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Sciencespace

All articles tagged with #sciencespace

sciencespace3 days ago•4 min saved

Voyager 1 Reaches One-Light-Day Milestone After 50 Years

NASA's Voyager 1 is set to reach a distance of one light-day from Earth on November 18, 2026, making it the farthest human-made object as it continues its nearly 50-year journey; data still travels back to Earth with about a 23-hour delay, and the probe carries on with a small set of instruments while power wanes. Voyager 2, launched shortly before its twin, is also in interstellar space at about 21.3 billion miles from Earth, with some instruments powered down to conserve energy.

via bgr.com|

#interstellar-space #milestone #nasa

sciencespace6 days ago•14 min saved

Saturn's rings could be a recent addition to the planet

Cassini-era analyses suggest Saturn’s bright main rings may be tens to hundreds of millions of years old rather than billions, implying a relatively recent origin after much of the dinosaur era. While ring purity and mass measurements support a younger exposure age, newer studies caution that dust deposition, space weathering, and model assumptions keep the true age unsettled. Some scenarios even propose a collision or disruption of icy moons as the ring source. The rings are also losing material and evolving, so their future may include slow disappearance into Saturn, reinforcing that the exact formation time remains debated.

via Space Daily|

#cassini #dinosaur-era #exposure-age

sciencespace16 days ago•14 min saved

Space is just up there: Earth's air is an apple-skin-thin shield

A Space Daily explainer shows that the 100-kilometre Kármán line is a regulatory boundary, not a physical cliff; if you drove straight up at highway speed you’d reach space in under an hour, illustrating how incredibly thin Earth's breathable air is. About 99% of the atmosphere’s mass sits in the lowest ~32 km, and by 100 km altitude the air is roughly one millionth as dense as at sea level. The atmosphere’s layered protection—troposphere for life-supporting gases and the ozone-rich stratosphere—makes surface habitability possible, underscoring how the “apple-skin” thickness of the air is truly remarkable.

via Space Daily|

#atmosphere #earth #karman-line

sciencespace1 month ago•2 min saved

JWST Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, Revealing New Chemistry

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected methane in the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the MIRI instrument, marking the first direct methane fingerprint on an interstellar object; the methane-to-water ratio is unusually high and CO2 is also abundant, pointing to a different formation environment than typical solar system comets. Methane appears buried beneath the surface and released as the comet heats near the Sun, while water vapor dissociates more widely in the coma; two observations show gas production declining with distance from the Sun, with methane and CO2 concentrated near the nucleus.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#3i-atlas #interstellar-comet #jwst

sciencespace1 month ago•29 min saved

Artemis III crew named for NASA's lunar return

NASA unveiled Artemis III's four-astronaut crew for a 2028 Moon landing: commander Randy Bresnik; mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas; and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano. The mission is among NASA's most complex and hinges on lunar lander work by SpaceX and Blue Origin, with new AxEMU suits in development. Notably, Artemis III will be a four-man crew, an all-male lineup amid ongoing discussions about funding and timelines.

via BBC|

#artemis-iii #astronauts #moon

sciencespace1 month ago•5 min saved

Landsat Lunar Checkups Keep Earth Data Accurate

NASA’s Landsat 9 regularly points its sensors at the Moon during the full Moon to detect and correct drift, using the Moon’s stability as a reference to keep decades of Earth observations consistent, a process that runs alongside Artemis’ return to lunar exploration.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#artemis-program #earth-observation #landsat-9

sciencespace1 month ago•2 min saved

China Tests Stem-Cell Embryos in Orbit to Assess Space Reproduction Feasibility

China conducted an on-orbit study aboard the Tiangong station using artificial embryos made from human stem cells to examine early development in microgravity. The two embryo models (one simulating uterine attachment and another using a microfluidic chip to mimic tissue formation) were cultured for about five days on the Tianzhou-10 supply ship, then frozen and returned to Earth for analysis, with Earth-based controls for comparison. The goal is to understand potential risks to human reproduction during long-term space habitation, not to create real babies in space.

via Gizmodo|

#biology #china #reproduction

sciencespace1 month ago•4 min saved

SpaceX targets May 19 for first Starship Version 3 flight

SpaceX announced May 19 as the target date for the first flight of Starship Version 3 from Starbase, Texas, featuring upgraded Raptor engines and a new launch pad. The Flight 12 test will validate the redesigned booster and upper stage, including a soft splashdown for the booster, 22 mass simulators to model next-generation Starlink satellites, imagery payloads to test heat shield readiness, and reentry maneuvers as SpaceX pursues full reuse for orbital missions and potential Artemis lunar missions. SpaceX is also exploring additional launch sites (including a Louisiana parcel) to support thousands of Starship flights per year, alongside pads at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral.

via SpaceNews|

#launch #nasaartemis #sciencespace

sciencespace2 months ago•4 min saved

Global pact for planetary defence as Ramses targets Apophis

ESA and JAXA signed memoranda to deepen planetary-defence collaboration and advance the Ramses mission to rendezvous with asteroid Apophis ahead of its 2029 Earth flyby, with ESA leading spacecraft design and JAXA contributing key hardware to study tidal effects and improve deflection knowledge; the 2029 flyby will bring Apophis within about 32,000 km of Earth, presenting a rare science and public-engagement opportunity.

via European Space Agency|

#apophis #esa-jaxa-collaboration #near-earth-objects

sciencespace2 months ago•4 min saved

Martian Nickel Clue: Perseverance Uncovers 3-Billion-Year-Old Rocks with Rare Mineral Signatures

NASA’s Perseverance rover found unusually high nickel levels (up to 1.1% by weight) in rocks from Neretva Vallis in Jezero crater, dating about 3 billion years, with nickel‑rich minerals in magnesium‑sulfate veins that resemble Earth’s pyrite. While this hints at a chemical environment that could support microbial processes, it does not prove life on Mars; the nickel’s origin is uncertain and requires further study.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#jezero-crater #mars #microbial-life

sciencespace3 months ago•3 min saved

Rare Fireball Dazzles California Skies, SLO County Among Sightings

A rare fireball lit up California skies Sunday night, with San Luis Obispo County observers among those viewing the event. NASA Space Alerts tracked the meteor as it sped about 35,000 mph, traveling roughly 58 miles through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating about 29 miles above Calflax. The American Meteor Society logged more than 230 sightings across California, Arizona and Nevada, with witnesses reporting colors from blue to orange and, in some places, a faint boom accompanying the event.

via San Luis Obispo Tribune|

#california #meteor #nasa

sciencespace3 months ago•37 min saved

NASA's Methalox Boom: Florida Tests Gauge Rocket Safety

NASA is conducting controlled detonation tests of methane-oxygen fuel (methalox) at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to measure blast radius, concussion, and shrapnel distances for rocket-safety purposes. The program unfolds in three series, escalating from about 100 pounds to 2,000 pounds, then up to 20,000 pounds of fuel, with SpaceX having done its own testing but NASA pursuing its independent safety verification (and a bit of spectacle) before any full-scale launches.

via Yahoo|

#eglinairforcebase #florida #methalox

sciencespace4 months ago•5 min saved

NASA Sets Public Briefing on Artemis II Readiness for Crewed Lunar Mission

NASA will hold a 3 p.m. EDT media briefing at Kennedy Space Center on March 12 after completing the Artemis II Flight Readiness Review, outlining progress toward the four-astronaut crewed lunar mission and discussing the performance of the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft; the live briefing will feature key NASA leaders and frame Artemis II as a stepping stone to sustainable lunar exploration and future Mars missions.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#artemis-ii #moon-mission #nasa

sciencespace4 months ago•35 min saved

Artemis II set for lunar flyby with four-astronaut crew, launch delayed to April

NASA's Artemis II will send four astronauts around the Moon on a 10‑day test flight aboard the Space Launch System and Orion capsule, marking the first crewed lunar mission in more than five decades. After a fueling‑system issue forced the rocket back to Kennedy Space Center for repairs, NASA moved the launch to no earlier than April. The mission will test life‑support and other deep‑space systems ahead of a lunar landing targeted for Artemis III in 2028. Crew members are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen; Koch would be the first woman aboard a lunar mission, and Glover would be the first person of color to do so.

via Yahoo|

#artemis-ii #moon #nasa

sciencespace5 months ago•7 min saved

Elon Musk Signals SpaceX Shift: From Mars Settlement to a Moon-Based City

Elon Musk revealed on X that SpaceX is pivoting from a Mars-first goal to building a self-growing Moon city, arguing the Moon could be developed in under a decade while Mars would take 20+ years. The shift comes as Blue Origin has begun demonstrating lunar capabilities and as Musk expands into AI via xAI, with plans that include mass-driver concepts on the Moon to enable in-space construction. The move suggests SpaceX may prioritize near-term lunar development and collaboration with NASA, rather than an immediate push to Mars, even as both destinations remain part of Musk’s broader space ambitions.

via Ars Technica|

#ai #blueorigin #mars