Category Archives: Space

Nasa space telescope launches after surviving Trump budget cuts

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Searching for exoplanets and clues on planet formation, the Roman telescope begins million-mile journey from Florida launchpad

A $4.3bn space telescope that Donald Trump tried to kill has lifted off from Florida as Nasa embarks on the next stage of its quest to unlock the secrets of the universe.

The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope survived two rounds of proposed White House budget cuts, and began a million-mile journey into deep space from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday morning. .

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Perseid meteor shower set to dazzle northern hemisphere this week

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Astronomers say viewing conditions promising for this year’s shower, and 50 to 100 meteors an hour may be visible

The Perseid summer light show is back, and viewing conditions are especially promising across the northern hemisphere.

The meteor shower’s is expected to peak on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and coincides with a total solar eclipse across Spain, Iceland and Greenland and a six-planet parade – though the best time to view the fireballs will come after totality.

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Where in the UK will get the best view of the solar eclipse?

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When, where and how to get the optimal view of the first solar eclipse to be visible across the country this century

For the first time this century, people across the UK will be able to see an almost total solar eclipse in the evening sky on Wednesday.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun’s light either partly or fully. This year, people in the UK and Ireland will see 90-96% of the sun covered by the moon for the first time since 1999 – and it’s their last chance until 2081.

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Artists, writers and scientists urge UK government to save Jodrell Bank Observatory

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New Order and Simon Armitage among more than 100 signatories to criticise ‘foolish and shortsighted’ cuts

More than 100 artists, writers and scientists have called for the UK government to save the “world’s clearest eyes on the sky”, after funding for thenetwork of radio telescopes at Jodrell Bank Observatory was slashed.

New Order, the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield and the poet laureate, Simon Armitage, are among those calling on the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to save the deep space observatory which includes the Grade I-listed Lovell telescope, prized by astronomers who study galaxies, star formation and planets beyond the solar system.

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Total solar eclipse books out hotels two years in advance in New Zealand city

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Dunedin will be the focal point, having last experienced such an eclipse in 1163 – before any humans reached New Zealand

Hotels are booking out two years in advance in the New Zealand city of Dunedin as it prepares for the region’s first total solar eclipse in more than 850 years.

At 4.17pm on 22 July 2028, the moon will pass in front of the sun, casting a roughly 100km-wide shadowy band across parts of southern New Zealand. Everywhere within that band – from tourist hotspot Queenstown in the west to Dunedin city in the east – will be plunged into daytime darkness for 2 minutes and 51 seconds.

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How will Australia’s emergency services cope if satellites go down? With a sextant and a street directory

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Military and SES personnel being taught analog communication and navigation techniques as experts warn solar flare could knock out ‘critical space infrastructure’

Australia’s emergency services and military personnel are being trained to read paper maps, navigate without GPS support and sail by the stars in case something knocks out the nation’s space capabilities.

A panel at the 19th Australian Space Forum in Adelaide on Wednesday was asked to consider what would happen “if we suddenly lost access to critical space infrastructure – no satellites, no GPS, no remote sensing, no secure communications?”

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‘Earth’s first starfleet’: Nasa reveals Artemis III crew and project’s next steps

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Luca Parmitano to pilot all-male crew of four paving way for planned first human landing on Artemis IV in 2028

Jared Isaacman, the Nasa administrator, hailed the creation of “Earth’s first starfleet” on Tuesday as he revealed the Artemis III crew and details of the next stages of the space agency’s project to return humans to the moon.

An Italian astronaut, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency (ESA), will be the pilot of the planned two-week mission to lower Earth orbit next year that will test lunar landers from private companies Blue Origin and SpaceX.

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Stephen Hawking’s father worried his son ‘does not study much’, diaries reveal

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Exclusive: New biography uncovers Frank Hawking’s papers in which he lamented that his son had ‘little initiative’

In exploring the physics and geometry of the universe, Stephen Hawking became a world-renowned pioneer of black hole theory, writing the bestselling book A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 13m copies, and inspiring people to “look up at the stars and not down at your feet”.

But, during Hawking’s student years and as he approached adulthood, his father was deeply concerned about how his son would turn out. Frank Hawking lamented that “he hangs round the house with little initiative and does not study much”, according to previously unknown diaries that he had written partly in code.

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SpaceX launches its biggest rocket yet in test flight from Texas

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The launch is the 12th test flight of the mega-rocket that CEO Elon Musk is building to get people to Mars one day

SpaceX launched its biggest, most powerful Starship yet on a test flight Friday, an upgraded version that Nasa is counting on to land astronauts on the moon.

The redesigned mega-rocket made its debut two days after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced he’s taking the company public. It blasted off from the southern tip of Texas, carrying 20 mock Starlink satellites for release halfway around the world.

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Canadian astronaut’s bon mots help heal wounds from French language row

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Jeremy Hansen praised for speaking French in space after Air Canada chief’s linguistic snub exposed tensions and drew rebuke from PM

Few people foresaw humanity’s quest for the moon as accurately as the 19th-century French author Jules Verne, whose two works –From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon – anticipated many of the features of modern lunar exploration.

