurricane Milton

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NASA canvases the areas impacted by Hurricane Milton using cloud-penetrating L-band radar providing responders insight into flooding across Florida. NASA In the wake of Hurricane Milton, NASA is deploying resources to support Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and state emergency management agencies to aid their response effort including satellite and aerial data collection. The agency’s Disasters Response Coordination System and Airborne Science Program are began conducting flights Friday to provide emergency responders with better insight into flooding, damage in Florida, and debris. “After the devastating impact from hurricanes Helene and…

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What time is SpaceX’s Starship Flight 5 launch test on Oct. 13 (and how to watch online)?

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Watch live! SpaceX to launch Starship, attempt to catch booster – YouTube Watch On It’s official: SpaceX is “go” to launch what may be its most ambitious Starship test flight yet, and if you’re hoping to watch it live online, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.  SpaceX’s next Starship test launch, called Starship Flight 5, is now officially scheduled to launch on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) from the company’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. It will be 7 a.m. local time…

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FAA clears SpaceX to resume Falcon 9 rocket launches

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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket a green light to return to flight. The Falcon 9 had been grounded since Sept. 28, when the rocket suffered an issue with its upper stage during the launch of the Crew-9 astronaut mission for NASA. (A Falcon 9 did launch Europe’s Hera asteroid-inspection probe on Oct. 7, but that was a one-time exception granted by the FAA.) “The FAA notified SpaceX on Oct. 11 that the Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to regular flight…

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SpaceX Starship launches: Live updates

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2024-10-11T23:05:00.079Z SpaceX aims for Starship Flight 5 launch on Oct. 13 SpaceX’s Starship Flight 5 rocket and its Super Heavy booster are stacked together ahead of a planned launch from Boca Chica Beach, Texas on Oct. 13, 2024, pending FAA approval. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX on Friday, Oct. 11, said its next Starship rocket could launch as early as Sunday, Oct. 13, pending final FAA regulatory approvals. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than 8 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT) on Oct. 13, if the approvals come through in time. A…

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Sols 4329-4330: Continuing Downhill

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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 More Resources Mars Missions Mars Sample Return Mars Perseverance Rover Mars Curiosity Rover MAVEN Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Odyssey More Mars Missions The Solar System The Sun Mercury Venus Earth The Moon Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto & Dwarf Planets Asteroids, Comets & Meteors The Kuiper Belt The Oort Cloud 3 min read Sols 4329-4330: Continuing Downhill A post-drive image from NASA’s…

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The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon, and the Hunter’s Moon

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29 Min Read The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon, and the Hunter’s Moon A supermoon rises behind the U.S. Capitol, on March 9, 2020, in Washington. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky The Next Full Moon is a Supermoon; the Hunter’s Moon; the Travel Moon, the Dying Grass Moon, or the Sanguine or Blood Moon; the start of Sukkoth; Sharad Purnima, Kumara Purnima, Kojagari Purnima, Navanna Purnima Kojagrat Purnima, or Kaumudi Purnima; the end of Vassa and Pavarana; the Thadingyut Festival Moon; the end of the Phaung Daw U Pagoda Festival; and…

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‘Stunning was the word’: Astronauts snap amazing aurora photo from ISS during severe geomagnetic storm

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The auroras were pretty special on Thursday night (Oct. 10) — especially if you got to see them from orbit. NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Matthew Dominick are in that very exclusive club, getting a bird’s-eye view of the amazing auroral displays — which were supercharged by a recent solar storm — from the International Space Station (ISS). And the sight took the spaceflyers aback. “Stunning was the word,” Pettit wrote in a lengthy post on X on Friday (Oct. 11)  that shared a photo of the celestial light show. “The…

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NASA Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month 2024

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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we recognize Hispanic astronauts who have flown in space. The table below lists these individuals of various nationalities who have made significant contributions to their space programs. The first Hispanic astronauts completed short flights to a Soviet space station and aboard the space shuttle. In the past 23 years, many more have completed flights to the International Space Station and contributed to its assembly, operations, and research activities.   Table of Hispanic astronauts who have flown in space. Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez of Cuba holds…

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NASA to Provide Live Coverage of Crew-8 Return, Splashdown

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Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024. SpaceX NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than 7:05 a.m. EDT Sunday, Oct. 13, for the agency’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission to undock from the International Space Station. Pending weather conditions, the earliest splashdown time is targeted for 3:38 p.m. Monday,…

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