Space & Spaceflight

Japan Testing Miniature Space Elevator Near the International Space Station

A Japanese team is testing a small prototype space elevator, according to news reports. It’s certainly not the fantastical, many-kilometer-long cable of science fiction, but it demonstrates that at least someone is serious about this tech. The Mainichi newspaper reports: In the experiment, two ultra-small cubic satellites, which were developed by Shizuoka University Faculty of…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Russian Space Agency Says ISS Leak Caused by Human Error—or ‘Deliberate Spoilage’

Last week’s air pressure leak aboard the International Space Station was not caused by a micrometeorite, Russian space agency Roscosmos is now claiming, but rather the result of human error, or possibly even a deliberate act of sabotage. Either way, the incident points to poor oversight and lack of quality control measures at the Russian…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Is Our Best Look Yet at Saturn’s Aurora

Sometimes, things line up just perfectly. For example, back in 2017, the Hubble Space Telescope got a full view of Saturn’s northern aurora. The newly-released image above isn’t exactly what Hubble saw—but it’s still exciting, I promise. This observation aligned with the Cassini mission’s grand finale. Working in tandem, Cassini and Hubble were able to…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Waning Martian Dust Storm Could Herald the Return of NASA’s Opportunity Rover

Good news, everyone! The planet-encircling dust storm on Mars is beginning to wane, which means NASA’s solar-powered Opportunity rover, currently in hibernation mode, will soon be able to wake up—assuming the storm hasn’t irreparably damaged it. The epic Martian dust storm started on May 30, casting dark skies over Perseverance Valley, where the 15-year-old Opportunity…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Black Holes Might Temporarily Bring Dead Stars Back to Life

What happens when a dead star meets a black hole? The answer appears to be a brief zombie awakening, according to a new paper. Let me explain. A team of scientists was interested in how white dwarfs—small, dense objects thought to form when bigger stars run out of fuel—interact around black holes weighing between one…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Small Oxygen Leak Detected on the International Space Station

A tiny pressure leak has been detected on the Russian side of the International Space Station. It sounds alarming, but flight controllers say the astronauts aren’t in any immediate danger. When the six astronauts aboard the ISS woke up at the usual time this morning, they were greeted with some rather disquieting news. At about…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Captures Its First Photo of Ultima Thule, Its Next Target

Though it’s still 107 million miles from its target, the New Horizons spacecraft has caught a first glimpse of Ultima Thule, a mysterious Kuiper Belt object. With Pluto now firmly in its rearview mirror, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is steadily chugging towards Ultima Thule, a Kuiper Belt object located, on average, about 44 AU from…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Astronaut Candidate Is First in 50 Years to Leave Midway Through NASA’s Training Program

Astronaut candidate Robb Kulin has become the first NASA astronaut-in-training to leave midway through the process in 50 years, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. According to the AP report, Kulin recently decided to leave his training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center with an effective termination date of Friday. NASA spokesperson Brandi Dean characterized Kulin’s…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Here’s Where Hayabusa2 Will Try to Land on the Asteroid Ryugu

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced where its Hayabusa2 spacecraft will attempt a landing on the asteroid Ryugu. Hayabusa2 launched in December 2014 with the goal of bringing a sample of an asteroid back to Earth. Its target is Ryugu, a 3,000-meter-wide asteroid containing water and organic molecules—the building blocks of our own…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

There’s Water Ice on the Moon—but Less Than Expected

A team of researchers has spotted the signature of water ice in permanently cold traps near the Moon’s poles, a new paper reports. Mars, the dwarf planet Ceres, and even the planet Mercury have water ice on their surfaces, the latter two in permanently shaded areas like craters. But directly detecting water on the Moon has…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

How Will NASA Know If Opportunity Is Okay After the Martian Dust Storm?

Nearly all of Mars has been under the assault of a planet-wide dust storm since June. The nerve-wracking question: Is the Opportunity rover okay? The 15-year-old rover has been incommunicado since June 10, according to a NASA release, as the dust storm cut it off from solar power. NASA scientists are confident that the rover…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Huge Patch of Universe Is Strangely Opaque Despite Its Lack of Galaxies

The mere fact that we live in a universe boggles my mind every once in a while. But thankfully, our cosmic home is a place that follows rules; the laws of physics seem to agree everywhere, and galaxies are uniformly distributed throughout. Except for in this 300-million-light-year-long region, which seems to be missing something. Scientists…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

The Universe’s Oldest Galaxies Could Be Right in the Milky Way’s Backyard

The Universe’s earliest epochs appear to be written into the small dwarf galaxies orbiting our own galactic home, the Milky Way. A team of researchers studying dark matter noticed a strange trend in the brightness of the satellite galaxies around the Milky Way. There seem to be two classes of these orbiting dwarf galaxies—dim ones…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Hey Artists, Stop Putting Shiny Crap Into Space

