Sara Susca, deputy payload manager and payload systems engineer for NASA’s SPHEREx mission, looks up at one of the spacecraft’s photon shields. These concentric cones protect the telescope from light…
Category: Planetary Science
Astronomers are hoping to detect gravitational waves coming from supernova 1987A
Hubble Space Telescope image of SN1987A in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Credit: NASA A supernova explosion is a cataclysmic explosion that marks the violent end of a massive star’s life.…
Civilizations could use gravitational lenses to transmit power from star to star
Gravitational lens GAL-CLUS-022058s. Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble Space Telescope In 1916, famed theoretical physicist Albert Einstein put the finishing touches on his theory of general relativity, a geometric theory for how gravity…
Endeavour assembly at Science Center starts with lifting 52-ton rockets into place
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The space shuttle Endeavour’s twin giant rockets will be hoisted by crane next week and affixed into place atop the craft’s aft skirts in a first…
HAARP artificial airglow may be widely visible in Alaska
HAARP’s Ionospheric Research Instrument is a phased array of 180 high-frequency antennas spread across 33 acres. Credit: UAF/GI photo by JR Ancheta. Alaskans and visitors may be able to see…
Wearable devices may prevent astronauts getting ‘lost’ in space
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The sky is no longer the limit—but taking flight is dangerous. In leaving the Earth’s surface, we lose many of the cues we need to orient…
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft swoops past first of 10 asteroids on long journey to Jupiter
This image from a video animation provided by NASA depicts the Lucy spacecraft approaching an asteroid. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, Lucy encountered the first of 10 asteroids on its…
