Oct 20, 2022 | Asteroids, Daily Space, DART, Europa, JAXA, Lucy, Mars, Rockets, Space China, SpaceX, Stars, Supernovae
Space is hard, and some days, getting rockets to work doesn’t go as well as expected. An Epsilon rocket launched by JAXA and carrying eight payloads including RAISE 3 was lost when mission control triggered the flight termination system due to an attitude issue. Plus, stars blowing dust rings, stars exploding, asteroids getting hit with spacecraft, and Europa’s geysers may not come from the subsurface ocean.
Sep 16, 2022 | Climate Change, Cosmology, Curiosity, Daily Space, Earth, Exoplanets, JAXA, Mars, Moon, Physics, Quantum, Rockets, Space China, Space History, Spacecraft, Supernovae, White Dwarfs
Data and images from NASA’s Curiosity rover found evidence that wind played a key role in erosional processes on the red planet, despite the lower atmospheric volume. Plus, astrophysics and cosmology news, a baby exoplanet, and this week in space history, we look back at an uncrewed lunar mission from Japan.
Jul 15, 2022 | Crewed Space, Daily Space, Earth, Fast Radio Bursts, Jupiter, Mars, Review, Science, Sky Watching, Spacecraft, SpaceX, Supernovae
Using layers of data from a variety of Martian missions, researchers have developed a machine learning algorithm that identified the actual crater from which a particular Martian meteorite originated. Plus, a radio heartbeat, and our last What’s Up and review of the season.
Jun 17, 2022 | AAS, Asteroids, Daily Space, Earth, Exoplanets, Nebulae, Sky Watching, Spacecraft, Star Forming Region, Supernovae, The Sun, White Dwarfs
Observations of V1674 Hercules reveal a nova produced by the white dwarf star that dimmed in only one day. Additionally, the strange star wobbles every 501 seconds, producing flashes in visible and X-ray light. Plus, more results from the 240th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, a farewell to SOFIA, and What’s Up is the June solstice.
May 21, 2022 | Crewed Space, Daily Space, Galaxies, Mars, Review, Rockets, Rovers, Spacecraft, Stars, Supernovae
Over the past three decades, astronomers around the world have been using the observations of the Hubble Space Telescope to more precisely calculate the expansion of the universe. And they have converged on a precision of just over 1%. Plus, Boeing launches Starliner, Voyager 1 struggles, and Erik reviews his favorite camera lens.
May 20, 2022 | Daily Space, Earth, Galaxies, Moon, Sky Watching, Spacecraft, Star Forming Region, Stars, Supernovae, The Sun
With a groundbreaking technique, astronomers have used a galaxy as a gravitational lens to backlight two hydrogen clouds, peering back 11 billion light-years at our early universe. Plus, volcano water on the Moon, a quadruple star system, and this week’s What’s Up takes a careful look at the Sun.