As if there isn’t already enough junk in space, an artist is planning to launch a reflective, inflatable sculpture to low Earth orbit in October. The art piece is meant to instill a sense of wonder and alter humanity’s impression of itself, but in reality it’s an empty gesture that’ll only serve to infuriate astronomers.…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Astronomers Directly Detect Iron and Titanium on an Exoplanet for the First Time

Scientists directly observed the signal of iron and titanium atoms in the atmosphere of an exoplanet 600 light-years from Earth, a new paper reports. KELT-9b is a planet entirely alien to our own Solar System—it’s 2.88 times the mass of Jupiter, with a year lasting just 1.5 Earth days and temperatures over 4,000 Kelvin (6,740…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Excavation Begins on a Truly Giant New Telescope

The bigger a telescope’s mirrors, the better resolution it has. Excavation has just begun on a new telescope that will be truly enormous, called the Giant Magellan Telescope. The GMT will be be big—24.5 meters (83.5 feet) in diameter, high up in the Chilean desert. It’s one of several gigantic telescopes under construction. It could…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Earth’s Undetected ‘Mini-Moons’ Could Make for Exciting New Astronomy

Every once in a while, our planet captures a “mini-moon,” a tiny asteroid that hangs out in our orbit for a bit before venturing back into the depths of space. New research suggests these small, temporary natural satellites carry tremendous scientific and commercial opportunities—but the trick will be in finding them. Twelve years ago, astronomers…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Exoplanet Is So Hot, It Apparently Tears Apart Water Molecules

There’s an exoplanet whose surface is so hot, it rips apart water molecules. It’s almost a star, but not quite; it’s an ultra-hot, Jupiter-like world located around 880 light-years from Earth. Researchers took a closer look at data on WASP 121b, where daytime temperatures can exceed 2,200 Kelvin (3,500 degrees Fahrenheit). Comparing it to data…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Watch NASA Launch Its Sun-Skimming Parker Solar Probe

The Parker Solar Probe blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday, setting itself on course to become both the fastest human craft ever launched (in the neighborhood of 430,000 miles per hour) and the first to probe the outer corona of the sun. Per the BBC, NASA has since confirmed…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

New Horizons Spacecraft Sees Possible Hydrogen Wall at the End of the Solar System

As it speeds away from the Sun, the New Horizons mission may be approaching a “wall.” The New Horizons spacecraft, now at a distance nearly four billion miles from Earth and already far beyond Pluto, has measured what appears to be a signature of the furthest reaches of the Sun’s energy—a wall of hydrogen. It…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Japan Testing Miniature Space Elevator Near the International Space Station

Russian Space Agency Says ISS Leak Caused by Human Error—or ‘Deliberate Spoilage’

This Is Our Best Look Yet at Saturn’s Aurora

Waning Martian Dust Storm Could Herald the Return of NASA’s Opportunity Rover

Black Holes Might Temporarily Bring Dead Stars Back to Life

Small Oxygen Leak Detected on the International Space Station

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Captures Its First Photo of Ultima Thule, Its Next Target

Astronaut Candidate Is First in 50 Years to Leave Midway Through NASA’s Training Program

Here’s Where Hayabusa2 Will Try to Land on the Asteroid Ryugu

There’s Water Ice on the Moon—but Less Than Expected

How Will NASA Know If Opportunity Is Okay After the Martian Dust Storm?

Huge Patch of Universe Is Strangely Opaque Despite Its Lack of Galaxies

The Universe’s Oldest Galaxies Could Be Right in the Milky Way’s Backyard

Hey Artists, Stop Putting Shiny Crap Into Space

Astronomers Directly Detect Iron and Titanium on an Exoplanet for the First Time

Excavation Begins on a Truly Giant New Telescope

Earth’s Undetected ‘Mini-Moons’ Could Make for Exciting New Astronomy

This Exoplanet Is So Hot, It Apparently Tears Apart Water Molecules

Watch NASA Launch Its Sun-Skimming Parker Solar Probe

New Horizons Spacecraft Sees Possible Hydrogen Wall at the End of the Solar System

‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Iran Threatens to Attack U.S. Tech Companies Starting April 1

Amazon Clears Out Netflix-Licensed Nebula Capsule 3 Mini Projector at 32% Off, Dolby Audio Home Theater for Less

Anker 160W Laptop Charger Briefly Returns to Black Friday Pricing in a Last-Minute Amazon Spring Sale Deal

The New ‘Backrooms’ Trailer Is Packed Full of Endless Dread

Logitech Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo Falls Under $25, a Budget Bundle Deal in the Final Hours of Spring Sale

Liquids Crack With an Audible Snap, Study Finds

Dyson V15 Detect Plus Cordless Vacuum Is a Late Spring Sale Deal at a Record Low on Amazon

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

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