mission

5,000 possible alien worlds in less than 4 years for NASA planet-hunting mission

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It’s been a busy four years for NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the scientists who seek planets in its data. The mission just hit a major discovery milestone, passing 5,000 of what the team calls TESS Objects of Interest, or TOIs, which include exoplanet candidates and other intriguing signals. Astronomers select objects from … Read more

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission explained in photos

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(Image credit: NASA via collectSPACE.com) While Artemis 1 will be uncrewed, it plans to carry several mannequin-type devices to test out how the lunar environment will affect humans.  One example is “Commander Moonikin Campos,” named after Apollo 13 engineer Arturo Campos in a NASA contest. Campos will fly in the commander’s seat and wear an … Read more

NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission finishes countdown test

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NASA’s first moonbound mission for the Artemis program is in final testing. The team executed its second launch countdown sequencing test Monday (Jan. 24), with no major issues reported, according to an agency blog post. “The test demonstrated the ground launch software and ground launch sequencer, which checks the health and status of the rocket … Read more

Two Colossal Sphinx Statues Discovered Inside Ancient Egyptian Temple

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Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered two colossal limestone statues of King Amenhotep III that are fashioned to look like sphinxes, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.   An Egyptian-German archaeological mission discovered the sphinx-like statues, which were originally about 26 feet (8 meters) long when they were created for King Amenhotep III, an … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope Reaches Its Destination in Huge Mission Milestone

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The James Webb Space Telescope has fired its thrusters and reached its orbital destination around a million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from our planet, NASA said Monday, a key milestone on its mission to study cosmic history.   At around 2:00 pm Eastern Time (1900 GMT), the observatory fired its thrusters for 5 minutes … Read more

NASA wants your ideas to reuse trash and waste on a Mars mission

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NASA just opened a challenge seeking ways to go to Mars and back with a minimum of wasted materials. The agency’s tournament lab, along with crowdsourcing platform HeroX, have launched a “Waste to Base” challenge looking for ideas to recycle trash, waste, carbon dioxide and foam packaging materials during a two- to three-year crewed Red … Read more

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon mission readies for ‘wet dress rehearsal’

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The first moonbound rocket and spacecraft of NASA’s Artemis program are expected to do a “wet dress rehearsal” on the launch pad in February, the agency said. Engineers on the mission, expected to launch later this year, put the mission hardware through a series of checks to make sure they’re ready for the milestone, which … Read more

Mosaic Flight: NASA’s 100th flight director leads Mission Control

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For over 60 years and more than 230 missions, teams of dedicated engineers and specialists in NASA’s Mission Control have provided ground support for astronauts in space and on the moon. Out of the thousands of people who staffed the consoles and backroom support areas in that time, less than 100 have led the room. … Read more

A ‘rogue asteroid field’ almost delays the Valoria 3 analog Mars mission — Commander’s Report: sol 2

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Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. Currently, she is in command of the two-week Valoria 3 Martian mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert Voices: … Read more