NASA conducts crucial drop test ahead of Sept. 24 arrival of OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample

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NASA is wrapping up its preparations for the landing on Earth of a precious asteroid sample next month. Teams with the agency’s OSIRIS-REx mission performed a crucial test on Wednesday (Aug. 30), retrieving a dummy capsule that fell to Earth in the U.S. Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range, in the desert west of Salt Lake City. That’s where OSIRIS-REx’s real sample capsule, containing about 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of material from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, will touch down on Sept. 24. “We are now mere weeks away…

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See more gorgeous photos of SpaceX’s Starship engine test

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SpaceX has given us a few more dramatic looks at last week’s Starship engine test. SpaceX fired up Booster 9 — the latest prototype of its Starship first stage, known as Super Heavy — on Friday (Aug. 25) at its Starbase facility in South Texas. All 33 of Booster 9’s Raptor engines engaged during the static fire test, which lasted for about six seconds. SpaceX livestreamed the trial, so we got to follow the action in real time. And on Monday (Aug. 28), the company posted two beauty shots on X (formerly…

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Hurricane Idalia slams into Florida as astronauts and satellites track it from space (video, photos)

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Satellites and astronauts alike watched a hurricane make its destructive landfall in Florida on Wednesday (Aug. 30). Idalia began to hit Florida hours ago as a powerful Category 3 hurricane, bringing with it destructive storm surges, according to numerous local reports. Satellites have been monitoring the storm’s progress to help protect local populations. Despite all efforts, injuries and possible deaths have already been reported, although precise numbers are hard to come by as the storm is ongoing. Forecasters continue to keep a close watch.The hurricane was visible from the International…

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First Nations Launch Winners View NASA SpaceX’s Crew-7 Launch

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Participants from the 14th First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition watch NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 launch from the Banana Creek viewing site at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov launched to the International Space Station at 3:27 a.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A. Students and advisors from University of Washington, University of Colorado-Boulder, and an international…

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Hackers shut down 2 of the world’s most advanced telescopes

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Some of the world’s leading astronomical observatories have reported cyberattacks that have resulted in temporary shutdowns. The National Science Foundation’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, or NOIRLab, reported that a cybersecurity incident that occurred on Aug. 1 has prompted the lab to temporarily halt operations at its Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii and Gemini South Telescope in Chile. Other, smaller telescopes on Cerro Tololo in Chile were also affected.  “Our staff are working with cybersecurity experts to get all the impacted telescopes and our website back online as soon as…

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Private company wants to clean up space junk with ‘capture bags’ in Earth orbit

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NASA’s latest space debris technology contract involves a bag that could one day snatch pieces flying in orbit. NASA recently awarded a space logistics startup, called TransAstra, an $850,000 early-stage contract for a bag that could inflate after it flies into orbit. This is not a space debris mission for flight, however, as the company will be tasked by testing this technology on the ground using inflatable struts. The contract award was reported by SpaceNews. This will be the second contract for TransAstra in recent years concerning inflatable capture bags.…

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