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Monday, May 20, 2024

Blue Origin launches 1st Black astronaut candidate, age 90, and 5 space tourists on New Shepard rocket (video)

Blue Origin launches 1st crew since August 2022 | Space Quiz! What does the color of a meteorite indicate? | This Week In Space: Episode 111 - The Big Glass Wars

Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version

May 20, 2024

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Something amazing every day.

The Launchpad

Blue Origin launches 1st crew since August 2022

(Blue Origin)

Blue Origin's nearly two-year human spaceflight drought is over. Jeff Bezos' aerospace company launched its NS-25 mission today (May 19), sending six people - including the United States' first-ever Black astronaut candidate -- on a brief trip to suborbital space aboard its New Shepard rocket-capsule combo.

Full Story: Space (5/19)

Space Quiz! What does the color of a meteorite indicate?

Learn the answer in one of the stories below!

This Week In Space: Episode 111 - The Big Glass Wars

(TWiS)

On Episode 111 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq talk with Dr. John Mulchaey, Director of the Carnegie Observatories, about the threat to completing two new giant astronomical observatories. Welcome to the Big Glass Wars! That's right, just when you thought you'd heard it all, turns out there's hot competition among a few countries to stay on the cutting edge of optical astronomy, and to do that, you need a great big hunk of glass to gather light from distant galaxies and stellar systems.

Full Story: Space (5/18)

Skywatching

Bright green fireball lights up the skies over Portugal

(ESA/PDO/AMS82 - AllSky7)

The meteor was confirmed by European Space Agency (ESA), who caught the fireball with its cameras in Cáceres, Spain, at 6:46 p.m. EDT (22:46 UTC) on Saturday (May 18). The ESA confirmed that the fireball was a piece of a comet that rocketed over Spain and Portugal, traveling at around 100,000 miles per hour, or about 65 times as fast as the top speed of a Lockheed Martin F-16 jet fighter. The ESA added that the meteor likely burned up over the Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of around 38 miles (60 kilometers) over Earth. Social media users took to X, Facebook, and Reddit by the thousands to discuss the bright fireball and share stunning images and videos.

Full Story: Space (5/19)

Science & Astronomy

PREFIRE ready to unlock mysteries of Earth's poles

(NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA is preparing to launch its latest climate science mission, the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE), which aims to capture brand new data on how heat is lost to space from Earth's polar regions. PREFIRE consists of a pair of cubesats that will launch separately into near-polar orbits. The first, "Ready, Aim, PREFIRE," is set to launch no earlier than (NET) May 22, on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Pad B at the company's Launch Complex 1, in Māhia, New Zealand. The second cubesat, "PREFIRE and ICE," will launch a few days later.

Full Story: Space (5/18)

Technology

Pulsed plasma rocket aims to get to Mars in 2 months

(Howe Industries)

An innovative rocket system could revolutionize future deep space missions to Mars, reducing travel time to the Red Planet to just a few months. The goal of landing humans on Mars has presented a myriad of challenges, including the need to quickly transport large payloads to and from the distant planet, which, depending on the positions of Earth and Mars, would take almost two years for a round trip using current propulsion technology.

Full Story: Space (5/19)

Telescopes & Binoculars

Budget binoculars 2024: Cheap but high-quality models

(Tantse Walter)

The best budget binoculars make hobbies like astronomy and birdwatching more accessible because, let's face it, investing in optics can get expensive quickly. Not everyone can afford to buy top-of-the-line products, but that doesn't mean we should be deprived of hobbies and experiences. Inexpensive binoculars can be a more economical solution for those who want to use them occasionally.

Full Story: Space (2/6)

Entertainment

Everything we know about 'A Quiet Place: Day One'

(Paramount Pictures)

We're about to discover how "the world went quiet" in A Quiet Place: Day One, a prequel that depicts the sudden apocalypse on a much larger scale. With the critical and financial success of both A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II, it should come as no surprise that we're getting more.

