Universe Today (Page 408)

They’ve Got Spacesuits that Fit Now. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir Will Spacewalk on October 21st The all-female astronaut walk is back on. Back on March 26th, 2019, NASA was forced to cancel the first all-female spacewalk because they didn’t have the right spacesuits available on the ISS. There was a short-lived social media storm over that development, as some claimed it was evidence of sexism on the part of NASA. … Continue reading “They’ve Got Spacesuits that Fit Now. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir Will Spacewalk on October 21st” The post They’ve Got Spacesuits that Fit Now. Christina Koch and Jessica Meir Will SpacewalkRead More →

Power Grids and Satellites Are More at Risk from Extreme Solar Storms Than We Thought Exactly how dangerous are solar storms? Scientists think the Carrington Event was one of the most powerful ones to ever hit Earth. They also think that storms that powerful only happen every couple centuries or so. But a new study says we can expect more storms equally as strong, and more often. The Carrington Event … Continue reading “Power Grids and Satellites Are More at Risk from Extreme Solar Storms Than We Thought” The post Power Grids and Satellites Are More at Risk from Extreme Solar Storms Than We ThoughtRead More →

Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. It Could Have Been an Oasis Billions of Year Ago What happened to Mars? If Mars and Earth were once similar, as scientists think, what happened to all the water? Did there used to be enough to support life? Thanks to the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity, we’re getting a better picture of ancient Mars and what it went through billions of years ago. A … Continue reading “Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. It Could Have Been an Oasis Billions of Year Ago” The post Curiosity Finds A Region of Ancient Dried Mud. ItRead More →

Astronomers Find 20 – Yes 20 – New Moons for Saturn A team of astronomers led by Scott Sheppard has discovered 20 new moons around Saturn, putting it ahead of Jupiter! The post Astronomers Find 20 – Yes 20 – New Moons for Saturn appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #632 It’s that time again! This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Pamela Hoffman at the Everyday Spacer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #632. And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to all the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #632” The post Carnival of Space #632 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes One of the chief aims of space agencies and commercial aerospace these days is reducing the associated costs of space exploration. When it comes right down to it, it is still very expensive to send rockets into orbit, never mind sending them beyond Earth. But it’s not just the cost of sending payloads into space … Continue reading “NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes” The post NASA is Working on Electric Airplanes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Raw Materials for Amino Acids – Which are the Raw Materials for Life – Were Found in the Geysers Coming out of Enceladus According to a recent study, Enceladus’ plumes may contain the building blocks of amino acids, which are the building blocks of life! The post The Raw Materials for Amino Acids – Which are the Raw Materials for Life – Were Found in the Geysers Coming out of Enceladus appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon and Sub-Orbital Rocket Flights NASA’s Flight Opportunities program has selected 25 space technologies for further testing. They’re testing the technologies on aircraft, balloons, and sub-orbital rocket flights. NASA hopes to learn a lot about each of the technologies with this rigorous testing, without the expense of sending them all into orbital space. This testing will subject each of the … Continue reading “NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon and Sub-Orbital Rocket Flights” The post NASA is Going to Test 25 New Technologies in Upcoming Aircraft, Balloon andRead More →

