Space & Spaceflight

Why the Moon Looks Bigger on the Horizon

This is a question that has been debated for several thousand years. One popular myth, dating all the way back to Aristotle in the 4th century BC and which still endures somewhat today, is that it is simply a case of magnification caused by the Earth’s atmosphere. While a “magnification” effect is taking place, it…

The Typo That Destroyed a NASA Rocket

On July 22, 1962, at 9:20 PM, the Mariner I sat idly on its platform, ready to make history. After investing years of construction, calculation, and funding, NASA had high hopes that its rocket would successfully conduct a flyby survey of Venus, thus shifting the Space Race’s momentum back to the home front. In every…

L.A. Glows Red in This Photo From the International Space Station

Viewed from this unfamiliar angle and in the infrared rather than visible spectrum, Los Angeles reveals itself in new ways. City lights and thermal radiation create an abstract, russet shape that’s barely recognizable as metropolitan Southern California. Black voids dominate the frame; many of these are hills and mountain ranges, but the emptiness at the…

This Is What Space Debris Does to the Kevlar Skins of Spacecraft

Gravity wasn’t too far off the mark. You’re looking through a hole, made by simulated space debris, in the reinforced Kevlar–Nextel fabric that makes up the outer skin of European Space Agency spacecraft. The test was carried out by researchers from the Fraunhofer Ernst Mach Institut for High-Speed Dynamics, who fired a 7.5 mm-diameter aluminum…

This Is How NASA Could Have Rescued Astronauts Stranded In Space

The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which killed all seven astronauts on board, effectively ended the US Shuttle Program. Now, a former engineer is proposing a radical (albeit hypothetical) solution to rescuing stranded astronauts that was inspired by the disaster. The plan proposed by David Baker is no less ambitious than the one that brought Apollo…

This might look like a routine scientific experiment, but you’re actually looking at European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst (tick) as he sets fire to samples of various solids (tick) aboard the International Space Station (tick) to see how they burn (tick). This man truly has a wonderful job. [ESA]

The ISS Is Getting an X-Ray Machine That Works in Space

Human bodies are of course not built for microgravity. We’ve long known that astronauts lose bone mass, but studying the process in space is tricky. The International Space Station is getting its first medical X-ray to examine on-board lab mice and rats. But making a space X-ray machine was no easy task. The Bone Densitometer…

What Happened to the Flags on the Moon?

On July 10, 1969, Apollo 11 touched down on the moon. At 10:56 pm eastern standard time, Neil Armstrong accomplished another first. With the immortal words, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” (or something like that) Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on a major celestial…

The Brightest Star in the Sky as You’ve Never Seen It Before

It might look like a drunken rainbow, but you’re actually looking at a view of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, as its light gets refracted by our atmosphere. Usually when you gaze upwards, the stars in the sky appear to twinkle. In fact, that’s a results of the light passing through our…

The Problem With 3D Printing in Space

Recently, NASA’s been toying with the idea of 3D-printed spacecrafts, and the prospect alone has fans of the medium positively giddy. But in our 3D-printing-for-space frenzy, we’ve overlooked the simplest problem of all: Imperfect surfaces and outer space don’t mix. The potential of 3D printing in space is phenomenal. Not only does the process itself…

Big Bang Discovery Researchers Backtrack on Original Claims

Remember how a Harvard team found the first direct evidence of cosmic inflation right after the Big Bang? Well, now it’s published its findings—and it’s backtracking on its original claims. Back in March, the team announced that it had used data from the telescope BICEP2 and observed primordial B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background…

Look How Much the Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Changing

When the Earth’s magnetic field switches, strange things happen. Now, the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite system has revealed exactly how our planets magnetism is changing. https://gizmodo.com/what-will-happen-when-the-earth-s-magnetic-field-switch-1564164183 Launched in 2013, Swarm is made up of three satellites which measure the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field remotely. These new results are based on changes in…

Living in Space Is Like Being Old and Having Type-2 Diabetes

We’ve known since the initial Apollo missions that traveling through space does strange things to the human body, but the initial results from a study of Commander Hadfield during his time aboard the ISS suggest these detrimental effects might be much worse than we had thought. The results of the study, conducted by a University…

Shooting Challenge: Summer Solstice

This Saturday, June 21, is the longest day of the year and the start of summer. In celebration, we’re all going pagan, to show appreciation to that which gives us all life. Let’s worship the sun—in photographs! The Challenge On June 21, take a photo of the sun. Morning, noon, sunset, no matter. The Technique…

Dying Sun-Like Stars Contain Molecules Vital For Making Water

New observations by the European Space Agency’s Herschel space observatory have revealed that the burning embers of Sun-like stars at the end of their lives actually contain molecules vital for the creation of water. When stars like our sud die, they become dense, white dwarf stars—but also cast off their outer layers of dust and…

Satellites Are Now Cleared to Take Photos at Mailbox-Level Detail

The Department of Commerce just lifted a ban on satellite images that showed features smaller than 20 inches. The nation’s largest satellite imaging firm, Digital Globe, asked the government to lift the restrictions and can now sell images showing details as small as a foot. A few inches may seem slight, but this is actually…

The ISS Will Get a Custom Espresso Machine With a Few Space-ifications

Just like any hard-working professional, an astronaut can use a good cup of coffee first thing, which is why Lavazza has developed a new custom espresso machine for use in space, destined to find a home aboard the International Space Station. The coffee machine, which is known as the ISSpresso—no, really—is a joint project between…

Report: Google in Talks to Buy Stake in Virgin Galactic

Google is apparently in talks to buy up part of Virgin Galactic, but not to take a leisure cruise: Sky News claims that it will buy “crucial access to satellite-launch technology” to help put its new low-Earth orbiters into the sky. The report claims that negotiations between the two parties have “been taking place for…

What Is Space, Exactly?

We inhabit a 3D world with space all around us: I’m here, you’re there and there’s a distance separating us. But what really is is that seperates us? Think a little more deeply about it, and you’ll realise that the distances certainly aren’t fixed—travel fast enough, and they appear smaller. This video explains how three…

Holy Crap, NASA’s Interstellar Spaceship Concept Is Amazing!

You’re looking at NASA’s interstellar spaceship concept—the IXS Enterprise (not a joke, that’s the name.) Developed by NASA’s Advanced Propulsion Lead Dr. Harold “Sonny” White and concept artist Mark Rademaker, this ship would use a warp drive to travel faster than light without breaking general relativity.