Full Story: Space (5/19)

Star Wars

'Star Wars: The Phantom Menace' at 25

(20th Century Fox)

Yippee! "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" blows out the candles on its 25th anniversary birthday cake yesterday. After taking in a screening during its short return to theaters for Star Wars Day week, we can honestly say that this polarizing film still has its problems but honestly elicits enough thrills to warrant a repeat viewing, if only to hear John Williams sweeping musical score and see Ray Park's acrobatic Darth Maul twirl his double-bladed lightsaber while seething with palpable hatred toward the gallant Jedi Knights.

Full Story: Space (5/19)

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Friday, May 17, 2024

In the Milky Way, 3 intruder stars are 'on the run' — in the wrong direction

Blue Origin launching 6 on 1st crewed mission since 2022 | 3 Milky Way intruder stars running in the wrong direction | Japanese-European spacecraft weakened by thruster glitch

Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version

May 17, 2024

CONNECT WITH SPACE.COM

Something amazing every day.

The Launchpad

Blue Origin launching 6 on 1st crewed mission since 2022

(Blue Origin)

Blue Origin is set to break its dry spell of crewed launches this weekend. A crew of six will be aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket-capsule combo on the company's 25th overall launch and seventh space tourism mission, which will lift off from West Texas. The passengers on this flight, known as NS-25, were announced last month; they include retired U.S. Air Force Capt. Ed Dwight, who was selected as the nation's first Black astronaut candidate way back in 1961.

Full Story: Space (5/16)

3 Milky Way intruder stars running in the wrong direction

(Serge Brunier; NASA)

Astronomers have discovered three ancient stars "on the run" in the outskirts of the Milky Way galaxy, racing the wrong way at hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. Despite being spritely for their age, the three stars are so old that they date back to the formation of the first galaxies. That's between one and two billion years after the Big Bang.

Full Story: Space (5/16)

Spaceflight

Japanese-European spacecraft weakened by thruster glitch

(ESA/ATG medialab)

The BepiColombo spacecraft, operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), could be feeling the heat even before it reaches its destination: Mercury. Thanks to a glitch, the spacecraft's thrusters are no longer operating at full power. The team has yet to determine how this will impact upcoming maneuvers, like a Mercury flyby set for later this year.

Full Story: Space (5/16)

Science & Astronomy

Juno probe captures high-res images of icy moon Europa

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS. Image processing: Björn Jónsson (CC BY 3.0))

When NASA's Juno spacecraft performed its closest approach to Jupiter's moon Europa in September 2022, it captured evidence not only for pockets of briny water connected to the world's deep subsurface ocean, but also for potential scars formed by towering plumes of water vapor - and it caught that evidence on camera

Full Story: Space (5/16)

SpaceX

SpaceX stacks Starship megarocket ahead of 4th test flight

(SpaceX)

Starship stacking is a dramatic and impressive sight. There's a striking juxtaposition of mechanical and natural beauty, for example, as a gleaming silver rocket rises amid shrub-studded seaside dunes. And that 400-foot-tall (122 meters) rocket is bigger and more powerful than any other launch vehicle humanity has ever built.

Full Story: Space (5/16)

Technology

India test-fires new 3D-printed rocket engine (photo)

(ISRO)

India has announced a breakthrough that could boost its efforts to grow as a space-faring nation. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) performed a successful hot-fire test of a liquid-fueled rocket engine that was built using additive manufacturing (colloquially known as 3D printing) technology.

Full Story: Space (5/16)

Search for Life

Could an SLS save NASA's Mars sample return mission?

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

Boeing has put forward its own idea to help NASA get its Mars Sample Return project back on track and on budget. NASA issued a solicitation for new ideas to get scientifically invaluable Martian material to Earth after being told the current plan is too expensive (about $11 billion), while also being too complex and facing scheduling issues.

Full Story: Space (5/17)

Entertainment

Watch the 1st trailer for 'Dune: Prophecy' prequel series

(Max Originals)

Sneaking in seemingly unnoticed into the streaming sphere until just now, avid fans of Frank Herbert's "Dune" universe have immediately had their consciousnesses enlightened like a liberal dose of spice thanks to a new trailer for the upcoming Max Originals, "Dune: Prophecy."

Full Story: Space (5/16)