Hubble Discovers Comets Plunging onto a Young Star

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered comets plunging onto the star HD 172555, which is a youthful 23 million years old and resides 95 light-years from Earth. Credits: NASA, ESA, A. Feild and G. Bacon The above illustration image shows several comets speeding across a vast protoplanetary disk of gas and dust and heading straight for the youthful, central star.

Two US astronauts complete spacewalk to upgrade ISS

By Agence France-Presse Two American astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station on Friday to upgrade the orbiting outpost’s electrical system. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Peggy Whitson work retrieve adapter plates outside the International Space Station during a Jan. 6, 2017 spacewalk to upgrade the orbiting laboratory’s power system.

Former MOSI employee contends for ‘Hidden Figures’ award

A 2010 Wharton High School graduate has been named as a top contender in The Search for Hidden Figures contest, a scholarship competition aimed at recognizing the nation’s most talented emerging female leaders in science, technology, engineering and math. From a field of more than 7,300 applicants Midori Maeda, 24, the daughter of Tampa residents Cesar and Zonia Maeda, is among the 50 semi-finalists selected in a competition that will honor two grand prize winners in each of two categories that include students ages 13-19, and professionals ages 20 and older.

UCI Introduces iRain Smartphone App

Climate researchers and weather forecasters get their rain data from a network of precipitation-sensing satellites that orbit Earth. iRain, a new mobile phone app developed by engineers at the University of California, Irvine puts the same precision rainfall information into the pockets of the public.

Chandra image reveals black hole treasure trove

Washington, Jan 6 – NASA said its Chandra X-ray Observatory has obtained an image that gives astronomers the best look yet at the growth of black holes over billions of years beginning soon after the Big Bang. This is the deepest X-ray image ever obtained, collected with about eleven and a half weeks of Chandra observing time, the US space agency said in a statement.

Elon Musk says SpaceX ready for launch, but FAA isn’t

SpaceX has test fired the engines for its scheduled launch next week, the first time the aerospace manufacturer will try to launch a Falcon 9 rocket since a devastating September explosion. “The FAA has not yet issued a license to SpaceX for a launch in January,” the Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday.

Movie review: ‘Hidden Figures’ tells inspiring story of empowerment in the 1960s

“Hidden Figures” is the incredible untold story of brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

Mysterious radio signal traced to dwarf galaxy

At least two of the galaxies have been involved in high-speed collisions which have ripped stars and gas from neighboring galaxies and caused the development of more than 100 star clusters and several dwarf galaxies. A mysterious signal that has confounded scientists for years has been traced to a spot in the sky more than 3 billion light-years away.

NASA detects TWO space rocks heading towards Earth

Nasa detects TWO space rocks heading towards Earth – but it still can’t work out whether one is an asteroid or a comet This week a comet that started life in the outer reaches of our solar system will be visible from Earth for the first time, as it approaches our planet’s orbit. Another recently-discovered object, called 2016 WF9, has also been taking a scenic tour of our solar system, approaching Jupiter’s orbit at its greatest distance from the sun.

SpaceX ready to launch again

Elon Musk’s SpaceX says it has determined the cause of a launch pad explosion that destroyed a satellite in September and is ready to start launches again as early as Sunday . An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded on September 1 in Cape Canaveral, destroying a satellite that Facebook planned to use to beam high-speed internet to Africa.

NASA’s new mission to study black holes set for 2020 launch

NASA said it plans to launch in 2020 a $188 million mission that will allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees.

NASA’s new mission to study black holes set for 2020 launch

NASA said it plans to launch in 2020 a $188 million mission that will allow astronomers to explore, for the first time, the hidden details of some of the most extreme and exotic astronomical objects, such as stellar and supermassive black holes, neutron stars and pulsars. Objects such as black holes can heat surrounding gases to more than a million degrees.

2016 to break heat record

Two days before the presidential inauguration, scientists are expected to announce that 2016 was the hottest year on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880 ​- news that will test national, state and economic leadership on climate change. Even as Washington, D.C., and California bundle up against winter chill, records ​will ​show that extreme heat blanketed large areas of every continent this year, pushing up average temperatures for the third year in a row.

Akufo-Addo’s Government: NASA’s Joe Anokye for Communications Minister?

Information reaching abusuafmonline.com indicates President-elect, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo has penciled a Telecommunications Service Manager with National Aeronautics and Space Administration as his Communications Minister. According to insider information, necessary consultations have been concluded for the appointment of Joe Anokye as Minister for Communications.

SpaceX aims for January 8 return to flight with Falcon rocket

Elon Musk’s SpaceX plans to resume flying rockets next week following an investigation into why one of them burst into flames on a launch pad four months ago, the company said on Monday. In a statement, SpaceX said it expected to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base on Jan. 8 to put 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc. SpaceX had suspended flights after the same model rocket went up in a blaze on Sept.

2016 to break heat record; temps challenging climate change skeptics

Two days before the presidential inauguration, scientists are expected to announce that 2016 was the hottest year on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880 ​- news that will test national, state and economic leadership on climate change. Even as Washington, D.C., and California bundle up against winter chill, records ​will ​show that extreme heat blanketed large areas of every continent this year, pushing up average temperatures for the third year in a row.

Earth ‘will be destroyed in October 2017’ – and the …

Don’t bother sticking to those New Year’s Resolutions, because in autumn this year, a massive death planet is about to hit our planet, killing us all. Or at least that’s what ‘researcher’ David Meade, author of ‘Planet X: The 2017 Arrival’ reckons – saying that ‘overwhelming evidence’ proves that a planet will collide with Earth in September or October this year.

Rare comet will be visible from Earth for first time: NASA

A rare comet discovered by NASA scientists will be visible using just binoculars to skywatchers on Earth this week for the first time, before the object heads back into outer reaches of the solar system for an orbit lasting thousands of years. The comet, C/2016 U1 NEOWISE, “has a good chance of becoming visible through a good pair of binoculars, although we can’t be sure because a comet’s brightness is notoriously unpredictable,” said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

NASA ‘mixtape’ highlights best of 2016 space research

The organization’s Goddard Space Flight Center just dropped the tape – in the form of a YouTube video – that samples some of its most notable efforts in 2016. The Maryland-based center is the nation’s largest organization of scientists and engineers who build spacecraft and technology to study the Earth, our solar system and the universe.