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Orion constellation glows red in gorgeous deep space photo
Private Japanese moon lander crashed due to laser errors, ispace says
Astronomers discover origins of mysterious double hot Jupiter exoplanets: 'It is a dance of sorts'
NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman
How Perfectionism Hurts Parents and Their Kids
New research highlights the risks and occasional rewards of parental perfectionism
Leonardo da Vinci's 'helicopter' design could make drones quieter
Leonardo da Vinci's 'helicopter' design could make drones quieter
How to see Mercury, the moon and the Gemini twins pass close together in the night sky this week
NASA Sets Coverage for Axiom Mission 4 Launch, Arrival at Station
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting 2:31 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 25, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4.
The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26.
This launch opportunity comes after NASA and Roscosmos officials discussed the status of the recent repair work in the transfer tunnel at the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module. Based on the evaluations, NASA and Roscosmos agreed to further lower the pressure in the transfer tunnel to 100 millimeters of mercury, and teams will continue to evaluate going forward. Safety remains a top priority for NASA and Roscosmos.
“NASA and Roscosmos have a long history of cooperation and collaboration on the International Space Station. This professional working relationship has allowed the agencies to arrive at a shared technical approach and now Axiom Mission 4 launch and docking will proceed,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “We look forward to the launch with Axiom Space and SpaceX for this commercial international mission.”
For this mission, NASA is responsible for integrated operations, which begins during the spacecraft’s approach to the space station, continues during the crew’s stay aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities, and concludes once the spacecraft departs the station.
Live coverage of launch and arrival activities will stream on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Once docked, the private astronauts plan to spend about two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities.
As part of a collaboration between NASA and ISRO, Axiom Mission 4 delivers on a commitment highlighted by President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first ISRO astronaut to the station. The space agencies are participating in five joint science investigations and two in-orbit STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) demonstrations. NASA and ISRO have a long-standing relationship built on a shared vision to advance scientific knowledge and expand space collaboration.
The private mission also carries the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the International Space Station.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Wednesday, June 25
12:30 a.m. – Axiom Space and SpaceX launch coverage begins.
1:40 a.m. – NASA joins the launch coverage on NASA+.
2:31 a.m. – Launch
NASA will end coverage following orbital insertion, which is approximately 15 minutes after launch. As it is a commercial launch, NASA will not provide a clean launch feed on its channels.
Thursday, June 26
5 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Axiom Space, and SpaceX channels.
7 a.m. – Targeted docking to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
Arrival coverage will continue through hatch opening and welcome remarks.
All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on real-time operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.
The International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA’s goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-space
-end-
Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov
NASA Sets Coverage for Axiom Mission 4 Launch, Arrival at Station
NASA, Axiom Space, and SpaceX are targeting 2:31 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, June 25, for launch of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, Axiom Mission 4.
The mission will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew will travel to the orbiting laboratory on a new SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after launching on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket. The targeted docking time is approximately 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26.
This launch opportunity comes after NASA and Roscosmos officials discussed the status of the recent repair work in the transfer tunnel at the aft (back) most segment of the orbital laboratory’s Zvezda service module. Based on the evaluations, NASA and Roscosmos agreed to further lower the pressure in the transfer tunnel to 100 millimeters of mercury, and teams will continue to evaluate going forward. Safety remains a top priority for NASA and Roscosmos.
“NASA and Roscosmos have a long history of cooperation and collaboration on the International Space Station. This professional working relationship has allowed the agencies to arrive at a shared technical approach and now Axiom Mission 4 launch and docking will proceed,” said acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro. “We look forward to the launch with Axiom Space and SpaceX for this commercial international mission.”
For this mission, NASA is responsible for integrated operations, which begins during the spacecraft’s approach to the space station, continues during the crew’s stay aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting science, education, and commercial activities, and concludes once the spacecraft departs the station.
Live coverage of launch and arrival activities will stream on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media.
Peggy Whitson, former NASA astronaut and director of human spaceflight at Axiom Space, will command the commercial mission, while ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will serve as pilot. The two mission specialists are ESA (European Space Agency) project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and HUNOR (Hungarian to Orbit) astronaut Tibor Kapu of Hungary.
Once docked, the private astronauts plan to spend about two weeks aboard the orbiting laboratory, conducting a mission comprised of science, outreach, and commercial activities.
As part of a collaboration between NASA and ISRO, Axiom Mission 4 delivers on a commitment highlighted by President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send the first ISRO astronaut to the station. The space agencies are participating in five joint science investigations and two in-orbit STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) demonstrations. NASA and ISRO have a long-standing relationship built on a shared vision to advance scientific knowledge and expand space collaboration.
The private mission also carries the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the International Space Station.
NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
Wednesday, June 25
12:30 a.m. – Axiom Space and SpaceX launch coverage begins.
1:40 a.m. – NASA joins the launch coverage on NASA+.
2:31 a.m. – Launch
NASA will end coverage following orbital insertion, which is approximately 15 minutes after launch. As it is a commercial launch, NASA will not provide a clean launch feed on its channels.
Thursday, June 26
5 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Axiom Space, and SpaceX channels.
7 a.m. – Targeted docking to the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module.
Arrival coverage will continue through hatch opening and welcome remarks.
All times are estimates and could be adjusted based on real-time operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date operations information.
The International Space Station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy. NASA’s goal is to achieve a strong economy off the Earth where the agency can purchase services as one of many customers to meet its science and research objectives in microgravity. NASA’s commercial strategy for low Earth orbit provides the government with reliable and safe services at a lower cost, enabling the agency to focus on Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars while also continuing to use low Earth orbit as a training and proving ground for those deep space missions.
Learn more about NASA’s commercial space strategy at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercial-space
-end-
Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov
Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov
NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman
NASA astronaut Zena Cardman inspects her spacesuit’s wrist mirror in this portrait taken at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 22, 2024. Cardman will launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. This will be her first spaceflight.
Cardman was selected by NASA as a member of the 2017 “Turtles” Astronaut Class. The Virginia native holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focused primarily on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Cardman’s experience includes multiple Antarctic expeditions. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.
This photo was one of the winners of NASA’s 2024 Photos of the Year.
NASA Astronaut Zena Cardman
NASA astronaut Zena Cardman inspects her spacesuit’s wrist mirror in this portrait taken at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 22, 2024. Cardman will launch to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission. This will be her first spaceflight.
Cardman was selected by NASA as a member of the 2017 “Turtles” Astronaut Class. The Virginia native holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in marine sciences from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her research focused primarily on geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep sea sediments. Cardman’s experience includes multiple Antarctic expeditions. Since completing initial training, Cardman has supported real-time station operations and lunar surface exploration planning.
This photo was one of the winners of NASA’s 2024 Photos of the Year.
Vera Rubin Observatory zooms into deep space | Space photo of the day for June 24, 2025
How to Keep Your Home Cool in Extreme Heat
When extreme heat arrives, here are science-based tips to keep your home cool, from the most efficient way to use air conditioning to strategic uses of fans
#760: What to Look For This Summer
It’s almost time for our annual summer hiatus, but before we go, we wanted to direct you towards all the fun and space stuff we’ll be enjoying this summer. We’ve got meteor showers, planets, rocket launches, TV shows, movies! Here’s what’s good.
In a couple of weeks, we’ll go on hiatus, but we want to make sure you are ready for stuff we can anticipate happening.
Show Notes- Space News & Missions
- Blue Origin: Building a rocket factory; working on the New Glenn moon-capable rocket (likely launch: Sept).
- NASA’s Escapade: Launching two Mars spacecraft with Blue Origin.
- Other Missions: TRACERS (NASA–ISRO) and ESA’s Space Rider.
- Summer Skywatching
- Mercury: Greatest elongation on July 4 — tough to spot, but try before fireworks.
- Perseids: Peaks Aug 12–13. Best viewing ~8:30 PM before moonrise (~11 PM).
- Delta Aquariids: Aug 29–30, fewer meteors (~20/hour).
- No Eclipses/Conjunctions, but still plenty to enjoy under the stars.
- Summer Entertainment
- Movies: Pamela recommends Superman and Jurassic Park.
- TV Shows: Fraser recommends Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (S3); both excited for Foundation and Alien Earth.
- They often subscribe briefly to services like Paramount+ or Apple TV to binge and cancel.
- Project Focus on content production this summer, including interviews and Space Bites.
Fraser Cain: AstronomyCast 760 – What’s Happening in Summer 2025? Welcome to AstronomyCast, our weekly facts-based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know. I’m Fraser Cain.
I’m the publisher of Universe Today. With me, as always, is Dr. Pamela Gay, senior scientist for the Planetary Science Institute and the director of CosmoQuest. Hey Pamela, how are you doing?
Dr. Pamela Gay: I have no internet at my house. An animal removed it from the side of the house. We are recording on my laptop right now over at a friend’s house.
Fraser Cain: No. No, I can’t even imagine. I don’t want to even comprehend a world where I can’t use the internet.
Yeah, it’s, it’s like, I would just have to go and cut down trees or something. I don’t know what I’d do. Um, yeah.
So, so we’re going to get into this episode, but we should explain, like, this is the penultimate episode, right? I think we have semi-penultimate episode.
Dr. Pamela Gay: We have three more.
