What is a Black Moon? | Video
By Steve Spaleta | September 23, 2016 12:45pm ET The second new moon in a single month is known as the Black Moon. It occurs about once every 32 months. Find out more here. credit : Space.com / imagery courtesy: Victor C. Rogus / NASA LRO / Zachary Maughmer / edited by David Mielach Watch […]
What We Need to Know Before Landing Astronauts on Mars
SpaceX Dragon makes use of Supersonic Retro-Propulsion (SRP) to land on Mars. Elon Musk and his SpaceX rocketeers are blueprinting a plan to land humans on Mars in 2025 and to land payloads onto the Red Planet’s surface at each 26 month opportunity starting in 2018. A similar timeline may be pursued by other players. That […]
Four NASA Satellites Set Record for Formation Flying in Space
Four individual satellites of NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) recently set a record for the closest flying formation ever achieved by a multi-craft space mission to date. On Sept. 15, the satellite quartet flew only 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) apart, breaking the previous record of six miles (9.7 km) set by the MMS satellites in […]
Seeing into the Distant Past with Mobile Astronomy Apps
When you look at the night sky, you’re seeing light that has traveled from the past. This fall, the southwestern horizon features Mars and Saturn, lit by reflected sunlight that has taken 9 and 88 minutes, respectively, to reach Earth from their surfaces. The light from the bright-red star Antares in Scorpius has been traveling […]
80-Day Mock Mars Mission Begins Saturday in Utah
A recent view of the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the southern Utah desert. Seven explorers will begin an 80-day mission at the facility on Sept. 24, 2016. Seven explorers are about to embark upon an 80-day simulated mission to Mars. On Saturday (Sept. 24), the crewmembers of the Mars 80 mission […]
Hubble Views a Colorful Demise of a Sun-like Star
This star is ending its life by casting off its outer layers of gas, which formed a cocoon around the star’s remaining core. To source
Ariane: quality boost
Ariane 5’s rocket booster is the largest in Europe. Test firings demonstrate the motor’s capabilities and qualify improvements in design to guarantee Europe’s access to space To source
Week In Images
Our week through the lens: 19-23 September 2016 To source
NASA SLS Booster Test – See Awesome Fireworks in Ultra Slow Motion | Video
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ESA at the 67th International Astronautical Congress
Starting on 26 September, Guadalajara in Mexico will host the 67th International Astronautical Congress, the annual global convention that covers all aspects of space activities. ESA’s Director General Jan Woerner will join the heads of the Canadian, US, Japanese, Russian, Indian and Mexican space agencies for a plenary session in the afternoon of the first […]
Lawmakers Propose Memorial for Apollo 1 Astronauts at Arlington Cemetery
Apollo 1 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are seen participating in a 1966 spacecraft design review in California. The three men died in a launch pad fire on Jan. 27, 1967. Three NASA astronauts who died in a tragic fire on the launch pad 50 years ago this January may be honored […]
How SpaceX's 2018 'Red Dragon' Mission Could Help NASA Put Boots on Mars
Artist’s illustration showing SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft landing on Mars. SpaceX’s planned 2018 Mars mission could pave the way for a few different types of boot prints on the Red Planet. The California-based company aims to launch one of its uncrewed Dragon capsules toward the Red Planet in May 2018, to test out some of […]
Black Moon 2016: What It Is (and Why You Can't See It)
Updated for 9/30: Friday’s sky (Sept. 30) is host to a somewhat unusual lunar event in the Western Hemisphere: a second new moon in a single month, which some people call a “Black Moon.” While a full moon refers to the moment when the moon’s Earth-facing side is fully illuminated by sunlight, a new moon refers […]