NASA"s Lucy asteroid target gets a name
The first asteroid to be visited by NASA's Lucy mission now has a name. The International Astronomical Union has approved the name (152830) Dinkinesh for the tiny main belt asteroid that the Lucy spacecraft will encounter on November 1, 2023. "Dinkin.....»»
Asteroid Ceres is a former ocean world that slowly formed into a giant, murky icy orb
Since the first sighting of the first-discovered and largest asteroid in our solar system was made in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, astronomers and planetary scientists have pondered the make-up of this asteroid/dwarf planet. Its heavily battered and dimp.....»»
Black hole jet appears to boost rate of nova explosions
There's a 2.5x boost in nova frequency, and all reasonable explanations fail. Enlarge / One of the jets emitted by galaxy M87's central black hole. (credit: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)) The intense ele.....»»
Ryugu samples call into question previous ideas about the formation of carbon-rich asteroids
Asteroid Ryugu possibly did not travel as far from its place of origin to its current near-Earth orbit as previously assumed. New research published in the journal Science Advances suggests that Ryugu was formed near Jupiter......»»
NASA confirms space station cracking a “highest” risk and consequence problem
NASA and Roscosmos have not agreed on the point at which the leak rate is untenable. Enlarge / A high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite owned by Maxar captured this view of the International Space Station on June 7 wi.....»»
Hubble finds that a black hole beam promotes stellar eruptions
In a surprise finding, astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called.....»»
NASA"s Artemis science instrument gets tested in moon-like sandbox
On Sept. 9 and 10, scientists and engineers tested NASA's LEMS (Lunar Environment Monitoring Station) instrument suite in a "sandbox" of simulated moon regolith at the Florida Space Institute's Exolith Lab at the University of Central Florida in Orla.....»»
Completed experiments on International Space Station to help answer how boiling and condensation work in space
After a decade of preparation and two years of active experiments in space, a facility that Purdue University and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland designed, built and tested has completed its test campaign on the International Space Station......»»
Balloon mission tests quantum sensor technology
A WashU team launched the Dilution Refrigerator Transition Edge Sensor (DR-TES) mission on Sept. 24 from NASA's scientific balloon facility in Fort Sumner, N.M. The mission is testing a sophisticated cooling system and a novel gamma-ray detector arra.....»»
NASA analysis shows irreversible sea level rise for Pacific islands
In the next 30 years, Pacific Island nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Fiji will experience at least 8 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise, according to an analysis by NASA's sea level change science team. This amount of rise will occur reg.....»»
Record-breaking laser demonstration completes mission
NASA's TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) demonstration and its host spacecraft—the PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3)—have completed their technology demonstration. The TBIRD payload spent the past two years breaking world records for.....»»
Robotic moving "crew" preps for work on moon
As NASA moves forward with efforts to establish a long-term presence on the moon as part of the Artemis campaign, safely moving cargo from landers to the lunar surface is a crucial capability......»»
NASA pilots use specialty suits to validate data
Welcome to NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX). We've been talking about this validation campaign and now are finally here. "Here" being one of three main locations where PACE-PAX validation effo.....»»
Arctic sea ice near historic low; Antarctic ice continues decline
Arctic sea ice retreated to near-historic lows in the Northern Hemisphere this summer, likely melting to its minimum extent for the year on Sept.11, 2024, according to researchers at NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The decline.....»»
Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid"......»»
Planetary defense research mission readies for asteroid visit
The European Space Agency is about to launch a spacecraft on an important research mission designed to bolster planetary defense......»»
SpaceX Crew-9 launch delayed again because of Tropical Storm Helene
As Florida braces for the arrival of Tropical Storm Helene, the launch of NASA's Crew-9 mission from the Kennedy Space Center has once again been delayed......»»
In the room where it happened: When NASA nearly gave Boeing all the crew funding
"In all my years of working with Boeing I never saw them sign up for additional work for free." Enlarge / But for a fateful meeting in the summer of 2014, Crew Dragon probably never would have happened. (credit: SpaceX).....»»
NASA is ready to start buying Vulcan rockets from United Launch Alliance
The second test flight of the Vulcan rocket is scheduled for liftoff on October 4. Enlarge / The first stage of ULA's second Vulcan rocket was raised onto its launch platform August 11 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Flori.....»»
Astronomers catch a glimpse of a uniquely inflated and asymmetric exoplanet
An international group of researchers including University of Arizona astronomers, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, has observed the atmosphere of a hot and uniquely inflated exoplanet. The exoplanet, which is the size of Jupiter but only a t.....»»
How to watch SpaceX’s Crew-9 launch to the ISS on Thursday
SpaceX and NASA are targeting Thursday for the launch of the Crew-9 mission to the space station, though a storm in the area could cause a delay......»»