How to Spot an Asteroid with Mobile Astronomy Apps
NASA launched its OSIRIS-REx mission to visit asteroid Bennu. Once there, its spacecraft will take a sample of the asteroid and return the material to Earth. In this edition of Mobile Astronomy,...
Antarctica Provides ICE to Study Behavior Effects in Astronauts
A trip to the Red Planet begins long in advance of liftoff. NASA’s journey to Mars includes preparing astronauts to cope with several months of isolation, confinement, and in an extreme environment...
Recap From the Expedition Lead Scientist
(Highlights: Week of Aug. 29, 2016) – It was a busy week on the International Space Station with aspacewalk and the preparation for NASA astronaut Jeff Williams’ return home. Before he...
Small Asteroid Flew Safely Past Earth Today
A small asteroid designated 2016 RB1 safely flew past Earth today at 10:20 a.m. PDT (1:20 p.m. EDT / 17:20 UTC) at a distance of about 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers, or just less than 1/10th the...
Two Russian “swarms” of mini-satellites to be orbited in 2017-2018
Two constellations of Russia’s CubeSat nanosatellites are planned to be orbited in the next two years for practicing their control and their communication with each other, Alexander Chernyavsky, an...
The ‘impossible’ EM Drive is about to be tested in space
An actual EM Drive is about to be launched into space for the first time, so scientists can finally figure out – once and for all – if it really is possible for a rocket engine to...
The supernova that wasn’t: a tale of three cosmic eruptions
In the mid-1800s, astronomers surveying the night sky in the Southern Hemisphere noticed something strange: over the course of a few years, a previously inconspicuous star named Eta Carinae grew...
Plugging Away Inside Massive SLS Fuel Tank
Welders inside a large liquid hydrogen tank for NASA’s Space Launch System at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are plugging holes left after the tank was assembled. Using...
