Musk and Trump repeat false 'stranded' astronauts claims | NASA lowers impact risk of 'city-killer' asteroid 2024 YR4 | What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2024
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Elon Musk and President Trump are continuing a false narrative that NASA astronauts from Boeing's Starliner mission were "abandoned" in space. NASA and the astronauts disagree: "They were never stuck or stranded."
If you've been worrying about reports of a possible 2024 YR4 asteroid impact in 2032, we have very good news! NASA has dropped the probability to just 1 in 67. The radical drop in impact risk for 2024 YR4 came just a day after its risk factor was increased to 1 in 32 or 3.1%. This increase saw 2024 YR4 become the most risky asteroid in the history of NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) Sentry Risk Table was introduced.
Moon phases reveal the passage of time in the night sky. Some nights when we look up at the moon, it is full and bright; sometimes it is just a sliver of silvery light. These changes in appearance are the phases of the moon. As the moon orbits Earth, it cycles through eight distinct phases. Today, Feb. 20, 2025, the moon is 22 days old and is in the Waning Gibbous phase of its lunar cycle, and is 52% illuminated.
Firefly's lunar lander, named Blue Ghost, entered orbit around the moon last week, ending a four-day transit from Earth and starting to gear up for a lunar touchdown. In the lead-up to that landing attempt, which should take place a little less than two weeks from now, Blue Ghost recently completed a three-minute, 18-second engine burn to lower its orbit around the moon. The maneuver brought the lander to an altitude of 75 miles (120 kilometers) above the lunar surface, where it will remain until beginning its descent.
Using 16 years of data from NASA's gamma-ray detecting Fermi spacecraft, astronomers have discovered that "microquasars," systems in which a black hole is slowly devouring a star, may be small, but they pack one heck of a punch.
Jumping exercises could help protect astronauts from knee and hip pain during long-term missions to the moon and Mars, according to new research. The findings add to the growing body of evidence aimed at safeguarding future space travelers from the potentially debilitating effects of prolonged spaceflight.
John Glenn was the third American to launch into space and the third human to orbit Earth. Two Soviet cosmonauts had orbited Earth before him. He blasted off from Cape Canaveral in a Mercury spacecraft named Friendship 7 and circled the Earth three times. The mission lasted close to 5 hours. After a bumpy re-entry, Friendship 7 splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean about 40 miles away from where it was supposed to land. But all's well that ends well, and John Glenn went down in history as an American hero.
