All posts tagged: space-and-astronomy

New US moon mission runs into technical trouble

New US moon mission runs into technical trouble

Published by skeptic

The United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur lifts off at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on January 8, 2024, carrying Astrobotic’s Peregrine Lunar Lander. GREGG NEWTON / AFP The first US lunar lander launched in more than five decades has experienced an anomaly preventing it from pointing its solar panels toward the sun, the company that built the robot said on Monday, January 8. Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander separated successfully from United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket overnight from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, and quickly established communications with NASA’s Deep Space Network of ground-based radio antennas. All its systems powered on as expected, and it “entered a fully operational state,” Astrobotic said in a tweet. But “unfortunately, an anomaly occurred which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation. The team is responding in real time as the situation unfolds and will be providing updates as data is obtained and analyzed.” The lunar lander is experiencing a “critical loss of propellant,” making it almost certain to fail in its mission to …

With Vulcan Centaur, US relaunches its plan to conquer the moon

With Vulcan Centaur, US relaunches its plan to conquer the moon

Published by skeptic

The United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur lifts off at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, on January 8, 2024. CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP The image of the United States flag planted on the moon’s surface is a lasting one. A star-spangled banner against a black sky, surrounded by the boot prints of the few humans – all American men – to have set foot on our satellite. But while space news remains largely dominated by Uncle Sam, with its gigantic rockets and plans for Mars, it’s been a while since the US embarked on a mission to land on the moon. In fact, the last one was in 1972. The Apollo-17 mission concluded the only manned lunar exploration program. After that, the US stayed away from the moon for more than three decades. There were a few orbiters and even impactors (spacecraft designed to impact a celestial body) in the 1990s and 2000s, but no further surface landing craft. To date, the late 2022 Artemis-1 mission consisted of only a short circumnavigation of …

Artemis II: The 4 astronauts NASA picked for moon mission

Artemis II: The 4 astronauts NASA picked for moon mission

Published by skeptic

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. CNN  —  Astronauts who will helm the first crewed moon mission in five decades were revealed on Monday, queuing up the quartet to begin training for the historic Artemis II lunar flyby that is set to take off in November 2024. The astronauts are NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency. Wiseman is a 47-year-old decorated naval aviator and test pilot who was first selected to be a NASA astronaut in 2009. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, he’s completed one prior spaceflight, a 165-day trip to the International Space Station that had launched aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2014. Most recently, Wiseman served as chief of the astronaut office before stepping down in November 2022, making him eligible for a flight assignment. Wiseman will serve as commander of the Artemis II mission. Hansen, 47, is a fighter pilot who was selected by the Canadian Space …

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Girls to design Africa’s first private space satellite

Published by skeptic

Story highlights Africa will launch its first private satellite into space It’s been built by schoolgirls CNN  —  They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions – to launch Africa’s first private satellite into space in 2019. They are part of a team of high school girls from Cape Town, South Africa, who have designed and built payloads for a satellite that will orbit over the earth’s poles scanning Africa’s surface. Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent. Using the data transmitted, “we can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future”, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School. “Where our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation and also how we can monitor remote areas,” she says. “We have a lot of forest fires and floods but we don’t always get out there in time.” Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention. It’s …

This NASA astronaut voted from space

This NASA astronaut voted from space

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Story highlights Shane Kimbrough is a NASA astronaut He voted in the 2016 election CNN  —  From infinity and beyond, he found a way to vote. Shane Kimbrough, a NASA astronaut currently living on board the International Space Station, filed his ballot in Tuesday’s presidential election, according to a Tumblr post by NASA. NASA told Yahoo News that Kimbrough filed his ballot in the 2016 election from the space station sometime over the past few days. For astronauts who will be in space on Election Day, the voting process starts a year before launch. At that time, they are able to select the elections in which they want to participate. Then, six months before the election, astronauts are provided with the form “Voter Registration and Absentee Ballot Request – Federal Post Card Application.” NASA astronaut David Wolf was the first American to vote in space while on the Russian Mir Space Station in a 1997 local election, according to NPR. Source link

Space travel: Going to space is a real pain in the back

Space travel: Going to space is a real pain in the back

Published by skeptic

Story highlights Astronauts can temporarily gain 2 inches in height but suffer muscle loss and back pain More countermeasures involving exercise may help mitigate pain and muscle loss CNN  —  A six-month stay on the International Space Station can be a pain in the back for astronauts. While they may gain up to 2 inches in height temporarily, that effect is accompanied by a weakening of the muscles supporting the spine, according to a new study. Astronauts have been reporting back pain since the late 1980s, when space missions grew longer. Their flight medical data show that more than half of US astronauts have reported back pain, especially in their lower backs. Up to 28% indicated that it was moderate to severe pain, sometimes lasting the duration of their mission. Things don’t improve when they return to Earth’s gravity. In the first year after their mission, astronauts have a 4.3 times higher risk of a herniated disc. “It’s sort of an ongoing problem that has been a significant one with cause for concern,” said Dr. …