Fans of “Star Trek Fleet Command” can now play characters from every timeline in the popular science fiction franchise’s universe. The “Star Trek” mobile game will have new content spanning series from the 1960s to the present day, from “Star Trek: The Original Series” (TOS) all the way up to the modern-day “Star Trek: Discovery”…
Many Iowa farmers suddenly saw their crops flattened after a set of strong thunderstorms battered the state this month, NASA reported while sharing satellite images of the damage. The line of thunderstorms, called a derecho, hit the U.S. Midwest hard on Aug. 10. Tens of thousands of people in Iowa were still without power a…
The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency has approved the commercial manufacture of VITAL, a breathing device designed specifically to address the needs of coronavirus patients. In late April, NASA announced the development of Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally (VITAL), a ventilator prototype designed specifically to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, 28 manufacturers around the world…
WASHINGTON — Satellite operator Orbcomm, smallsat builder AAC Clyde Space, and Swedish aerospace contractor Saab are working on a demonstration cubesat for maritime communications that could mark the beginning of a new constellation, the companies announced Aug. 24. The 3U cubesat will test a very high frequency data exchange system, or VDES, payload from Saab…
An early space shuttle mockup that was used in the test of NASA ground facilities before becoming part of a landmark public display has qualified as an “American Treasure” worthy of preservation and a half-a-million-dollar federal grant. The National Park Service (NPS) on Thursday (Aug. 20) announced that it was providing $500,000 towards the conservation…
SpaceX has fired up the latest prototype of its Starship Mars-colonizing spacecraft, keeping the vehicle on track for a possible test flight this weekend. The SN6 Starship prototype’s single Raptor engine briefly roared to life during a “static fire” trial yesterday (Aug. 23) at SpaceX’s facilities in South Texas, near the village of Boca Chica. …
Rocket Lab’s comeback mission will lift off on Wednesday night (Aug. 26), if all goes according to plan. The California-based company hasn’t flown since July 4, when its two-stage Electron rocket suffered an anomaly shortly after launch, ending a string of 11 straight successful missions. By the end of July, Rocket Lab had traced the…
WASHINGTON — A Delta 4 Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch a classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office Aug. 26 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. NROL-44 will be the 41st launch of United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 rocket, and the 12th in the heavy configuration. ULA said Aug. 24 that the vehicle…
China has a long history of stealing from the United States, particularly in the intellectual property sphere, and we have clear national and economic security interests in safeguarding domestic space programs from China’s ruling Communist Party. In order to preserve U.S. leadership in space, we must know who we are going into business with so…
One of the worst extinction events in Earth’s history may have been triggered by a supernova, the violent death of a distant star. About 75% of all species on Earth died out at the end of the Devonian Period, nearly 360 million years ago. Rocks from this era preserve many thousands of spores that appear…
LAST UPDATED Aug. 24: These dates are subject to change, and will be updated throughout the year as firmer dates arise. Please DO NOT schedule travel based on a date you see here. Launch dates collected from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, Spaceflight Now and others. Watch NASA webcasts and other live launch coverage on our “Watch Live” page, and see our night sky webcasts…
Without a doubt, the Celestron Ambassador 80AZ is one of the most beautifully crafted telescopes we have had the chance to review — it’s made almost entirely of brass, polished to a high finish and affixed to a mahogany tripod. Due to the stunning appearance of the telescope, which also features a brass star diagonal,…
A small, soft space rock smacked into Costa Rica on April 23, 2019. And it may have carried building blocks for life. The washing machine-sized clay fireball broke up before landing, . Locals found shards scattered between two villages, La Palmera and Aguas Zarcas. And while meteorites turn up all over Earth, these shards were…
If you’ve seen a worrying headline about an asteroid passing too close for comfort on Nov. 2, the day before the U.S. heads to the poll fir the 2020 presidential election, NASA wants you to take a deep breath and relax. There is indeed a space rock, called 2018 VP1, that will make a close…
Spacecraft made of carbon-foam bubbles could zoom from Earth to Alpha Centauri in 185 years, driven solely by the power of the sun, a new study finds. A swarm of these probes might help discover and study our solar system’s mysterious Planet Nine, if this hypothesized world exists, scientists added. Conventional rockets driven by chemical…
Turns out it’s not just Superman who flies faster than a speeding bullet. Our Milky Way galaxy has been blasting mysterious, cold gas clouds out from the galactic center “like bullets,” according to a new study. What’s more, scientists aren’t sure how the gas was thrown out in the first place. The researchers say throwing…
‘Oumuamua — a mysterious, interstellar object that crashed through our solar system two years ago — might in fact be alien technology. That’s because an alternative, non-alien explanation might be fatally flawed, as a new study argues. But most scientists think the idea that we spotted alien technology in our solar system is a long…
WASHINGTON — NASA is seeking ideas from scientists on the research astronauts could carry out on the first Artemis lunar landing mission in 2024. NASA announced Aug. 21 it seeking brief white papers on the science the astronauts on the Artemis 3 mission can carry out. The papers, no more than two pages long, are…
A time capsule of the earliest days of the solar system may be the first clue in explaining a long-standing puzzle for those who study life: It appears to be stubbornly asymmetrical. The story begins in 2012, when scientists discovered a golf-ball-sized hunk of rock now known as Asuka 12236 on the icy expanses of…
SpaceX is forging ahead with preparations for its next NASA astronaut mission, currently slated for a late October launch. The Crew Dragon capsule that will launch the Crew-1 flight to the International Space Station arrived in Florida on Tuesday (Aug. 18), NASA officials said in an update Friday (Aug. 21). The spacecraft made the trip…