Fraser Cain: We have three more. Well, today’s the 16th.
Dr. Pamela Gay: So we have two more after this.
Fraser Cain: Two more after this. Yeah. Now I’m looking at my calendar.
Um, yes, we have two more after this, the 23rd and the 30th when we record and then we’ll go. And then we will go on to our summer hiatus. Now, normally this is the last episode of the season.
And then we’ve bid you all a fond farewell. And then we see you again in two months when we return from hiatus, but we are switching things up this week. And that’s because something very exciting is going to be happening when we would normally do the last episode and we want to be able to see on top of that.
Dr. Pamela Gay: So, so well, one thing is super exciting and one thing that sort of we’re waiting for information. So next week, I thought it was this week. It got moved from the date.
I originally wrote down, um, next week, Vera Rubin observatory is releasing their first suite of images. So next Monday we will be live streaming that, uh, over on our various channels. We will be recording astronomy cast on Wednesday, and we will be all of the excitement about Vera Rubin observatory.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. So we’ll just give you the update, you know, the, the episode that Pamela won’t let us do until the thing has gone live. Now the thing will be have gone live and then we, she will allow the episode.
So we will talk about, we will talk about that. And then what’s the other, we’re waiting on another mission.
Dr. Pamela Gay: We’re waiting on budget information. So we were going to do a rundown on just what survived, but Congress still hasn’t passed a budget. They may not pass a budget, but we can at least talk about the proposed cancellations, but yes, we’re giving Congress as long as we can.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. All right. It’s almost time for our annual summer hiatus.
But before we go, we wanted to direct you towards all the fun and space stuff. We’ll be enjoying this summer. We’ve got media showers, planets, rocket launches, TV shows, movies.
Here’s what’s good. And we will talk about it a second, but it’s time for a break and we’re back. All right, Pamela, where do you want to start on the, on the fun things that we’re going to be enjoying this summer?
And you should too.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah. Yeah. All of you should.
The thing I am most looking forward to and wish that it wasn’t going to be so amazingly hot is Blue Origin is currently looking to launch on August 15th from Florida with their second giant rocket goes towards moon. If everything goes well, their Mark 1 lander will be on board and they will be sending it towards the moon where hopefully it won’t do gymnastics. And we need more rockets that work and work well so that we can switch things up when things go sideways.
And it would be really nice if we could have more than one thing that was astronaut certified. And, and we are starting the pathway towards having another rocket mill built in the United States. And honestly, I just want something not to fall over when it gets to the moon.
That is my goal. Something to get to the moon and not fall over.
Fraser Cain: Right. But things are a little more complicated than that because there is another set of missions that, that Blue Origin has been contracted to launch. And that’s NASA’s escapade mission to Mars.
And that’s two spacecraft. They’re going to be working in concert. They’re going to fly to Mars.
They’re going to help understand atmospheric loss and, and orbit around Mars. And these were originally supposed to launch back late last year, back in late 2024. But of course, New Glenn has slipped.
We’ve only seen one test launch of the rocket, no attempts to actually capture the booster. And they were supposed to launch sometime in March. And this was kind of impressive because the, the New Glenn, like normally you launch when the window opens and the window opened back like November 2024.
And yet New Glenn was like, don’t, Blue Origin was like, ah, don’t worry about it. We’ve, our rocket is powerful enough. We can still make the window if we launch in March.
Well, March passed, we’re not there. So it might be that the next launch is actually going to be the escapade launch on top of, of New Glenn. And so I think that there’s still some sort of uncertainty about that.
I think the, the August 15th date is overly aggressive. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see it not go until September. There’s like a lot of still additional concerns and then sort of a larger concern about, about Blue Origin being able to produce enough upper stages for the rockets.
But you know, if everything goes great, we could watch another New Glenn take off and continue the testing that will move us to this fully, or I guess reusable first stage, but it’s a monster rocket. And, and as you said, it’d be great to see something go to the moon.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah. It it’s, it’s glorious. This is another heavy lift vehicle.
This, this is, this is a get us to the moon vehicle.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. Yeah. Um, all right.
So we’re doing, we’re doing missions. Are we okay. Okay.
Dr. Pamela Gay: It’s the thing I am most excited about this summer. And if it gets pushed to September, I might actually go to it. I’m not sure I am up to the August heat nor the August crowds, but September I could get excited for a September lunch.
Fraser Cain: Yep. Uh, so have you got any other missions that you’re looking at?
Dr. Pamela Gay: That was it. That was, that was the one I’m a, I’m a simple girl when it comes to rockets.
Fraser Cain: Okay. Um, so the, so there’s a couple of other missions that you might want to keep your eye on. One is NASA’s tracers mission, the tandem reconnection and cusp electrodynamics, reconnaissance satellites.
