Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gathered a remarkable following during his time in space, with his demonstration videos, song recordings, and photographs going viral throughout his five month spaceflight. But ask him what he’s most proud of accomplishing during this mission, and he’ll happily tell you about the amazing science he and his crew accomplished, the last minute EVA they pulled [...]
Video
Air Force Chief of Safety Talks Space Situational Awareness at IAASS Conference
On May 21st, the 6th IAASS Conference “Safety is Not an Option” kicked off in Montreal. US government officials, barred from international travel by budget constraints within their agencies, have nonetheless been anxious to participate via video feed. The US Air Force Chief of Safety, Major General Margareth H. Woodward, was one such, and now you can enjoy her talk even [...]
NASA Records Most Powerful Lunar Meteorite Impact
On March 17, NASA lunar observing telescopes detected a meteorite crashing into the Moon’s surface. The impact – later estimated at the equivalent of 5 tons of TNT – was bright enough to easily see with the naked eye. Scientists from NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office estimate the meteor was 40 kg, travelling at 90,000 km/hr. It left a 20 m [...]
Final Reflections from Space
During his mission, the commander of ISS Expedition 35 gathered a loyal following as he sang and played guitar, demonstrated phenomena of every day life in space, and connected via social media with his fans and followings by sharing photographs and commentaries. Just before he departed the station on May 13, Chris Hadfield shared these few final words: Be sure [...]
Luca Parmitano Shows Off his Spacesuits
ESA Astronaut Luca Parmitano is training for his upcoming trip to ISS in September, which includes getting used to his Orlan and Sokol spacesuits. Here, Parmitano explains the differences between these suits and how he expects to use them. Loading… For those who are wondering, Orlan translates as a sea eagle, Sokol is a falcon. Staff WritersMore Posts
The Many Views of a Solar Eruption
By now we’re used to the images. In brilliant orange, neon green, or electric blue, we see the ever changing surface of the Sun, its sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections. From Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO), Solar Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO), or STEREO, these images combine to tell us what’s going on on the Sun’s surface and how it might affect [...]
On Fourth Try, Waverider Achieves Hypersonic Flight
After a series of failures, the US Air Force successful testing its fourth and last Boeing-built X-51A Waverider. On May 1, Waverider was dropped from a B52H Stratofortress at 15,000 m, accelerated to Mach 4.8 using solid rocket boosters, then rode its scramjet engines to Mach 5.1. The Waverider now holds the world record for longest duration air-breather powered hypersonic [...]
The Day NASA’s Fermi Dodged a 1.5-ton Bullet
Just over a year ago, on March 29, 2012, NASA’s Fermi team had to make a decision: risk a collision between the gamma-ray space telescope and defunct spy satellite Cosmos 1805, or try the untested propulsion system, intended only to deorbit the telescope at its end of life. “The two spacecraft were expected to occupy the same point in space [...]
SpaceIL: From Flight of Fancy to the Moon
In a visit to California in February 2013, SpaceIL founder Yariv Bash discussed how he and two other engineers came to undertake the Google Lunar X Prize challenge with Israel’s first lunar mission. From an impractical concept sketched out one late night in a bar, SpaceIL grew into a credible contender among the 23 remaining teams competing for $30 million [...]
Findings of the 6th European Conference on Space Debris
For the better part of a week, space debris experts gathered in Darmstadt, Germany to discuss the current and future state of Earth’s orbital space. The conclusions were bleak: even cessation of all launches and 100% compliance with the 25 year deorbit rule would be insufficient to keep low Earth orbit debris from spiraling out of control. Conference participants declared [...]