But Verne’s language had never been spoken in deep space until the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen uttered four words during Nasa’s recent Artemis II mission.

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Artemis II crew speak out at welcome home event: ‘Earth was this lifeboat hanging in the universe’

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Astronauts make first remarks at jubilant homecoming in Houston after their record-breaking moon flyby

Still marveling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home on Saturday from hundreds who took part in setting a record for deep space travel during the US space agency Nasa’s lunar comeback.

The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near Nasa’s Johnson Space Center and Mission Control in Houston, flying in from San Diego, where they splashed down just offshore the evening before.

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‘Just the beginning’: Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby

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The four astronauts touched down on Earth off the coast of California, concluding historic 10-day mission

The Artemis II, and the four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday night, with all four astronauts in good health.

“53 years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we return to stay. Let us finish what they started. Let us focus on what was left undone. Let us not go to plant flags and leave, but to stay with firmness in our purpose, with gratitude for the hands who built the machines and with love for the ones that we carry with us,” Nasa’s associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said at the late-night press conference after the astronauts landed.

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Artemis II crew to return home as Nasa lays out steps for safe splashdown

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Astronauts prepare for re-entry several miles off coast of southern California after 10-day lunar fly-by mission

The crew of Artemis II is set to return to earth on Friday following its historic 10-day lunar flyby mission, and Nasa leaders have described the precise logistics needed to get them home.

The return will see the Orion capsule traveling at nearly 24,000mph before making a final splashdown several miles off the coast of San Diego. The operation requires multiple teams and careful coordination to safely extract the crew from the spacecraft.

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Artemis II crew describe ‘overwhelming’ emotions after soaring past the moon

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Nasa astronauts begin journey home having collected eagerly awaited images of impact craters and ridges

Nasa’s Artemis II astronauts have described the powerful emotion felt when soaring over the moon as they photographed impact craters, cracks and ridges and began their long journey home.

Among the eagerly awaited images captured by the crew, who worked in pairs at the Orion capsule windows, are those of the Earth rising from behind the moon, a solar eclipse and parts of the 590-mile (950km) wide Orientale impact basin that have never been observed with the naked eye.

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Trump tells Artemis II crew he saved Nasa despite trying to slash agency’s budget

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Astronauts had a call with the US president from space after setting record for the farthest-traveled humans from Earth

The crew of Artemis II phoned home from above the moon on Monday night after their record-breaking day, to find Donald Trump musing about how he had saved the US space agency, Nasa, from closing down and telling the astronauts how much they deserved the honor of the president seeking their autographs.

The intermittently uncomfortable 12-minute Earth-to-space call, facilitated by the Nasa administrator and Trump acolyte, Jared Isaacman, featured a lengthy period of silence, several references by the president about his friendship with the retired Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, and how “America is the hottest country in the world right now”.

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Artemis II swings back around after completing record-setting moon flyby

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Four astronauts become Earth’s farthest travelled and exceed a 1970 record on the fifth day of the mission

Artemis II astronauts broke Apollo 13’s distance record at 1.57pm eastern time on Monday, hugging each other in the cramped capsule as they made history for being the first four humans to travel the farthest from Earth than anyone before them.

About five hours later, at 7.02pm ET, the crew reached the furthest point in its mission, before swinging back around, at 252,756 miles from Earth – 4,111 miles farther than the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970.

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Chance of alien life ‘goes to heart’ of space missions, Nasa chief says

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Jared Isaacman says odds of evidence we are not alone are ‘pretty high’ four days after Artemis II rocket lifted off

The top official at Nasa says that the chance of alien existence is a factor in how the US space agency plans its missions.

Speaking on Sunday, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman told CNN’s Meet the Press that investigating the existence of alien life “goes to the heart of many things that we do at Nasa”, adding: “Our job here is to go out and try and unlock the secrets of the universe.”

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Artemis II astronauts expected to reach far side of moon on Monday

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Nasa team get deeper into space than any humans have ever ventured

Astronauts on the historic Artemis II mission are expected to reach the far side of the moon on Monday, venturing deeper into space than any humans before.

Nasa has reported satisfaction with progress toward the lunar fly-round since the team’s launch on Wednesday, with the three Americans and one Canadian on course to break the record for maximum range from Earth just as a total solar eclipse awaits.

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Artemis II’s Jeremy Hansen calls Project Hail Mary ‘a real treat’ before his space mission

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Astronaut calls fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling’s movie ‘extraordinary’ ahead of Artemis II crew’s lunar fly-around

The new space movie Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling has gotten a rave review from more than halfway to the moon.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen said on Saturday that he and his Artemis II crewmates got to watch the film with their families before launching on the lunar fly-around. He said it was “a real treat” to view the movie while getting ready for his own space adventure.

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Artemis II astronauts share image of Earth as they pass halfway to the moon

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Moon-bound astronauts said a view of the entire Earth, complete with northern lights, was ‘the most spectacular moment’

The four Artemis astronauts have passed the halfway point between Earth and the moon on the way to their planned lunar flyby, Nasa said on Friday evening.

“We’re halfway there,” Nasa posted on social media.

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