Hey, Space Fans! We're starting this week off with something we've all been waiting for a long time: The "stranded" Boeing Starliner astroanuts are finally beginning their trip home.
Tonight, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, alongside NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov, will depart the ISS and prepare for their trip home. Williams and Wilmore are 9 months into a planned 10-day mission due to Boeing Starliner capsule issues.
There's a lot going on with the moon. For starters, it exists, which is weird in its own way when compared to Mercury and Venus. Mars does have two moons, but they're really just captured asteroids. Earth is the only rocky planet in the solar system with a significant moon, and there may be a reason for that.
We rate Celestron's EclipSmart 10x25 Solar Binoculars as one of our best solar binoculars for safe sungazing at their usual price of $34.95. Right now, they are even better value as you can pick them up with a $20.29 saving in this binoculars deal β a terrific buy for viewing the partial solar eclipse on March 29.
It's one of the most spectacular naked eye sights in the winter night sky, but the Pleiades β also called the Seven Sisters and M45 β will soon sink into the western horizon shortly after sunset. The stars of the Pleiades feature in the lore of many cultures, often symbolizing good fortune, navigation and protection. The ancient Greeks linked its appearance to agricultural prosperity; in Japan (where it's called Subaru), it's related to guidance and harmony, and in Navajo culture, it's a symbol of unity and order in the universe.
You know, we mentioned Rocket Lab's planned launch for tonight, but the company is setting its future targets much higher than low Earth orbit: The planet Venus.
Rocket Lab hopes to launch the first private mission to Venus and has teamed up with MIT and NASA to do it. In fact, they've just installed the heat shield on their probe. Check it out!
Where's the water on Mars? It's a huge question that could affect how humans explore the Red Planet. Now, scientists say there may be water IN Mars, just not on the surface.
"Many studies suggest the presence of water on ancient Mars billions of years ago,"one scientist says. "But our model indicates the presence of liquid water on present-day Mars." Here's how it could work.
Netflix's "Black Mirror" is a provocative, imaginative, and often extremely disturbing sci-fi horror TV anthology that represents some of the best material on the streaming titan, and now a bold new Season 7 trailer has been unleashed with a callback to one of the finest episodes of Season 4 (and perhaps the entire series): "USS Callister."
Let's star the week with something historic that happened today in space.
On Saint Patrick's Day in 1958, the U.S. Navy launched Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite and the oldest artificial satellite currently orbiting the Earth. The main purpose of this mission was to test a new three-stage rocket. Vanguard 1 was the fourth satellite ever launched into space (following Sputniks 1 and 2 and Explorer 1). It looks a lot like a miniature version of Sputnik.
We'll close today with this stunning photo as comet C/2024 G3 lights up the sunset sky over Chile's Very Large Telescope.What you're seeing here is the Great Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), a comet discovered in 2024 that lit up the night sky late in that year and early 2025, and was the brightest comet in 18 years when it was visible to stargazers throughout January 2025.
You'll find more about the image (and comet) in our link below and have a great Monday, Space Fans!
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