satellites

We Should Search for Aliens by Looking for Their Space Junk

SETI enthusiasts have devised all sorts of complicated ways for us to find signs of alien life, but a new paper suggests we may be overthinking it. Instead of looking for megastructures and spaceships, we should consider something a bit more obvious: alien satellites and space junk in orbit around distant exoplanets. Sufficiently dense fleets…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Stop Whatever You Are Doing and Look at These Images From NOAA’s New Weather Satellite

Any day with a new full disk image of Earth is a good day. And folks, today is one of those days. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the GOES-17 satellite in March. It’s a next generation weather satellite that will provide a major upgrade over what NOAA is currently operating with over…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Scientists Need Your Help Spotting Seals in Antarctica

Michelle LaRue has a problem: She only has one set of eyes. That’s a big issue when you’re an ecologist who uses satellite imagery to understand what’s going on with Weddell Seals, the southernmost mammal on the planet. The seals can help us unlock secrets about how coastal ecosystems and fisheries function in Antarctica, as…

Conservation Brian Kahn

Everything We Know So Far About Tiangong-1’s Crash to Earth

If you closed your eyes and threw a dart at a spinning globe, odds are you’ll strike the Pacific Ocean. And that’s just where the doomed Chinese satellite Tiangong-1 landed last night. The space station reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, northwest of Tahiti, at 8:16 p.m. ET Sunday, the U.S. Strategic Command’s (USSTRATCOM)…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Tiangong-1 Is Now Predicted to Hit Earth at 7:30pm ET Sunday, Give or Take Up to Seven Hours [Updated]

Forecasts from the European Space Agency’s Space Debris Office and the US-based Aerospace Corp. predict that China’s falling space station, the Tiangong-1, will most likely plummet to Earth on Sunday night at around 730pm ET. [See update below.] The craft was originally thought likely to crash as early as Saturday . Per Space.com, estimates of…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Watch Live: SpaceX Will Launch 10 Satellites Into Orbit Today

This morning, SpaceX is launching 10 satellites into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California using a Falcon 9 booster. And thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can watch the entire launch live. The launch is scheduled for 10:13am ET, 7:13am PT, and if everything goes to plan, the satellites will be…

Space & Spaceflight Matt Novak

Here Is FEMA’s Plan If the Falling Chinese Satellite Takes Aim at a US City

China’s defunct space station Tiangong-1 will soon plummet toward Earth, likely this weekend. You will almost certainly not be harmed in any way by it—the odds of it striking an individual person are worse than winning the lottery or being struck by lightning. You should not worry about it. But we’re humans. We’re all probably…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

California Startup Accused of Launching Unauthorized Satellites Into Orbit: Report [Updated]

The US Federal Communications Commission says Swarm Technologies—a communications startup run by Silicon Valley expats—launched four tiny internet satellites into space back in January. That’s a problem because the FCC never greenlighted the project, saying the experimental satellites are dangerous. If confirmed, it would mark the first known time in history that unauthorized satellites have…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Tiny Satellites to Make Crucial Arctic Climate Measurements For the First Time

The Arctic is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the planet, but major questions remain, including how quickly sea ice will retreat, and how much of Greenland’s ice will slide into the sea, over the decades to come. A new NASA-led experiment could help deliver answers, by measuring a key component of…

Earth Science Maddie Stone

US Air Force Chief Warns of Space War ‘in a Matter of Years’

Speaking to an audience of active-duty airmen, US Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein predicted it’ll only be a “matter of years” before American forces find themselves “fighting from space.” To prepare for this grim possibility, he said the Air Force needs new tools and a new approach to training leaders. Oh,…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Why Nerds Are Excited About This New Weather Satellite

Our benign version of Skynet is about to be one step closer to completion. A new weather satellite is set to launch next Thursday courtesy of NASA and a Atlas V rocket. It will provide some of the most detailed imagery of the western U.S. as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and the Pacific region ever…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Watch SpaceX’s Second Attempt to Launch Experimental Internet Satellites Live Right Here [Updating]

SpaceX is set to launch a pair of experimental internet mini-satellites after yesterday’s launch was cancelled due to high winds. You can watch today’s launch of the Falcon 9 live right here starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern (6:00 a.m. Pacific). Update: The Falcon 9 successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:17…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Watch SpaceX Launch Its Experimental Internet Satellites Live Right Here [Update: Launch Postponed Until Tomorrow]

After a four-day delay, SpaceX is now set to launch a pair of experimental mini-satellites as part of its planned 4,000-satellite strong Starlink constellation. You can watch the launch live right here starting at 9:14 a.m. EDT (6:14 a.m. PDT). In addition to the two experimental satellites, dubbed Microsat 2a and 2b (1a and 1b…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Watch the Japanese Space Agency Set a Record for Smallest Rocket Used to Launch a Satellite

