Space

Space and science coverage including asteroids, galaxies, planets, NASA and SpaceX launches.

Trump desperately wants the US in another space race that simply doesn’t exist

March 27th, 2019

Donald Trump threw NASA for a loop shortly after taking office when he directed them to find a way to get humans back on the Moon. Putting astronauts on the Moon is obviously easier said than done, but NASA has been piecing together how such a mission might work ever since. Now, at a meeting …

Science

NASA forced to cancel first all-female spacewalk in history over wardrobe malfunction

March 26th, 2019

Mike Wehner

For NASA, March 29th was going to be a history-making day at the International Space Station, with the first all-female spacewalk in human history. Astronauts Anne McClain and Christina Koch were scheduled to perform a variety of tasks on the exterior of the space station and it would have been the first time that two …

Science

NASA and ESA are paying volunteers to lie in bed for 60 days to test artificial gravity

March 25th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Regardless of what your own personal idea of a dream job might be, you have to admit that being paid to lounge around in bed sounds pretty awesome. That’s exactly what NASA and ESA want a crew of volunteers to do in order to test the potential benefits of artificial gravity for long-haul space missions. …

Science

This incredible NASA snapshot reminds us how gorgeous Jupiter really is

March 24th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Jupiter, the “king” of planets in our solar system, is a hostile place you definitely wouldn’t want to visit. The gas giant is a swirling mass of storms that stretch hundreds of miles deep, and the larger storms on the planet like the Great Red Spot are large enough to swallow Earth several times over. …

Science

Nobody knows if NASA’s OSIRIS-REx can pull off its daring asteroid-sampling maneuver

March 22nd, 2019

Mike Wehner

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft first arrived at the large space rock known as Bennu late last year, and it’s spent the first few months of 2019 observing its new space companion and teaching NASA more about the rock’s surface. Unfortunately for NASA engineers, the asteroid’s surface is nothing like what they assumed it would be, and …

Science

Watch two NASA astronauts make repairs outside the International Space Station live

March 22nd, 2019

Mike Wehner

There’s been a lot of anticipation for the first all-female spacewalk which is rapidly approaching on March 29th, but before that historic adventure happens there’s another spacewalk that’s happening right now, and you can watch it live. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nick Hague are currently outside the International Space Station and will spend the …

Science

Japanese scientists think they know where the Ryugu asteroid came from

March 21st, 2019

Mike Wehner

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has been hanging around the asteroid known as Ryugu for several months now. It first arrived in late 2018 and, in February, fired a projectile into it surface to collect a sample from the rock. It still has plenty of work to do but things are moving along nicely. Now, after learning …

Science

Space makes your herpes flare up, apparently

March 18th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Riding into space on the top of a rocket is something that very few people ever get the opportunity to do. It’s a dangerous journey, but the payoff is something that those of us who spend our entire lives here on solid ground can’t possibly comprehend. It also, apparently, makes your herpes flare up. In …

Science

Japan is going to blast a crater in an asteroid for science

March 18th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is doing some big things during its time at the asteroid known as Ryugu. JAXA, Japan’s space program, arrived at the space rock last year and, after much planning, fired a projectile into its surface late last month to collect some samples of it surface. Now, JAXA is planning for an even …

Science

NASA administrator Bridenstine wants everyone to know he still has faith in the SLS

March 17th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Well, that certainly didn’t take long! Just a day after NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine alluded to the possibility of flying the new Orion crew capsule’s first experimental trip around the Moon using a pair of commercial rockets instead of NASA’s own Space Launch System which is still in development, he’s issued a new statement assuring …