Private Moon Race Heats Up with 1st Verified Launch Deal
Artist’s illustration of SpaceIL’s lunar lander after it has separated from its Falcon 9 rocket.Credit: Courtesy of Spaceflight Industries The private race to the moon is really starting to heat up. A team from Israel called SpaceIL has signed a contract to launch its robotic lunar lander toward the moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 […]
Prolific Comet Hunter David Levy Donates Astronomy Logs
David Levy presented 25 volumes of observation logs to the Linda Hall Library in Kansas City last month.Credit: David Levy A prolific comet hunter has donated almost 60 years’ worth — and counting! — of historic observation logs to be pored over by the public. Only one of David Levy’s 18,500 recorded skywatching sessions contains […]
Killer Radiation: How to Protect Martian Astronauts
A solar storm hurtles out towards Mars in this 2011 picture from NASA. Coincidentally, it happened around the same time the Mars Curiosity rover left Earth for the Red Planet.Credit: NASA/ESA/SOHO In “The Martian ,” Mark Watney deals with a lot of dangerous situations — food and communications being a couple of them. But what […]
ExoMars Mission Will Arrive on Time, Despite Hiccup
Artist’s impression of the ExoMars 2016 mission, including the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli, a small landing demonstrator module.Credit: ESA/ATG Medialab Earlier this month, the ExoMars launch date was pushed back by a couple of months. Instead of launching in January 2016, the European mission will launch the following March — but still get to […]
NASA Rocket Launch May Spawn Glowing Clouds Off US East Coast Wednesday
This map shows areas of North America where a sounding rocket launch should be visible on Oct. 7, 2015.Credit: NASA A NASA rocket launch on Wednesday (Oct. 7) should give skywatchers in the Eastern United States a real treat, weather permitting. NASA plans to launch a sounding rocket at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) on […]
Draconid Meteor Shower Peaks This Week
The annual Draconid meteor shower will reach its peak overnight on Oct. 8 and 9, 2015. This image by skywatcher Richard Klofac of the Czech Republic shows a Draconid meteor streaking over Klofac’s garden during the October 2011 display.Credit: Richard Klofac Skywatchers have a chance to see some “shooting stars” this week with the annual […]
Would You Rather Be Stranded on Mars or the Moon? XPrize CEO Answers (Video)
Chanda Gonzales, senior director, Google Lunar XPrize, contributed this article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights . With “The Martian” in theaters now, and the world’s attention on Mars (and Matt Damon), let’s take a moment to remind ourselves of our sometimes-neglected but awesome neighbor, the moon. The moon is not only our nearest neighbor in space […]
Nobel Prize in Physics Honors Flavor-Changing Neutrino Discoveries
Neutrinos in the sun mapped by the Super-Kamiokande experiment.Credit: © The T2K Collaboration Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald will share this year’s Nobel Prize in physics for helping to reveal that subatomic particles called neutrinos can change from one type to another — a finding that meant these exotic particles have a teensy bit […]
Marooned On Mars Or Moon? Which Would XPRIZE’s Diamandis Choose? | Video
“The Martian” makes being stranded on the cold red planet seem almost romantic. But what are your real survival odds? XPRIZE Founder and CEO Peter Diamandis reasons out his personal choice in this inaugural episode of #AskPeter. Got a question about the future? Go ahead and #AskPeter @XPRIZE. Credit: XPRIZE To source
Where 'The Martian' Roved: Fly-Over From Orbital Images | Video
Using stereo image data from ESA’s Mars Express, German Aerospace Center (DLR) scientists created this highly accurate view of the terrain fictional astronaut “Mark Watney”(played by Matt Damon ) would of had to traverse to find his way home. Credit: German Aerospace Center (DLR) To source
Astronaut Sally Ride's Personal Items, Papers Acquired by Smithsonian
Astronaut Sally Ride seen in a NASA T-38 training jet wearing her flight helmet. The same helmet is now a part of the Smithsonian’s collection, along with other items and papers that belonged to the first American woman in space.Credit: NASA/Smithsonian In life, Sally Ride privately organized her personal items, NASA artifacts, awards and papers, […]
NASA Completes Successful Heat Shield Testing for Future Mars Exploration Vehicles
As NASA missions to Mars progress with science and complex human exploration missions, spacecraft will require larger heat shields to protect against the extreme heat of entering a planet’s atmosphere and decelerating at a safe altitude in the thin Martian atmosphere. To source
Blue Origin Reaches Milestone in BE-4 Rocket Engine Development
Testing of components of the BE-4 engine is in progress at Blue Origin’s facilities in West Texas.Credit: Blue Origin WASHINGTON — Blue Origin said Sept. 30 that it has completed more than 100 developmental tests of its BE-4 engine, which the company is building both for United Launch Alliance and its own vehicle. The company […]