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency has set a record for the smallest-ever rocket to launch a satellite into orbit, using a SS-520 sounding rocket modified to include a third stage carrying a 13.6-inch TRICOM-1R cubesat as its payload. Per Engadget, JAXA’s original SS-520 launch with the same objective ended in failure in January 2017 when…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Over a Decade Later, NASA’s Long-Dead IMAGE Satellite May Have Come Back to Life

A $150 million NASA satellite which died from systems failure just five years after its launch has somehow reactivated and is still broadcasting, Science reported Friday. Astronomer Scott Tilley was searching for signs of Zuma, a classified U.S. government satellite of unknown purpose that officials declared a “total loss” shortly after its launch, when he…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

Astronomers Say Giant Disco Ball in Space Is Bad for Science

This past Sunday, rocket startup Rocket Lab launched a three-foot-wide mirror ball into orbit. Called “Humanity Star,” it’s supposed to remind us that we’re all puny specks of dust living in the terrifying vastness of the Universe. Some astronomers have spoken out about the stunt, claiming the sparkly object will interfere with their work—one even…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Speculation Rampant as Secretive Zuma Spy Satellite Declared a ‘Total Loss’

Contradictory accounts are emerging in the wake of the apparent failure of the Zuma mission—a secretive multibillion-dollar spy satellite that was launched by SpaceX from Cape Canaveral, Florida this past weekend. Everything seemed fine on Sunday as the spy satellite was launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX founder Elon Musk even tweeted about it,…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Here’s How to Watch SpaceX Launch the U.S. Government’s Mysterious Zuma Spacecraft Tonight

On Sunday night, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will launch “Zuma,” a mysterious government spacecraft of unknown purpose, on one of its partially-reusable Falcon 9 two-stage rockets from Launch Complex 40 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The exact time of the launch has yet to be set, though SpaceX has set a two-hour window beginning…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

The Bomb Cyclone Looks Unreal From Space

That bomb cyclone you’ve surely read about has officially gone off. And the images rolling in are something else. Pressure dropped 54 millibars in 24 hours in the winter storm currently climbing up the eastern seaboard. That’s more than double what’s needed to classify it as a bomb, making it a super bomb (kidding, please…

Earth Science Brian Kahn

Scientists Observe Strange Double Whirlpool Effect in Ocean for First Time

Slow waves meander westward out in the deep ocean south of Australia. Sometimes they carry with them carry large eddies, whirlpools over 100 miles across. But every so often, these whirlpools combine into double whirlpools and travel across the ocean 10 times faster than the rest of the whirlpools, moving in sync for months and…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

We Should Search for Aliens by Looking for Their Space Junk

Stop Whatever You Are Doing and Look at These Images From NOAA’s New Weather Satellite

Scientists Need Your Help Spotting Seals in Antarctica

Everything We Know So Far About Tiangong-1’s Crash to Earth

Tiangong-1 Is Now Predicted to Hit Earth at 7:30pm ET Sunday, Give or Take Up to Seven Hours [Updated]

Watch Live: SpaceX Will Launch 10 Satellites Into Orbit Today

Here Is FEMA’s Plan If the Falling Chinese Satellite Takes Aim at a US City

California Startup Accused of Launching Unauthorized Satellites Into Orbit: Report [Updated]

Tiny Satellites to Make Crucial Arctic Climate Measurements For the First Time

US Air Force Chief Warns of Space War ‘in a Matter of Years’

Why Nerds Are Excited About This New Weather Satellite

Watch SpaceX’s Second Attempt to Launch Experimental Internet Satellites Live Right Here [Updating]

Watch SpaceX Launch Its Experimental Internet Satellites Live Right Here [Update: Launch Postponed Until Tomorrow]

Watch the Japanese Space Agency Set a Record for Smallest Rocket Used to Launch a Satellite

Over a Decade Later, NASA’s Long-Dead IMAGE Satellite May Have Come Back to Life

Astronomers Say Giant Disco Ball in Space Is Bad for Science

Speculation Rampant as Secretive Zuma Spy Satellite Declared a ‘Total Loss’

Here’s How to Watch SpaceX Launch the U.S. Government’s Mysterious Zuma Spacecraft Tonight

The Bomb Cyclone Looks Unreal From Space

Scientists Observe Strange Double Whirlpool Effect in Ocean for First Time

AI Training Data Giant Mercor Is Reportedly Looking to Buy the Work You Did at Your Old Job

Utah Is Giving Dr. AI the Power to Renew Drug Prescriptions

Here’s the Perfect Excuse to See ‘Project Hail Mary’ Again

US Airlines Are Hiking Bag Fees Amid Iran War Oil Crisis

This Ridiculously Simple Trick Might Stop Gulls From Nabbing Your Lunch

‘Starfleet Academy’ Season 3 Could Have Done the ‘Voyager’ Sequel Episode of Robert Picardo’s Dreams

Judge Kills Lawsuit Against Infamous Study That Might Have Increased Teen Suicides

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