Engineers Install Orion Solar Array Wings for Artemis II

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Technicians with ESA (European Space Agency) and Airbus installed the four solar array wings on NASA’s Orion spacecraft for Artemis II on March 3. The solar array wings, attached to the service module, deploy after Orion reaches space to power the spacecraft. Orion’s service module provides propulsion, thermal control, and electrical power, as well as air and water for the crew during their mission around the Moon. Each solar array wing has 15,000 solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity and is nearly 23 feet in length when fully deployed.…

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Scientific Mission on Space Station Concludes

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NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with agency astronauts Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is preparing to return to Earth following their science mission aboard the International Space Station. Hague, Williams, and Wilmore completed more than 900 hours of research between over 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. Here’s a look at some scientific milestones accomplished during their journey: Mighty microalgae NASA astronaut Nick Hague processes samples for Arthrospira C, an investigation from ESA (European Space Agency)…

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Hope is all but lost for private asteroid probe in deep space — ‘the chance of talking with Odin is minimal’

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The first-ever private asteroid mission appears to be over, just a week or so after it left the ground. California startup AstroForge launched its Odin spacecraft on Feb. 26, on the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that sent Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission toward the moon. Odin ran into trouble just a few hours later, however, and AstroForge has pretty much given up hope of recovering the 265-pound (120-kilogram) probe. “The chance of talking with Odin is minimal, as at this point, the accuracy of its position is becoming an issue,”…

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NASA Invites You to Share Excitement of Agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 Launch

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov onboard, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. NASA/Keegan Barber NASA invites the public to take part in virtual activities for the launch of the agency’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Anne McClain, commander, and Nichole Ayers, pilot, along with mission specialists JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut…

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What You Need to Know about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 Mission

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The official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members with (from left) Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos; Pilot Nicole Ayers and Commander Anne McClain, both NASA astronauts; and Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). NASA/Bill Stafford/Helen Arase Vargas Four crew members are preparing to launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission to perform research, technology demonstrations, and maintenance activities aboard the microgravity laboratory. NASA astronauts Anne McClain, Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut…

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The Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon

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Skywatching Science Skywatching The Next Full Moon is the Worm… Skywatching Home What’s Up What to See Tonight Moon Guide Eclipses Meteor Showers More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ   22 Min Read The Next Full Moon is the Worm Moon Cockspur Island Lighthouse in Savannah, Georgia, on a full moon night in March 2019. Credits: NPS/Joel Cadoff The next full moon is called the Worm Moon. Also, there will be a total lunar eclipse this full moon. The Moon will be full early Friday morning, March 14, at 2:55…

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Varda space capsule returns to Earth in 1st commercial landing in Australian Outback (photos)

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Varda Space has successfully landed a reentry capsule in Australia, delivering critical data that could advance in-space manufacturing and hypersonic technologies. California-based startup Varda’s Winnebago-2 (W-2) capsule launched along with 130 other payloads on Jan. 14 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, on the Transporter 12 rideshare mission. After six weeks in orbit, the capsule made a fiery plunge through Earth’s atmosphere, landing Feb. 28 at Koonibba Test Range in South Australia, which is operated by Southern Launch. W-2 contained a spectrometer from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and…

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ROAMX testing in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at NASA Ames Research Center 

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Rotor Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) hover test stand with ROAMX blades installed in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) low-pressure chamber at NASA Ames Research Center. NASA During 2024-2025, helicopter blades optimized for Mars were tested in the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory (PAL) at NASA Ames Research Center as part of the Rotor Optimization for the Advancement of Mars eXploration (ROAMX) project.  The experimental test-chamber of the PAL can be depressurized to create atmospheric air pressures of different planetary bodies such as Mars. The full-scale ROAMX blades were…

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Hubble Telescope discovers a new ‘3-body problem’ puzzle among Kuiper Belt asteroids (video)

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NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered that a system of asteroids in the distant Kuiper Belt may be triplets, not twins as previously suspected. If so, the stable trio of icy space rocks would be just the second example of three gravitationally bound space rocks found in the Kuiper Belt, the doughnut-shaped region of icy bodies that lurks out beyond the orbit of Neptune. The discovery could also challenge our understanding of how Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) form. An illustration of the 148780 Altjira system of two or maybe three…

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