"Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools."
--1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

"Correction: It is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum. The 'Times' regrets the error."
NY Times, July 1969.

— New York Times

Feed aggregator

'Flashes of brilliance and frustration': I let an AI agent run my day

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 12:00pm
Ordering takeaway food, writing emails, reworking presentations: AI assistants are promoted as a way of outsourcing mundane tasks to free up your time for more interesting pursuits. So, what are they actually good for – and what are the risks?
Categories: Astronomy

'Flashes of brilliance and frustration': I let an AI agent run my day

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 12:00pm
Ordering takeaway food, writing emails, reworking presentations: AI assistants are promoted as a way of outsourcing mundane tasks to free up your time for more interesting pursuits. So, what are they actually good for – and what are the risks?
Categories: Astronomy

What time is the full moon tonight?

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 12:00pm
Find out what time the full moon rises on July 10, 2025, how to see the Buck Moon from your location, and why it looks bigger near the horizon.
Categories: Astronomy

Stellar Duo

NASA Image of the Day - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 11:32am
The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has also captured a smaller companion star in the upper left of this image. Both stars lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1450 light years from Earth.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Stellar Duo

NASA - Breaking News - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 11:30am
ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a bright variable star, V 372 Orionis, and its companion in this festive image in this image released on Jan. 27, 2023. The pair lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1,450 light-years from Earth.

V 372 Orionis is a particular type of variable star known as an Orion Variable. These young stars experience some tempestuous moods and growing pains, which are visible to astronomers as irregular variations in luminosity. Orion Variables are often associated with diffuse nebulae, and V 372 Orionis is no exception; the patchy gas and dust of the Orion Nebula pervade this scene.

Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

Categories: NASA

Stellar Duo

NASA News - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 11:30am
ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a bright variable star, V 372 Orionis, and its companion in this festive image in this image released on Jan. 27, 2023. The pair lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1,450 light-years from Earth.

V 372 Orionis is a particular type of variable star known as an Orion Variable. These young stars experience some tempestuous moods and growing pains, which are visible to astronomers as irregular variations in luminosity. Orion Variables are often associated with diffuse nebulae, and V 372 Orionis is no exception; the patchy gas and dust of the Orion Nebula pervade this scene.

Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

Categories: NASA

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 11:26am
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink satellites launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on July 8, 2025.
Categories: Astronomy

Science Makes the U.S. a Great Nation

Scientific American.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 10:00am

History tells us what happens when great nations attack science

Categories: Astronomy

How your smartphone is powered by debris from a nova star explosion

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 10:00am
The discovery could explain why younger stars seem to have more lithium than the Big Bang theory says they should have.
Categories: Astronomy

The best viral star projector is now 25% off for Amazon Prime Day

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 9:24am
The Orzorz Star Projector, the best viral model and best under $100, is now 25% off this Amazon Prime Day in one of the best star projector deals.
Categories: Astronomy

How Trump's budget cuts could affect 2 iconic space telescopes: Hubble and James Webb

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 9:00am
At the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting in Alaska last month, scientists discussed how Trump's budget cuts could affect operations for the Hubble Space Telescope and JWST.
Categories: Astronomy

Cutting-Edge Physics and Chemistry Now Unfold One Attosecond at a Time

Scientific American.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 8:00am

An attosecond—or 0.000000000000000001 second—is no time at all for a person. That is not so for electrons, atoms and molecules, and laser-wielding scientists are revealing the action

Categories: Astronomy

NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers works on experiment in microgravity | Space photo of the day for July 8, 2025

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 8:00am
Aboard the International Space Station, Ayers pulls out physics research hardware inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox
Categories: Astronomy

Best Amazon Prime Day 2025 drone deals

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 6:43am
We've rounded up the best Amazon Prime Day drone deals as the retailer's annual sales event kicks off on July 8 and runs through to July 11.
Categories: Astronomy

Save over $600 on the Sony A7III in this anti-Prime Day deal from Walmart

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 6:31am
Our best low-light mirrorless camera is only $1380 from Walmart on this anti-Prime deal and is a huge $118 cheaper than Amazon!
Categories: Astronomy

Can Canada get to orbit? Companies NordSpace and ProtoSpace hope to launch country's 1st space mission (exclusive)

Space.com - Tue, 07/08/2025 - 6:00am
Canadian company NordSpace hopes to be the first in the country's history to launch an orbital rocket from Canadian soil. They've got the support of ProtoSpace, a specialized aerospace manufacturing provider hoping to support Canada's budding space industry.
Categories: Astronomy

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - Mon, 07/07/2025 - 8:00pm

What do you see when you look into this sky?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

NASA News - Mon, 07/07/2025 - 7:21pm
Curiosity Navigation

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.


For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates


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Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

NASA - Breaking News - Mon, 07/07/2025 - 7:21pm
Curiosity Navigation

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.


For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates


Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sol 4588: Ridges and troughs

Article


2 hours ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

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Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.


Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…


Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Categories: NASA