The phrase “when it rains, it pours” is commonly used in the US to denote that bad things usually happen simultaneously. And it doesn’t only have to apply to things that happen where it can physically rain. Recently an ESA satellite had a series of bad things happen that could potentially have happened to it, but quick action from the team responsible for the satellite avoided two what could have been catastrophic events.
Space News & Blog Articles
The World’s Most Sensitive Dark Matter Detector has Come Online
Individual contributors have become less and less prominent in scientific fields as the discipline itself has matured. Some individuals still hold the public spotlight for their discoveries, such as Peter Higgs with the Higgs boson, which several other physicists also theorized around the same time he did. However, the actual data that eventually gave Dr. Higgs and François Englert their Nobel prize were collected by the Large Hadron Collider, arguably one of the largest technical projects that took thousands of scientists decades to design, build, and test.
SpaceX’s next crew launch delayed by booster damage
A Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft launched April 8 on the Ax-1 commercial crew mission for Axiom Space. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX and NASA have delayed the launch of the next U.S. crew flight to the International Space Station from early September to no earlier than Sept. 29, allowing time for ground teams to replace an interstage on the mission’s new Falcon 9 booster after it was damaged during transport.
Astronomers Have Digitized 94,000 Photographic Plates of the Night sky, Going Back 129 Years
Since the early days of the internet, and even computers more generally, there has been a push to collect all of the world’s information, built up over thousands of years, into a digital form so it can at least theoretically latest indefinitely. It also makes that information much more accessible to people interested in it. That was the motto of the original Google search engine, and specialists in various historical fields have been making slow but steady progress in doing just that over the past few decades. Now astronomy has gained one of its largest hauls of historical data as the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg has digitized 40,000 of its historical astronomical plates, along with 54,090 plates from other sources.
A Look Inside One of Perseverance’s Core Holes
Here’s one of the best views you’ll ever see of the insides of a rock on Mars. The hole was made by the Perseverance rover’s drill, a rotary percussive drill designed to extract rock core samples from the surface of Mars. After the sample was taken, Perseverance rover acquired this image using its SHERLOC WATSON camera to take a close-up view of the hole.
After Kitt Peak telescopes' close call with wildfire, essential personnel are returning to evaluate the damage
Observations are on hold at the famed telescope facility after a wildfire tore through the area in June, leaving behind damage that is still being assessed.
United Arab Emirates astronaut will spend 6 months on the space station next year
A deal with Axiom Space will see Sultan AlNeyadi fly to the ISS on SpaceX's Crew-6 mission for NASA, which is expected to launch in spring 2023.
Benjamin Sisko returns as a god to begin IDW's bold new era of 'Star Trek' comics
IDW Publishing has announced a new flagship "Star Trek" comic series launching this fall
PlayStation VR2 details: Everything we know about the PSVR 2 headset
We've got all the latest details on the upcoming PSVR 2, the next generation VR headset for the PS5.
Huge Chinese rocket booster falling from space after launching space station module
China has once again opted to let a huge rocket stage fall back to Earth on its own.
Jordan Peele's unsettling new invasion thriller 'Nope' redefines the nature of UFOs
A review for director Jordan Peele's new sci-fi invasion thriller, "Nope."
Best sci-fi movies of all time
Here’s our intergalactic treasure trove of the best sci-fi movies that you need to watch.
China's new space station module docks, beefing up orbital science
China's Wentian module docked successfully with the Tiangong space station Sunday (July 24), adding more room to its crewed facility.
Bushnell binoculars deals: The best prices on popular models
Here's our round-up of Bushnell binoculars deals, the biggest discounts from reputable retailers plus some of our favorites.
China's Mars orbiter snaps striking shot of Red Planet's larger moon, Phobos
China's Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter has returned a stunning image of the Martian moon Phobos to mark the second anniversary of the mission's launch.
Greece battles wildfires on Lesbos island
Image: Hundreds of residents and tourists have been evacuated from the Greek island of Lesbos after a wildfire broke out on the morning of 23 July. This image, captured by Sentinel-2, shows the active fire front which stretches for more than four km.
Jupiter's rings may be so puny because of the planet's massive moons
New research shows why Jupiter doesn't have thick, bright rings like Saturn's.
When Planets Collect Comets
What kind of planets are likely to ensnare comets coming in from the icy outer reaches of a planetary system?
Oculus Quest 2 vs. PlayStation VR: Which VR headset should you buy?
The cheapest entry-level VR headsets right now are the Oculus Quest 2 (or Meta Quest) and PlayStation VR. We’ll help you decide which is the right one for you, and why.
Five Marvel Comics storylines that should be in the MCU
As you’d expect, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken events, characters and storylines from Marvel’s comics. But there are some as-yet-untouched Marvel stories that absolutely should be brought to life .
Spot Venus shine under the thin crescent moon on Tuesday
Before sunrise on Tuesday (July 26), Venus and the thin crescent moon will be close enough to share the same field of view through a pair of binoculars.