Um, and those are going to be our earth based monitoring satellites. Uh, they’re going to analyze the McNeil sphere and they’re expected to launch in the summer. Uh, and NASA is doing a collaboration with the Indian space, uh, research organization, and they’ve got their, uh, it’s a synthetic aperture radar system.
So again, that’s looked like it’s going to launch. And then the other one is ESA’s space rider. So there’s a, there’s some, there’s some activity, but it’s actually pretty quiet.
Like I had to dig pretty deep.
Dr. Pamela Gay: This summer is so quiet.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. Yeah. So there’s, so I think that’s the, the big one of course is, is new Glenn.
And then, you know, there could very well be more tests of starship. We’ll see whether or not that happens. All right, let’s move on to stuff to see in the sky.
Dr. Pamela Gay: So normally I don’t get very excited about Mercury, but this year it’s kind of amusing because Mercury is going to be at its greatest Eastern elongation, which means it’s towards the East of the sun on 4th of July. And so that’s cool. That’s just deeply, deeply amusing.
Um, and, and so unfortunately, um, when it’s East of the, the sun, it’s going to get lost in twilight. It’s always lost in twilight. So you can get excited about this.
But the reason I’m bringing it up is 4th of July, everyone goes out at least around here and camps on their firework spot before sunset. So this is a chance to go out before sunset and watch the, the sun go down on the horizon first. And then because Mercury is to the East of it, it’s going to go down in the West second.
Um, so while you’re sitting there, putting on your mosquito repellent and enjoying your hot dogs, look for a small dot in the glare. You take sky Safari or something like that to find it with your son. It’s just the perfect, stupid thing to do while you’re waiting for the fireworks to start is try and find Mercury.
Fraser Cain: Right. I’ve only found Mercury once I’ve ever seen it once because I always live with mountains that block my view to both the West and the East. And so I just can’t see them.
Dr. Pamela Gay: I’ve only been able to find it well on the roof of a building. So in particular, if you’re someone lucky enough to get to go watch fireworks from like a hotel sky patio or whatever, get that sunset direction, at least for sunset and find yourself in Mercury.
Fraser Cain: And I’m very accustomed to seeing the planets during the summer. I don’t know why, but they’re shifting into the morning now. So, uh, you should be able to see Venus and Jupiter, Venus and Jupiter both been really bright in the evening for the last few months.
And now they’re lost in the glare of the sun, but they’re going to come out in the Dawn in July. So, you know, if you do camp out and then you wake up the next morning, uh, go outside and you should be able to see Venus and Jupiter and they may get really close, uh, sort of late into August. But in fact, a lot of the planets are going to be visible.
Like we’ve been watching all of the planets in the fall. Like I was out watching them, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, uh, all in the evening sky throughout the fall. And so in the spring and now things are shifting over again.
And so you will start to see all of them sort of pop out into the morning sky, which, you know, is less interesting for a lot of people who wakes up at four in the morning or three in the morning to go watch planets. But, but, you know, if you’re, if you’re that kind of a morning person, this is your, this is your chance in August. Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay: So in August with all those planets in the morning sky, and we’re also going to have Mercury heading towards its greatest Western elongation, because that sucker moves quickly. We have the Perseid meteor shower on August 12th, 13th, and it’s better in the morning. So go out, get yourself a hammock with a hammock stand.
So you’re not under any trees nap until it looks like it’s a good hour. Um, and one of the cool things nowadays is you watch the Perseids, watch the Perseids, and then you can see when a sunset starts at low earth orbit, because suddenly you’re seeing satellites all of the time. And, uh, then you get to at least if you live somewhere like I do with fireflies, it’s a game of, is that going to be a satellite, a firefly or a meteorite?
Fraser Cain: Right. And you know, my question every year about the Perseids is what is happening with the moon?
Dr. Pamela Gay: It’s a waning gibbous. It’s pretty awful.
Fraser Cain: It’s how it’s not going to be that, especially if you’re like, if you don’t stay up too late. So it will have been a full moon on August 9th, which is, and then, and then with the actual Perseids on the night of the 12th, 13th. So now you’re three nights after.
And so if normally say the full moon rises just as this, you know, as it’s getting dark sunsets, yeah, it’s getting dark. And then the full moon comes up a couple of hours later. Then in this case, now you’re waiting a few hours before the sun comes up.
So you’ll have like a moment where, uh, it’s dark and you’ll be able to enjoy the Perseids. And so if you are planning any Perseid related activity, aim for the early evening because, because then, and that’s good for like the kids and stuff. Like you go out, it’s just starting to get dark.
