NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) returned data that led to the discovery of a second planet in the habitable zone of TOI 700. This star is an M-class red dwarf star about 100 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Dorado. The newly discovered exoplanet is about 95% Earth’s size, which demonstrates scientists’ increasing … [Read more…]
Comets are small, icy, dusty celestial bodies that orbit the Sun. They are made up of a mixture of water ice, dust, and other volatile compounds, and they are often referred to as “dirty snowballs.” Comets are thought to be remnants of the early Solar System, and they are believed to contain some of the … [Read more…]
NASA has begun construction on a space telescope that is specifically designed to detect asteroids. Called the NEO Surveyor, it will watch for asteroids that might pose a danger to Earth. “NEO” stands for Near-Earth Object. Many near-Earth objects like asteroids and comets might regularly cross Earth’s orbit and could smash into Earth eventually. Most … [Read more…]
The Perseverance Rover dropped the first sample cache to be returned to Earth in a future mission. These tubes are full of Martian rocks and dust that can be analyzed in sophisticated laboratories on Earth. The first cache is in a flat area known as Three Forks. The Perseverance team plans to drop ten of … [Read more…]
The InSight lander arrived at Mars on June 26, 2018. Since then, it has accomplished significant milestones like detecting the first recorded “Marsquake” and inserting a thermometer into Mars to take its temperature. On December 21, 2022, NASA has declared the InSight mission over after the Jet Propulsion Laboratory lost contact with the lander. Engineers … [Read more…]
After 25 and a half days in space, a test version of the Orion spacecraft returned to Earth. It splashed down just off the western coastline of Baja, California, at 9:40 a.m. PST on December 11, 2022. “With splashdown we have successfully operated Orion in the deep space environment, where it exceeded our expectations, and demonstrated … [Read more…]
The Perseverance Rover got two samples of dust and sand from a small, windblown, dune-like structure on Mars. One of these samples might return to Earth on a sample return mission that is currently being built in Europe. The sample return mission is expected to launch later this decade. An orbiter will launch as early … [Read more…]
The uncrewed Orion launched by Artemis 1 on November 30, 2022, is now on its way back to Earth. On December 5, it performed a 207-second engine burn that took it out of lunar orbit. Flight controllers expect the Orion spacecraft to return to Earth on December 11. The Orion was just 128 kilometers (79 … [Read more…]
How much would you like to have a solar panel that you could just unroll like a sleeping bag and plug in? Sounds easy, right? On the International Space Station, such a thing is not as easy as it sounds. On December 3, 2022, two members of the Expedition 68 crew who already had experience … [Read more…]
When a black hole feeds on material, it can whip up enormous jets of matter that stream out from the black hole at an angle that is perpendicular to the accretion disk around it. When one of the jets is pointed toward Earth – or at least close enough that an orbiting observatory can observe … [Read more…]