Feed aggregator
Gemini North Sees Brightening Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in Detail
We’re getting better views of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it makes its speedy passage through the inner solar system. This week, astronomers at the Gemini North observatory located on Mauna Kea in Hawai’i turned the facility’s enormous 8.1-meter telescope on the object, with amazing results.
A Rare Object Found Deep in the Kuiper Belt
Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope have discovered a new object in the Kuiper Belt, beyond the orbit of Pluto. Designated 2023 KQ14, it's categorized as a "sednoid," with an extremely eccentric orbit - only the 4th ever discovered. Its orbit is much different from other sednoids, which challenges the hypothesis that Planet Nine could be aligning their orbits. It was found at 72 AU, but its path takes it all the way out to 438 AU, taking almost 4,000 years to complete one orbit.
Watch the Moon Occult the Pleiades for North America on the Morning of July 20th
There’s a good reason for sky watchers to set their alarms this coming Sunday morning. If skies are clear, viewers across most of North America will have a rare chance to see the waning crescent Moon occult (pass in front of) the Pleiades open star cluster.
Student Led Mission Designs Highlight The Challenges Of Engineering In Space
There are plenty of engineering challenges facing space exploration missions, most of which are specific to their missions objectives. However, there are some that are more universal, especially regarding electronics. A new paper primarily written by a group of American students temporarily studying at Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria in Madrid, attempts to lay out plans to tackle several of those challenges for a variety of mission architectures.
A Star is Dissolving its Baby Planet
Astronomers have found a young star bathing a planet in intense X-ray radiation, wearing it away at a rapid rate. The planet is Jupiter-sized and orbits its red dwarf star at a fifth the distance from Mercury to the Sun. It's only 8 million years old, and researchers estimate that within a billion years, it will lose its entire atmosphere, going from 17 Earth masses down to just 2 Earth masses. They estimate that it's losing an Earth's atmosphere worth of mass every 200 years.
Hubble spots interstellar invader Comet 3I/ATLAS for the first time
Male Birth Control Pill YCT-529 Passes Human Safety Test
A hormone-free pill, called YCT-529, that temporarily stops sperm production by blocking a vitamin A metabolite has just concluded its first safety trial in humans, getting a step closer to increasing male contraceptive options
Gluten may not actually trigger many irritable bowel syndrome cases
Gluten may not actually trigger many irritable bowel syndrome cases
SpaceX aborts satellite launch 11 seconds before liftoff (video)
'Chaos' reigns beneath the ice of Jupiter moon Europa, James Webb Space Telescope reveals
Sprinkling limestone on farms may offer an unexpected climate win
Sprinkling limestone on farms may offer an unexpected climate win
Eclipse chasers share insider tips, travel advice and skywatching secrets for the 2026 total solar eclipse
This new 'CosmoCube' moon orbiter could eavesdrop on whispers from the early universe
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 to Discuss Station Mission, Upcoming Return
Media are invited to hear from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 during a news conference beginning at 10:40 a.m. EDT, Friday, July 25, from the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will discuss their upcoming return to Earth on the agency’s YouTube channel.
Media interested in participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 5 p.m., Thursday, July 24, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. To ask questions, media must dial into the news conference no later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Crew-10 joined the Expedition 72 crew when arriving to the station in March. Throughout Expedition 72 and into Expedition 73, the crew aboard the space station contributed to hundreds of experiments, including testing expanded capabilities of existing hardware for pharmaceutical production in space, investigating how cells sense gravity, which is an important aspect of space biology, and examining the effects of microgravity on protein yields in microalgae, a potential source for life support, fuel, and food on long-duration missions.
The crew will depart the space station after the arrival of Crew-11 and a handover period. Ahead of Crew-10’s return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California prior to departure from station.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which provides reliable access to space, maximizing the use of the station for research and development and supporting future missions beyond low Earth orbit by partnering with private companies to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Follow updates on the Crew-10 mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/crew-10
-end-
Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 to Discuss Station Mission, Upcoming Return
Media are invited to hear from NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 during a news conference beginning at 10:40 a.m. EDT, Friday, July 25, from the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov will discuss their upcoming return to Earth on the agency’s YouTube channel.
Media interested in participating must contact the newsroom at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston no later than 5 p.m., Thursday, July 24, at 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. To ask questions, media must dial into the news conference no later than 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. A copy of NASA’s media accreditation policy is online.
Crew-10 joined the Expedition 72 crew when arriving to the station in March. Throughout Expedition 72 and into Expedition 73, the crew aboard the space station contributed to hundreds of experiments, including testing expanded capabilities of existing hardware for pharmaceutical production in space, investigating how cells sense gravity, which is an important aspect of space biology, and examining the effects of microgravity on protein yields in microalgae, a potential source for life support, fuel, and food on long-duration missions.
The crew will depart the space station after the arrival of Crew-11 and a handover period. Ahead of Crew-10’s return, mission teams will review weather conditions at the splashdown sites off the coast of California prior to departure from station.
The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which provides reliable access to space, maximizing the use of the station for research and development and supporting future missions beyond low Earth orbit by partnering with private companies to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
Follow updates on the Crew-10 mission at:
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/crew-10
-end-
Claire O’Shea
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
claire.a.o’shea@nasa.gov
Courtney Beasley
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
courtney.m.beasley@nasa.gov
Optimists Are Alike, but Pessimists Are Unique, Brain Scan Study Suggests
Optimists have similar patterns of brain activation when they think about the future—but pessimists are all different from one another, a brain scan study suggests