I don’t know what, you know, what time it gets dark for you around there. Probably, you know, mid-August is probably starting to get dark around eight, 39 o’clock for you there. Go out then and then watch as many Perseids as you can.
And probably by around 11 o’clock midnight, the moon is going to rise. It’s going to put a lot of glare into the sky and make it a less enjoyable experience, but it won’t matter because you will have all fallen asleep in your cots with your, you know, eyes to the sky. Uh, so that’s, that’s okay.
Um, and then the other one that you want to keep an eye out, and this is like not as great. And these are the Delta Aquariids and they’re on the 29th and the 30th. And they are like, the Perseids, you can get upwards of a hundred an hour and they’re like, the weather is warm.
And the Perseids are always the, the, the crowd pleaser while the Delta Aquariids, they only give you like 20 per hour. So, uh, you know, but you will see something like if you go out and you, you lie out on the night of the 29th, eyes to the sky, you should see a meteor go by every four or five minutes, which is, you know, it’s better than no meters.
Dr. Pamela Gay: And, and the thing to remember is if you have a camping trip planned this summer, not during one of these events, try and schedule it around new moon if you can. And there’s always going to be meteorites. There’s always going to be rocket debris falling out of orbit.
And all of these things create nice, pretty streaks and, um, just go out and enjoy the sky no matter what. It’s, it’s not a summer with any great events. We’re not looking at any big eclipses.
We’re not looking at any super important planets right next to each other. It’s just a summer to survive and look up. And sometimes that’s enough.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. I like, I can’t, I did some research beforehand. I couldn’t even find some interesting comments that you could see in a small pair of binoculars or a small telescope.
There’s like not a lot. There’s like, there’s like one that might brighten, brighten up to the point that it’s magnitude like 15 or 12 in the summer. Like, yeah, if you’ve got a good setup, then maybe you can go find that.
But, but no, it’s not there. There are no comments that could potentially be exciting. All right.
We’re going to move on to media in a second, but it is time for another break. And we’re back. All right.
So what are you going to be trying to watch this summer?
Dr. Pamela Gay: So I have to admit, I am stupidly looking forward to Superman. I know it’s cheesy. I’m also looking forward to the Jurassic Park movie.
Cause dinosaurs, even if they’re terrible dinosaurs and none of them have feathers. So I’m apparently going to be going and watching big blockbuster movies. Cause that’s what I do.
What about you?
Fraser Cain: So there’s three TV shows that I’ve got my eye on. The first one is Star Trek, strange new worlds season three. And that’s just, it’s so great.
Like it really feels like somebody continued the old show of Star Trek. And if you’d like that kind of feeling. Yeah.
Yeah. And it’s like, they got the same outfits sort of, um, the, the actors are great. The sets are great.
And the, the sort of the themes of the show and the plots are very much kind of in the, in the vein as the original Star Trek shows, but they’ve, you know, sort of re-imagined the Gorn and other stuff. So that starts on July 17th on, you have to watch that on Paramount plus, but you know, what we always do is, is sort of turn on Paramount plus for a month with our existing like prime, watch it and then turn it back off again. So, um, and then the other show, and this is on Apple TV and like we got Apple TV and we could, we’re like, we’re just going to watch, then we’re going to cancel our Apple TV, but they keep releasing stuff that we keep wanting to watch.
And so we’re like, they’re clearly stringing us along. So right now we’re watching Murderbot, which is terrific. Um, but then on, uh, July 11th, you get the season three of Foundation, which is, is pretty good.
Like it’s very different from the books. And so if you’re waiting for someone to properly adapt the books, don’t, don’t, you know, don’t hold your breath. But if you want something that has sort of is, I don’t know, is singing from the same song sheet as the books, like it’s just, it’s similar-ish.
Um, and there’s a lot of really cool ideas that they’ve implemented and I’ve been really enjoying that. And then the one that’s kind of a sort of a mystery is that there’s going to be a TV show called Alien Earth, and this is going to be on, uh, FX. And this is sort of like kind of interesting to me.
So it’s made by the same people that did Fargo, the same director and Legion. And I don’t know if you remember Legion, Legion was this- Yeah, I loved it. Yeah.
Legion was this show sort of set in the X-Men universe about this, uh, you know, this very powerful mutant and it was very weird, like super weird. But, you know, when TV shows are weird, they can be on, like, they can be too weird or they can be just weird enough to be entertaining. This one was just weird enough.
Yeah. So this one walked the line nicely on the side of, of comprehensible and enjoyable weirdness, as opposed to incomprehensible navel gazing weirdness. And so this show covers the Alien franchise and it’s set just two years before the original Alien movie.
