The United States conducted another routine test of its nuclear deterrent system by launching an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile. The unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 1:26 a.m. local Pacific time (0526 GMT) on Sept. 6. The test launch saw the missile deploy three undisclosed reentry vehicles that splashed down into the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands some 4,200 miles (6,760 km) away. Col. Bryan Titus, vice commander of Space Launch Delta 30, oversaw the launch on behalf…
Read MoreWatch a NASA moon rover practice leaving its lunar lander (video)
A new NASA moon rover prototype is practicing for its big day. An ice-hunting moon rover, called VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover), is expected to launch no sooner than 2024 atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the lunar south pole. To get ready for its first crawl down its lander’s ramp, engineers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston sent the prototype rover down a ramp in an indoor facility. The ramp was tilted at several angles to simulate different exit strategies the rover might need to take…
Read MoreJapan launches SLIM moon lander, XRISM X-ray telescope on space doubleheader (video)
Japan sent two ambitious missions soaring into the heavens today (Sept. 6) — a pioneering lunar lander and a powerful X-ray space telescope. A Japanese H-2A rocket carrying the SLIM moon lander and the XRISM space telescope lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center today (Sept. 6) at 7:42 p.m. EDT (2342 GMT; 8:42 a.m. Japan time on Sept. 7). That was about 10 days later than originally planned, thanks to weather delays. Both spacecraft were deployed on schedule, sequentially less than an hour after liftoff. If all goes according to plan,…
Read MorePracticing for the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return
A recovery team member takes part in field rehearsals in preparation for the retrieval of the sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission in this image from Aug. 29, 2023.
Read MoreAustralia launching moon rover on NASA Artemis mission as soon as 2026
Australia will send a rover to the moon for the first time just a few short years from now, if all goes according to plan. The nation will put a robotic rover on one of NASA’s Artemis moon missions, with liftoff occurring as soon as 2026, according to the Australian Space Agency. “Drawing on Australia’s world-leading remote operations expertise, the rover will collect lunar soil, known as regolith,” the agency wrote in a statement on Tuesday (Sept. 5). “NASA will attempt to extract oxygen from the sample. This is a…
Read More‘Twisty’ new theory of gravity says information can escape black holes after all
In astrophysics, there’s a saying that “black holes have no hair.” This means that, in the theory of general relativity, black holes are exceptionally simplistic objects. All you need to describe a black hole is its mass, its electric charge and its spin rate. With those three numbers alone, you have everything you could ever know about black holes. In other words, they’re bald — they have no extra information. This aspect of black holes is extremely frustrating to astrophysicists, who desperately want to understand how these cosmic behemoths work.…
Read MoreBlack holes keep ‘burping up’ stars they destroyed years earlier, and astronomers don’t know why
Up to half of the black holes that devour stars “burp up” their stellar remains years later. Astronomers made the discovery after spending years watching black holes involved in tidal disruption events (TDEs). TDEs occur when stars venture too close to black holes. These cosmic monsters’ immense gravity exerts incredible tidal forces that stretch and squeeze the stars — a process called spaghettification. The unfortunate stars involved in TDEs are ripped apart or “unraveled” in a matter of hours, signaled by a powerful flash of electromagnetic radiation in visible light.…
Read MoreVoyager 1 Lifts Off Toward an Interstellar Journey
Voyager 1 Lifts Off Toward an Interstellar Journey
Read MoreScience in Space: Week of Sept. 1, 2023 – Seeing Storms from Space
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted a variety of scientific investigations during the week ending Sept. 1, 2023, including conducting the ESA (European Space Agency) investigation Thor-Davis.
Read MoreMarvel’s ‘Predator vs. Wolverine #1’ claws its way through 8 awesome variant covers
Get ready for a clawed crossover that blends two of the hottest franchises in sci-fi. We first delivered news of this maniacal matchup between the adamantium-clawed mutant and the notorious planet-hopping hunter back in June, and now Marvel has unleashed a storm of sensational “Predator vs. Wolverine” variant covers for the premiere issue that fans can collect when this fall miniseries strikes on Sept. 20. Written by seasoned comic book scribe Benjamin Percy (“X-Force,” “Ghost Rider”), the story architect behind Marvel’s ongoing solo “Wolverine” title, this feral crossover cuts across…
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