Tag: NASA
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White House budget proposal tightens the screws on science, from space to salmon
An artist’s conception shows NASA’s Space Launch System in flight. (NASA Illustration) The White House’s $4.7 trillion spending plan for fiscal year 2020 aims to give a boost to the Space Force, but would dial down work on NASA’s Space Launch System, zero out the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, leave salmon in the lurch…
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SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship splashes down at end of crucial space station trip
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship hits the waters of the Atlantic Ocean for splashdown. (NASA via YouTube) SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship splashed down into the Atlantic Ocean today, ending a six-day uncrewed test run preparing the way for astronaut trips to the International Space Station later this year. Scorch marks were visible on the side of…
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SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship makes maiden flight with robo-rider named Ripley
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending its first Crew Dragon spaceship skyward with a spacesuit-wearing mannequin seated inside. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX’s Crew Dragon was sent into space atop a Falcon 9 rocket tonight, beginning a crucial test of a spaceship that’s destined to carry NASA astronauts to…
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UW researchers and Florida middle school students form unusual bond over cosmic kidney stones
A collaboration between this Florida middle school robotics team and the University of Washington is potentially “life changing,” according to a science teacher at the school. (Pahokee Middle School Photo) Eight students from a low-income sugarcane town in South Florida spent months on a robotics project tackling kidney stones in space. Across the country, researchers…
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NASA, SpaceX and a test dummy are ready for Dragon 2’s first trip to space station
An artist’s conception shows a Crew Dragon docking with the International Space Station. (SpaceX / NASA Illustration) NASA gave the all-clear today for the first test flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship to the International Space Station in a week, setting the stage for crewed missions later this year. There won’t be any crew aboard…
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New Horizons finds Ultima Thule has an unexpected, flattened shape
Scientists’ understanding of the shape of Ultima Thule, officially known as 2014 MU69, has changed since the New Horizons spacecraft’s Jan. 1 flyby. Imagery downlinked by the probe in recent weeks suggests Ultima Thule’s two lobes have a flatter shape than the spherical projection suggested by the flyby’s initial pictures. The dashed blue line marks…
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Artificial intelligence — and a few jokes — will help keep future Mars crews sane
A crew touches down on the Red Planet in “Mars,” a National Geographic miniseries that delves into the dynamics of future Mars crews. (Credit: National Geographic Channels) WASHINGTON, D.C. — When the first human explorers head for Mars, they’re likely to have a non-human judging their performance and tweaking their interpersonal relationships when necessary. NASA…
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NASA orbiter spots Chinese lander on the moon
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of the Chang’e 4 lander and the Yutu 2 rover Feb. 1 from an altitude of 51 miles (82 kilometers). The Yutu 2 rover is annotated with the arrow on the upper left, and the Chang’e 4 stationary lander is annotated with the arrow at lower right. Credit:…
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After twin-astronaut tests, NASA readies new wave of studies on space health risks
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly gives himself a flu shot in 2015 during his nearly yearlong stay on the International Space Station. (NASA Photo) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost three years after NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returned from spending nearly a year in orbit, researchers are still poring over the data collected during an unprecedented study comparing his…
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NASA lays out its commercial roadmap for putting astronauts on the moon in 2028
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine discusses the space agency’s plan to support the development of commercial hardware capable of landing astronauts on the moon. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) WASHINGTON, D.C. — NASA’s leaders put out their pitch today for commercial ventures to build the hardware needed to put American astronauts back on the moon by 2028.…