2022 Wasn’t the Hottest on Record. That’s Nothing to Celebrate
[ad_1] Asia had its second warmest year on record. On April 30, temperatures reached 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Jacobabad, Pakistan—unseasonably early for the region. When summer came around, heat waves…
Let’s Go to Mars. Let’s Not Live There
[ad_1] Some people would rather invest these resources in solving global problems, not launching astronauts to other worlds. People in the 1960s questioned the Apollo program for similar reasons—it was…
A New NASA Satellite Will Map Earth’s Rising Seas
[ad_1] SWOT could turn out to be a major improvement over measurements by previous satellites. “Instead of a ‘pencil beam’ moving along the Earth’s surface from a satellite, it’s a…
How Do You Prove There’s Ice on the Moon? With a Lunar Flashlight
[ad_1] “For me, this is a dream measurement,” says David Paige, a planetary scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles who has been part of the mission since its…
NASA’s Orion Moon Capsule Is Back. What Happens Next?
[ad_1] After circling the moon for the past three weeks, NASA’s Orion capsule splashed down under parachute yesterday morning off the coast of Mexico’s Baja California near Guadalupe Island, marking…
NASA Will Not Change the James Webb Telescope’s Name
[ad_1] James Webb led NASA in the 1950s and 60s, during the Cold War–era “Lavender Scare,” when government agencies often enforced policies that discriminated against gay and lesbian federal workers.…
NASA’s Huge SLS Rocket Finally Launches the Artemis 1 Moon Mission
[ad_1] After years of delays and several false starts, the wait is finally over: NASA’s massive Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule lifted off at 1:48 am Eastern…
A Clever Way to Map the Moon’s Surface—Using Shadows
[ad_1] The team tested their approach on an area centered in the Mare Ingenii, a region on the far side of the moon. They fed the algorithm the angles of…
How Sci-Fi Changed Who Gets to Go to Space
[ad_1] In the 1930s, three decades before Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon, Buck Rogers had his own Western-like space adventures—in comic books and…
These Sci-Fi Visions for Interstellar Travel Just Might Work
[ad_1] For very long interstellar trips—things that are farther than the closest star—continuous fusion, antimatter, and sails are the only thing that will let you get there. But the better…
Success! NASA Says DART Really Clocked That Asteroid
[ad_1] Two weeks ago, the asteroid Dimorphos was minding its own business, quietly orbiting around its partner Didymos, when suddenly NASA’s DART spacecraft plowed into it at 14,000 miles per…
The Physics of Smashing a Spacecraft Into an Asteroid
[ad_1] There are a couple of things to notice. First, after the collision DART is moving backwards, because it bounced. Since velocity is a vector, that means that it will…
The FCC’s Rules on Space Junk Just Got Stricter
[ad_1] There’s an international element to the debate, too, as the FCC’s rule could apply to some satellite operators beyond the US. “The FCC is trying to design this so…
Sofia, the Historic Airplane-Borne Telescope, Lands for the Last Time
[ad_1] Over the past eight years, a modified Boeing 747 jetliner has flown hundreds of flights on a unique mission: carrying a 19-ton, 2.5-meter telescope known as Sofia, or the…
NASA’s DART Spacecraft Smashes Into an Asteroid—on Purpose
[ad_1] Dimorphos is on the small side, spanning 525 feet—which is about the size of the Great Pyramid. While it was never a threat to Earth, plenty more asteroids (and…
Hurricane Ian Blows Back NASA’s Artemis Launch
[ad_1] NASA’s team leading the Artemis program of lunar missions really wants to get on with their inaugural spaceflight—which was slated for tomorrow morning. But with a strengthening Hurricane Ian…
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Digs Up Organic Molecules on Mars
[ad_1] After trundling around the Jezero crater for 550 Martian days, NASA’s Perseverance rover has amassed nearly half its planned rock collection—including some containing organic molecules, a possible sign that…
Voyager 1 and 2, Humanity’s Interstellar Envoys, Soldier On at 45
[ad_1] Today is the 45th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 1, one of humanity’s iconic twin emissaries to the cosmos. (Its sibling, Voyager 2, launched a couple of weeks…
NASA Orders a Second Delay for the Artemis Moon-bound Rocket
[ad_1] NASA engineers held the countdown at T-40 minutes while troubleshooting for more than an hour. Finally, launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson called the attempt a scrub. At a press conference…
NASA Delays the Launch of Its Giant Moon-Bound Rocket
[ad_1] NASA has pushed back the launch of its Artemis 1 mission to the moon due to an issue with one of the engines of the giant SLS rocket. With…
The Mini Missions Aboard the Artemis Rocket Pack a Big Punch
[ad_1] All eyes will be on the moon as the Artemis mission’s inaugural launch blasts toward our lunar neighbor in a couple of weeks, but the rocket won’t be the…
Why NASA Wants to Go Back to the Moon
[ad_1] These include the development of the Gateway robotics and habitat modules for crews, as well as a lunar rover, all of which could be precursors for future technologies on…
Russia’s War in Ukraine Reveals More Problems in Space
[ad_1] There’s not much going for Roscosmos at this point other than the ISS—or a replacement to be called the Russian Orbital Service Station, which Borosiv claimed could be developed…
NASA is Crowdsourcing Cloud Research—on Mars
[ad_1] At the end of 2020, planetary scientist Marek Slipski found himself glued to his computer, spending countless hours—more than he’d like to admit, he says—poring over image after image…
How to Simulate Walking on the Moon—Without Leaving the Planet
[ad_1] Even if the magnitude of the gravitational force and the buoyancy force were equal, having a different location for the center of mass and buoyancy will mean the object…