Astronomers Find Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov, but Don’t Panic Like it’s 1910 An international team of astronomers recently obtained spectra from the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, which confirmed the presence of cyanide gas. The post Astronomers Find Cyanide Gas in Interstellar Object 2I/Borisov, but Don’t Panic Like it’s 1910 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission to asteroid Ryugu has reached one of its final milestones, if not its climax. The sample-return spacecraft has launched the Minerva-II2 rover at the asteroid. This is the last of four rovers that Hayabusa 2 is deploying on Ryugu. Minerva-II2 is actually two components in one, and the launch procedure has … Continue reading “Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu” The post Hayabusa 2 Has Sent its Last Rover to Ryugu appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Earth, Solar System, Milky Way. Are they Getting More or Less Massive Over Time? According to a study by The Milky Way Halo Research Group, we now know how quickly the Milky Way is losing and gaining new material – which is key to understanding how it changes over time. The post Earth, Solar System, Milky Way. Are they Getting More or Less Massive Over Time? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Here’s NASA’s New Plan to Get InSight’s Temperature Probe Into Mars The mole is still stuck. The mole is the name given to the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument on NASA’s Mars InSight lander. It’s job is to penetrate into the Martian surface to a depth of 5 meters (16 ft) to measure how heat flows from the planet’s interior to the surface. … Continue reading “Here’s NASA’s New Plan to Get InSight’s Temperature Probe Into Mars” The post Here’s NASA’s New Plan to Get InSight’s Temperature Probe Into Mars appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Juno is Afraid to Death of Jupiter’s Shadow. So it Fired its Thruster for Over 10 Hours to Avoid It. In a death-defying maneuver for the spacecraft, NASA’s Juno has completed an unprecedented and unplanned engine burn. The purpose? To save the spacecraft’s “life,” or at least the rest of its mission to Jupiter. Jupiter casts a deep, dark shadow. Dark enough, in fact, to effectively kill Juno if it flies through it. Rather than … Continue reading “Juno is Afraid to Death of Jupiter’s Shadow. So it Fired its Thruster for Over 10 Hours to Avoid It.” The post Juno is Afraid to DeathRead More →

InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) instrument on NASA’s InSight lander has sensed 21 Marsquakes since it was deployed on December 19th, 2018. It actually sensed over 100 events to date, but only 21 of them have been identified as Marsquakes. SEIS is extremely sensitive so mission scientists expected these results. SEIS is a … Continue reading “InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes” The post InSight Has Already Detected 21 Marsquakes appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Is the Milky Way Gaining or Losing Mass? According to a study by The Milky Way Halo Research Group, we now know how quickly the Milky Way is losing and gaining new material – which is key to understanding how it changes over time. The post Is the Milky Way Gaining or Losing Mass? appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on the Moon. Fruit Flies and Potatoes Didn’t Fare So Well When China’s Chang’e-4 spacecraft landed on the lunar far side on January 3rd 2019, it made history. It was the first spacecraft to visit that part of the Moon, and among its payload was a 2.6 kg (5.7 lb) mini-biosphere called the Lunar Micro Ecosystem (LME). The sealed, cylindrical biosphere is only 18 cm (7.1 in) long … Continue reading “China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on the Moon. Fruit Flies and Potatoes Didn’t Fare So Well” The post China’s Lander Successfully Grew Some Cotton Plants on theRead More →

Exoplanet Orbits its Star Every 18 Hours. The Quickest Ever Found The Next Generation Transit Survey recently discovered a hot-Jupiter with the shortest orbital period observed to date, just 18 hours! The post Exoplanet Orbits its Star Every 18 Hours. The Quickest Ever Found appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right Now The International Space Station’s usual complement of six astronauts grew by 50% recently, making things a little crowded up there. The nine astronauts come from four separate space agencies, and for the first time, an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is onboard the ISS. The ISS is a multicultural place. Astronauts from around … Continue reading “Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right Now” The post Nine Astronauts from Four Different Space Agencies are on the International Space Station Right NowRead More →

Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space Society Hosts: Fraser Cain (universetoday.com / @fcain) Dr. Alessandra “Sondy” Springmann (@sondy) Pamela Hoffman (http://everydayspacer.com/ / @EverydaySpacer) Veranika “Nika” Klimovich Emmy Award-winning television host and producer Geoff Notkin starred in three seasons of the cult television adventure series Meteorite Men for Science Channel and two seasons of the educational series STEM Journals for Cox Media. He … Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space Society” The post Weekly Space Hangout: October 2, 2019 – Geoff Notkin, President of the National Space SocietyRead More →

Elon Musk Shows us What’s Inside the Starship Elon Musk recently upload a video that shows that the interior of the Starship’s prototype cargo bay. The post Elon Musk Shows us What’s Inside the Starship appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →