Temporary Moon

Earth will capture 'second moon' this weekend Earth will capture 'second moon' this weekend

NASA scientists have calculated that Earth will capture a "second moon" on Sunday (Sept. 29). The "mini-moon" comes in the form of the tiny asteroid 2024 PT5, which usually orbits the sun as part of a small asteroid belt that follows Earth. While Earth's primary companion, the moon, has lingered around our planet for around 4 billion years since its formation in the solar system's infancy, this asteroid will be a temporary fixture that won't even see the year out. Full Story: Space (9/26)

Blind Science Teacher Benefits from Brain Implant

Scientists used a tiny brain implant to help a blind teacher see letters again

Former science teacher Berna Gómez played a pivotal role in new research on restoring some sight to blind people. She is named as a co-author of the study that was published this week.

A former science teacher who's been blind for 16 years became able to see letters, discern objects' edges — and even play a Maggie Simpson video game — thanks to a visual prosthesis that includes a camera and a brain implant, according to American and Spanish researchers who collaborated on the project. The test subject had the implant for six months and experienced no disruptions to her brain activity or other health complications, according to an abstract of the study that was published this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation. The study furthers what it calls a "long-held dream of scientists," to impart a rudimentary form of sight to blind people by sending information directly to the brain's visual cortex. "These results are very exciting because they demonstrate both safety and efficacy," said one of the lead researchers, Eduardo Fernández of Miguel Hernández University, in a statement. "We have taken a significant step forward, showing the potential of these types of devices to restore functional vision for people who have lost their vision." Read more @ KOSU.org Contributed by NeilAlieN

PodcastThis Week in Space

THIS WEEK IN SPACE Podcast Hosted by Rod Pyle, Tariq Malik The new space age is upon us, and This Week in Space leaves no topic untouched. Every Friday, join Editor-in-Chief of Ad Astra magazine, Rod Pyle and Managing Editor of Space.com, Tariq Malik as they explore everything related to the cosmos. New episodes posted every Friday.

NASA spacecraft flies right through sun explosion, captures footage

NASA spacecraft flies right through sun explosion, captures footage It survived

An artist's conception of NASA's Parker Solar Probe passing near the sun's atmosphere. Credit: NASA

A well-fortified NASA spacecraft flew through, and survived, an immense explosion from the sun. Scientists recently released rare footage of this solar event, called a coronal mass ejection, or CME, which is the eruption of a mass of super hot gas (plasma). "It's like scooping up a piece of the sun and ejecting it into space," Mark Miesch, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center, told Mashable earlier this year. This CME occurred in September 2022, and was "one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) ever recorded," NASA explained. Fortunately, the space agency's Parker Solar Probe, fitted with a robust heat shield, is designed to withstand such intense bursts of radiation. The pioneering probe is closely investigating the behavior of the sun.

Here's what you're seeing in the footage posted by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, a scientific collaborator on the solar probe: The actual sun isn't visible in the shot, but our star's location is shown on the left of the screen. At 14 seconds in, the CME becomes visible, shooting out from left to right. Then, BAM. The probe then passes through the eruption and exits by the video's end.

Read more on Mashable.com

Rocket Lab suffers anomaly during launch, Earth-observation satellite lost

Rocket Lab suffers anomaly during launch, Earth-observation satellite lost

The Sept. 19 launch, Rocket Lab's ninth of the year, did not go well.

