[ad_1] NASA used its Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) to detect the primordial molecule. The scientists found it in NGC 7027, a planetary nebula (a remnant of a Sun-like star) located 3,000 light-years away. The discovery proves that helium hydride can exist in space, and it confirms theories about the chemistry of the early […]
Category: Nasa
NASA’s TESS spacecraft finds its first Earth-sized exoplanet
[ad_1] This newly identified planet is the smallest world outside our solar system that TESS has spotted. And the spacecraft’s data shows HD21749c circles its star every 7.8 days, meaning it has a tight orbit that would lead to surface temperatures of up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit. TESS has now found 10 planets smaller than […]
Eat your heart out, Soundgarden
[ad_1] Self-healing space suits among 18 ideas to receive NASA funding If the recent cancellation of what would have been the first all-women space walk showed us anything, it’s that we desperately need spacesuits designed for (and in) the 21st century. NASA agrees and announced this week that it is awarding funding to universities to […]
SpaceX will assist NASA’s first-ever mission to redirect an asteroid
[ad_1] This is batting practice. But the stakes are still high: Failure could derail NASA’s so-called “kinectic impactor technique,” success will provide the crucial data that will inform its deployment against an actual asteroid on a collision course with Earth. NASA plans to intercept Didymos when it’s within 11 million kilometres (7 million miles) of […]
NASA compared twin astronauts to see if space ages the human body
[ad_1] “If you look at the changes we’re seeing in Scott, the vast majority of them came back to baseline in a relatively short period of time when he came back to Earth,” said Steven Platts, deputy chief scientists at NASA’s Human Research Program, at a press conference held by NASA on Thursday to discuss […]
Privately-owned Moon lander crashes in historic attempt
[ad_1] SpaceIL was one of the finalists competing for Google’s Lunar Xprize. That challenge ended without a winner, but SpaceIL joined others in persevering. Even with the crash, Israel is been part of a very exclusive club — it’s only the fourth country to put a vehicle on the Moon (in one state or another) […]
NASA enlists academia to develop autonomous space habitats
[ad_1] One, the Habitats Optimized for Missions of Exploration (HOME), will develop autonomous systems, machine learning, robotic maintenance and onboard manufacturing for autonomous and self-maintained smart habitats. The HOME team includes researchers from the University of California, Davis; University of Colorado Boulder, Carnegie Mellon University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Howard University, Texas A&M University […]
The ISS is crawling with nasty bacteria
[ad_1] The microbes come from humans and are similar to the ones in gyms, offices, and hospitals on Earth. They include so-called opportunistic pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (commonly found on the skin and in the nasal passage) and Enterobacter (associated with the human gastrointestinal tract). Though they can cause diseases back on Earth, it’s […]
Boeing delays its first Starliner test flight until August
[ad_1] While NASA and Boeing once said they’d launch the uncrewed Starliner in August 2018, skeptics always had doubts that the two would meet that goal. Initial delays were no surprise. Now, NASA says the new August 2019 date is due to limited launch opportunities this spring and early summer. In a press release, NASA […]
NASA says satellite that India shot down may threaten the ISS
[ad_1] In the middle of an election on March 27, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the success of “Mission Shakti,” a missile test that destroyed one of the nation’s satellites. It’s the fourth country to have completed such a mission, after the US, Russia and China. India’s government wrote that the test was carried […]