And so my expectation is that this is how they found out about the planet where the alien was, uh, that, you know, maybe there’s like more of a conspiracy going on why the crew of the Nostromo were sent to there. Uh, so we’ll see if it can sort of give some interesting background, but done by a creator who is, who’s a pretty sort of interesting person. And I also, well, I’m not going to watch Superman in the theater, but I’ll, I’ll wait for it to show up.
Dr. Pamela Gay: I have a season pass to our theater. So we just go see a bunch of stuff. Like I recently got to see Alien in the theater on the big screen and Blade Runner on the big screen.
Fraser Cain: That sounds great.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah. It’s cool to get to see that stuff. Now I do have a question for you about strange new worlds.
One of the things I personally love about strange new worlds is just like Buffy, the vampire Slayer used to do. They’re able to get in these super weird, nonstandard episodes that they make work somehow. So they had one that was like they were in a storybook.
They had one that was musical theater. Um, what are your thoughts on these completely ridiculous episodes?
Fraser Cain: I couldn’t, I couldn’t tolerate the musical. I just couldn’t take it. Not everyone can sing well.
No, I just like, I’m not into it. Um, so, but I, you know, like whatever, like I, like I’m always such a huge fan of people experimenting. And so like, I think a lot of people, when they watch someone, some creators experiment like that, they, they gripe about it and will complain loudly on the internet.
And I’m just like, it’s not for me. It wasn’t for me. Like good on you for trying something experimental.
Uh, yeah. It wasn’t my bag, man. So yeah.
Um, yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Don’t yuck anyone else’s yum.
Fraser Cain: Yeah, exactly. So we’re going to chat about what we’re going to be up to this summer next, but it’s time for another break and we’re back. All right.
So this is weird, right? Because we’re going to talk about what we’re going to be doing this summer. And at the same time, we’re going to still be here with you guys for another couple of weeks.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. Yeah. So what, what projects are you hoping to get done over the summer?
Dr. Pamela Gay: So I had my meeting with my NASA program officer last week. We look like we’re going to be launching new citizen science projects over on a psi.edu domain. Uh, the first week of July, I am aiming for July one.
Uh, but we have a couple of terabytes of imagery to process. And I had a moment of like looking at the math of that. So we’re aiming to launch either July 1st or right after 4th of July.
I’m not going to wreck anyone’s 4th of July. Go look at mercury and enjoy the fireworks, everyone. And we’re going to be, uh, testing out a new mosaicing algorithm for building a full globe mosaics of Mars that will allow us to see much better how the entire planet changes from season to season.
Uh, and then we’re mapping out little, little crater on the moon, trying to understand, this is one that when an asteroid impacted the moon, it melted the surface and we can see how the melt slushed and flowed. And we’re going to be mapping all of those features out. Um, and then, uh, hopefully by the end of the summer, entirely privately funded Cosmoquest is now entirely privately funded.
So we can keep all of our diversity, equity, and inclusion content. We can keep our queer content. Um, so Cosmoquest is completely privately funded thanks to our Patreon and one-time donations.
And I’m hoping to relaunch, uh, our old projects over there that still needed processing done. So like mercury mappers and, uh, yeah, I’m going to be writing software all summer is what I’m going to be doing.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. Awesome. Um, I’m going to be doing something very similar, actually, which is that I, you know, I bought the sea star S 50 and w I want to turn that into the star parties.
So the plan is, um, I’m working with star front, which is the group that has the, you know, the Colo, the server co-location in Texas.
Dr. Pamela Gay: They’re excellent.
Fraser Cain: Yeah. The telescope co-location. It’s an, it’s an incredible service where you just go take your telescope, drop it off with them.
They set it up and then you connect to it remotely. And then you’re controlling your telescope and Bortle one skies with 300 nights of clear skies every year. It’s incredible.
And so, um, my, I’ve been hacking so far, but I’ve been able to get, I’ve been able to control the sea star, my, my telescope, the telescope, not using the app, I’m able to actually use a completely separate, uh, sort of piece of software running on my computer. So I’m controlling the telescope remotely and you can’t do this right now. You can’t actually control these sea stars when you’re outside of your network.
And so my plan, my medium term plan is to, is to make, have this interface that we can then control a bunch of sea stars all at the same time and then let a bunch of our friends control these things and, and put on the star parties, but make it really kind of fun and very simple where a person doesn’t have to know very much. They can just start putting in objects they want, watching as the live view updates, call it when they’re, when they’ve had enough, and then we’ll share the images and sort keep it pretty light. But I’m sort of building the interface and, and application layer that will connect to these sea stars.
So that’s sort of a big project that’s going to keep me pretty busy for the, probably the next month or so to make this work. But hopefully this will solve a lot of the problems that I’ve been having. Cause we, you know, we’ve done a couple of the star parties and the, the technology is just, it’s just not there yet.