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket launches a Capella Space satellite on Sept. 19, 2023. The rocket suffered an anomaly, resulting in the loss of the satellite. (Image credit: Rocket Lab)

Rocket Lab suffered an anomaly during the launch of a radar Earth-observation satellite early Tuesday morning (Sept. 19). An Electron rocket carrying a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) spacecraft for the California company Capella Space lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site Tuesday at 2:55 a.m. EDT (0655 GMT; 6:55 p.m. local New Zealand time). The Electron's two stages separated as planned about 2.5 minutes after launch. But something went wrong shortly thereafter, ending the flight.   Read more on Space.com Watch video here

DSN is in deep sh!#

NASA officials sound alarm over future of the Deep Space Network "I'm not sure who thought it was a good idea to put up CubeSats with Artemis I." STEPHEN CLARK - 8/30/2023, 11:12 AM NASA has three Deep Space Network stations in California, Spain, and Australia, collectively tracking dozens of space missions. NASA/Bill Ingall's NASA officials sounded an alarm Tuesday about the agency's Deep Space Network, a collection of antennas in California, Spain, and Australia used to maintain contact with missions scattered across the Solar System. Everything from NASA's Artemis missions to the Moon to the Voyager probes in interstellar space rely on the Deep Space Network (DSN) to receive commands and transmit data back to Earth. Suzanne Dodd, who oversees the DSN in her position at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, likes to highlight the network's importance by showing gorgeous images from missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Perseverance rover on Mars. "All these images, and all these great visuals for the public, and all the science for the scientists come down through the Deep Space Network," Dodd said Tuesday in a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council's Science Committee. DSN is in deep sh!# Read More at arsTECHNICA.com

The Massive Chunk of Metal Hiding in the Moon

 The Massive Chunk of Metal Hiding in the Moon

What If the Earth Was Actually Flat?

An epic exploration of possibilities. What If is a Webby Award-winning science web series that takes you on a journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities, some in distant corners of the universe, others right here on Earth. Each scenario examines a scientific theory, research or fact through a hypothetical question.

What If the Earth Was Actually Flat?

Does Dark Matter/Dark Energy Exist?

 We have never seen dark matter and dark energy.
Why do we think they exist?

Astronomers hope to find signatures of dark energy in the distribution of galaxies in cosmos mapped by the Euclid mission.
(Image credit: ESA)

We know shockingly little about the omnipresent force that makes up 68% of all energy in the universe

Scientists think that only about 5% of the stuff that makes up the universe is known to us. 

Yes, you are reading that right. Cosmological models show that invisible energy and matter must make up a combined 95% of the universe for it to work according to existing theories. 

The invisible part of the universe consists of two components, dark energy and dark matter. The latter is somewhat less mysterious and scientists are fairly certain of its existence: The rules of gravity simply wouldn't work without it. Galaxies as we see them wouldn't have been able to assemble to their current sizes in the time they've had since the Big Bang if visible matter was all there was. In fact, many galaxies wouldn't even hold together as they do, if the gravity of visible matter was the only force pulling them together. 

Europe's new space telescope Euclid will attempt to map this invisible stuff, but what if its findings don't fit expectations? A lot is at stake, including Einstein's famed and widely accepted theory of general relativity. 

Read more on Space.com

Small Robot That Can Reforest The Whole Planet

Small Robot That Can Reforest
The Whole Planet

Virgin Galactic Completes First Commercial Space Flight

 

Virgin Galactic Completes First Commercial Space Flight

Virgin Galactic is up and running.

The company aced its first-ever commercial mission today (June 29), sending four passengers to suborbital space and back. It was a landmark moment for Virgin Galactic, which has big ambitions in the final frontier.

The flight lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) and reached suborbital space some 58 minutes later. After a few minutes floating at an apogee of 52.9 miles (85.1 kilometers), the space plane then returned to Spaceport America and landed at 11:42 a.m. ET (1542 GMT).

"What a beautiful landing and a perfect way to complete our first commercial flight and our first dedicated science mission. Congratulations to everyone on board," Virgin Galactic's Sirisha Bandla said upon touchdown.

Read more on Space.com

Some of the rainbow is missing

Why some of the rainbow is missing 

From Apollo to SpaceX Crew Dragon

How human spaceflight works These are YouTube video animations of the awesomeness of human spaceflight works from the first Apollo missions and the crash sites of the Lunar Modules, The Space Shuttle, The International Space Station and The SpaceX Crew Dragon.