Space

Equal access to space: New study investigates how to get more ‘parastronauts’ aloft

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A new study sponsored by NASA investigates the feasibility of sending people with disabilities safely into space and returning them back to Earth.   The appraisal, called the Parastronaut Feasibility Foundational Research Study, makes a number of recommendations, including revising medical standards for astronaut selection and using parabolic aircraft flights to demonstrate parastronaut proof of … Read more

These are the space missions to watch in 2022

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An exciting year lies ahead with many space missions slated to launch in 2022.  While 2021 was an eventful year with the first space tourist-focused missions, NASA’s new Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter landing on Mars, the long-awaited launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and numerous other science missions, there’s even more to look … Read more

Why the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshield deployment takes so long

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is three days into the deployment of its massive sunshield — and it still has about three days to go. The $10 billion Webb launched on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) to seek out heat signals from the early universe. To pick up these faint signals, the observatory’s optics and instruments must … Read more

Lego space deals: discounts on spaceships, space stations and NASA kits

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Prepare for liftoff with a host of out-of-this-world Lego space deals. The brick-building toymaker has a huge range of space toys and sets out there, so we’ve searched the internet for the very best Lego space deals and put them in this handy guide, so you don’t have to. The Lego Space sets featuring in … Read more

There Was a Major Unexpected Benefit to James Webb’s Christmas Launch

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After a detailed analysis of where the James Webb Space Telescope is now (29 December 2021) and how it got there, NASA determined the observatory should have enough propellant to operate in space for significantly more than 10 years in space.   Webb’s mission lifetime was designed to be at least 5-1/2 years, and mission … Read more

See the James Webb Space Telescope journey through space (photo, video)

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This short movie of the James Webb Space Telescope moving through space was captured by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project on Dec. 29, 2021. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project) Thanks to images from a robotic Earth telescope, you can now watch NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope travel through the final frontier. … Read more

James Webb Space Telescope uncovers massive sunshield in next step of risky deployment

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NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope removes the covers from its sunshield in this animation of the critical deployment step that occurred in space on Dec. 30, 2021. (Image credit: NASA) The James Webb Space Telescope has unwrapped its sunshield, crossing another important item off of its lengthy and risky deployment to-do list. After successfully extending … Read more

Here’s 7 things the International Space Station taught us in 2021

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The International Space Station is the world’s most extreme and expensive scientific laboratory. In its more than 20 years of operations it has housed thousands of experiments, providing fascinating insights into the effects of microgravity on the human body, cultured cells or various materials and chemical processes. Here are the most interesting findings that the … Read more

Nibiru: The Nonexistent Planet | Space

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Linked to the close of the Mayan calendar, a variety of rumors spread regarding ways the world could end back in 2012. One popular contender was Nibiru, a supposed planet that some claimed would collide with Earth at the end of that year. But despite the buzz, there’s no scientific evidence supporting the alleged planet’s … Read more