Former astronaut Ed Gibson, the final person to leave NASA’s Skylab space station, says he’d go back to space ‘in a heartbeat’ if given the chance. Gibson, a solar physicist, was in the first group of scientist-astronauts selected to go into space by NASA, making his only spaceflight as part of the final Skylab crew. … Read more
NASA conducted its first splash test for the Orion spacecraft in advance of the upcoming Artemis lunar missions. Cameras captured the 11-foot capsule dropping into the ‘hydro impact basin,’ a large tank of water at Langley Research Center’s Landing and Impact Research Facility in Hampton, Virginia. However, the drop was hardly a long fall -the … Read more
The near-Earth object that was thought to smash into our planet in 2068 has been deemed no longer a threat for at least the next 100 years. NASA made the announcement after asteroid Apophis passed by Earth earlier this month, allowing the American space agency to estimate the space rock’s orbit around the sun. Scientists … Read more
Saturn’s moon Enceladus has ‘churning’ ocean currents buried beneath its 12 miles of ice, according to a new study. It’s already known that Enceladus – one of Saturn’s 82 moons – hides water beneath its shiny, icy surface. But experts at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) think ocean currents are flowing on Enceladus a bit like those near … Read more
NASA’s Mars Orbiter snaps a stunning photo of frosty sand dunes in the northern planes of the Red Planet The photo was taken from 196 miles above the Martian surface by the Orbiter It was taken using the HiRISE camera that also captured images of Perseverance The images appear to show a frosty series of … Read more
Back to the Moon! Most powerful rocket ever built – with boosters taller than Nelson’s Column – is set for the biggest blast-off in history NASA’s Space Launch System will produce up to 8.8million pounds of thrust Boosters taller than Nelson’s Column will be used to launch the Orion spacecraft This will see astronauts – including a … Read more
The first British astronaut, Helen Sharman, says a child in school today will be among the original explorers to step foot on the surface of Mars in the coming decades. NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman on the moon by 2024, has loftier goals, including landing humans on Mars by the … Read more
The first woman and next man to launch to the moon are one step closer to walking on the lunar surface following a successful test of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). The $18.6 billion ‘megarocket’ completed a full eight-minute hot fire test of its massive engines Thursday, which is the final step needed to move … Read more
NASA is set to ignite the engines of its $18.6 billion Space Launch System rocket later today in an eight minute test designed to confirm it is ready for launch. This would be the second hot fire test of the massive engines, and the final fire test before the second stage is moved to the launchpad … Read more
NASA has sent rovers to Mars and the moon with ‘nearly indestructible’ titanium tires and these space-age wheels will soon be traveling around Earth. The SMART Tire Company is working with scientists at the American space agency to adapt its ‘smart memory alloy’ (SMA) tire technology for bicycles. This design, according to the firm, means … Read more