Category Archives: NASA

Global heating will pass 1.5C threshold this year, top ex-Nasa scientist says

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James Hansen says limit will be passed ‘for all practical purposes’ by May though other experts predict that will happen in 2030s

The internationally agreed threshold to prevent the Earth from spiraling into a new superheated era will be “passed for all practical purposes” during 2024, the man known as the godfather of climate science has warned.

James Hansen, the former Nasa scientist credited for alerting the world to the dangers of climate change in the 1980s, said that global heating caused by the burning of fossil fuels, amplified by the naturally reoccurring El Niño climatic event, will by May push temperatures to as much as 1.7C (3F) above the average experienced before industrialization.

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Nasa’s hunt for signs of life on Mars divides experts as mission costs rocket

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The soaring price-tag of a plan to fly rock samples back to Earth is jeopardising other space projects, say critics

It is one of the most complex space missions ever contemplated. A flotilla of unmanned probes and robot rovers will be flown to Mars to gather rock samples which will then be blasted back to Earth for study for signs of life.

This is Nasa’s Mars Sample Return and it would involve the first-ever space launch from another planet, as well as the first-ever rendezvous in orbit around another planet.

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‘A gorgeous sight’: delight and wonder as US viewers watch annular solar eclipse

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Amid varying levels of cloud cover, Americans gathered and donned special glasses for rare celestial show

It was a moment that won’t happen again for 16 years – and Mother Nature obscured it in some places.

“It was supposed to be sunny in Corpus Christi today and now is clouds everywhere. Trying to see where we have to drive to,” one frustrated eclipse viewer in Texas posted on the Total Solar Eclipse 2024 Facebook page. (The title references next April’s total eclipse, which will be visible in some areas of the US.)

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‘Ring of fire’ visible in parts of US as crowds gathered to watch annular eclipse

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Annular solar eclipse passed over eight states from Oregon to Texas and partial eclipse was visible in other continental states

As the “moment of annularity” was reached, photos were snapped, crowds cheered and the sky darkened – in the areas that the annular solar eclipse could be seen, at least.

Annularity during a solar eclipse is the moment when the moon is fully in front of the sun, creating the ring of fire that is the visual highlight of today’s eclipse. It lasts for only a few minutes.

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Moon a la mode? Prada to design spacesuit for Nasa’s Artemis III mission

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The luxury fashion brand announced a collaboration with Axiom Space to outfit astronauts for the 2025 mission to the moon

Prada will take its designs to the next atmospheric level as the Italian fashion house announced its latest partnership with Axiom Space to design spacesuits for astronauts.

This week, the Milan-based luxury brand announced its collaboration with the Texas-based commercial space company to design Nasa’s lunar spacesuits for its 2025 Artemis III mission – the first crewed flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

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‘A treasure for scientific analysis’: Nasa holds Bennu asteroid sample press conference – as it happened

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The blog is now closed, but you can read the full story about the successful Osiris-Rex sample touchdown here

Another hope is that by studying the samples from Bennu, scientists can compare their results against the data they obtained from instruments on board the spacecraft.

This ‘ground-truthing’ means they can then calibrate the latter, allowing them to more accurately explore differences in composition across the surface of Bennu. Remember - the samples that are heading from Earth only came from one small crater on the asteroid.

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‘Like a dream’: successful return of Nasa capsule with asteroid sample hailed

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Return of the largest asteroid sample ever to be recovered marks the culmination of a seven-year journey

Sitting isolated in the arid landscape of the Utah desert, its orange and white parachute cast aside, the Osiris-Rex capsule was a picture of stillness. Yet all around, scientists were swinging into action, rushing to recover its precious cargo: 4.6bn-year-old chunks of space rock.

Racing towards the scene were four helicopters bearing scientists, engineers and military safety personnel. Their mission: to recover the capsule as quickly as possible to prevent samples of asteroid Bennu from becoming contaminated by planet Earth.

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Monday briefing: The story of India’s space programme – and why it took off

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In today’s newsletter: The country’s lunar landing was a triumph. This is how it quietly built a successful mission

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Last week India became the fourth ever country to land a spacecraft on the moon, and the first to touch down successfully near its south pole. It was hailed as a success for “budget” missions, with the project costing £60m, less than half of the £131m it cost Christopher Nolan to make his 2014 space epic, Interstellar.

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India’s south pole moon landing is big business for global space race

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India has raised its spacefaring profile and will now be seen as low-cost provider for missions possible

For all the risks, for all that was riding on a successful landing, the descent to the moon’s surface was remarkably uneventful, if not exactly stress-free. The Vikram lander, part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, dropped steadily on its thrusters to the rock below, slowed to a hover as it approached the ground, and finally came to a rest on the dusty terrain.

When confirmation came that the lander was down, anxiety in the control room gave way to cheers and applause. With the soft touchdown, India becomes the first country to land a probe at the moon’s south pole, a rugged region where deep craters lie in permanent shadow and where ice could provide water, oxygen and fuel for future missions. The first will be on the moon itself, and in lunar orbit, but they could also supply trips to Mars, with the benefit that the materials do not need to be lifted off the Earth’s surface at great cost. It is a region of key scientific interest.

