Auroras filled much of the world’s skies for several nights in mid-May as a historic geomagnetic storm coursed 100 kilometers above our heads. Being able to see auroras so deep into the tropics was possibly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but there will almost certainly be more strong geomagnetic storms later this year, giving hope to aurora … Read more
The aurora borealis is usually visible only way up north, but two weeks ago the night sky was filled with shimmering curtains of pink and green light that could be seen all the way down into the southern US. People in Texas and Hawaii got out of their cars to stare and take pictures. The … Read more
VAN HORN, Texas: America’s first Black astronaut candidate finally rocketed into space 60 years later, flying with Jeff Bezos’ rocket company on Sunday. Ed Dwight was an Air Force pilot when President John F. Kennedy championed him as a candidate for NASA’s early astronaut corps. But he wasn’t picked for the 1963 class. Dwight, now … Read more
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Our sun is the best-observed star in the entire universe. We see its light every day. For centuries, scientists have tracked the dark spots dappling its radiant face, while in recent decades, telescopes in space and on Earth have scrutinized sunbeams in wavelengths spanning the … Read more
The National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) has issued a “severe geomagnetic storm watch,” the first such watch issued in nearly 20 years. The biggest solar storm in two decades could wipe out GPS satellites and power grids today, space weather forecasters have warned. According to the SWPC, this marks the first watch … Read more
“It fits in with the general narrative of Boeing having lost its way,” says McDowell. Starliner, like Crew Dragon, is a capsule-shaped spacecraft like the Apollo missions of old. Capable of carrying up to seven astronauts, the craft is largely autonomous, requiring major input only in the event of an emergency. During the test mission … Read more
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In October, a Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper mission. The $5 billion mission is designed to find out if Europa, Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon, can support life. But because Europa is constantly bombarded by intense … Read more
After years of delays and stumbles, Boeing is finally poised to launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. It’s the first flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule with a crew on board, a pair of NASA pilots who will check out the spacecraft during the test drive and a weeklong stay at the space … Read more
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has communicated with its Psyche spacecraft — located more than 226 million kilometres away — using a space laser. The Psyche mission is a journey to a unique metal-rich asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. Laser communications sent a copy of engineering data back to Earth … Read more
Throughout the five months of troubleshooting, Voyager’s ground team continued to receive signals indicating the spacecraft was still alive. But until Saturday, they lacked insight into specific details about the status of Voyager 1. “It’s pretty much just the way we left it,” Spilker said. “We’re still in the initial phases of analyzing all of … Read more