It’s just not there. Like the interfaces, these telescopes are just not usable to go fast, to do the kind of broadcast that I need to do solo. And so I need to build the right machine to then allow this to make this work a lot better.
So that’s, that’s a big project. And then, um, you know, we’ve been doing a lot of interviews, so we’ve got a lot of interviews that are going to be planned over the summer. Uh, we’re going to be switching into our overtime broadcasts for all of the Q and A’s.
Uh, so we’ve got a ton of content. We’re still doing space bites all summer long. So we’ve got a lot of content and a lot of time, but really for me, the hiatus is there are these big projects that have, that require focus and concentration, a lot of moving parts.
And I just need hours per day to stare at them and not get distracted every few minutes. And so that’s why hiatus is just so important. And then I’ve got to get out into the forest and keep cutting down trees and, and you know, the diversity is growing.
It’s really great to see all of the life that we’re, we’ve got here. We’ve got our little, uh, they’re called Douglas squirrels and they come running into the house and looking for peanuts and zipping back outside again and birds everywhere. It’s great having a really good time.
I always forget how much, how wonderful summer is.
Dr. Pamela Gay: That, that is amazing. I, I do admit that with fear and trepidation, I’m going to have to take on my front flower bed that has weeds that are now so tall. I can’t reach the top of them.
Yeah. And, and I’m afraid of my front flower bed and the front flower bed is like, what is in front of our patio where I have looked out while recording and seen skunks. And it’s just like, am I going to get in there and find a family of skunks living in the weeds that are taller than I am?
Um, so this, yes, yes.
Fraser Cain: Almost certainly.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Yeah.
Fraser Cain: Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay: I’m, I’m afraid of my front flower bed.
Fraser Cain: Awesome. Well, that sounds great. All right.
Well, so normally we would say goodbye to everybody for the summer, but we’re not because we’re going to be back here next week. So, uh, we’ll see you next week and then eventually we’ll say goodbye. But, uh, until then, we’ll see you next week.
Thanks, Pamela.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Thank you, Fraser. And thank you so much to all of our Patreon patrons that allow us to keep doing what we do this week. I want to thank in particular Abraham Cottrell, Alex Rain, Andrew Stevenson, Arnaud DeGroot, Benjamin Davies, Bill Smythe or Smith, sorry, uh, Boogie Net, Brian Cook, Buzz Parsec, Cody Rose, Daniel Loosley, David Gates, Dianne Philippon, Dr. Jeff Collins, Eran Segrev, Felix Gut, Frodo, I’m so sorry. I never say it right. Um, uh, Gertrude Schweitzer, Gordon Dewis, Helen McKinney, James Siknorowicz, Jean-Baptiste Lamartine, Jeremy Kerwin, Jim of Everett, John Drake, Jonathan Poe, Justin Proctor, Keith Murray, Christian Golding, Laura Kettleson, uh, Lana Spencer, Mark Steven, Raznak, Mathias Hayden. Oh, it just jumped.
Okay. Mathias Hayden, uh, Michael Prashada, uh, Michelle Cullen, Nate Detweiler, Papa Hotdog, Paul L. Hayden, Philip Walker, Red Bar is watching, Robert Hodel, Ryan Amari, Sharesam, Sean Matt, Simon Parter, uh, Stephen Coffey, The Air Major, The Mysterious Mark, Time Lord Iroh, Van Ruckman, and William Andrews.
Thank you all so very much.
Fraser Cain: Thanks everyone. And we’ll see you next week.
Dr. Pamela Gay: Bye-bye. AstronomyCast is a joint product of Universe Today and the Planetary Science Institute. AstronomyCast is released under a Creative Commons attribution license.
So love it, share it, and remix it, but please credit it to our hosts, Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay. You can get more information on today’s show topic on our website, astronomycast.com. This episode was brought to you thanks to our generous patrons on Patreon.
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Anyways, keep looking up. This has been AstronomyCast.
Live ShowThe post #760: What to Look For This Summer appeared first on Astronomy Cast.
NICER Status Updates
NASA’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, has paused observations due to a problem with one of the motors that drives its ability to track cosmic objects.
The NICER team paused operations June 17 when performance degradation in the motor began affecting science observations. Engineers are investigating the cause and potential solutions.
The telescope was installed near the space station’s starboard solar array in 2017. The NICER mission has successfully demonstrated a form of deep space navigation that could be used for travel to Mars and beyond. It has also made groundbreaking measurements of neutron stars, which contain the densest matter in the universe that we can measure, and revolutionized our understanding of black holes, active galaxies, and other mysterious phenomena in our universe.
