Hannah Rae Kerner is chair of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), executive director of the Space Frontier Foundation, and a Ph.D. student at Arizona State University studying machine learning applications for astrophysics and robotic control. She contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights . Recently, my dad and […]
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Wow! Space Station Astronauts Awed by Dazzling Auroras (Video)
Earth’s natural light show — the auroras — flared into high gear Monday (Sep. 7), creating a breathtaking display that astronaut Scott Kelly said was like no other aurora he’d ever seen. Bright-green rivers of light and a deep-crimson haze decorated Earth’s atmosphere during the Labor Day light show. From his vantage point on the […]
Space Station Astronauts Talk Crewed Mars Missions (Real and Fictional)
International Space Station crew members, including Scott Kelly, Mikhail Kornienko, Gennady Padalka, Oleg Kononenko, Sergei Volkov, Kjell Lindgren, Kimiya Yui, Andreas Mogensen and Aidyn Aimbetov, talk with reporters on Sept. 8, 2015.Credit: NASA TV HOUSTON — If Scott Kelly were on a spaceship heading out to Mars — rather than on board the International Space Station, […]
Space-Borne Astronaut Runs Robot On Earth | Video
On Sept. 7th, 2015, European astronaut Andreas Mogensen – orbiting 240+ miles up and flying at 17,000+ mph – placed a peg in a hole on Earth; a demonstration of teleoperation using a force-feedback controlled machine system built by ESA. Credit: ESA To source
Hopping 'Hedgehog' Robot Could Explore Comets and Asteroids (Video)
This summer, researchers tested two “hedgehog” robot prototypes, to get an idea of the machines’ potential to explore space locations inaccessible to conventional rovers. Wheeled robots like the car-size Mars rover Curiosity work well on planetary surfaces, but in the low-gravity environment of a comet or an asteroid, such machines would be in danger of […]
World View Offers Cost-Sharing Balloon Flights to Stratosphere
A World View Enterprises balloon about to lift off from southeastern Arizona on March 8, 2015, on the company’s first commercial flight.Credit: World View Enterprises The cost of sending a scientific experiment to the stratosphere aboard a balloon just went down. Arizona-based World View Enterprises announced today (Sept. 8) that it’s introducing a cost-sharing system […]
What's That Strange Bright Dot in the Morning Sky?
Astrophotographer Jeff Dai sent in a photo of Venus and Jupiter over Lake Namtso, Tibet, caught on July 15, 2015. Venus will be extremely bright in the morning sky during September and October.Credit: Jeff Dai If you see a bright light just above the horizon at sunrise, don’t panic! It’s not a UFO — it’s […]
Space Station Crosses Sun's Face in Spectacular New Photo
This composite photo made from five images shows the International Space Station crossing the sun’s face on Sept. 6, 2015. The images were captured from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls An amazing new photo shows the International Space Station crossing the sun’s face. The picture, a composite of five images taken Sunday (Sept. […]
Spiky Hedgehog-Bots Will Explore Comets And Asteroids | Video
Small bodies have low gravity, presenting a challenge for exploration. Rovers can’t roll without traction. Stanford University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing two robotic ‘cubes with spikes’ that can operate in any position, sampling and sensing through their little lances. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech To source
Auroras Dance Below Space Station As Orion Rises | Time-Lapse Video
Scott Kelly, ISS CDR., captured these geomagnetic storm signatures on September 7th, 2015, tweeting: “My gift to you on #LaborDay, #USA. Enjoy! #YearInSpace.” The Orion constellation and the Pleiades star cluster can be see ‘rising’ from the ISS point of view. Credit: NASA/@StationCDRKelly/Mash Mix by Space.com’s @SteveSpaleta To source
Rare 'Super-Harvest Blood Moon' To Shine On September 27, 2015 | Video
The moon will pass into Earth’s shadow producing a total lunar eclipse during the “Supermoon” – a time when the full moon occurs “at or near its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit,” according to NASA. Because this full moon happens on the night of the autumnal equinox (9-27-2015), it is also known […]
Former Space Shuttle Hangar To House Boeing Starliner | Video
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NASA's Europa Mission May Land on Ocean-Harboring Moon
This remastered view of the Jupiter moon Europa is based on information from NASA’s Galileo mission of the 1990s.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute NASA’s upcoming mission to Europa may actually touch down on the potentially life-harboring Jupiter moon. While the main thrust of the Europa mission, which NASA aims to launch by the mid-2020s, involves characterizing the […]