The Brightest Planets in April's Night Sky: How and When to See Them
April is a month of goodbyes and hellos for the “inferior” (inner) planets. Venus takes a sabbatical for the remainder of the spring and into the first half of summer as it slowly sweeps behind the sun as seen from Earth — much too close to the solar glare to be seen. Mercury, on the […]
First Look: Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crew Spacecraft Program Patch
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner program logo, seen here as a lapel pin, represents the commercial crew spacecraft. Credit: collectSPACE.com First it was given an acronym, then it was assigned a name. Now Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner crewed spacecraft has its own program patch. The commercial space capsule, which Boeing is producing to transport NASA astronauts to and […]
Buzz Aldrin Wins March Madness Challenge
Villanova’s drubbing of Oklahoma in a Final Four game on April 2, 2016, sealed Buzz Aldrin’s victory over ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale in the fourth annual “Allstate March Mayhem Challenge.” Credit: Buzz Aldrin Twitter (@TheRealBuzz) Villanova’s historic Final Four victory Saturday (April 2) had Buzz Aldrin flying high. The Wildcats’ 44-point drubbing of […]
[ISS / Japanese Experiment Module (KIBO)] JAXA Astronaut Activity Report, February 2016
JAXA Astronaut Activity Report, February, 2016 Last Updated: April 4, 2016 This is JAXA’s Japanese astronaut activity report for February, 2016. Astronaut Kimiya Yui holds a press conference after returning to Japan Yui at the press conference (Credit: JAXA) After attending the debriefing session and welcome home ceremonies in the U.S. and Russia, Astronaut Kimiya […]
Is Elon Musk Collaborating with Comedy Central Host Nathan Fielder?
A tweet sent out by Elon Musk in February set off some social media activity that could indicate a collaboration between Musk and comedian Nathan Fielder. Credit: Twitter/Elon Musk The private spaceflight company SpaceX and its CEO Elon Musk may (or may not) be working on something with Nathan Fielder, host of the Comedy Central […]
Blue Origin Rocket Comes In Hot, Nails Landing | Video
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Earth's Finished! Time to Build a Backup
The view of Earth during NASA’s Apollo 17 mission. What would Earth’s clouds looked like in the past, when the continents had a different arrangement? Credit: NASA Jon Methven is the author of the novel “Strange Boat ” (Rare Bird Books/Barnacle; 2016). His first book was “This Is Your Captain Speaking ” (Simon & Schuster; […]
Blue Origin Launch Photos: Reusable New Shepard Rocket's 3rd Test Flight
<div data-cycle-pager-template=”” readability=”33″> Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket Credit: Blue Origin/Jeff Bezos Twitter On April 2, 2016, the private spaceflight company Blue Origin launched its reusable New Shepard rocket and Crew Capsule for the third time and successfully landed them back on Earth. See photos from the test flight here. <div data-cycle-pager-template=”” readability=”32.5″> Blue Origin […]
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Launches and Lands Private Rocket for Third Time
Billionaire Jeff Bezos’ private spaceflight company Blue Origin launched a prototype reusable rocket into space and then landed it back on Earth on today (April 2) in an epic third successful test flight in less than five months. During today’s unmanned test, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket and capsule launched into suborbital space from the […]
Cataclysm Hunters: The Search for Monster Black-Hole Collisions
Supermassive black holes at the heart of merging galaxies will circle closer and closer until they come together, releasing a titanic wave of energy. The process may help explain how black holes get so huge to begin with. Credit: NASA Julie Comerford has built a career searching for galaxies that contain not one, but two […]
Jupiter, Mars and Mercury — April 2016 Is Great Month To Skywatch | Video
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Cool! Astrophotographer Combines Fish-Eye Views of Milky Way for Stunning View
The circular panorama was taken by astrophotographer Manish Mamtani on March 8, 2016 from Gloucester, MA. Credit: Manish Mamtani A yellow glow and purple Milky Way surrounds the Eastern Point Lighthouse in Maine. The circular panorama was taken by astrophotographer Manish Mamtani on March 8 from Gloucester, Massachusetts. “It was a peaceful, beautiful clear night […]
Last Existing Shuttle-Centaur Rocket Stage Moving to Cleveland for Display
The last of the Shuttle-Centaur stages is loaded onto a trailer at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama for its move to NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. Credit: U.S. Space & Rocket Center/Ed Stewart A last-of-its-kind rocket stage that was left over from a cancelled, controversial chapter in NASA’s space shuttle […]