Spacecraft & Probes
Researchers Capture the Sound of Sunrise on Mars
NASA’s Opportunity rover captured the 5,000th sunrise on Mars. To celebrate that, scientists have reproduced it in sound. Researchers from Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Exeter in the UK used data sonification techniques to create a two-minute piece of music. For this achievement, they scanned a picture...
NASA’s Kepler Telescope is Dead
After nine years in deep space, NASA officially bid farewell to the Kepler telescope. The spacecraft revealed a universe full of planets. The most prolific planet-hunting machine has run out of fuel. The American space agency has decided to retire the spacecraft within its current, safe orbit, away from Earth. “Science...
Parker Solar Probe Becomes Closest Spacecraft to the Sun
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe just broke the record for closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object. So, the spacecraft passed the current record of 26.55 million miles from the Sun’s surface on Oct. 29, 2018, at about 1:04 p.m. EDT, as calculated by the Parker Solar Probe team. It was the German-American...
Hubble Telescope is in Trouble After a Mechanical Failure
One of the most important scientific instruments ever created is in trouble. NASA placed Hubble Space Telescope in safe-mode after a mechanical failure. The 28-year-old space observatory just lost one of the gyroscopes needed to point the spacecraft. So, the telescope is now operating with only essential functions. “On...
SpaceX Launching NASA Astronauts For the First Time in 2019
NASA has scheduled its very first crewed flight by a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station for June next year. The mission will be the first manned US launch to the ISS since the retirement of NASA’s shuttles in 2011. Since that time, astronauts have had to rely on Russian spacecraft to get to the orbiting...
Japan’s Rovers Successfully Land on Asteroid Ryugu
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched a pair of rovers on the asteroid Ryugu. They successfully landed and sent back remarkable photos. Engineers deployed the robots early Friday (Sept. 21). However, JAXA waited until today (Sept. 22) to confirm the operation was successful and both rovers landed safely....
SpaceX to Send a Passenger Around the Moon
The world’s first passenger is flying to the moon. SpaceX announced on Thursday that it will fly a passenger around the moon on its giant BFR rocket. In a tweet, Thursday evening (Sept. 13), SpaceX announced that it has “signed the world’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch...
NASA Waiting For The Rover To Call Back After Storms Clear
The massive dust storms on Mars finally come to an end. NASA hopes the Opportunity rover will call back home for the first time in nearly three months. NASA detected the storm for the first time on May 30. June 10 was the last time the US space agency heard from their rover. The solar-powered machine went into “sleep” mode...
NASA to Unveil First Commercial Crew Astronauts Today
Today (Aug. 3), NASA will announce the first commercial crew astronauts who will fly in SpaceX and Boeing spacecraft. These are also the first flights to launch from the United States soil since the space shuttle retired in 2011. The two American corporations SpaceX and Boeing are under contract to provide a taxi-like service...
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is Launching on August 6
NASA rescheduled the launch of Parker Solar Probe on August 6. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy will light up the sky near Cape Canaveral, Florida. On late Wednesday NASA announced the two-day delay from the previous target launch date of Aug. 4. “Additional time was needed to evaluate the configuration of a cable...