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Leading Nasa climate expert says July likely to be hottest month on record

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Gavin Schmidt of Goddard Institute for Space Studies warns of likelihood of new high as heatwave bakes large parts of planet

July will likely be Earth’s hottest month in hundreds if not thousands of years, Gavin Schmidt, the director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, told reporters on Thursday, as a persistent heatwave baked swaths of the US south.

Schmidt made the announcement during a meeting at Nasa’s Washington headquarters that convened agency climate experts and other leaders, including Nasa administrator Bill Nelson and chief scientist and senior climate adviser Kate Calvin.

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Euclid telescope lifts off in search of the secrets of dark universe

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European Space Agency mission launches on SpaceX rocket from Florida to shed light on dark energy and dark matter

A European-built orbital satellite was launched into space on Saturday from Florida on a mission to shed new light on dark energy and dark matter, the mysterious cosmic forces scientists say account for 95% of the known universe.

The Euclid telescope, named for the ancient Greek mathematician known as the “father of geometry”, was carried in the cargo bay of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket which blasted off about 11am EDT (1500 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force station. A live stream of the liftoff was shown on Nasa TV.

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Scientists criticise Nasa for scaling back mission to explore beyond Pluto

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Anger at decision to axe the main task of the New Horizons spacecraft to probe the remote Kuiper belt

It may have reached the edge of the solar system and travelled more than 5 billion miles through space, but the New Horizons spacecraft is causing major ripples on Earth. A dispute has erupted between scientists and US space officials in the wake of Nasa’s decision to stop funding next year for the vessel’s main mission.

The move was described as “misguided and unfortunate” by Alan Stern, New Horizons’s principal investigator.

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Confusion over cause of flash in sky over Kyiv after Nasa denies involvement

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Ukraine had said a satellite reentering the atmosphere was the cause of the phenomenon, but the space agency has denied this

A flash in the sky over the Ukrainian capital prompted confusion and alarm as city authorities said it was caused by a Nasa satellite reentering the atmosphere, while the US space agency denied involvement.

A “bright glow” was observed over Kyiv around 10pm local time, the head of Kyiv’s military administration Sergiy Popko wrote on Telegram.

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James Webb space telescope captures rare image of dying star

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Picture released of star in Sagitta constellation on the cusp of going supernova

The James Webb space telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.

The observation was among the first made by the telescope following its launch in late 2021, but the picture was not released until this week. Webb’s infrared eyes observed all the gas and dust flung into space by a huge, hot star 15,000 light years away. A light-year is about 5.8tn miles.

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Loud booms heard in Texas were due to 1,000-lb meteroid exploding, Nasa says

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Local 911 dispatches received multiple calls from residents about loud noises and a possible ‘explosion’ that shook their homes

A 1,000 pound meteoroid likely exploded in the skies above Texas scattering fragments over the ground on Wednesday afternoon, confirmed Nasa.

The meteorite had a diameter of 2ft and its destruction was felt near McAllen, Texas, in the state’s southern area, as residents reported loud noises in the area.

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‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon

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Administrator Bill Nelson says Beijing could seek ‘own’ resource-rich areas and next two years could be key to US-China contest

The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned.

The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas.

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Nasa’s uncrewed Orion capsule splashes down after ‘historic’ moon mission

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US space agency rejoices after re-entry of spacecraft that should clear way for possible lunar landing of astronauts by 2025

Fifty years to the day after astronauts last walked on the moon, Nasa’s uncrewed Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific on Sunday at the end of a mission that should clear the way for a possible lunar landing of astronauts by 2025.

The US space agency rejoiced in a near-perfect re-entry of the capsule which splashed down to the west of Mexico’s Baja California near Guadalupe Island. Though it carried no astronauts, the spacecraft did contain three test dummies wired with vibration sensors and radiation monitors to divine how humans would have fared.

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Nasa’s Orion spacecraft enters lunar orbit as test flight nears halfway mark

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Nasa considers capsule’s flight a dress rehearsal for the next moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts

Nasa’s Orion capsule has entered an orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles around the moon, as it neared the halfway mark of its test flight.

The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the $4bn demo that’s meant to pave the way for astronauts. It will remain in this broad but stable orbit for nearly a week, completing just half a lap before heading home.

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Astronauts to live and work on the moon by 2030, Nasa official says

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Head of Orion lunar programme says Artemis 1 mission is ‘first step to long-term deep-space exploration’

Astronauts are on course to be living and working on the moon before the end of the decade, according to a Nasa official.

Howard Hu, the head of the US agency’s Orion lunar spacecraft programme, said humans could be active on the moon for “durations” before 2030, with habitats to live in and rovers to support their work.

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Nasa’s rocket launch to the moon next week aims to close 50-year-long gap

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Barring technical issues and Florida’s weather, Artemis 1 will launch after midnight Wednesday on a 15-day, 1.3m-mile journey

Fifty years ago this month, mission managers at the US space agency Nasa gave the final go-ahead for what would turn out to be humanity’s most recent odyssey to the moon. Few realized at the time it would be more than half a century before Nasa would be ready to return, not least Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan, whose belief as he stepped back into the lunar module in December 1972 was that it would be “not too long into the future” that astronauts were there again.

Four minutes after midnight Wednesday, late technical issues and Florida’s weather gods notwithstanding, Artemis 1, the most powerful rocket ship in history, will attempt to close that decades-long gap.

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