Universe Today (Page 413)

Toyota is Building a Pressurized Lunar Rover for Japan JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is teaming up with the nation’s largest company to build a lunar rover. Toyota, the second largest automobile company in the world (only Volkswagen makes more cars) has signed a development deal with JAXA that will last three years. The goal? To design, build, test and evaluate prototypes for … Continue reading “Toyota is Building a Pressurized Lunar Rover for Japan” The post Toyota is Building a Pressurized Lunar Rover for Japan appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

India’s Chandrayaan-2 is Heading to the Moon ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) has successfully launched their Chandrayaan-2 mission to the Moon. The mission, which includes an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched into space on a GSLV Mk III rocket on July 22nd, after a week-long delay. On September 7th it will perform a soft-landing on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-2 … Continue reading “India’s Chandrayaan-2 is Heading to the Moon” The post India’s Chandrayaan-2 is Heading to the Moon appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

China’s Tiangong 2 was Destroyed Last Week, Burning up in the Atmosphere Over the South Pacific Ocean China recently successfully conducted a controlled deorbit of its second orbital laboratory, Tiangong-2. The post China’s Tiangong 2 was Destroyed Last Week, Burning up in the Atmosphere Over the South Pacific Ocean appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Searching For The Red Edge: How The Earth’s Forests Are Telling The Aliens Where We Live People are always worried that alien civilizations will detect the transmissions from our old radio shows and television broadcasts, and send in the invasion fleet. But the reality is that life itself has been broadcasting the existence of life on Earth for 500 million years.  Blame it on the plants. In addition to filling the … Continue reading “Searching For The Red Edge: How The Earth’s Forests Are Telling The Aliens Where We Live” The post Searching For The Red Edge: How The Earth’s Forests Are Telling The AliensRead More →

Drama In Low-Earth Orbit As LightSail2 Deploys Its Sails LightSail 2 has successfully deployed its solar sails. Shortly after 12:00 pm PST The Planetary Society tweeted that the sails were deployed, and that the spacecraft was sailing with sunlight. We can all enjoy their success and start to wonder how solar sails will fit into humanity’s plans for space exploration. This is a dramatic … Continue reading “Drama In Low-Earth Orbit As LightSail2 Deploys Its Sails” The post Drama In Low-Earth Orbit As LightSail2 Deploys Its Sails appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

VP Pence Unveils the Spacecraft that will Take Astronauts Back to the Moon in 2024! To mark the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, VP Pence recently unveiled the the Orion capsule that will take astronauts back to the Moon in 2024. The post VP Pence Unveils the Spacecraft that will Take Astronauts Back to the Moon in 2024! appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Chris Kraft, Legendary NASA Flight Director, Dies at 95 The man known as the ‘father of flight control’ – Christopher C. Kraft, Jr.  – has died at the age of 95. Kraft joined the NASA Space Task Group in November 1958 and became the first flight director. He created the concepts of mission planning, and real-time monitoring and control for the first U.S. crewed … Continue reading “Chris Kraft, Legendary NASA Flight Director, Dies at 95” The post Chris Kraft, Legendary NASA Flight Director, Dies at 95 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Meet Our Neighbour, The Local Void. Gaze Into It, Puny Humans. Our planet is part of the larger structure of the Solar System, shaped and made stable by the force of gravity. Our Solar System is gravitationally bound to the Milky Way galaxy, along with hundreds of millions of other solar systems. And our galaxy is also part of a larger structure, where not only gravity, … Continue reading “Meet Our Neighbour, The Local Void. Gaze Into It, Puny Humans.” The post Meet Our Neighbour, The Local Void. Gaze Into It, Puny Humans. appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Messier 90 – the NGC 4569 Spiral Galaxy Welcome back to Messier Monday! Today, we continue in our tribute to our dear friend, Tammy Plotner, by looking at the approaching spiral galaxy known as Messier 90! During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noticed the presence of several “nebulous objects”  while surveying the night sky. Originally mistaking these objects for comets, … Continue reading “Messier 90 – the NGC 4569 Spiral Galaxy” The post Messier 90 – the NGC 4569 Spiral Galaxy appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Carnival of Space #621 Welcome to the 621st Carnival of Space! The Carnival is a community of space science and astronomy writers and bloggers, who submit their best work each week for your benefit. We have a fantastic roundup today so now, on to this week’s worth of stories! Universe Today: Hubble Spots “Impossible” Debris Disk Around a Black … Continue reading “Carnival of Space #621” The post Carnival of Space #621 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Starship Prototype Catches Fire After a Recent Test, But Appears Undamaged Despite the fireball that engulfed the Starshopper this past week, both the vehicle and its Draco engine appear to be unscathed. The post Starship Prototype Catches Fire After a Recent Test, But Appears Undamaged appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit” After months of discussion, the space agencies behind the Lunar Gateway have decided how the space station will orbit the Moon. NASA and the ESA are developing the Lunar Gateway jointly, and the orbital path that it will follow around the Moon is a key part of mission design. It’ll affect all the vital aspects … Continue reading “The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit”” The post The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan Some lakes on Titan have ring-like shapes around them, and scientists are trying to find out how they formed. Understanding how they formed may tell us something about how the entire region they’re in, including the lakes, formed. The ring-shaped features are found around pools and lakes at Titan’s polar regions. Thanks to the Cassini … Continue reading “There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan” The post There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth LightSail 2, the brainchild of The Planetary Society, has gifted us two new gorgeous images of Earth. The small spacecraft is currently in orbit at about 720 km, and the LightSail 2 mission team is putting it through its paces in preparation for solar sail deployment sometime on or after Sunday, July 21st. LightSail 2 … Continue reading “LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth” The post LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1 Dick Battin stood on his driveway in the New England frosty pre-dawn back in October 1957, straining his eyes to see Sputnik fly overhead. It was amazing. Watching that little point of light scoot silently across the sky made Battin’s heart pound. A human-made hunk of metal was actually orbiting Earth! Walking back to his … Continue reading “The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1” The post The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September Why report on an asteroid that has no chance of hitting Earth? Because this asteroid, known as 2006 QV89, has a history. A history of being kind of hard to track. As the name says, this asteroid was discovered in 2006. It’s a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA, or NEO, for Near-Earth Object.) An object is classified … Continue reading “Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September” The post Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →

Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable The idea of somehow terra-forming Mars to make it more habitable is a visionary, sci-fi dream. But though global terra-forming of Mars is out of reach, the idea persists. But now, a material called silica aerogel might make make the whole idea of terra-forming Mars slightly less impossible. Notable people from Carl Sagan to Elon … Continue reading “Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable” The post Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Gaia Mission is Mapping Out the Bar at the Center of the Milky Way The latest discovery to come from Gaia’s years of observing the Milky Way is the first 3D measurements of our galaxy’s central bar structure. The post Gaia Mission is Mapping Out the Bar at the Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →

Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, Confirming That… “In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream” A unique, low-cost, and crowd-scream-sourced experiment has proven what all sci-fi movie fans know is true: In space, no one can hear you scream.” That line is the tag line from the famous 1979 movie Alien, of course. And now an innovative experiment in Britain has shown that the writer of that movie was correct. … Continue reading “Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, Confirming That… “In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream”” The post Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, ConfirmingRead More →

Crew Dragon Exploded Back in April Because of a Nitrogen Tetroxide Leak SpaceX has revealed the cause of the accident that took place back in April, attributing it to a leak that took place just prior to the final tactic engine fire test. The post Crew Dragon Exploded Back in April Because of a Nitrogen Tetroxide Leak appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →