Space and astronomy news
In Kubrick’s and Clark’s 2001 Space Odyssey, there was no question of “Boots or Bots”[ref]. The monolith had been left for humanity as a mileage and direction marker on Route 66 to the stars. So we went to Jupiter and Dave Bowman overcame a sentient machine, shut it down cold and went forth to discover …
After a hiatus of six long years, US astronauts will finally launch to space in a revolutionary new pair of private crew capsules under development by Boeing and SpaceX, starting in 2017, that will end our sole source reliance on the Russians for launching our astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Two years from …
Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain) Guests: Morgan Rehnberg (cosmicchatter.org / @MorganRehnberg ) Ramin Skibba (@raminskibba) Brian Koberlein (@briankoberlein)
The New Horizons spacecraft is now just a few months away from its encounter with Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, arriving in July, 2015. Back in 2008, the New Horizons team revealed the secret stowaways they had hidden on board the spacecraft. Nine objects (can you guess why there are nine?!) were attached and sent …
Continue reading “Did You Know There are 9 Secret Items Hidden on Pluto’s New Horizons Mission?”
Assuming we can get humans all the way to Mars, how the heck do we land them on the Red Planet? The challenge is the atmosphere of Mars is very thin, making parachutes tricky. Heavier payloads require unique ideas to get them on the surface, such as the wild ride we saw for the Curiosity …
Continue reading “NASA Mars Landing Craft Idea Is More Than Just Child’s Play”
It seems a lot of the space stories of this year involve spacecraft making journeys: bouncing across a comet, or making their way to Mars. Private companies also figure prominently, both in terms of successes and prominent failures. These are Universe Today’s picks for the top space stories of the year. Disagree? Think we forgot …
Continue reading “Universe Today’s Top 10 Space Stories of 2014”
When you’re flying above Earth in a spaceship or space station, taking a clear picture below is more than a point-and-shoot job. As NASA astronaut Don Pettit explains in this video, you need to account for the motion of your little craft to get the best pictures below. And Pettit should know, being a photographer …
Continue reading “How To Take Photos Of Earth While Whizzing At 17,000 MPH”
It’s funny to think that your smartphone might be faster than a new spaceship, but that’s what one report is saying about the Orion spacecraft. The computers are less-than-cutting-edge, the processors are 12 years old, and the speed at which it “thinks” is … slow, at least compared to a typical laptop today. But according …
Continue reading “Why NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Flew Old, Slow Computers Into Orbit”
Just before dawn on Wednesday (Nov. 26), a pilot in Belgrade caught this stunning video of a “huge number of glowing pieces of whatever” breaking up in the atmosphere above. You know what this is? A rocket, most likely! It’s the upper stage for the Soyuz that launched three people to space on Sunday (Nov. …
Continue reading “Rocket Remains? Video Shows ‘Pieces Of Whatever’ Flaming High Above Belgrade”
Need a part on the International Space Station? You’re going to have to wait for that. That is, wait for the next spaceship to arrive with the critical tool to make a repair, or replace something that broke. You can imagine how that slows down NASA’s desire for science on the orbiting laboratory. Enter the …
Continue reading “NASA Aims To Slash Space Shipping Costs With Shiny 3-D Printer”