April 17, 2025Following Repair, NASA’s NICER Improves Daytime Measurements
A NASA X-ray telescope on the International Space Station called NICER, or Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, has regained additional daytime observation capabilities thanks to repairs completed during a spacewalk and a reconfiguration of its detectors.
In May 2023, NICER developed a light leak in which unwanted sunlight began entering the instrument. Photos taken from inside the space station revealed several small areas of damage to the telescope’s thin thermal shields, which block sunlight while allowing X-rays through to the detectors. Nighttime observations were unaffected, and with operational adjustments, the NICER team was able to recover about 20% of station daytime observations.
In January, NASA astronaut Nick Hague installed nine patches to cover the largest areas of damage during a spacewalk. After resuming science operations, the NICER team determined the overall level of sunlight inside NICER had substantially reduced. Still, it experienced more visible-light interference than expected.
The NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) X-ray telescope is reflected on NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 flight engineer Nick Hague’s spacesuit helmet visor in this high-flying “space-selfie” taken during a spacewalk on Jan. 16, 2025. NASA/Nick Hague
Close-up, high-resolution photos from the spacewalk allowed the team to see additional small holes and cracks in the thermal shields that were not previously visible. These accounted for the remaining sunlight intrusion.
After further analysis, the NICER team developed a novel approach to regaining additional daytime data collection.
Each X-ray that hits a NICER detector generates electrical charge that is sensed by a measurement/power unit (MPU). After so many hits, the detector resets — like emptying a cup before it overflows.
Sunlight can also create charge that accumulates in the detector, adding water to the metaphorical cup. There was so much sunlight entering NICER that the detectors were filling up with charge and resetting thousands of times for every X-ray detection. It overwhelmed the MPU’s ability to process the valid X-ray events.
Hague’s repair in January reduced the amount of sunlight entering NICER, which enabled the team to reconfigure the MPUs to ignore the sunlight-generated resets. After initial testing on the ground, the team updated one MPU before switching all seven. The changeover was completed March 12.
In combination with the patches, the reconfiguration has allowed NICER to return to collecting observations during more than 70% of station daytime, as the telescope continues to help us better understand the X-ray universe, including neutron stars, black holes, and other energetic phenomena. The team continues to look for more opportunities to improve NICER’s operations.
Jan. 24, 2025NASA’s NICER Continues Science Operations Post Repair
NASA crew aboard the International Space Station installed patches to the agency’s NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer) mission during a spacewalk on Jan. 16. NICER, an X-ray telescope perched near the station’s starboard solar array, resumed science operations later the same day.
The patches cover areas of NICER’s thermal shields where damage was discovered in May 2023. These thin filters block sunlight while allowing X-rays to pass through. After the discovery, the NICER team restricted their observations during the station’s daytime to avoid overwhelming the mission’s sensitive detectors. Nighttime observations were unaffected, and the team was able to continue collecting data for the science community to make groundbreaking measurements using the instrument’s full capabilities.
The repair went according to plan. Data since collected shows the detectors behind the patched areas are performing better than before during station night, and the overall level of sunlight inside NICER during the daytime is reduced substantially.
While NICER experiences less interference from sunlight than before, after analyzing initial data, the team has determined the telescope still experiences more interference than expected. The installed patches cover areas of known damage identified using astronomical observations and from photos taken by both external robotic cameras and astronauts inside the space station. Measurements collected since the repair and close-up, high-resolution photos obtained during the spacewalk are providing new information that may point the way toward further daytime data collection.
In the meantime, NICER continues operations with its full measurement capabilities during orbit night to enable further trailblazing discoveries in time domain and multimessenger astrophysics.
June 8, 2023Sunlight ‘Leak’ Impacting NASA’s NICER Telescope, Science Continues
On Tuesday, May 22, NASA’s NICER (Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer), an X-ray telescope on the International Space Station, developed a “light leak,” in which unwanted sunlight enters the instrument. While analyzing incoming data since then, the team identified an impact to daytime observations. Nighttime observations seem to be unaffected.
The team suspects that at least one of the thin thermal shields on NICER’s 56 X-ray Concentrators has been damaged, allowing sunlight to reach its sensitive detectors.
To mitigate the effects on measurements, the NICER team has limited daytime observations to objects far away from the Sun’s position in the sky. The team has also updated commands to NICER that automatically lower its sensitivity during the orbital day to reduce the effects from sunlight contamination. The team is evaluating these changes and assessing additional measures to reduce the impact on science observations.
To date, more than 300 scientific papers have used NICER observations, and the team is confident that NICER will continue to produce world-class science.
Media contactsAlise Fisher
202-358-2546
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Claire Andreoli
301-286-1940
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Did the U.S. Really Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program?
Nuclear policy specialist David Albright explains how his organization is monitoring for damage to nuclear sites following U.S. and Israeli strikes