Tag: space science
NASA’s moon crew meet their Orion spacecraft for first time
The four astronauts embarking on a mission to the moon next year have had their first good look at the Orion capsule that will take them there.
NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, got up close and personal with the Orion spacecraft during a visit to the Kennedy Space Center from where the moon-bound Artemis II mission is currently scheduled to launch in November 2024.
SpaceX images flaunt the awesome power of Starship rocket
SpaceX has shared a set of dramatic images captured during a recent static fire test of its Super Heavy vehicle, the most powerful rocket ever built.
They show off the astonishing strength of the rocket’s 33 Raptor engines that will blast the Super Heavy skyward on its second test flight following a failed effort to reach orbit in April.
The first-stage Super Heavy and upper-stage Starship spacecraft are collectively known as the Starship, and SpaceX plans
NASA’s Mars helicopter glimpses Perseverance rover from sky
NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, captured an aerial image of the Perseverance rover during its latest flight at the end of last week.
The aircraft and rover arrived together on the red planet in February 2021, and since then both have been operating inside the Jezero Crater, a dried-up lake that scientists believe could contain evidence of ancient life.
In an image shared by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is overseeing the current Mars mission, we can just spot
Starliner spacecraft won’t fly first crew until next year
Boeing’s Starliner CST-100 spacecraft won’t be going on its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) until March 2024 at the earliest.
The news was announced at a press conference on Monday offering an update on the Starliner program, which has suffered numerous issues and delays since its failed maiden flight in December 2019.
“Based on the current plans, we’re anticipating
What comes after Webb? NASA’s next-generation planet-hunting telescope
When it comes to building enormous, complex space telescopes, agencies like NASA have to plan far in advance. Even though the James Webb Space Telescope only launched recently, astronomers are already busy thinking about what will come after Webb — and they’ve got ambitious plans.
The big plan for the next decades of astronomy research is to find habitable planets, and maybe even to search for signs of life beyond Earth. That’s the lofty goal of the Habitable Worlds
This 360-degree video shows Ariane 5 rocket’s final launch
Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket lifted off for the final time last month, bringing to a close 27 years of reliable service.
The European Space Agency (ESA), which oversaw the mission, has just released a 360-degree video of the launch from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, allowing space fans to strap on a pair of VR goggles to see the 164-foot-tall (50-meter) rocket blast skyward from just a few meters away.
The camera was clamped firmly to a steel cable
Watch SpaceX test fire the world’s most powerful rocket
SpaceX has performed a static fire test of its Super Heavy booster ahead of its second test flight.
SpaceX live streamed Sunday’s event, with the footage now available via the video player embedded at the top of this page. The company also tweeted a clip showing the test from a different angle.
The test took place at SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, and fired up all 33 of the Super Heavy’s Raptor engines.
The Super Heavy creates around
James Webb captures gorgeous Ring Nebula in stunning detail
A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the stunning and distinctive Ring Nebula — a gorgeous structure of dust and gas located in the constellation of Lyra. This nebula is a favorite among sky watchers as it faces toward Earth so we can see its beautiful structure, and because it is visible throughout the summer from the Northern Hemisphere. It is different from the Southern Ring nebula, which Webb has also imaged, but both are a type
Curiosity rover battles up a 23-degree slope on Mars
The Curiosity rover is slowly making its way up Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall mountain on Mars. Mountains are useful to study as their steep slopes can reveal layers of material laid down over time, like a geological time capsule. But just like heaving up a mountain is a challenge for humans, it can be tricky for rovers too. Curiosity recently took on a particularly steep and slippery slope, marking its most challenging climb to date.
How difficult terrain is for
How Webb instruments work together to create views of space
A series of new images from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the dusty, irregular galaxy NGC 6822 — and the different views captured by various Webb instruments.
Located relatively close by at 1.5 million light-years from Earth, this galaxy is notable for its low metallicity. Confusingly, when astronomers say metallicity they do not mean the amount of metals present in a galaxy, but rather the amount of all heavy elements — i.e., everything which isn’t hydrogen or helium. This