Items tagged with NASA
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been busy this month, snapping images of both Jupiter and its moon lo. Juno was first launched in 2011. It reached Jupiter in 2016, and has since been gathering data on the giant gas planet and its moons.
The Juno spacecraft has been fascinating NASA scientists and astronomers back on...
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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed engineers are still working to resolve a data issue on Voyager 1. Back in December, NASA reported it was working to resolve an issue that is preventing the spacecraft’s flight data system (FDS) from properly communicating with one of the probe’s subsystems, called the...
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A group of French researchers have sensed a disturbance in the force when it comes to Saturn’s moon, Mimas. Mimas bears a stark resemblance to the Empire’s Death Star in the iconic Star Wars franchise, hence why some astronomers have given it that nickname.
The research team, led by French astronomer Valery Lainey...
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Great balls of fire, NASA’s Juno spacecraft snapped a closeup image of Jupiter’s moon lo that showed an erupting volcano. Juno has performed more than 55 flybys of Jupiter, as well as the closest flyby of the giant planet’s moon lo in over 20 years.
NASA says that Jupiter’s moon lo is the most volcanically active...
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NASA says that it has found a “super-Earth” that is only 137 light-years away, and the same system may hold a second, Earth-sized planet. The larger of the two exoplanets, named TOI-715 b, is roughly one and a half times wider than Earth.
Scientists and astronomers have been in search for another habitable planet...
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Heads up! A potentially hazardous asteroid the size of a large skyscraper is about to have a close encounter with Earth, and everyone can watch live. No, asteroid 2008 OS7 does not pose a risk to anyone, but it will come within about 2.8 million kilometers, or 7.4 times the average lunar distance.
Asteroid 2008 OS7...
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NASA’s iconic space shuttle Endeavour has been hoisted into launch configuration to be displayed at the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. A mammoth 450-foot crane and metal sling were used to maneuver the spacecraft into its launch position as part of a process that took six-months to complete.
The last...
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This year’s total solar eclipse will not only last longer than the one in 2017, but will also be viewable in its totality by more people. 2024’s total solar eclipse will be viewable by an estimated 31.6 million people, while the one in 2017 was seen in its totality by about 12 million. And in terms of length of time...
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Have you ever felt as though someone, or something, was watching you? Well, it might have been one of the 19 nearby spiral galaxies NASA’s Webb telescope captured in breathtaking detail, many of which look like giant eyeballs in space.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observed 19 nearby face-on spiral galaxies...
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NASA’s historic Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has flown its final mission on the Red Planet after a communications dropout led to at least one damaged rotor blade. The iconic helicopter was originally designed as a technology demonstration to provide up to five experimental test flights over a 30-day period. It lasted for...
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Astronauts seeking a healthy diet of leafy green vegetables while in space may be in for a bit of bad news. Researchers have found that lettuce and other plants grown in space are more susceptible to bacterial infections, such as salmonella.
NASA and other space agencies have been attempting to grow different types...
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NASA’s Webb telescope captured an image of a mammoth star-forming complex that spans nearly 1,630 light years. Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), nebula N79 is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized.
N79 has been referred to as a younger version of 30 Doradus, also known as the Tarantual...
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Sierra Space successfully completed a burst test of its full-scale LIFE inflatable space station at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. The violent burst only occurred after LIFE (Large Inflatable Flexible Environment) exceeded NASA’s recommended x4 safety levels by 27%.
LIFE is a large, three-story structure that...
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A small asteroid impacted Earth’s atmosphere over Berlin, Germany, with videos of the fireball lighting up social media. The 3 foot (1 meter) asteroid was detected shortly ahead of it entering Earth’s atmosphere.
A couple of days ago, NASA posted a tweet, remarking, “A tiny asteroid will disintegrate as a harmless...
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) braced for 20 minutes of terror as its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft attempted its lunar landing. At approximately 10:20am EST, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land a spacecraft on the lunar surface, following India's Chandrayann-3...
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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) continues to challenge and confirm what scientists and astronomers thought they knew about the early Universe. By utilizing Webb’s unmatched resolution and sensitivity, researchers have recently been able to seemingly confirm some oddly shaped galaxies in the early Universe, as...
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An image snapped on Mars by NASA’s Curiosity rover had Star Trek fans feeling a bit nostalgic. The rock in the image resembled the delta insignia as worn by all Starship personnel on their uniforms in the iconic Star Trek franchise that spans several TV shows and movies.
NASA’s Curiosity rover took the image on Sol...
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Astrobotic’s failed attempt to land its Peregrine lander carrying scientific payloads on the lunar surface is about to come to a dramatic close as the spacecraft storms toward Earth’s atmosphere. The spacecraft, built as part of a contract with NASA, is expected to burn up completely as it makes its fiery descent back...
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A NASA curation team was finally able to remove two stubborn fasteners that have been keeping the space agency from being able to retrieve the remainder of a sample collected from asteroid Bennu. The curation team had to pause the disassembly of the TAGSAM (Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism) head from...
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NASA’s Webb telescope unveiled a curious new feature of the Beta Pictoris (Beta Pic), a young planetary system located only 63 light-years away. Using Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument), researchers discovered what looks like a cat’s tail that extends from the southwest portion of Beta Pic’s secondary debris...
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As NASA continues to prepare to put humans back on the surface of the Moon—for the first time since 1972—the space agency says its needs a bit more time before moving forward with launching its Artemis II and Artemis III missions. The Artemis campaigns will be the first to land a woman and a person of color on the...
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The first lunar landing mission to launch from the United States since 1972 has successfully lifted off carrying an assortment of payloads, including cremated human remains and dog hair. Astrobotic’s Peregrine Mission One contains 265 capsules with human remains, including the creator and several members of the...
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